Russia grapples with Josef Stalin’s legacy

A bust of Josef Stalin stands on the front lawn of a house-turned-museum in this small village, where the Soviet leader is said to have stayed the night on his only visit to the front during World War II.

Inside, the museum director, a sturdy woman armed with a wooden pointer, takes a group of preteen students around the two-room house where Stalin strategised with his generals in August 1943 as the Red Army battled to drive out the Nazi troops.

As Russia faces isolation abroad and deepening economic troubles at home, retelling an abridged account of triumphs past has become increasingly fashionable. President Vladimir Putin frequently cites the Soviet victory in World War II — Stalin’s most touted achievement — in vowing to stand up to the West and defend Russia’s interests.

“Of course, we have started to look at Stalin in a more favourable light,” said Sergei Zaborovsky, a tour operator with the Military Historical Society. “Why now Maybe it’s because the situation in the world isn’t the best.” After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Stalin’s legacy was kept alive by the Communist Party, whose members carried his portrait to rallies, extolled his modernisation policies and faithfully celebrated his birthday on December 21.