By HENRY MEYER, Associated Press Writer MOSCOW - Lawmakers in a western Russian city have called for authorities to rename streets after Josef Stalin and restore memorials to the Soviet dictator to honor his wartime leadership, officials said Thursday. The move in the city of Oryol, timed to coincide with next month's celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Nazi defeat in World War II, reflects a growing trend glorifying Stalin's leadership during the war despite his role in the deaths of millions of people during his rule.
Thu Apr 14, 5:39 PM ET Europe - AP
Olga Patenkova, a city hall spokeswoman in Oryol, about 220 miles southwest of Moscow, told The Associated Press by telephone that local lawmakers approved a motion March 31 urging Stalin's image be rehabilitated.
"The 60th anniversary of victory ... obliges us to support widespread calls ... to restore historical justice with respect to the historical role played by the commander-in-chief Josef Stalin," the resolution said, according to excerpts published Thursday in the daily Izvestia.
The municipal assembly called for restoring "the name of Stalin to the streets and squares of our cities and re-erect monuments to the supreme commander."
More than a decade after the fall of Soviet Union, Stalin is revered by much of the Russian population as a strong leader who drove the country through rapid industrialization that turned it into a superpower, and as a wartime commander who ensured victory against Nazi Germany.
Stalin came to power after the death of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin in 1924 and began a reign of terror that lasted nearly three decades, ending only with his death in 1953. An estimated 20 million people were executed, imprisoned or deported to other parts of the former Soviet Union. Altogether, 10 million are believed to have died.
Even a regional official in Oryol in charge of protecting the rights of victims of political repression, Nina Nesterina, was equivocal in her attitude to Stalin.
"It is not a simple issue. Stalin was not really responsible for the repressions. In all official documents the orders are from the NKVD (the forerunner of the KGB), military tribunals. A system of repression existed and functioned by itself," she told Izvestia.
Last month, the Russian city formerly known as Stalingrad decided to erect a monument to Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill to honor the historic Yalta conference held by the three leaders in 1945. Volgograd Mayor Yevgeny Ishchenko said his city is also considering changing some street names in honor of the Battle of Stalingrad, a turning point in World War II, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War.
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