The issue of historical heritage is very delicate, which must be treated in a civilized manner and without emotion. One of the controversial issues of historical ethics is the question of the burial of Lenin's body.
It would probably be unfair both to attribute all the victories of the state to one person, and to blame an individual for national tragedies.
Prehistory of the creation of the memorial
The totalitarian regime, to which most historians refer to the style of government in the Soviet Union, is based on ideology and needs symbols. In a developed economic society, there is no need to create additional motivation. In this kind of society, natural market mechanisms operate, on the basis of which a loyal society is formed.
The majority of the peasantry and the working class sympathized with Bolshevism, for the promised freedoms, rights, and most importantly, the land. In the minds of the masses, all innovations were firmly associated with the name of the leader of the proletarian revolution, Ulyanov-Lenin. Despite the fact that, starting in March 1923, the leader was practically removed from affairs due to his health condition, his popularity was constantly supported by members of the Politburo. Until his death, bulletins were published on his state of health, and the appearance of his active participation in the life of the country was created.
Initially, the question of preserving the body of the leader was considered at a meeting of the Politburo of the party at the suggestion of Stalin and was not supported by the majority of the participants in the plenum. But the will of the workers and ordinary members of the Bolshevik Party was initiated, in fact, the will of the people, to create a kind of symbol of the revolution in the form of an embalmed leader and a memorial complex in the form of a Mausoleum. The basis of a kind of Marxist religion was created, the place where the body was stored became a sacred place of worship.
What prevents Lenin's body from being buried today
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the question of Lenin's burial was especially acute, since the generation that grew up under the banner of communism was still quite influential and could create serious internal political problems.
Today, most statistical surveys show a rather calm attitude of the majority of respondents to the removal and burial of the sarcophagus, bordering on indifference. As a source of ideological inspiration for a small part of the population of Russia, the Mausoleum, of course, is no longer relevant. The issue is to comply with ethical, moral and human norms.
Opinions of opponents about the inadmissibility of the location of the actual cemetery in the center of the capital run up against the quite reasonable arguments of opponents of the removal of the body. The problem is that the pantheon on Red Square during the entire existence of the Union acquired the status of a kind of place of memory of the most worthy sons of Russia. The remains of many Russian autocrats are buried in the Kremlin. That is, if you eliminate the burials of the Soviet period, then an imbalance has been created in Russian history.
In addition, to take out and bury Lenin's body in secret, as Stalin was once carried out, would mean denying all the achievements of the Soviet Union. It is not possible to bury Lenin according to the Christian rite due to the ideological convictions of the latter.
Disputes about the removal and burial of Lenin's body are still being conducted at the highest level. Today Lenin's mummy has turned from a symbol of revolution into a means of manipulating the electorate to solve petty political goals. We have to admit that until a burial algorithm is developed that does not affect moral norms in relation to the historical past, the "ghost of communism" will continue to roam Europe.
Yuri Osipov, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, spoke about this best of all: "It is unacceptable to simply burn out history … If each new generation settles scores with the previous one, nothing good will come of it"
