Whippings and interrogations can now, at last, we are told, be purchased for about 35 euros at the theme park popularly known as Stalin World. Viliumas Malinauskus, the park’s founder, was awarded the 2001 Ig Nobel Peace Prize.
According to a January 22, 2008 Raw Story report, which includes a Reuters video report:
Soviet theme park features belt whippings, KGB interrogations
Mickey Mouse, roller coasters, and cotton candy typify the average theme park. But in one Lithuanian town, those amenities are exchanged for belt whippings and some good old fashioned KGB interrogation.
It’s called “Gulag tourism.” And Grutas Park offers visitors a journey back to 1984 to remind citizens what life was like under Soviet rule. Organizers believe that for those old enough to remember life in the Soviet Union, visiting the park can be therapeutic, filled with old memorabilia and humor….
After an amiable introduction, visitors are quickly transported back 25 years. They are ordered to stop smiling or thinking and are chased through an elaborate labyrinth of corridors. