Posted: Jan 15, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: January 15
Stanislav Voltman opened Stalin Doner in Moscow last week. After its first day, the fast-food restaurant was closed down by Moscow police, but he vows to reopen.(Corinne Seminoff/CBC)
Mariana Turkenich had heard about a new kebab shop named after Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, but she says actually seeing his face hanging over the sidewalk in her Moscow neighbourhood made her nauseous. I feel it s just as if you were in Berlin and had a Hitler doner or a Göring kebab or maybe a Dr. Mengele pita, said Turkenich, 43, as she took a photo to share on social media.
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Stalin’s supporters in Russia point to the Soviet Union’s rapid industrialization under his rule, saying harsh policies used to accelerate it were justified. They also cite the Soviet Union’s enormous contribution in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II as testament to Stalin’s credentials as a leader though critics say victory came despite errors by Stalin, not thanks to his role.
The result has been a slow but linear rehabilitation of the dictator, who today enjoys more widespread approval among Russians than at perhaps any time since his successor Nikita Khrushchev denounced his legacy in a fiery speech to the Soviet Politburo in 1956, ushering in a period known as destalinization.
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Stalin Doner
A Stalin-themed shawarma shop in Moscow was forced to close the day after it opened and sparked public outcry over its provocative branding featuring the dictator’s portrait and employees dressed in Soviet security service uniforms.