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50 years after Stalin's death, two admirers carry on his legacy


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By John Metzler
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM

Friday, March 7, 2003

UNITED NATIONS Ñ ThereÕs a particular mirth in remembering March 5th, for it was on that day in 1953 Ñ a half century ago, that the seemingly immortal Marshall Josef Stalin died and people saw that despite this, the sun rose the next day. Millions mourned the passing of the ÒSun of MankindÓ one of the superlatives by which he was vaingloriously known, while many millions more were probably afraid even to crack a faint smile of contentment.

StalinÕs Russia defined the term totalitarianism in brute and singular way. Ironically somehow things could only get better for the long-suffering peoples of the Soviet Empire. If DanteÕs inferno had eight rings of Hell, Stalin could have created work brigades to dig yet deeper in his name! Many would have dutifully followed.

The cult of Stalin became a feature of Soviet Society Ñ when Stalin was demystified by the boorish thug Khruschev, the mask of total terror had forever fallen in Russia. Sadly it was eagerly embraced by political acolytes in places ranging from Romania, to North Korea, and Iraq. There are still ardent Stalinists in Russia who view the rulerÕs legacy as a heady mix of Marxism, ultra-nationalism, and self-pride.

Saddam Hussein was long an admirer of Stalin and letÕs not forget that while Saddam remains a populist Arab nationalist, the political roots of IraqÕs Baath Party are hard-line Socialism which meticulously copied StalinÕs methods and purges as a guide, and looked to the former Soviet Union for support.

As with Stalin constantly purging and murdering any hint of opposition even from within the communist ranks, Saddam equally came to power through show trials and purges.

According to author Simon Sebag Montefiore writing in the Financial Times, an obsession with the late Soviet dictator pervades SaddamÕs life; ÒThis is much more than a simplistic parallel, rather the deliberate reverence of a pupil for his historical master and prototype.Ó

ÒOn the 50th anniversary of his death, the two paramount threats to world peace today, Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong-il of North Korea, openly base themselves and their regimes on Stalin,Ó writes Montefiore.

Equally in North Korea, the late tyrant Kim Il-Sung combined the cult of leader worship with a bizarre mix of Marxist Monarchy and traditional Korean shaminism. The result--the frightening tyranny of the Democratic PeopleÕs Republic of Korea. As with StalinÕs three decade rule in Russia, the political deification of the dictator shows no bounds in either Iraq or North Korea.

StalinÕs achievement was saving Russia from the rule of his erstwhile ally Adolf Hitler. When Stalin and Hitler divided Poland between themselves in 1939 it was not long before the Soviets and Nazis were at war with each other. Then ÒUncle JoeÓ Stalin became an ally against Germany but predictably turned on the West by the end of WWII.

StalinÕs cult, like MaoÕs, exists in a surrealistic world where an intoxication with power, fear, and death makes many even in modern generations gloss over the graves of its victims. The political kitsch and cult adoration of people like Stalin, Mao and the two Kims of North Korea present what I call political pornography.

During the Hungarian Revolution, for example, one of the first tasks of the freedom fighters was to topple StalinÕs monolith statue in BudapestÕs HeroÕs Square. Confronting this form of political idolatry, the people first had to shatter the myth before fighting their temporal enemies. Fear after all had become the hallmark of StalinÕs rule.

In Hungary between 1945 and the Revolution in 1956, nearly every third adult was facing political proceedings! The situation eased a bit after StalinÕs death.

The brilliant chronicler Dr. Robert Conquest puts the combined number killed in Russia during StalinÕs reign at twenty million people.

The searingly poignant images of StalinÕs rule Ñ the famine, the purges, the deportations, the Gulag, the NKVD/KGB, all form part of a frightful testament of terror not only engulfing the Soviet Union but stretching to a crudely run communist colonial empire from the Baltic to the Black Sea. The empire has long crumbled, but there remain eager admirers in the wings.

John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He writes weekly for World Tribune.com.

Friday, March 7, 2002




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