Plan for 'de-Stalinization' of Russia ready, but not everybody

MOSCOW, April 2 (By Itar-Tass World Service writer Lyudmila
Alexandrova) -- Experts close to President Dmitry Medvedev have drafted a
plan for what they termed "de-Stalinization" of Russia. Human rights
advocates support it, but many doubt the feasibility of such a step.
The working group for historical memory under the presidential Council
for Human Rights has prepared a plan for "de-Stalinization of Russia." On
Wednesday, the full version of the document was published on the website
of the human rights society Memorial. The proposals for a nationwide
government and public program "For the Commemoration of the Victims of the
Totalitarian Regime and for National Reconciliation" were handed over to
Dmitry Medvedev by members of the Council for Human Rights at a meeting in
Yekaterinburg on February 1, 2011.
For the past couple of years the theme of the country's
de-Stalinization has been worked on cautiously but methodically. Dmitry
Medvedev not so long ago stated that "for Stalin there is no forgiveness,
the Soviet Union ... was a totalitarian, dictatorial and economically
inefficient state." Prime Minister Vladimir Putin paid homage to the
monument of Polish victims at Katyn.
A key part of the program is a decent life for the survivors of the
victims of repression and their relatives. For that it is proposed to
increase benefits and to clarify their size at the federal level. The
authors propose opening two national museums of victims of repression and
a network of regional centers and monuments.
The program envisages an inventory and improvement of the burial
places of those who were killed or died in the labor camps and the
establishment of a nationwide database of victims of persecution. It will
include not only those convicted of "political" charges, but also peasant
farmers, exiled and imprisoned for taking away a handful of seeds or
several potatoes from the fields.
An important part of the document is declassification and mass
publication in the media (including the Internet) of archive materials,
which will give the relatives of the victims, researchers and the
interested public free access to them. This should put an end to
statistical tricks that are used to understate (or overstate) the number
of the repressed.
The plan includes a call for the burial of the body of Vladimir Lenin,
for not naming streets after those who were involved in repression, and
for opening the archives. The authors call for legitimizing the dismissal
of officials of any rank for public denial or justification of crimes by
the totalitarian regime and for solving the "overripe" problem of Lenin's
burial - but only after "extensive preliminary explanatory work" to ensure
"the proposed program should not be confined to the removal of the body
from the mausoleum and the campaign around the event."
It is also proposed revising the official observances and professional
holidays "with their reorientation to the events of centuries-long Russian
history, not just the Soviet period."
According to the chairman of the Presidential Council for the
Promotion of Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights, Mikhail Fedotov,
after the program's approval by Dmitry Medvedev the work on it is already
underway "in the mode of drafting documents." Now, for example, materials
are being prepared for a decision to establish museum and memorial
complexes dedicated to victims of political repression in Moscow and near
St. Petersburg.
The plan drew a mixed response and triggered debate among experts,
human rights activists and politicians.
One of the authors of the draft, chairman of the presidium of the
Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Sergei Karaganov, is quoted by
Nezavisimaya Gazeta as saying that the main goal is ensuring the
modernization of consciousness of Russian society and the Russian elite.
"The modernization of the country will be impossible at either technical
or political levels without changing the consciousness of society,
nurturing the people's sense of responsibility for themselves and for the
country, pride in it - though at times bitter, and normal patriotism."
Political analysts believe that the topic of the totalitarian past is
worth discussing, but the authorities should not enact laws that pass
"political judgments" on Stalin's era, as this may exacerbate the
contradictions in Russian society.
The Communist Party has called the authors of the document vulgar
anti-Soviet campaigners and pragmatic provocateurs. Communist Party leader
Gennady Zyuganov considers the document as a provocation. CPRF first
deputy leader Ivan Melnikov slammed the authors as "vulgar and pragmatic
anti-Soviet provocateurs."
"Their intention is largely contrary to the law," Melnikov told the
daily Kommersant. "What is behind the wish to prohibit public officials
from denying something that is connected with the history and ideology? It
means violation of the Russian Constitution, which gives each person the
right to think the way he or she wants."
And the idea of Lenin's burial and revision of the traditional
holidays, according to the deputy leader of the Communist Party, "is
fraught with a huge conflict potential," and "such actions clearly show
again the desire of the Council on Human Rights and the authorities in
general to divert the citizens' attention from the real issues."
State Duma member Konstantin Zatulin (of the United Russia party)
believes that the report's authors and those who support them and inspire
them intended to distract the public from discussions on other pressing
problems. "I do not consider myself as a Stalinist, but I am against a
witch-hunt," Zatulin is quoted by the online newspaper Vzglyad as saying.
"This fantastic resolution will not only cause real chaos in the
minds of officials, but it will also greatly puzzle the Ministry of
Education," writes Komsomolskaya Pravda. The newspaper recalls that in the
new textbooks on history Stalin is presented not so much as a
blood-thirsty tyrant as an "effective manager", which means that telling
children such things in class would be illegal.
"We should not take any political decision today," the online
periodical NEWSru.com quotes political scientist Dmitry Badovsky as
saying. This is a matter for a slightly different moment. This does not
mean that crimes should not be condemned. It means that we should not
pronounce political verdicts and solutions. The things that are proposed
in the report: changing the names of public holidays and the like - these
are proposals for making certain political decisions, certain political
verdicts. This should not be done now," he added.
Meanwhile, an opinion poll conducted in December 2010 shows that most
Russians still appreciate the qualities of Stalin the leader. As the
opinion poll indicated, Stalin drew positive comments from 37% of
Russians, 26% feel respect for him, 8% expressed sympathy, and 3%,
admiration. Negative attitudes were expressed by 24% of respondents, 13%
dislike him, 6% feel fear, and 5%, disgust.
As many as 54% of Russians appreciated the qualities of Stalin as the
leader, and 25% said they were of average level. Those who rated lowly the
ability of that person to run the country are in the minority, only 8%.
Most often Russians agree with the opinion Stalin was a cruel tyrant,
guilty of the death of millions of people (35%), but as many attribute to
him the main role in the victory in World War II (35%).
According to the VTsIOM pollster, in recent years the share of
Russians who believe that Stalin was a wise leader grew up from 16% in
1998 to 21% in 2009. Also, there are more of those who call Stalin a cruel
tyrant - their number was up from 28% to 35%.