Welcome to Stalin World!

LONDON, Sept. 12, 2007 — -- Many dictatorships are based on cults of personality, and the Soviet Union was no exception. Communist literature, slogans, flags and badges were compulsory as were the thousands of statues of Lenin, Stalin and other communist leaders that stood in the town squares of its 15 member countries.

Lenin's portrait was nailed to the wall of every single classroom in my school in Lithuania, and I clearly remember the day I became a young communist, or pioneer. I had been a pioneer for only one year when the system collapsed and we children began to learn about the atrocities committed by the regime.

Almost 20 years have passed since the fall of the Soviet Union. The head of Lenin in my classroom in Lithuania has been changed to the coat of arms of a medieval knight on a horse and the sculptures of the communist leaders have been torn down just like Saddam Hussein's was in central Baghdad.

"We should not forget our history and people must understand what dictatorships are capable of and what tools they use to brainwash people," said Viliumas Malinauskas, a businessman and founder of the Soviet sculpture park in Lithuania, known as Grutas to locals, and Stalin World to foreigners.

This unique park is the new home to 86 original statues and countless flags, badges, books, uniforms and other Soviet memorabilia gathered from across Lithuania.

Stalin World at times feels like a bizarre exhibit of fallen "idols," removed from their pedestals and placed in a forest for people to gawk at. Communist propaganda blares from loudspeakers, and the barbed wire and watch towers on site are reminiscent of gulags in Siberia.

"The Soviet regime tried to get rid of intellectuals and forbade people to think for themselves," said Malinauskas, whose own father was exiled to Siberia. "This park tries to uncover the great communist propaganda and the truth that was behind compulsory literature, slogans and portraits of Lenin."

It was Malinauskas' late father that inspired him to create Stalin World almost 10 years ago. "I was looking for a tombstone for my father's grave when in a stone masons' workshop I saw the dismantled sculptures laying in the backyard in the puddles of water."

Malinauskas realized that after the collapse of the Soviet Union such monuments would be either sold abroad or destroyed. Most of them were already damaged, missing heads or feet.

"I went to see government officials and offered my own money to preserve and exhibit the statues," he said. "And the money issue was one of the main reasons why I won the competition."

A one-time wrestler and millionaire better known as a mushroom king of Lithuania, Malinauskas is a stocky man in his late 60s. Though he made his fortune in the mushroom and berry business, he longed to leave behind something that would impact future generations.

Malinauskas built Stalin World on his private estate in a reclaimed swamp in southern Lithuania. He keeps more unusual relics from the communist era, such as stuffed wild boar heads and deer horns, in the big house next to the park where he lives with his children and grandchildren. "The communist leaders loved to hunt and here are their trophies," laughed Malinauskas.

He spent $2.8 million of his own money creating Stalin World. With entry tickets costing about $3, Malinauskas isn't turning much of a profit.

Guests to Stalin World can admire Soviet era paintings and watch propaganda documentaries and films. Waitresses in the park's restaurant wear red pioneer scarves, similar to the ones I wore as a child. The menu includes Soviet specialities such as sprat (fish) "Russian style," "Nostalgia" bortsch and "Reminiscence" starch jelly.

Visitors may bump into "real" Stalins or Lenins at the park's yearly celebrations of "holidays of the socialist period," when statues come to life and the communist leaders (played by actors and look-alikes) make speeches, march in parades or just sit fishing by the pond.

Alina Taluntyte from Vilnius said she can still remember the statues in the streets of Lithuania. Stalin World's exhibits don't interest her much, but she always brings her friends from abroad here.

"My friends from the Republic of Georgia were fascinated," said Taluntyte. "Josef Dzhugashvili, aka Stalin, was actually Georgian and they were really sorry they didn't have a similar exposition in their homeland."

Georgian Nona Mamulashvili was another recent visitor. "This exhibition helps to throw light upon the real situation in the Soviet Union and to awaken the world to the true character of communism and the fatality of dictatorship," she said.

Not everyone in Lithuania is a fan. Some want to see Stalin World's statues destroyed and the park closed. They claim such a park glorifies the Soviet regime and disrespects the memory of the thousands killed and tortured.

Malinauskas disagrees. "This place reflects Lithuania's painful past that future generations shouldn't forget."