Russian Publisher Refuses to Withdraw Stalin Notebook From Schools _ World News _ Theguardian
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8/13/2019 Russian Publisher Refuses to Withdraw Stalin Notebook From Schools _ World News _ Theguardian
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Moscow pupils take a break on a toppled statue of Stalin in 1991. Liberals have been fighting against creeping
're-Stalinisation', such as the school notebook featuring the former dictator on its cover. Photograph: Dieter
Endlicher/Associated Press
A Russian publisher has refused to withdraw a notebook for schoolchildren featuring
the former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin on its cover.
Members of Russia's Public Chamber, a government oversight committee, and Moscow
city officials have criticised the notebook, which features Stalin in military regalia.
"Whatever you think of this person, no one can deny the fact that a lot of people were
killed under Stalin. If his face appears on a school notebook, this, in my opinion, is akin
to Hitler's swastika," said Sergei Volkov, a member of the Public Chamber.
Russian publisher refuses to withdraw Stalin notebook from schoolsOfficials criticise school notebook featuring former dictator on
cover as part of publisher's series of 20 'Great Russians'
Miriam Elder in Moscow
theguardian.com, Tuesday 3 April 2012 13.39 BST
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What's this?
The Stalin notebook. Photograph: alt-shop.biz
The notebook is part of a series of 20 "Great Russians" released by the Alt publishing
house. Other notebooks feature Ivan the Terrible, Vladimir Lenin and Yuri Gagarin, the
first man in space.
"Stalin is a criminal, a bloody tyrant," Viktor Kruglyakov, a member of the Moscow
Duma's education and youth committee, told NTV television. "If these notebooks end up
in schools, kids who don't yet know history can think: 'You can kill a lot of people, but
still be great'. It's very dangerous."
The publishers have defended the product as useful, popular and commercially
successful.
"The Public Chamber is not a legislative body and it expresses the personal opinion of its
representatives," Artyom Bilan, Alt's art director, told RIA Novosti news agency. "Their
opinion is in complete contrast with the majority of Russian citizens."
He cited the example of a nationwide television contest held four years ago, modelled on
the BBC's "Great Britons", that saw Stalin place third in a vote of Russia's greatest
historical figures behind medieval warrior prince Alexander Nevsky and Tsar Nicholas
II's prime minister, Pyotr Stolypin.
Liberal figures have been fighting against creeping "re-Stalinisation" in Russia. Three
years ago, a refurbished Moscow metro station was opened featuring a large quote from
the dictator. Last summer, members of the Communist party unveiled a bust of Stalin in
the central Russian city of Penza.
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