Stalin is a household name

December 21 - Stalin's birthday. Some recall this with horror, others with hope, others with indifference. However, the fact that 133 after his birth and 59 years after his death is not forgotten, says a lot. Most people in our country did not live under Stalin, even fewer people saw him alive, and there were no close associates at all. It would seem that it is time to forget or show interest exclusively academic - as a historical villain of international scale.

Stalin as a person is not interested in anyone today. Everything is told about him, and there is nothing to add to this. But he is still on the lips of politicians, on posters with red-banned demonstrators, in the ratings of popularity on propaganda television channels. Today Stalin is a symbol. For those who remember him with horror - a symbol of lawlessness and death. For those who whisper his name with reverence - a symbol of the restoration of socialism, triumph of primitiveness, grayness and wretchedness. For people of strong and gifted Stalin - a threat of independence, talent and security. For people of weak, mediocre and servile, he is the hope of supporting and promoting life at the cost of loyalty.

Stalin has long been not a person, but a function, a collective image of ideology, morality and lifestyle. The only difference is that one like this toxic mixture, but the others are not. Giving an inevitable tribute to time, Stalin's lovers are trying to humanize him. “Stalin with a human face” is the slogan of modern non -stopped. It would seem, after everything that is written about Stalin and Stalinism, what makeup he needs to appear in a decent form? This is the same as in gypsum monuments to the father of the peoples, of which tens of thousands were placed across the country, by some miracle to breathe a new life. It seems to be a useless activity. But after all, Alexander Galich wrote 50 years ago: “They would, Gypsov, human - they will gain greatness again!”

Today they try to give Stalin a human appearance. Some, directly and without undertaking, proclaim him a person with a capital letter; Others go to the same purpose shy and with reservations. “Left”, deprived of shame and imagination, chopping a splash. Gennady Zyuganov: "The Stalin era will be a model for many who are going to revive our country." Sergey Udaltsov: “Stalin is not a criminal. Stalin is an outstanding statesman. ” Eduard Limonov: “The so -called“ deportations ”were shares of fair retaliation. Joseph Stalin, who knew the Caucasus, wisely. It’s a pity, I have not finished the matter. ”

Those who are not indifferent to how they look from the outside try to rehabilitate Stalin, building more sophisticated structures. For example, claiming that Stalin is an effective manager. President Putin generally evades an unequivocal assessment of the role of Stalin, Vitivato arguing that "historical events should be analyzed in all their totality." This is a well -known approach, when the massacres of millions of people become an insignificant circumstance against the backdrop of a difficult time for the struggle against devastation, industrialization, collectivization, military victories and world achievements in space and ballet. As if a maniac who killed fifty people was justified by the fact that he had a difficult childhood, and once one day he rightly filled his face to an alkash’s neighbor, coolly beats off the tapeworm and generally a master of all hands. Well, yes, I killed so many people in vain, but let's still consider events in all their totality. After all, there was a lot of good in his life!

Why do the authorities need to maintain uncertainty against Stalin as a symbol of the communist era? Nothing mysterious. This is a spare icon for reviving authoritarianism in case there is not enough other fantasy. Then this icon will be removed from historical storerooms, blew dust and flaunted for mass worship. So more than once happened with historical personalities in Russia. After many years, they were canonized in the public consciousness as the saviors of the Fatherland. The fact that they were tyrants were safely forgotten. This is such a trifle against the backdrop of the power of the state.