An alarming reverence for Stalin

Lietuvos Zinios (Lithuania)

It’s official: Russians once again adore Stalin, said Viktoras Denisenko. The Levada Center, an independent pollster, recently asked 1,600 Russians to name “the top 10 most outstanding people of all time and all nations.” Soviet dictator Josef Stalin came in first place, closely followed by Russia’s current president, Vladimir Putin. The results weren’t surprising. As soon as Putin came to power in 1999, “the semi-official rehabilitation of the dictator began.” Stalin became the face of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, which—despite massive losses on the Soviet side—is today “depicted as Russia’s greatest achievement.” Russians are encouraged to see

themselves as defenders of the world against fascism, and Putin has used this rhetoric to justify his invasion of Ukraine, calling the pro-Western forces there fascists and ultranationalists. Stalin is equally adored for “turning an agrarian Russia into an industrial superpower” in just a generation. That he did so through ruthless purges, forced relocations, and oppression is “seen as an unfortunate historic necessity.” These depressing survey results show that the Kremlin’s relentless propaganda—repeated on talk shows, in movies, and in schoolbooks—has been “extraordinarily successful.” Post-Soviet Russians know all about Stalin’s crimes, but they have been conditioned to excuse them.