A statue for Stalin?

December 20, 2013

In February 1989, two years before the fall of the Soviet Union, the weekly tabloid Argumenti i Fakti published a research paper by the Georgian historian Roy Aleksandrovich Medvedev, in which he estimated that 20 million Soviet citizens had been killed by the regime of Josef Stalin. Bulgakov could escape from this fate, and denounced Stalin's regime masterfully in The Master and Margarita.

Yesterday, the current Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Stalin was no worse than the “cunning” Oliver Cromwell, who ousted the 17th-century British monarchy. “What’s the real difference between Cromwell and Stalin? None whatsoever,” Putin said at a four hour press conference which he held for 1300 journalists.

Putin said that Stalin deserves statues in his honour as much as the late British lord protector.  He made these comments in response to a question about a Stalin monument possibly to be erected in Moscow. The authorities in the Russian capital recently announced plans to commemorate all Soviet leaders who ever lived in the city.

Is Russia going to rehabilitate Stalin? Putin said he could not influence the decisions of Moscow’s City Hall. But he cautioned: “We must treat all periods of our history with care.”

I wonder what Mikhail Afanasevich Bulgakov would have thought of this.


Stalin statue in Yakutsk

Source: RIA Novosti, Moscow, 19/12/2013
Photo : Statue of Stalin in Yakutsk © RIA Novosti, Bolot Bochkarev