European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 23, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Lives m a a u it Ftp by Steven Erlanger the new York times if the american culture of the 1980s was rambo and the Bonfire of the vanities in the former soviet Union they were still building the most extraordinary lavish temples to the cult of Lenin fatherly revolutionary and civic Saint. Old posters show Lenin striding off into the future with the Banner of the communist party of the soviet Union behind him Reading Quot cps. Even now Lenin is More alive than All the  but Wilh the communist party gone what can be done with the cult a not merely the preserved body but the millions of dollars of Leni Nilia All Over the former Empire in Krasnoyarsk a siberian City of about 1 million people that was closed to foreigners until last june is one of the newest and most extravagant of the 39 Lenin museums. All of them until the failure of the August coup were paid for by the communist party subservient to its version of history and run As branches of the Central Lenin museum in Moscow. Stretching Over 3 i floors of polished Granite and Glass Wood and Fine carpet with Light shows a multimedia video room Chrome and velvet document cases and life size three dimensional electronic dioramas Krasnoyarsk s Lenin museum and cultural Center was opened in 1987. What is stunning in a country where everything can seem unfinished and badly maintained is the simple Quality of the materials the workmanship and the design which Are up to the Best Western standards. Document cases have pillows for one s Elbow. Sliding Glass displays for original newspapers have perfect balance and fit. The current director of the Krasnoyarsk museum Vladimir s. Of Ilyasov says there Are More than 1 v5 Miles of exhibits but he has no idea of what it All Cost. The director of the Central Lenin museum in Moscow Vladimir e. Melnichenko says he has no idea of the Cost either. His Deputy Tatyana g. Koloskova said simply Quot they were obviously expensive particularly the newest ones which were the fruit of the most advanced technological ideas in lighting and design Quot now of course there is some embarrassment about the museum Quot said Aleksandr m. Izrailevsky a former philosophy professor who is a full time adviser to Krasnoyarsk s mayor. In a Way he said it Marks a Peak of the Lenin cult before glasnost and perestroika raised fundamental questions about soviet history and the system itself collapsed. The exhibits display a confusion of history and Hagiography. There is for instance a famous photograph of Lenin and his wife on a Bench while he tried to recover from a stroke in 1922. Next to it is the camera belonging to Lenin s sister that took the picture. On closer examination however the camera is Only a Holograph an image of the sacred object that took the holy image. Quot these were the temples of ideology Quot said Koloskova of the Central Lenin museum. Quot these Are the monuments of the extensive Len ionization of the country and what is even More important they Are the memorials of the culture of the 1980s.&Quot thus she argues they should remain intact. Others Are less sure and Koloskova s director Melnichenko said control Over the branches had now devolved to local governments. Most of them a As in Krasnoyarsk and Kazan in tatars an which also has a lavish new Lenin museum a have changed the names of the buildings to the local Center of culture and history. But the ownership of the Lenin exhibitions remains unclear Melnichenko said. And while no Branch museum is throwing anything away he said Quot some of them have closed As museums and in some of them the space devoted to Lenin has  still people continue to visit these museums though often now for cultural reasons because of an Art exhibition or concert or to acquaint their children with the past he said. The Krasnoyarsk museum though it covers Lenin s entire life concentrates on his time in exile in Siberia beginning in 1897, which he began by ship from Krasnoyarsk. One diorama shows his bedroom a Lenin was a twin bed two Pillow Man a and another life size pictures the smiling patriarch being let out of a Sleigh outside the City. Push a Button and a wind begin to blow waving the grasses and sending a chill burst toward the visitor. But the third floor is now half devoted to the history and geographical characteristics of the Krasnoyarsk territory a Region larger than Europe. And on a Mezzanine is a moving memorial draped in Black cloth to the 30 Young men from Krasnoyarsk who died fighting in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. For each of the dead there is a display Case for family photos medals and letters Home. Sgt. Andrei v. Volkov born aug. 6, 1963, and killed in action on May 12, 1984, is remembered by a poem he wrote Home to his parents. The first stanza read i Damn Washington Andi Damn this Mother this motherland son killer which sent her sons As mercenaries to fight. 20 stripes Magazine april 23, 1992