The Leader is coming back. The Advisory Committee of the municipal administrationtoday recommended to the mayor the raising of a Stalin bust in Krasnoyarsk. They have already started to cast the statue in one of the foundaries. The situation becomes more and more scandalous and critical.
The fear of the Leader reached its critical point today. The heat of the Krasnoyarsk “Memorial” organization, Alexey Babiy, decided to act imemdiately. Within one hour only he collected almost 400 signatures against the erection of a monument. People like Anna Trofimovna, a former front-line soldier, flatly refused to sign. To her, who experienced the whole war, the sign-in is a very abusive action. “We have to recall history, learn to come to respect it and accept what happened, so that nothing will change in the future”.
Alexey Babiy pays respect for the veterans. Nevertheless, he is convinced in the rightness of his attitude. What the front-line soldiers call justice, means a serious offence to the victims of political reprisals. He addressed himself to the soldiers by the following words: “You should not think only of yourselves, there are many other old people, who had to bear a lot of misfortune – and they must not be treated in this way, my dear”. The question about whether or not there will be a monument, was today decided by a special commission of the municipal administration. After a two hours’ dispute – a positive decision. The ideology behind is that they decided to merely recall a person, who acted as the commander in chief during the war, whose share of contribution is, however, utterly doubtful and difficult to judge.
The bust is the work of Vasiliy Sevtsov; it is already being casted in one of the foundaries.The Communists collected the money needed. This is a good method to attract the attention of the public. And the veterans request is obviously being used as an indesputable argument. Thus, the mayor, who has the final say in this matter, is going to have a bad time. Petr Pimashkov assured that one would find a solution which unites all citizens of Krasnoyarsk in the end. The following compromise was proposed: there will not be any monument under the open sky, but they are going to raise a bust, together with a second one – the bust of Zhukov. The commission proposed to raise them inside the Pantheon of Glory. In the opinion of the members of the commission the realization of this intention is, first of all, a right decision from the ideologic point of view, secondly it will help to keep the bust from the destroying hands of vandals. And this is exaclty the point where absurdity starts. When, from the very beginning, the danger is looming up that the monument will not be left in peace, why do they insist on raising it and provoking the people?
Julia Kurbatova
STS-PRIMA
25.04.2005