HZ Russia Stalin Calendars

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Yekaterinburg – 3 December 2018

1. Various of calendar with images and quotes of Stalin printed by group of enthusiasts in Yekaterinburg

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Yekaterinburg – 5 December 2018

2. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Anton Chekasin, Stalin Calendar co-Creator

"The images that we used in the calendar, they are not here by chance, they are unique symbols of that era and the modern (era). Here is the Vostok spacecraft, on which (first man in space, Yuri) Gagarin flew, this is the first jet aircraft that was invented in the 50s. This is the activity of Bolshevism in the past."

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Yekaterinburg – 3 December 2018

3. Close of paint being put into printer

4. Close of printing roller stopping at first page of calendar with Stalin reading (Russian): "Stalin: Address to Bolsheviks"

5. Close of printers printing

6. Mid of man monitoring printing process

7. Mid of man looking at printed page

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Yekaterinburg – 5 December 2018

8. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Anton Chekasin, Stalin Calendar co-Creator

"The demand for our calendar is growing, we are getting encouraging comments, moreover, wishes to expand the line, to produce pocket calendars, desk calendars, posters and so on. And the increasing number of copies that we print speaks for itself."

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Yekaterinburg – 3 December 2018

9. Various of printer printing calendar

10. Various of man arranging printed pages

11. Close of calendar pages

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Yekaterinburg – 5 December 2018

12. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Anton Chekasin, Stalin Calendar co-Creator

"We noticed a negative trend, the promotion of the personality cult of Stalin in our society. An ill-judged personality cult of Stalin. We understand that this will not lead to anything good. We want the attitude towards Stalin to be meaningful and conscious among the overwhelming majority of the population. That is why we included not only the portraits of the leader but also those quotes and those ideas that he expressed."

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Yekaterinburg – 3 December 2018

13. Various of calendar pages with quotes of Stalin

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Yekaterinburg – 5 December 2018

14. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Kirill Koritskiy, Stalin Calendar co-Creator

"Those ideals that are expressed in the quotes of Stalin, at least those that we are trying to choose, they, in our opinion, reflect the aspirations of the working majority. So, the more people read them, (the more) they realise, that yes, this is exactly what I want, and that is why the popularity (of the calendar) is growing."

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Yekaterinburg – 10 December 2018

15. Pan of Oksana Lyskova, citizen of Yekaterinburg who bought Stalin calendar, walking to her office desk, calendar on the wall

16. Tilt up of calendar on wall

17. Various of Lyskova at her desk with calendar at the background

18. Mid of calendar with Stalin on the wall in Lyskova's office

19. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Oksana Lyskova, Stalin Calendar fan

"The rise in (Stalin's) popularity, I believe, is a request in society. Looking at the mess, which is happening and getting stronger, people start to believe that under Stalin there was more order. Of course, many did not live in those times, there were some repressions there, something else, it is easy for us to judge now. But we still have the opinion that it was better then. And therefore people long for that time."

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Yekaterinburg – 3 December 2018

20. Mid of bookstore sales assistant holding calendar

21. Close of calendar pages being turned by sales assistant

22. Mid of calendars on sale in the bookstore including calendars of Vladimir Putin and former Russian emperors Nicholas II and Peter I

23. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Irina (surname not given), bookstore sales assistant:

"We have been selling calendars with Stalin for a few years now, which we don't like, we don't impose on anyone. We have calendars with birds, calendars with fish, we have calendars with artists, welcome, there is a big choice. There is a category of people for whom (Stalin's calendar) is popular. Moreover, in this calendar they included quotes from his speeches, which are very relevant to our time."

24.

Various of Stalin calendar among other calendars in bookstore

25. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Yuri (surname not given), bookstore visitor:

"Disregarding what kind of figure he (Stalin) was, he was a great man. That is he was a great personality in history. What else."

