Monument to Stalin - Prague

Stalin's monument has been replaced with many things, and all of them have been unable to change the fact that for seven years, a 50-meter high monument to the Soviet leader towered over all that passed. There are dark stories surrounding the statue. One news report listed the tragedies surrounding it: the death of the creator, model, and even the driver of the truck that paraded Stalin's massive, decapitated marble head through the streets of Prague after the monument's destruction. Some took these successive unfortunate events as bad omens, which only darkens the clouds hovering over the site where the monument once stood. One blogger rightly points out, however, that different people are going to have different views of Stalin, and these views will affect how they view a monument in his honor. Stalin is within living memory for many, but he is also far before the time of many. The monument is much greater of a controversy for those who lived under and remember Communist government and Stalin's rule.

When I began researching this monument, I expected to find a lot of articles discussing the stain it left on Prague--even after its demolition. I guessed correctly; there are many sources that condemn the statue as "evil" or "hated". However, these sources tend to be from outside of the Czech Republic. A contributor to one travel blog site seems to have a very strong opinion of the monument, but not once does he reference a conversation with a Prague local, whose opinion would be more relevant. Although outside opinions are key when researching how views of a man with such world importance are valid, there is a distinction to be made between opinions of Stalin and opinions of the former monument in his honor. People who view the monument as having left an ugly stain are probably more concerned with who it was commemorating. While reading an article from the New York Times, however, I saw a very different viewpoint. One man protested that monuments are history, and should be kept simply for that purpose (regardless of sour opinions of who they honor). In most sources I found, younger generations were not really concerned with the site or its history. Obviously, different generations are going to have wildly different views on a subject like this, but there is a point where they meet. Everyone in Prague, when planning to meet up at the site of the former monument, says "Meet at Stalin".