Before doing any research for this trip there were two random places that I already knew about and was excited to visit, one of these was Gori. Gori is a small town in central Georgia, 90km west of Tbilisi (the capital). It’s unremarkable in every sense. So why did I know about it, and why on earth would I be excited to visit it? Most people who know me will know that I studied Russian and Soviet history at A level and it remains the period of history I’m most interested in. Gori is the hometown of Stalin - the most evil and insane world leader in history (in my opinion). What remains of his legacy in Gori is a museum, including his house and train carriage. The museum itself is a sort of museum in its own right (very meta I know). It was built in 1957 so the propaganda machine was in full swing, and its exhibits have not been altered since. Therefore it’s unbelievably biased. Interestingly, this fact isn’t acknowledged anywhere in the museum. If you didn’t have any knowledge of Stalin or the museum before entering, you’d leave it thinking Stalin was a phenomenal leader and a good man. Before we even dip into Stalin’s history, this brings up some interesting topics: should the museum be altered to reflect facts as we now view them, is there such thing as a fact when looking at history, is any museum truly unbiased, is the living propaganda this museum represents what makes it so interesting? I won’t try and answer these here, but what wonderful topics to debate! I will give my view on the state of the museum however. I believe the exhibits should be left as they are, but there should be a big disclosure as the beginning which explains that this museum was built in 1957 and the exhibits remain unchanged, stating that they show the level of propaganda prevalent in Soviet times. Such a disclosure did used to exist. In 2008, after the South Ossetia War (a region that is still occupied by Russia), a banner reading “This museum is a falsification of history. It is a typical example of Soviet propaganda and it attempts to legitimise the bloodiest regime in history.” was placed in the entrance hall. It was removed in 2017… I also think relevant statistics should be included alongside the exhibits, revealing the ‘true’ state of affairs at the time. For example, for the exhibit commenting on Stalin’s brilliant collectivisation policy there should be a note stating that it is estimated that 10 million peasant farmers were displaced, being executed, exiled to Siberia, or sent to labour camps during the policy. And that the resulting years saw a reduction in food production that led to the worst man-made famine to date, resulting in (at least) 6 million people dying of starvation and people resorting to cannibalism. (This includes the Holodomor famine in Ukraine, which is considered by some as a genocide - I’d really recommend looking it up if you’re interested). Just a few little details like that…
I personally enjoyed commenting on these missing pieces as I read the biased exhibits, either in my head or to my travel companion (poor them!). It reminded me of why I love Russian and Soviet history so much (it’s just so insane in both scale and horror) and it brought back a lot of my knowledge from A level days. I was prepared for the biased state of the museum, but I was still surprised by the fact it didn’t mention the infamous Great Purge at all! It was as if the high profile trials and executions of party members, the arrest of 1.3 million people in 1937, and the execution of at least 700,000 of them didn’t happen.
Pictured: Stalin’s house; Stalin’s train carriage; statue of Stalin; embroidary of Stalin and Lenin (I always preferred Lenin!).
Beyond the museum, Gori really had nothing to offer. But for me, climbing up to the fort and looking out at this unremarkable, ugly place, I felt real awe. Both in the historical sense and a personal one. Stalin had grown up here, he’d walked these streets and important events in his life had occurred here. He lost function in his left arm for life when he was hit by a cart, preventing him being conscripted in the first world war where he likely would have died on the front line. How different history would have been if that accident hadn’t happened! On a personal level, I first heard about this town when I was 17, with no idea I’d ever visit in person. I’d been listening to a podcast which mentioned it just before I left on this trip, this time knowing I’d visit and imagining my future self there. It felt so strange to actually be here.
Gori is not a nice place to visit. If you don’t have a burning interest in Stalin don’t bother going!
Logisitics if you would like to visit: Catch a marshrutka from Tbilisi to Gori.