How the younger Russian generation views Lenin, Stalin, and Gorbachev?

Gil from Boston asked:

How the younger Russian generation views Lenin, Stalin, and Gorbachev?

Hello Gil!

First we must establish what ‘younger generation’ stands for. I am thirty; do I count? Let’s pretend I do.

"What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet"


Lenin.

I was born in 1984 so went to school in 1991 when USSR started dissolving. I wanted to be a pioneer, or at least a Little Octobrist.

From the books I’ve read in the childhood I knew I would be a good girl if I make into a pioneer. But I couldn’t even become a Little Octobrist! USSR went down before I went to school. No Octobrist pins were given away then. I had red pioneer tie at home but I couldn’t wear it proudly because first you have to give oath and be chosen from other children by almighty pioneer organization.

Pioneers were biggest friends of «Granddad Lenin». I had no relations with him. I’ve seen his body in Mausoleum once and was really scared. His face was greenish. I wish they’d buried him and stopped all this mausoleum thing.

Stalin.

I know him as a leader of USSR who was cruel and strict. Some people claim life was better then; I’m sure it wasn’t.

Gorbachev.

For he he is like some CEO of it-company. He came, he spoke about democratic values, he did some things right and others wrong… and he went away.

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This post is an answer to one of The Listserve replies I’ve got.
You can ask your question, too.

Lenin's monument (yet another one)

My earlier post says every Russian city has "Lenin's avenue", "Lenin's square" (probably the biggest one available) and "Lenin's street". This is still true. Also every city has a lot of Lenin's monuments.

This particular one stands on Lenin's square next to Finland railway station where Lenin returned to St. Pete after Switzerland.

Are there really many Lenin statues in Russia?

Yes sure. Many have been removed but still there are a lot.

First, nearly every city and town and village has its Lenin street or Lenin avenue or Lenin square or all three. On the Lenin square there must have been a certain monument. If the street have been renamed, it would be Center st. in most cases (Tsentral'naya).

Second, as many factories had Lenin statues they still do. These Lenins are smaller and cuter.

Third, there are a lot of mosaics in the underground. Here you see the mosaic picture in the hall of "Biblioteka imeni Lenina" ("The library named by Lenin") underground station in Moscow.

This is small bust of Lenin which is likely to see in many Russian apartments because they were very popular in Soviet times and people do not through them out. They were made from cast iron and are quite heavy. Some use them as paperweight.

I think people nowadays do not notice these things a lot. They just exist around them. So we actually don't think about huge amount of history pieces left after "father of workers".