Remains of the Man of Steel A look at Stalin's heritage scattered across Russia
In just under two months, by May 9, 2015, a new museum is set to open its doors in Russia's Tver region. Located in a farmhouse about 230 kilometers (140 miles) northeast of Moscow, where Joseph Stalin stayed briefly in 1943, the new exhibition will focus on themes such as “Stalin’s contribution to victory in the war,” “Stalin's role in industrial evacuations,” and “Stalin as a symbol of Soviet achievements and victories.” Meduza takes a look at Stalin's heritage and the scattered relics of a personality cult that still divides Russians today.
Communists mark the 135th anniversary of Stalin's birth. December 21, 2014.
Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin lookalikes near the Kremlin. March 5, 2010.
A wax figure of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin is seen in a cinema hall at Stalin's dacha (his villa) in Sochi. January 28, 2014.
A demonstration organized by Russia's modern Communist Party, commemorating the 67th anniversary of the USSR's victory in World War II. These demonstrators are in the Moscow subway station “Pushkinskaya." May 9, 2012.
A van with a portrait of Stalin painted on the side to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad drives through St. Petersburg. February 2, 2013.
Unveiling a new Stalin bust at a ceremony in the city of Penza, some 600 kilometers (373 miles) southeast of Moscow. July 15, 2011.
A room in Stalin’s summer house, located in the Kuntsevo district of Moscow. June 14, 2012.
A bust of Stalin in Beslan, a city in the Russian North Caucasus. September 07, 2004.
Commuters in St. Petersburg ride a bus decorated with a portrait of Stalin to mark upcoming Victory Day celebrations. May 5, 2010.
Russian Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin (right) in Yalta, Crimea, at the opening ceremony of the Monument to the Nations of the Allied Coalition, a statue of Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin. Sculptor: Zurab Tsereteli. Livadia Palace, Yalta. February 5, 2015.
A monument to Stalin at the Verkhny Fiagdon Settlement in Kurtatinskoye Gorge, in the North Ossetia National Park.
A wax figure of Stalin at the Museum of Wax Figures on Tverskaya Street in downtown Moscow. May 14, 2003.
Stalin's Bunker, now the Museum of Civil Defense in Samara. (Stalin’s recreation room.) August 12, 2014
A graffiti-defaced statue of Stalin lying forlornly on its side, in front of a statue of Yakov Sverdlov and other Communist heroes, dismantled and discarded in a park after the failed August 1991 coup. November 1, 1991.
A demonstrator holds a placard with the portrait of Stalin celebrating the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Soviet Armed Forces. February 23, 2013.
A ceremony for the opening of the Museum of Stalin in the Stalingrad Cultural Center in Volgograd (the city formerly known as Stalingrad). May 15, 2006.
A Stalin bust at the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War (as WWII is known in Russia) in Moscow. February 18, 2010.
The opening of an exhibition in Moscow dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Stalin’s death at the State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia. February 20, 2003.
Bottles of beer with labels depicting portraits of Stalin and Zhukov in Volgograd. April 26, 2010.
Alexander Svyatov, resident of the town of Vyritsa in the Leningrad region, touches up the paintwork on his Stalin monument. Svyatov preens his statue ahead of the 65th anniversary of Victory Day. May 6, 2010.
An icon titled “Blessed Matrona blesses Joseph Stalin,” created by icon painter Ilya Pivnik. In 2008, the icon was temporarily placed in the Church of St. Olga in a town called Strelna near St. Petersburg. In 2008, the icon was placed in a St. Petersburg church, causing an uproar after which the priest of the church was dismissed.
A statue of Stalin in the town of Mirny in Russia’s Sakha Republic. August 20, 2014.