Russia Debates Shipping Stalin Home to Georgia

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RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

Joseph Stalin is buried in Moscow next to the Kremlin Wall in Red Square. Some Russian lawmakers recently proposed removing the grave of the long-time Soviet dictator and sending his remains home to his native Georgia.

That suggestion has had a mixed reception from Georgians, as NPR's Lawrence Sheets reports from Tbilisi.

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LAWRENCE SHEETS reporting:

At the train station in Gori, visitors are greeted by a huge portrait of Stalin looming over the platform. Stalin, whose real name was Joseph Dzhugashvili, was born in this small Caucasus mountain town in 1878.

In Gori's main square is a towering statue of Stalin. Next door is a museum dedicated to the man reviled for the deaths of millions of Soviets during the great purges, but also a man still held in high esteem by some people in the former U.S.S.R.

Ms. OLGA TULPTISHILI(ph) (Guide, Stalin Museum): You can see that he's too (unintelligible). You can see Stalin's personal shaving set - he used it, and you can see Stalin's personal military overcoat.

SHEETS: Museum guide Olga Tulptishili says curiosity seekers from all over the world visit the museum. Their reactions, Tulptishili says, can vary from horror to deep respect. It often depends on where they are from.

Ms. TULPTISHILI: (Foreign language spoken)

SHEETS: She says Chinese visitors, for instance, always bow in front of Stalin's death mask, located in a darkened wing of this eerie, run down edifice of marble floors and red velvet curtains. Tulptishili is among many here who think Stalin should not be removed from his Kremlin grave.

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SHEETS: Yet some other people in this dusty town look forward to the day when Stalin's remains will come home to Gori. Stalin is, after all, the local boy.

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SHEETS: 45-year-old Mohaz Gonniasheedi(ph) is one of a group of unemployed men hanging around a park near the museum.

Mr. MOHAZ GONNIASHEEDI: (Through Translator) He's our model. He's the history of our country, our city, our people. One day, they'll bring Stalin home. We are for it.

SHEETS: But others insist Stalin should remain where he is. Yasha Dzhugashvili is Stalin's great grandson and a young artist in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

Mr. YASHA DZHUGASHVILI (Great Grandson of Joseph Stalin): Joseph Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union. The capital of the Soviet Union was Moscow. So I think there is no reason to move his grave away from Moscow.

SHEETS: Yasha Dzhugashvili disagrees with the Russian lawmakers who argue that only czars and Russian nobles should be buried at the Kremlin. And, he said, Stalin's resting place there should be given even more prominence. While he ruled, Stalin's grip over the U.S.S.R. was spellbinding. And some Stalinists still revere him almost as a god. But currently, Stalin is buried alongside many lesser-ranking former communist officials.

Mr. DZHUGASHVILI: The Kremlin wasn't just a residence of the Russian czars, et cetera, et cetera - as a spiritual place where the Russian leaders are buried. I think that Stalin must be separated and a separate grave must be made of Stalin - a very special one, so the people can pay a respect to him.

SHEETS: But for many Georgians, especially younger people, Stalin was a ruthless killer whose name inspires fear. State Minister Giorgi Khaindrava says Stalin was Georgian only by ethnicity. And he notes that Stalin considered himself primarily Russian. Khaindrava doubts Russia will really dig Stalin up and hand him over to the Georgia. But, he says, if asked, Georgia will oblige.

State Minister GIORGI KHAINDRAVA (State Minister, Georgia): (Through Translator) Stalin is a purely Russian and Soviet phenomenon. But if Russia can't find two square meters in which to bury Stalin, we, as an Orthodox nation, will find somewhere to bury him.

SHEETS: It may surprise many people in the West, but even 53 years after Stalin's death, people in the former Soviet Union are still debating whether his reign was good or bad. That's reflected in the discussion over where Stalin's remains will finally be laid to rest.

Lawrence Sheets, NPR News Tbilisi, Georgia.

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