From a Reuters story that appeared Nov. 11 in The New York Times:
The "Hero City" of Stalingrad has been renamed Volgograd, the Soviet Communist Party newspaper Pravda reported today.
The move was the third name change of a Soviet city named for Stalin since the sweeping "de-Stalinization" program of Premier Khrushchev was stepped up last month.
The huge steel city of Stalinsk in southern Siberia reverted today to its old name of Novokuznetsk and the Ukrainian mining city of Stalino was renamed Donetsk yesterday.
Last Wednesday the Mayor of Stalingrad, which earned the status of "Hero City" because of its defeat of Nazi Armies in World War II, said the proposals had been made to change the city's name.
Pravda reported the Stalingrad name change in a decree issued today by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (Parliament) of the Russian Republic.
Cities in the Soviet Union still carrying the former Soviet leader's name include Stalinabad, capital of the Tadzhik Republic; Stalinogorsk, in central European Russia; and Staliniri, in the Georgian Republic.
The highest mountain in the Soviet Union, a 24,590-foot peak in the Pamirs, is also named for Stalin.
Note: The photo is of "The Motherland" statue commemorating World War II's Battle of Stalingrad. It was completed in 1967.
* Volgograd website: @
* "The High Cost of Forgetting Stalin" (Life magazine, November 17, 1961): @
No comments:
Post a Comment