Calendar of Stalin's Crimes
In 2022, Polish Ambassador to Georgia Mariusz Maszkiewicz, during his speech at a conference on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, appealed to the Georgian authorities to close the Stalin Museum in Gori.
"Let us once again call for the closure of the Stalin Museum in Gori, which is a place glorifying the crimes of Stalinism. The museum should be transformed into a place that is a testimony of terror and not of glory". The ambassador's statement was widely echoed in Georgia and met with criticism from the Georgian authorities.
The attitude of Georgians towards the figure of Stalin is not clear-cut. A survey conducted in Georgia in 2021 indicated that 66% of Georgians surveyed saw Stalin as a wise leader who strengthened and enriched the Soviet Union, but despite this, 52% of respondents agreed that "Stalin was a tyrant, responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent people". Despite a law in Georgia prohibiting the display of symbols of the communist regime, new monuments to Stalin are appearing in public space, often on the initiative of local authorities. The figure of Stalin is also used by Russian disinformation directed against Western countries. Therefore, in cooperation with the Polish Embassy in Georgia and the association Soviet Past Research Laboratory, the Mieroszewski Centre has launched a social media campaign informing about the crimes of the Stalinist period in Poland and Georgia, of which Georgians are often unaware.
The campaign will run until the end of 2023. Posts will be published in three languages: Polish, Georgian and English.
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