Some residents of Zaporizhia are rescuing from disgrace the city’s name

A poster with an image of Stalin and the caption reading “I have killed millions of Ukrainians! What have you done to deserve a monument?” appeared in Zaporizhia on January 12. This is another response of the Subbota+ newspaper reporters to the erection of a monument to Uncle Joe by his local followers. The journalists had already placed a huge caricature poster in the city at the end of 2011, depicting Hitler making a helpless gesture with his hands and asking: “In what way am I less deserving a monument than Stalin is?” That poster disappeared very soon, though. What will be the fate of the latest poster, we will see.

This is the second decent reaction to the Stalin monument. How did the people perceive it?

“I had said immediately after our first attempt that it was not a one-off event. This is not a PR stunt; it is my and community activists’ position. Developing these posters, producing and placing them constitute our joint effort.”

The Hitler poster disappeared very soon.

“Yes, it did, and our latest Stalin poster may suffer similar fate. It is still out there, though [our conversation took place on January 12 in the evening. – Author]. A lot of militia and the Security Service plainclothesmen appeared at once there. They could not find any specific breach of the law. They just kept saying it was in breach of the law, but when I asked them what law it was violating, they had no answer. When the television cameras arrived, the militia refused to comment and quickly fled the scene.

Such a reaction from the government was certainly expected, so it was not at all surprising for me. They may protect Yanukovych’s propaganda posters with SWAT teams, but they do nothing to protect expression of public opinion. This is so because we are not building a democratic state. Our ruling elite are building a totalitarian society, and therefore they protect the totalitarian symbols. They support them and oppress in various ways activists who oppose the totalitarianism.

Of course, it is a far cry from Stalin’s methods, but we see the makings of it already... I think the Ukrainian society will not allow it to succeed.”

By the way, what is the society’s perception of your initiative?

“The first time, when we placed a caricature of Hitler, some people were disgusted with it, but everything is clearly understood in the Stalin poster case. We have had only positive feedback so far.”

The Day has declared 2012 the Sandarmokh List Year. What have you heard about it and how you feel about this initiative?

“My anti-Stalinism is a long-standing position. I cover it regularly in my newspaper. As for The Day’s initiative, you have my full support. We must remember all the victims of persecutions lest the history repeat itself, and to honor everybody of them. I personally can only welcome such marking of the anniversary. We must remember these dates.”

I think the journalists have a problem communicating with each other.

“Of course we have. Our union does not perform as it ought to. Publications themselves are more of a problem, though. I am lucky to be the owner and editor as well. My newspaper is a family business. However, in many cases the media are not controlled by Ukrainian patriots. Therefore, they are not interested in historical events. Moreover, they interfere with initiatives such as our and your ones. But I think they will find it very difficult to carry out illegal hostile takeover of smart businesses. For example, should they seize one of my properties, I would be able to move to another one and continue my work.”