On the role of Stalin in modern history

We live in interesting times. On the one hand, just a few days ago the country’s top leadership seemed to approve the idea of ​​​​renaming Volgograd back to Stalingrad. On the other hand, I’m reading right now that Comrade. Posner believes that Hitler’s troops managed to reach Stalingrad precisely because of Comrade. Stalin and therefore there is no need to rush into renaming, first you need to think carefully. It’s clear, the whole world loves it here.

What does this mean? Naive people may think that we have complete pluralism and freedom of speech here. Nothing of the kind, if we had freedom of speech, would the postman Pechkin have dared... I mean, Deputy Minister of Communications Comrade. Volin to come to the Faculty of Journalism and teach future journalists how to work properly for their uncle?! Of course not, our future journalists know how to work for their uncle no worse than Comrade. Pechkina... excuse me, comrade. Volina.

But maybe it’s the incredible personal courage of Comrade. Posner? Hardly either. That’s how I imagine Comrade. Stalin walks around the office and argues: “Should we prohibit Comrade Posner from scolding Comrade Stalin?! I think they shouldn’t, because the working people hate Comrade Posner much more than Comrade Stalin, so let him scold as much as possible, this is Comrade Just give it to Stalin."

Here the matter is different. Just comrade. Stalin is like a sinusoid for us. Now we seem to be being Stalinized. And not so long ago, on the contrary, they de-Stalinized, even the Duma adopted something like this. And even earlier they Stalinized again with terrible force - they hung mustachioed portraits everywhere, littered the metro with quotes and the like. The main thing here is not to confuse whether we are now de-Stalinized or what, so as not to inadvertently blurt out too much. Because all this is not serious, but just for fun. Chick - and we seem to have gotten rid of the damned past all at once. Chick - and again we rattle our rusted warheads and threaten to rename populated areas. Bliss!

So veterans of the firing squad don’t have to worry about personal allowances. This is how we are for old Europe. Like, here we will quickly forget about the bad repressions, and you there will quickly shed a stingy Schengen tear and the boys will sing and fly to Europe without visas. Otherwise, bad trends have emerged, a bazaar about the origin of billions and all that. It's annoying.

However, the veterans of our army are not afraid, they understand that all this Stalinization - de-Stalinization - is not fatal, it was not decided by the troika, but by the boys in the Duma. They are mostly members there, former members of the native party of Lenin-Stalin, they know the order and will not allow any Nuremberg, why should they.

We can even argue on TV. Some comrade They will praise Stalin, others will scold them, but not much, because they did not come out of Gogol’s overcoat, but also from their native CPSU, which brought them into television people.

Once upon a time in Berlin there was a street called Prinz Albert Strasse, where the Gestapo was located in house 8, where comrade once easily visited. Stirlitz. Now this street has been renamed Niederkirchnerstrasse, and the Topography of Terror museum has been built on the site of the Gestapo dungeons. There you can see a lot of unsightly materials that do not at all decorate German history. But the Germans don't hide them. And it’s also impossible for them to imagine a TV show on the topic “Hitler’s role in history...”, in which, in addition, Ribbentrop’s cheerful granddaughter would perform.

The museum stands on an area the size of a football field, covered with a thick layer of gravel. At first I didn’t understand why, but then I figured it out. So that nothing will ever grow there. In the place where innocent people were killed, nothing should ever grow. This is de-Hitlerization, it is also a guarantee of no return.

As for our sine wave of Stalinization-de-Stalinization, the leader’s fans are worrying in vain, Comrade himself is worried about it. Stalin would definitely approve. Based on the Marxist thesis about the end that justifies the means. Should Europe be scared? Necessary. Should people be occupied with empty arguments? Necessary. So, you give Stalinization. Or vice versa, it doesn’t matter to us, you argue there, and we will cut money. Everything is fine and, most importantly, everything is working.