Stalin Museum dedicated to Russia's dictator and psychopath, in Gori, Georgia.

We were on a day tour from Tbilisi to Mtskheta – Uplistsikhe and Gori returning back to Tbilisi. One of the highlights of the day was to see the museum dedicated to the life of Joseph Stalin, the war time leader, Communist dictator of Russia and mass exterminator of his fellow Russians. Stalin was born in Gori and hence the museum is located here. Tbilisi via Mtskheta to Gori is around 250 kms – Gori being North West of Tbilisi. 

Gori is a smallish town and the museum is in the main square. The museum opened around 1957, closed in 1989 after the downfall of the USSR and was subsequently re-opened recently as a tourist attraction.

Typical of Communist countries, the officials give instructions and speak less. So, other than telling us when the next tour would begin, there was no talk from the ticket counter grandma. We decided not to wait and went on our own, and had an incredible insight into what it must have been like in Stalin’s time.

The whole place exudes a glory to Stalin’s image. The main structure was built in 1951 is like a palazzo in Stalinist Gothic style. It was planned a museum of history of socialism but , after Stalin’s death in 1953, it became a memorial to him. 

 

A permanent exhibition about Stalin’s life and activities is presented in six large rooms:

• Materials of the first hall tell about Stalin’ s activities before and during the revolution.
• The second hall embraces the period of 1925-1939 of the Soviet history when the Party led by Stalin fought for the economic and cultural development of the country.
• 
  In the third hall, there are documentary photos of the period of World War II. It’s possible to see here photos taken at Teheran, Yalta, and Potsdam conferences.  One of the interesting photos of Stalin without retouch is exhibited. One of the stands is about Stalin’s private life.
• In the fourth hall, the sixth copy of Stalin’s death mask is placed between marble pillars (Author of the mask –sculptor M. Manizer). And here a canvas “Stalin in His Coffin” by a People’s painter of the USSR Japaridze is exhibited.
• Presents to Stalin are exhibited in the fifth hall of the museum.
• There are Stalin’s personal things and his study where he worked in 1918-1922 in the sixth hall.
• A separate room of the museum is devoted to the period of repressions. It’s existed since 2010.

The aggregate space of the museum complex is 3 529,7 sq.m. In the reserve stocks of the museum about 40 000 article exhibits, documents, canvases, and auxiliary materials are kept now. There is a scientific library in the museum.

 

Stalin’s was born in a small wooden hut – his father was a shoemaker. He lived in one room, the landlord lived in the second of the two ground floor property.

There are some interesting insights – the many times Stalin was caught, jailed, exiled and….escaped !! it shows his ingenuity as escaping from the Siberian jails was not easy. There is the model of Stalin’s country cottage where they had an illegal printing press which was deep down and accessible through a well and steps !! 

After handing over the ticket at the top of the stairs, you enter a vast hall which is actually split in open sections. The exhibits are around the walls and some sre standalone exhibits in the centre of the room. All exhibits have captions in Georgian and many have it in English also. The y start with his family tree and parental background and then proceed to his education and involvement with communist movement. There are photographs, personal family items, newspaper articles, paintings, and other displays from his lifetime.

As the exhibits upstairs are nearing the end, you gently climb down a circular stair case and see Stalin’s death mask. The political leadership of the time made 12 copies of his death mask, shortly after his death, and the one exhibited here is the 6^th copy. 

There are rooms filled with photographs of his involvement in the political movement of his time. Stalin was ruthless and he connived to get all his party colleagues executed on various charges. Not only this, he also felt threatened by his own family and had them killed. A true psychopath.

Joseph Stalin's regime caused the deaths of millions through executions, forced labour Gulag camps, famines (like the Holodomor), and mass deportations, with estimates varying widely from around 3.3 million officially recorded deaths (executions, Gulag, deportations) to much higher figures of 20 million or more when including famine victims, with some historians suggesting totals as high as 40-45 million deaths from terror, famine, and forced labour. 

The exact number is debated, but official archives reveal at least 800,000 executions, 1.5-1.7 million Gulag deaths, and hundreds of thousands more from forced resettlement.

 

 

Stalin’s Railway carriage is armour plated and weighs a humungous 83 tons. It was used by him from 1941 onwards and taken to the famous Yalta Conference and the Tehran Conference. After his death, it was shunted to the railway yards at Rostiv on the Don and only in 1985 was it sent to the museum.

The carriage is kept locked and only groups of visitors can see it – so, until a large enough group has formed, you just have to wait…patience is a key attitude needed in any Communist country. 

 

We spent quite some time in this museum as it revealed many unknown facts about Joseph Stalin. He was a dedicated Communist, married a few times, brilliant strategist as seen in the defence of Stalingrad against the Nazis in WW2, a maniac who killed off his family members and sent millions to the Gulag due to his political insecurities but still a man who united the vast country known as Russia into the USSR. The Man with the Iron Hand.