RLOPCUkraineBlog: Budapest and Moscow Have Figured It Out!

One of the highlights of my trip to Budapest was a trip outside the city to a place called Memento Park. This is an open-air museum that was created to house statues of the former Communist regime. Anyone who knows the history of Hungary, especially 1956, will understand that the era of Soviet rule was far from pretty. But other than tearing down a statue of Stalin in 1956 (and leaving his boots), there appears not to have been a slate of desecrating monuments from the ‘bad-old-days’. It was decided that these statues and reliefs would be best served as a museum of remembrance. Russia, as well, was left with many statues from the USSR days. Although there appears to be a Lenin still standing in most major cities (and perhaps towns as well), many of the older monuments have been removed. In Moscow Muzeom Park along the river is where you will find many of these far-from-forgotten characters.

Like my first day in St. Petersburg, my initial day in Moscow was spent walking and seeing the city. I started in Red Square, and what a mess! Unlike twenty-five years ago, when things were less touristy, I felt like I had the place all to myself. Not today, or ever again. I was immediately overwhelmed by the sight of dozens of tourists snapping pictures in the Revolution Square metro stop while Muscovites attempted to get on with their day. I finally made a dash for the stairs and emptied out in to Red Square where I was met with more tour groups and the closing of the square. Apparently, there was some sort of major event in the offing and Red Square was filled with tents, fencing, and more tour groups jostling for limited space. This is where I decided it was best to begin my trek down the Moscow River towards…who knows.

Peter the Great

As I strolled along the river, I noticed the constant construction. I’m guessing this is in anticipation of World Cup 2018, right around the corner. But it seems like the construction has been going on for years. Soviet buildings have been replaced by modern edifices and clean, new parks. I was drawn further down the river towards, what appeared to be an enormous statue of a man steering a boat. Yes, indeed, I had come upon the horrible statue of Peter the Great. Muscovites hate this monument for many reasons, the least of which is how ugly it is. It smacks of the Soviet/Russian predilection for gigantism. There is literally no purpose for this statue…except one thing, if I had not seen it I might have missed Muzeom Park.

Although I had head of YYYY Park, I didn’t know where it was located and I had not made solid plans to visit. But I seem to have come upon it at the perfect time; I was tired of walking and I found lots of benches and lush grass to sit upon. As I was sitting, chugging my water, I began to notice the statues. Hey, it looks like Lenin over there! No surprise as Lenin is still accepted here, if not venerated, over twenty-five years after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Hey, it's Lenin!

Then I saw the other heroes of the Soviet state: Marx, Engels, Brezhnev, and even Felix Derzhinsky. Yes, the same founder of the NKVD, who helped both Lenin and Stalin institute the organs of terror. Mixed in with the horrific Communist rabble, there were statues of poets, writers, and dissidents like Andrei Sakharov. As someone who loves history and photography, I had a field day at the park. I was taking pictures left, right, and center. I kept taking photos until I was just too hot and exhausted. When I sat down, I looked around and began to observe the locals. I saw office workers on their lunch breaks, bikers, skateboarders, parents with children, and other tourists. It was the things I didn’t see which struck me the most. Many of these statues were of quite horrible people; yes, there were even some Stalin statues. But no one seemed to mind. The statues blended in with the people’s daily life and seemed not to affect them. I didn’t see protests. There were no plaques designed to describe their crimes, real or imagined. It didn’t even appear that people were silently judging which statue offended them the most. Also, the statues were clear of any graffiti by those looking to grind an axe or two. And believe me, Russians have many axes to grind if they so choose. With all this going through my mind, I wondered why we can’t do something similar. Instead of erasing history for fear of offending others, why can’t we do like the Hungarians and the Russians: save the history, make a park, if you don’t like it…don’t go. Not a very revolutionary idea, but does it need to be?