Society & Politics
myReview 2 mo

I'm a conservative and visited two museums of Communists

I come from a pretty conservative family. My mother grew up in the Iron Curtain, so it's understandable that she would want to avoid visiting places associated with Communist leaders, especially Joseph Stalin. Myself, I'm a bit more open minded and going to Gori and not seeing the Stalin museum, is like going to Barcelona and not seeing the Sagrada Familia. Oh wait, I did exactly that. Never mind. But we'll get to Joseph Stalin later. Let's start with the house of another Communist, Nariman Narimanov, which I visited first.

Im a conservative and visited two museums of Communists
Im a conservative and visited two museums of Communists

My mother was more keen on visiting this one, as I didn't tell her it was associated with a Communist. I told her it, "the house of some Azerbaijani guy." Anyways, this wasn't exactly a place that was on my Tbilisi bucket list, not because of its association with a Communist, but simply because it doesn't look that interesting. But when you're a crazy person who condenses 6 days of site seeing into just 3, you end up in places like this.

I will say though, the museum, which was free by the way, was way more interesting in person and even better with a guide to explain everything, and I would definitely put it in your Tbilisi itinerary. Surprisingly, my mom wasn't put off when she found out the guy was a Communist. So, who was this man?

Im a conservative and visited two museums of Communists


Nariman Narimanov was a renowned Azerbaijani writer, medical practitioner, teacher, politician and Bolshevik revolutionary. Born in Tbilisi on April of 1870 to a family of middle-class merchants he had the privilege of studying in prominent schools in Georgia and Odessa. He translated many famous plays and literally works from the region into various languages, and some of his most prominent literally works advocated for the abandonment of quote "outdated customs" and religious superstitions. It's possible we have HIM to thank for Azeris being atheists. He would become the chairman of what would later become the Azerbaijan Communist party and serve as Azerbaijan's minister of foreign affairs. His exposure to peasant life as a teacher in Georgia is said to have fueled his political ideology. One of his most noteworthy accomplishments is Latinization of the Azerbaijani language, replacing Arabic and Cyrillic script. Narimanov lived out the remainder of his days in Soviet Russia and died in Moscow in 1925 and today he remains one of the few Communist statesmen still revered in Azerbaijan, as he is considered a "true supporter of Azerbaijan."

Im a conservative and visited two museums of Communists

Even though I am a Conservative, I found this man's story and accomplishments quite fascinating and admirable.

Now, on to the main event. Joseph Stalin, a completely different kind of Communist. Firstly, some brief background. In a small house in Gori, Georgia on the Winter Solstice of 1879 (though some say this claim was propaganda), a woman by the name of Ekaterine Geladze gave birth to Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili, who would later come to be known, as Joseph Stalin. Stalin was her third child and the only one to survive past infancy. The family lived on the first floor and on the ground floor, his father worked as a shoemaker. Young Stalin would spent the first 4 years of his life in this house, until him and his mother moved out to flee his father's abuse and alcoholism, after the family fell on hard times. Before he became the notorious Marxist dictator, he worked as a meteorologist in Tbilisi and even trained to become a priest at a seminary where he was a star choir boy. Now, THAT being said, I won't get too much into the actual contents of the museum or his entire life history, as this MyTake is more about the EXPERIENCE.

Stalins childhood home in Gori, Georgia
Stalin's childhood home in Gori, Georgia

My mom initially didn't wanna visit, but then ended up going, not wanting to be the odd one out in the tour group, and actually ended up enjoying it and finding it interesting and educational. I was the only one in our tour group however who was actually willing to pose for a picture with Stalin's statue. Like I said, I'm not a radical conservative. I will admit, one of the main reasons I visited is just because how much this place triggers people. But we did ask our tour guide and even some of our fellow tour members, why they wanted to see this place, and no one knew.

Stalin statue on museum grounds
Stalin statue on museum grounds

Anyways....

The museum has been accused of being more of a shrine to Stalin and ignoring his atrocities and oppressive policies, but the owners have always reiterated that the museum's goal is to focus on "Stalin the MAN", and how his early life would end up turning him into the future dictator. I completely respect this, as I also find it fascinating how these mass murderers used to be and what events in their life made them like this. Also, it was refreshing to learn about a different side of Stalin and learn about his family. I personally saw nothing wrong with this museum and found it crazy that people would get triggered simply by someone showing another side of a person. Now it used to be you needed to take a tour with one of THEIR guides, this is no longer the case, however you are still not allowed to take videos, my guess is and this is only a GUESS, that perhaps the guides tell people one sided propaganda to make him look good, but our guide from an independent company gave a very fair and non-biased presentation about him and his regime. Maybe the museum's guides are different, I don't know.

Painting depicting Stalins soft side
Painting depicting Stalin's soft side
Stalin liked Chess
Stalin liked Chess

What is certain, is that Stalin is still a complex issue in Georgia, even in Gori, with his statue even being removed from the town square at one point, which I was frankly upset about but my mom had different opinions. I had one tour guide tell me he gave no special treatment to Georgia or Georgians, despite having roots here, and then another tell me that he made Georgia very rich and he seemed very reminiscent of the Stalin days. I won't even get into conspiracy theories. The actual number of Stalin supporters in Georgia from what I was told is miniscule, but the amount of Stalin memorabilia that's sold, even outside of Gori is quite questionable. He seems to be the only dictator/mass murderer that is celebrated in this way, as, if not a national hero at the very least a national icon. It's like even if they hate him, they are still proud that he was one of theirs.

Young Stalin and his parents
Young Stalin and his parents

All that being said, I think that these kind of places are important. It's important to remember people like this and see both sides of them. And I believe this applies to everyday life as well. I think we should try better to understand why people are the way they are. Though I do find it a bit of a double standard that people or regimes that murder their own people, are less stigmatized then people and regimes who murdered other groups. This was probably the biggest takeaway I got from this. I cannot imagine Austria or Germany making a Hitler museum or selling Hitler magnets and swastikas, but some how selling and displaying Stalin memorabilia or hammer and cicles doesn't seem to trigger people. Definitely gives you something to think about.

In Georgia you can buy Stalin refrigerator magnets
In Georgia you can buy Stalin refrigerator magnets

One final note, I remember seeing his gifts from world leaders and the famous picture from the Yalta conference thinking, "people were flipping out over Trump meeting with Putin and Kim Jong Un", and here we have two Western leaders literally sitting next to a mass-murderer and no one cares. It's amazing how much our political culture has changed.

The famous Yalta Conference photo
The famous Yalta Conference photo
I'm a conservative and visited two museums of Communists
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