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No place for Stalin in Moscow Metro – activists
Published: 08 September, 2009, 14:12
Edited: 17 February, 2010, 16:49
Soviet-era slogan reading, "Stalin raised us to be loyal to the nation, inspired us to labour and great deeds," inside a freshly-refurbished metro station in Moscow (AFP Photo / Dmitry Kostyukov)
TAGS: Conflict, Scandal, Human rights, Stalin
Human rights activists have sent an open letter to the mayor of Moscow demanding that a line from a Soviet anthem praising Stalin be removed from a newly-restored metro station in the Russian capital.
Several hundred people, including relatives of victims of Josef Stalin’s repressions, have signed the letter written by Lev Ponomaryov, a human rights activist and Executive Director of the movement “For Human Rights”.
After years of reconstruction works, Kurskaya subway station reopened on August 25 with all the same details as how it looked more than 60 years ago. The line from the Soviet anthem, written in the frieze below the station ceiling just as when it first opened in 1950, sparked public debate.
“We were raised by Stalin; he inspired our faith in people, our labor and deeds,” it says.
In their letter to Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, the human rights activists demanded that this line either be replaced with any other line which doesn’t mention Stalin, or that part of the station’s lobby be returned to how it looked just before the restoration.
They claim that the line is not the restoration of historical justice, but a perversion of history. It insults the memory of the victims of Stalin’s repression.
Earlier, Russia’s Orthodox Church said it considered it unnecessary to perpetuate Stalin’s image in the Moscow Metro’s décor.
The Moscow subway architects, however, say that it doesn’t matter how the country has changed over the years and insist on using the original look of the metro.
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Having been in Russia recently for the first time, I have become aware of the role Stalin played in Russia's life. Of course, I knew of the role Stalin played in saving Russia in WWII. And the stories of Stalin's multi-million victims are surely inflated; the main purpose being the need to equate the "two" evil empires, Russian and German. Well, if it makes someone happy, let them play with the numbers. Germany and Russia did not hold world-wide colonies, and unlike British, French, US, Belgian, Spanish, Portugese, Italian and other European powers, did not partake in the slaughter of millions world-wide. But what suprised me is the role that Stalin played in the development of Russia's urban life. It is not only Metro, but also the high quality buildings that until today do not fail to impress. The "sisters", as these buildings are called, are real masterpieces of urban design. If we can today enjoy Disney World with our kids, in spite of the well known attitude of Walt Disney towards native Americans, we can give credit were it is due.
Zak - Absolutely correct, there have been a huge amount of genocide kings and leaders in history. So why the focus on Stalin from the west? Simply because it suits the west. Interesting to also note that only a few hundred people turned out. On this site alone I have seen estimates from 30 up to 420 million people killed by Stalin, surely with that being the case, there would be more than a few hundred to protest! Maybe the maths is also a little selective!
Comrade Stalin is Mother Theresa in comparison to humanitarian and civilized barbarians from the western civilization.