Stalin World

(John) This morning Sam and I headed out to the bus station intent on getting to Gruta Parka. On the way we stocked up with food and water at the Iki Supermarket, then bought our tickets for 30 Litas (12 CAN) each from a pleasant woman in a large efficient looking ticket office.
We found the bay our bus was to arrive in easily and sat down to wait. Within 10 minutes we had boarded the bus and managed to convey to the driver that we wanted to go to Gruta Parkas. Our ticket said Druskininkai which is large town close to our destination. We did not know if the bus went past Gruta Parkas or not but we had a hunch that it might.

The bus was swelteringly hot. The sun was beating on the windows, the doors were closed and I was sat in my seat sweating and wishing it was raining again. Ever since I bought an Umbrella in Krakow I have felt better about the rain. The bus driver eventually got us going and the temperature dipped a little. There were no openable windows and the air conditioning was not on. Broken presumably. All the passengers had drawn the curtains against the sun, so there was nothing to look at as we trundled along. After about 45 minutes, the woman behind me got up and spoke to the driver, he then got up and opened the vents in the roof. The rest of the 2 hour journey was perfectly comfortable. I was able to sneak a peak out of the window. I saw a flat landscape with lots of trees and the occasional lake. Pretty houses, a few farms and then all of a sudden, Sam said this is Grutas he's pulling over, so we hurriedly collected our belongings thanked the driver and stepped on to the road.

It was a gorgeous day. We had been dropped off at an intersection from where we just needed to walk 1 km to get to Gruta Parkas. We commented as we did so that it looked like Matlock in Manitoba. Tall trees and small wooden bungalows set in large yards. At the end of the road was a small shallow lake and the reason for our journey.

Gruta Parkas is unofficially known as Stalin World although most of the statues depict Lenin. It was built by Viliumas Malinauskas a wealthy mushroom farmer and exporter of mushroom products who by virtue of the fact that he did not ask for any state support won the right to display over 80 statues that had been discarded by the new republic of Lithuania. His proposal raised eyebrows as he wanted to recreate the experience of soviet life by bringing visitors in by cattle truck and essentially display the statues in an amusement park. To many this was distasteful and there were fears that his eccentric plan would dishonour the memories of the thousands and thousands of Lithuanians who had suffered and died at the hands of various communist dictators in the 20^th Century.

So we paid the 20 Litas (8 CAN) entry fee to see for ourselves. Sam and I were hoping for soviet era fairground rides and amusement arcades. We wanted to see how Lithuanians had fun 40 years ago. I particularly wanted to pick up some great souvenirs as I had read that there were some good items here.

As I said it was a gorgeous day. Not too hot, a few clouds and a slight breeze to take the edge off the sunshine and a delightful forest setting. Not exactly the ambiance I had in my mind for our trip back to those dark days. Still as we entered we had to go past a soldier at a soviet checkpoint. He was asleep and didn't even see us. The right of the path to the ticket office was lined with newspaper articles about the park and in a very open and honest way presented the controversy that was stirred when the park opened. To the left was a railway track on which stood a diesel engine and a cattle truck, no explanation, it was just there. As we entered we saw beautifully landscaped gardens adorned with statues of former soviet leaders and heroes. They all looked out of place in their garden setting amidst tall trees and next to pleasant wooden buildings. The statues were well described, as each came with an explanation in three languages, English, Russian and Lithuanian. There was no glorious story telling. The plaques described the men depicted in factual terms listing place of birth, rank, and a history of their political involvement and achievements and then ended with a comment such as -

“V. Lenin founded the first communist totalitarian state in the world. His ideas, supported by K. Marx's postulates were the fundamental of the communist theory for many years. He especially emphasized the importance of violence, the dictatorship of the proletariat. During the five years of governing he managed to demolish the aristocracy of Russia, lead the country to the creation of the totalitarian society. Seeking to deal with the opposition he formed concentration camps. Lenin paved the way for cruel activities of Stalin in the Soviet Union; he created the system, which gave necessary conditions for slaughter not only in Russia but in other countries as well.”

It was heavy stuff and there was lots to read for all eighty statues. In addition, the park had a number of large wooden bungalows stuffed with Soviet era memorabilia. There was propoganda in every form imaginable and a vast collection of coins, stamps and souvenirs.

So much as I wanted to have a good time at Stalin World it was really a pretty serious place. There was a really fun kids play area that had a lot of soviet area playground equipment. It was brightly painted and functional. There were a number of roundabouts to get dizzy on, slides, seesaws, (that's teeter totters for the North Americans) climbing frames and really cool swings. There were also balancing logs and a barbell. Next to the playground was a large number of cages full of birds and animals including three ostriches (or Emu's?), reindeer, many types of pigs, rabbits, foxes, a zebra and a sad looking bear. We were most amused by the ostriches (or Emu's?), particularly when one pooped right in front of us. Everyone should make it a goal in life to see an ostrich/Emu poop. It's unforgettable.

I'd hoped to buy some cool souvenirs, and there were some interesting but very breakable beer mugs with bolshevik slogans. I was hoping for a something like a reproduction of a 1980 Olympics tea towel, but everything I saw had pictures of either Lenin or Stalin on and after visiting Stalinworld, as well as the Stalin Museum in Georgia, the Warsaw uprising Museum in Poland and museums in Ukraine describing soviet atrocities committed in that country I just didn't have the stomach for it. In a press cutting I read that the owner of the park had been keen to honour his father who had spent ten years in a Soviet Gulag. It is hard to understand his intentions as the park is quite surreal. Both disturbing and lots of fun. Perhaps life in Soviet Lithuania was like that.

Eventually, after a few more turns on the roundabouts, we decided it was time to leave. We walked the kilometre back up to the main road, found the bus stop and discovered just one bus listed. It was the 16:44 and according to my watch, due in 30 seconds. Sure enough in 30 seconds we were on the bus and headed back to Vilnius.

Photos: Cottage Country, Lithuania; Watch tower: not as scary as I'd expected; 

When placed as if hiding behind a bush in front of the snack bar, these soldiers of the Soviet regime seem much less frightening.  Maybe that is the point of the Park.

More photos: Soviet swings- built to last; Lenin's Red Album, A Soviet Heroine whose name I don't remember; Lenin waving from the trees; Busts is the Woods; Mosaic Propaganda, Emu?; Zebra; Sam getting dizzy.