Stalin lingers in Moscow
by Habitus · 02/18/10
Michael Idov has published an interesting review in The New Republic on Stalin in Russian Satire, 1917-1991 by Karen L. Ryan. He starts off:
The idea that Russia’s many current woes stem from its incomplete de-Stalinization is so widespread as to be banal. It is also correct. Just two months ago, I stared agape at the newly restored name of Stalin coiling around a neoclassical portico at the Kurskaya metro station in Moscow. The name had its own security guard: look up at those six letters for more than a few seconds, as I did, and he would saunter closer. A few weeks earlier, Stalin had been leading a national poll for Russia’s “greatest name.” After some careful counting and recounting, he ended up in third place, still handily beating out Pushkin and Dostoevsky.
His case was made even stronger today by an article entitled “Moscow to Display Informational Posters Gloryfing Stalin.” The article is published by the Coalition for Democracy in Russia, aka The Other Russia, the political faction most identified with Gary Kasparov. The story highlights the ambivalence of Russians today towards the memory of Stalin. They report:
Moscow’s department for publicity and design came up with the plan after pensioners and veterans’ organizations repeatedly requested that officials display pictures of Stalin as part of the wider set of decorations set up for anniversary celebrations.
For more on the legacy of Stalin, there is no better guide than our friend Jonathan Brent, whom we spoke to in our Moscow issue, and whose memoir of his years spent researching the Stalin archives is now coming out in paperback.
