... one seam, while the collar will have the shape of half a square." The newspaper spread is part of a small yet overwhelming exhibit at the Konyushenny Wing of the Yelagin Palace. Titled "Models of the Season 1927-53. Fashion Press From the Stalin Era," the collection — which occupies a single hall on the second floor of the building — provides for a captivating yet sobering journey through the lives of Russian women just before, during and after World War II. On show,...

... something more lethal. He could not share anything about what he experienced every day — his stress, his indecisions and eventually his nagging doubts about the Soviet system itself." These words belonged to a doctor who grew up during Josef Stalin's rule. When I first met her, she spoke only of her "happy childhood" and the fact that she was very fortunate that her parents were not alcoholic or abusive to her or her little brother. But over the years I have known her, she has become...

... "People were always trying to assassinate him, for example." Vinters said. Lurie, a St. Petersburg-based expert in Russian history and politics who also planned to speak at the conference, said that while Lenin had several strokes, he believes Josef Stalin may have finished him off with poison, a theory that Vinters said is a possibility. Lenin's health had been growing worse over time. In 1921, he forgot the words of a major speech, and he had to learn to speak again and write with his left hand...

... civil war. They frequently become very candid, speaking not as a Soviet with a foreigner but as a Russian to a Russian. Smirnov began to recall World War II, when he was a military prosecutor. He told me how he was instructed to report on a case to Stalin himself. He said he became so frightened that his legs were trembling and he could barely walk into Stalin's office. He said what made it especially dangerous was that he was going to recommend the case not be prosecuted. Stalin accepted the recommendation...

... Swedish businessman and diplomat who went to Hungary in 1944 to rescue the Jews of Budapest, bears all the hallmarks of a Greek tragedy. Young and idealistic, he fought one totalitarian regime — Nazism — only to fall victim to another — Stalinism — when he was arrested by Soviet forces in Hungary in January 1945. As such, his case seamlessly links the two defining events of the 20th century — the Holocaust and the Cold War. The full circumstances of his fate after July 23...

... Sadler has identified about 20 of them and gained an insight into previously unknown pages of World War II. "I've found a lot that hasn't been talked to us in schools here in the States," Sadler said. "It's just shocking. … Josef Stalin was just as vicious as Hitler in killing people, Russian citizens there." Two of the pictures in the album were taken inside a crowded church in the Tver region town of Rzhev and dated Dec. 10, 1941. "I found that in January, maybe three...

... was largely limited to the Black Hundreds and a few pogroms more than a century ago. In reality, of course, state-sponsored anti-­Semitism — including strict quotas on Jews in prominent university departments and professions — from the Stalin period to the end of the Soviet Union was universally condemned in the West. In particular, the United States passed the Jackson-Vanik amendment in 1974 as a sanction against the Soviet practice of limiting the rights of Jews to emigrate. But Medinsky's...

... agents,” said Yulia Latynina, a talk show host and Moscow Times columnist who spoke with Medinsky on Ekho Moskvy radio last week, according to comments on her blog. In one of his remarks related to culture, Medinsky complained that Josef “Stalin was good at ideology and brainwashing, but now everything is neglected.” Notably, Medinsky has been a member of a presidential commission to counter attempts to falsify Russian history since 2010. The commission was created by then-President...

... angry with his protege. After his second presidential term, Putin clearly wanted to retire from politics and enjoy the great wealth he reportedly amassed during his years in power. But he understood very well that every new Russian leader since Josef Stalin gained legitimacy by attacking and disgracing his predecessor. Putin, while not persecuting former President Boris Yeltsin, never missed an opportunity to criticize the lawless 1990s. He therefore feared that his own handpicked successor could...

... days when there were so many members of the Marxist family of legal systems. The Marxist socialists always insisted on the superiority of their model to provide economic growth and development. What used to be a big family that was fathered by Josef Stalin in the embers of World War II is now mostly extinct with the European branch having completely died off. There are only a few orphaned socialist legal systems with sharply divergent personalities left in the world, including misanthropic, isolated...

... With a jubilant smile, he tells of the time his division entered KÚnigsberg, modern-day Kaliningrad, chanting "Hitler kaput" as they passed a statue of Immanuel Kant that was missing an arm. "And then there was our reception in Moscow. Stalin ordered the whole division to be given 100 grams [of vodka], and we were showered with flowers," he said. Sixty-seven years since the war ended, the exploits of veterans such as Kolotushkin are still remembered countrywide at Victory Day celebrations...

... anniversary with a reception in central Moscow but otherwise says it allows itself no luxuries. In many ways, Pravda seems stuck in the past. A large bust of Lenin greets anyone entering the newspaper's offices. Busts of Karl Marx and Soviet dictator Josef Stalin rest on a cabinet behind the editor's desk. Marxist literature lines the walls. The newspaper does not look very different from in Soviet times, with the three Soviet medals it received still featuring prominently on the masthead under the slogan:...

... found expression within the constraints of Soviet ideology and later in the wildly liberating forces of the '80s and '90s. To this end, the curators, Irina Chmyreva, Yevgeny Berezner and Natalia Tarasova, divided the show into three sections: After Stalin, the Thaw, the Re-Emergence of the Personal Voice (1950s-1970s); Perestroika, Liberalization and Experimentation (1980s-2010); and The Young Generation (2009-2012). As Chmyreva writes in the catalog, "These exhibitions are the history of the...

... and marketing at the Hotel Baltschug Kempinski Moscow, said by e-mail. Premium Product Although the Radisson Royal is located farther from the Kremlin than most other five-star hotels, it possesses a unique selling point in that it occupies one of Stalin's famous Seven Sister skyscrapers: Henriksen said the hotel's history is a "big part of the draw" for both CIS businessmen and international travelers. Nonetheless, good service is what customers pay a premium price for, he said. Henriksen...

... Bernard Sucher about a quarter of an hour. Listing just a few of his current jobs takes Bernard Sucher about a quarter of an hour. Not only are there a lot of them, but they range across industries: from a board seat at MMK, a steelmaker founded under Stalin, to U.S.-based internet startups and a Moscow restaurant. The common thread is Sucher's two decades of experience in Russia. And the office of the financial expert, philanthropist and aspiring public servant bears witness to a life thousands of...

... Testosterone: Andrzej Saramonowicz’s comedy as staged by Mikhail Morskov. Pushkin Theater affiliate. May 25, 27 and 29, 7 p.m. The Girl and the Revolutionary (Devushka i Revolyutsioner): Igor Simonov’s play centers on a romantic encounter of Stalin and his future wife Nadezhda Alliluyeva. Vladimir Ageyev’s staging. Praktika. May 25, 7 and 9:30 p.m. New Alaska: (See Thurs. listing.) Teatr.doc. May 26 and 27, 8 p.m. New The Year I Was Not Born In: (See Sun. listing.) Chekhov Moscow Art...

... Dramatic Art. 7 p.m. Testosterone: Andrzej Saramonowicz’s comedy as staged by Mikhail Morskov. Pushkin Theater affiliate. 7 p.m. The Girl and the Revolutionary (Devushka i Revolyutsioner): Igor Simonov’s play centers on a romantic encounter of Stalin and his future wife Nadezhda Alliluyeva. Vladimir Ageyev’s staging. Praktika. 7 and 9:30 p.m. The Last Moons (Posledniye Luny): Rimas Tuminas’ staging based on Furio Bordon’s “Le Ultime Lune” and Harold Muller’s...