26. Various of Stalin calendar pages being turned over

27. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vladimir (surname not given), bookstore visitor:

"Even in light of the recent political events, we start to come back to the past and analyse, so what kind of person Stalin was, good or bad, and so these quotes start appearing, I think. Communist moods."

28. Various of calendar page

29. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Yulia Drogitskaya, bookstore visitor:

"My other grandfather was, unfortunately, repressed and died in 1937, so I have an ambivalent attitude, that's why I wouldn't put it (the calendar) on the wall, but maybe people who are older, pensioners, veterans, maybe they would, but I personally wouldn't."

30. Close of calendar page reading (Russian) "Socialism. Capitalism. Stalin"

31. Close of calendar page with portrait of Stalin

LEADIN

A calendar dedicated to former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin is gaining popularity ahead of the new year.

The 2019 edition is already sold out.

But the Communist leader remains a divisive figure in Russian society.

Joseph Stalin was the leader of the USSR between 1924 and 1953.

65 years after his death, the Communist dictator remains a divisive figure in Russian society.

Stalin enthusiasts and scholars can now treat themselves to a 2019 calendar filled with his images and quotes.

The yearly calendar is produced in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.

Already in its third edition, the calendar dedicated to the Soviet leader was first appeared on walls in 2017 and its circulation has been constantly increasing since.

The calendar creators call themselves Bolsheviks and claim they support the ideas of Bolshevism, namely the ideas of improving the quality of life for the working majority as opposed to the capitalist idea of increasing profit.

"The images that we used in the calendar, they are not here by chance, they are unique symbols of that era and the modern (era)," says Anton Chekasin, Calendar co-Creator.

Each page of the calendar has a portrait of Stalin, one of his quotes as well as images of achievements of the Soviet period.

Chekasin says demand for the calendar is growing.

The calendar for 2019, first produced in 2,500 copies, sold out so quickly that already a month before the New Year the second batch had to be printed, and it is possible that a third one will be needed, thus bringing the number of copies to 6 or 7 thousand.

"The demand for our calendar is growing, we are getting encouraging comments, moreover, wishes to expand the line, to produce pocket calendars, desk calendars, posters and so on. And increasing number of copies that we print speaks for itself," says Chekasin.

The calendar is a side project for a group of activists, working on it as a hobby in their free time.

Their aim is to restore Stalin's image.

"We noticed a negative trend, the promotion of the personality cult of Stalin in our society," says Chekasin.

"We want the attitude towards Stalin to be meaningful and conscious among the overwhelming majority of the population. That is why we included not only the portraits of the leader but also those quotes and those ideas that he expressed."

It includes quotes about decreasing prices and increasing salaries for workers, free education for all and shorter working days.

"Those ideals that are expressed in the quotes of Stalin, at least those that we are trying to choose, they, in our opinion, reflect the aspirations of the working majority. So, the more people read them, (the more) they realise, that yes, this is exactly what I want, and that is why the popularity (of the calendar) is growing," says Kirill Koritskiy, another member of the team producing the calendar.

Oksana Lyskova has a copy of the 2019 calendar on her office wall.

"Looking at the mess, which is happening and getting stronger, people start to believe that under Stalin there was more order.. And therefore people long for that time," she says.

She believes the calendar's popularity reflects a shift in Russian society.

The calendars are mainly distributed through social media, but some are sold in bookstores, where they take their place next to calendars dedicated to other prominent figures, such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and the former Russian emperors.

Each copy costs 500 rubles, or 7.5 US dollars.

Not everyone welcomes the return of the Stalin cult.

"My other grandfather was, unfortunately, repressed and died in 1937, so I have an ambivalent attitude, that's why I wouldn't put it (the calendar) on the wall," says Yulia Drogitskaya who is shopping at a bookshop.

Scholars estimate that under Stalin more than 1 million people were executed in political purges. Millions more died of harsh labor and cruel treatment in the vast gulag prison camp system, mass starvation in Ukraine and southern Russia and deportations of ethnic minorities.

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