Moscow’s fallen Felix Dzerzhinsky statue could be put back on his plinth
22 Feb 2021 EWR Online
The statue of police chief Felix Dzerzhinsky has been on display at an open-air exhibition of discarded Soviet monuments YURI KOCHETKOV/EPA
Residents will vote on whether to restore a statue of the first Soviet secret police chief, which had been toppled by pro-democracy protesters during the twilight of Communist rule.
The monument to “Iron” Felix Dzerzhinsky stood on Lubyanka Square in front of the KGB headquarters, which is now home to the FSB spy agency.
It was pulled down in August 1991 after a failed plot by Communist hardliners to oust Mikhail Gorbachev, the reformist Soviet leader. It will be put in the same spot if voters back the idea.
Dzerzhinsky founded the Cheka, a forerunner to the KGB, in 1917. The organisation’s agents killed tens of thousands of suspected “class enemies” during what became known as the Red Terror. He died in 1926.
The local Orthodox Church opposes the restoration of the Dzerzhinsky monument. "It would show historical amnesia," said Bishop Savva.
