He praised Lenin and Stalin for their efforts to distribute the huge latifundia of Russia to landless peasants.

That same year Shostakovich was obliged to compose the cantata Song of the Forests, which praised Stalin as the "great gardener."

Asked if he had praised Stalin during his previous trip to the Soviet Union, Robeson replied, "I do not know."

LEAD: "We don't praise Stalin for killing millions of people.

He praises Stalin to the skies when others are listening.

What sparked concerns, he said, was the reinstatement of lyrics praising Stalin in the Moscow underground.

Five years ago, not long after he took office, Mr. Gorbachev used the occasion of the May 9 holiday to praise Stalin for his wartime role.

But we don't praise Stalin for killing millions of people.

Natasha asks Stalin to let her kiss him on the cheek, and they hug while prisoners praise Stalin in numerous languages.

It was as apt for the creation of a new art as for advertisements, as well suited to praising Stalin as to attacking Hitler.