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Article: Fifty Years On, Russia Still Divided on Stalin, THE ST. PETERSBURG TIMES
- Article from:
- The St. Petersburg Times (Russia)
- Article date:
- March 7, 2003
- Author:
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As part of countrywide events to mark the 50th anniversary of Joseph
Stalin's
death on Wednesday, a group of about 40 mostly elderly people gathered
at the statue of Karl Marx on the grounds of Smolny to mark the occasion.
But, while the gathering was relatively small, a couple of polls released
this week indicate that the number of Russians who feel either positive
or ambivalent about the dictator's role in Russian history remains
high.
The speeches by officials at Wednesday's meeting and comments from
a
number of those present showed that, for some, questions of Stalin'
s repressions
or crimes are of little interest.
"Stalin was a great man and a great builder. He ...