Slovak city finally withdraws Stalin's honorary citizenship
posted by zaina19 on November, 2007 as Imperialism
From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 10/27/2007 9:34 AM Slovak city finally withdraws Stalin's honorary citizenship
AFP - Friday, October 26 06:47 pm
BRATISLAVA (AFP) - Slovakia's second city, Kosice, has decided to strip Soviet dictator Stalin of his honorary citizenship more than 50 years after his death, an official told AFP Friday.
"Kosice councillors have decided to take back this title after a moral evaluation of the past," said city hall spokeswoman Jana Gerocova.
A similar motion in 2001 was not approved and even on this occasion some local lawmakers abstained from the vote, calling for a more exhaustive analysis of the cancellation.
Stalin was awarded the honour in 1947 in recognition of the Red Army's liberation of the city towards the end of World War II.
Czechoslovakia's first communist prime minister and president, Klement Gottwald, was also stripped of his honorary citizenship during the same council meeting Thursday.
Gottwald had received his honour in 1948, when the communists gained power and he became premier.
Ironically, Gottwald fell ill while attending the Soviet leader's Moscow funeral in 1953 and himself died just a few days later.
Slovakia was formed when former Czechoslovakia split in 1993.
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