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These Photos Show Lithuania's Strange Theme Park Dedicated to Stalin

Get your Stalin selfie at Stalinworld.
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By 

Photo Fellow, The Huffington Post

Known by its unofficial nicknames Stalinworld, Stalin’s World, and Stalinland,  Grūtas Park in southern Lithuania has sometimes been compared to a Communist Disneyland.

Grūtas was founded by mushroom tycoon Viliumas Malinauskas in 2001. The two-mile park is landscaped in the style of a mock gulag and boasts a sculpture exhibition featuring 86 Soviet statues rented by the Lithuanian government, a mini-zoo, a playground, museum and restaurant. The park sees 200,000 visitors annually.

According to its website, Grūtas aims to “provide an opportunity for Lithuanian people, visitors coming to our country, as well as future generations to see the naked Soviet ideology which suppressed and hurt the spirit of our nation for decades.”

Take a look inside this unique park, and the way its visitors participate in the reframing of their tumultuous Soviet past. 

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A family awkwardly poses for a photo by a large Soviet soldier statue.
Riley Arthur
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The snack bar is fitted out off an old Soviet train.
Riley Arthur
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One of the many watch towers decorating the perimeter of the park.
Riley Arthur
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Lighters with famous Soviet propaganda imagery are popular items in the gift shop.
Riley Arthur
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This bear symbolized the Soviet Union during WWII. There are three bears living at the park.
Riley Arthur
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Mother and daughter playfully pose atop Lenin's head.
Riley Arthur

 

Take a look at more photos of the park: 

Stalinworld'
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A woman tans under the watchful eye of Lenin. (credit:Riley Arthur)
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An albino emu peers out of the fence in front of Viliumas Malinauskas' mansion at the entrance of the park. (credit:Riley Arthur)
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Busts of influential Soviet figures including Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and Josef Stalin. (credit:Riley Arthur)
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A couple takes iPhone pictures beside a Lenin bust. (credit:Riley Arthur)
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Soviet propaganda posters and tapestries in the park museum. (credit:Riley Arthur)
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The forest encroaches onto a statue. (credit:Riley Arthur)
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A man poses in front of a mock theatre in the museum reading room. (credit:Riley Arthur)
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Statues of famous male Soviet leaders dominate the sculpture garden, but a limited number of female monuments occupy the park. (credit:Riley Arthur)
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Father and son pose for a picture. (credit:Riley Arthur)
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There is only one full sized Stalin in "Stalinworld." (credit:Riley Arthur)
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A llama grazes beside statues at the entrance to the park. (credit:Riley Arthur)
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A girl catches herself from falling after bouncing on Lenin's head. (credit:Riley Arthur)
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Some of the statues were damaged during the chaos following the collapse of the Soviet Union. (credit:Riley Arthur)
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Old artillery is painted to keep from rusting. (credit:Riley Arthur)

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