Wrestling Stalin

I had a great time tonight visiting the graveyard of fallen Soviet Memorial at the Central House of Artist, also known as the Fallen Monuments Park. It is across the wide street from Gorky Park. I was able to flip Stalin the bird and put him in a headlock, plus see the remnants of hundreds of former statues, artwork and busts that occupied the Soviet Union. They have been assembled here in this park because there was no other place to put them. 

It is quite bizarre touring this park. A large statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky, who was the founder and initial leader of the Checka, Lenin's secret police and heavy during the Red Terror, stood front and center. The statue once stood at Lubyanka Square, near the KGB Headquarters before it was pulled down in 1991 by cheering crowds with the collapse of communism. It now resides peacefully in this park. Nearby a construction company is putting the finishing touches on a large apartment building designed with a neo-Stalinist architecture. It is hideous and revolting. It has the similar wedding-cake appearance of Stalin's Seven Sisters. Put in juxtaposition with Dzerzhinsky's towering figure, it is further proof that the Russian people aren't quite sure they are ready to leave their past behind them.

But, as stated earlier, I put Stalin in a headlock and flipped him the bird. This was the highlight of my Tuesday evening. There is minor damage done to the larger statue from previous vandalism, but I cannot believe the statue is upright, and the bust isn't at the bottom of the Moscow River. I certainly will put my photo with Stalin to good use as a profile picture.


The picture below is myself in front a large Soviet emblem and a sign that, roughly translated, states the USSR is the center of the world. Yeah, that is so 1950s. Today, the sign is rusting and falling apart in a park mostly visited by tourists and young Russian couples who want to make out on the numerous park benches.