EDITORIAL: Remembering the "good old days" (03/23/03)

EDITORIAL

Remembering the "good old days"

As what has been dubbed the "coalition of the willing" fights one tyrant in Iraq, on another part of the globe, another is remembered fondly, wistfully, nostalgically.

Saddam Hussein, of course, is the tyrant that most everyone wants ousted (with or without war). Joseph Stalin (who some commentators have said serves as a role model for Saddam), meanwhile, is being recalled on the 50th anniversary of his death in 1953. Speaking on March 2 at a Moscow gathering dedicated to that anniversary, Communist Party leader Gennadii Zyuganov said that the party had failed to live up to Stalin's legacy and "to preserve the great Soviet power."

Even Russian President Vladimir Putin has gone on record to say that Stalin - responsible for a reign of terror that killed tens of millions - deserves to be honored. The Washington Post reported last year that Mr. Putin had authorized the issuance of special silver coins depicting Stalin and that he unveiled a special plaque honoring Stalin for his military leadership. "He told Polish reporters that even though Stalin was a dictator, 'it would be silly to ignore' the fact that he led the Soviet Union to victory in World War II," wrote Sharon LaFraniere of The Washington Post Foreign Service. In contrast, Mr. Putin's predecessors, Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin, both denounced Stalin. But then again, this is Vladimir Putin, formerly of the KGB and its successor, the Federal Security Service, who was cited in the Post as speaking proudly of the history of Russia's security services and stating that Russians "should, without shame, be proud of this history, be proud of their heroes and their achievements."

Unfortunately, Mr. Putin's feelings reflect those of a majority of his people, as seen in recent polls. The number of Russians who believe that Stalin had a primarily negative impact on the country has declined in recent years, according to the All-Russia Center for the Study of Public Opinion. RFE/RL reported that the center polled 1,600 adults conducted in 100 towns and cities in 40 regions in late February and early March, and found that 53 percent of respondents approved of Stalin overall, 33 percent disapproved and 14 percent declined to state a position. Twenty percent of those polled agreed with the statement that Stalin "was a wise leader who led the USSR to power and prosperity," while the same number agreed that only a "tough leader" could rule the country under the circumstances in which Stalin found himself. Only 27 percent agreed that Stalin was "a cruel, inhuman tyrant responsible for the deaths of millions," and a similar percentage agreed that the full truth about him is not yet known.

Alexander Yakovlev, a former member of the Soviet Politburo who today is a historian researching totalitarianism, was cited by RFE/RL as saying in a February 28 interview: "There has been no de-Bolshevization comparable with the de-Nazification in Germany. The issues aren't even being talked about."

Indeed, they are not even being considered.

A telling example is seen in a visit to Ukraine in January by President Putin to kick off the "Year of Russia in Ukraine." When he and his country's ambassador to Ukraine, Viktor Chernomyrdin were asked by journalists if Russia would pay compensation to victims of the Great Famine of 1932-1933, similar to that paid by Germany after World War II, RFE/RL reported that "they refused to consider the matter."

And thus, while Ukraine this year somberly marks the 70th anniversary of the Famine-Genocide and mourns the 7 million to 10 million who perished thanks to Stalin and his henchmen, Russia is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the passing of its great leader who ruled a great country perceived as a great power.

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