Russia. They commemorated Stalin in Moscow. Divided residents

A bas -relief commemorating Józef Stalin was unveiled at one of the Moscow subway stations. The new installation shared the inhabitants of the Russian capital who have mixed opinions about the criminal responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of people.

The central figure of the bas -relief exposed on May 15 at the Taganskaja metro station is Józef Stalin standing on the Moscow Red Square. This is a new version of the monument unveiled at the same station in 1950, three years before the death of the Soviet dictator. The original bas -relief “was lost” in 1966 during the reconstruction of the station, Moscow Metro said.

The Reuters agency asked the residents of Moscow about opinions on the new monument. “This man has done something and we must respect it,” said the man who came to the station to see a new bas -relief. Another resident of the Russian capital admitted that Stalin was not “good”, but he deserves a monument. “He did more for our country than anyone else,” he said.

“Spitting in the face of history”

However, not everyone liked the commemoration of Stalin. Unidentified people left two characters with quotes from the president at the monument Russia Vladimir Putin and former president Dmitry Medvedev, criticizing Stalin. Later they were removed – writes Reuters.

The Moscow branch of the Liberal Party “Jabłoko” protested against the unveiling of the bas -relief, calling Stalin “tyrant and dictator” and demanding from the Moscow metro to commemorate the victims of his repression. “The return of Stalinism symbols to Moscow is spitting in the face of the history and act of mockery of repressed descendants,” the grouping said in a statement.

Stalin's crimes

Born in 1878, Józef Wissarionowicz Dżugaszwili (called Stalin since 1913) was a co -creator and dictator of the USSR. Only in 1932-1933, as a result of the so-called Great hunger in Ukraineeven 6 million people fell victim to the ruthless Soviet policy. The 1930s were also a period of Stalinist repression, which intensified especially in 1937-1938 (great terror). According to Soviet documents, over 1.5 million people were arrested at that time, of which about 700 thousand. shot.

Poles were also the victims of Stalin. According to some estimates, by 1938, NKVD murdered up to 140 thousand. Poles – citizens of the Soviet state; Poles were also repressed after the outbreak of World War II, an example of which was the Katyn massacre committed in the spring of 1940 at almost 22,000. Polish citizens, mainly Polish Army officers, state officials and intelligentsia.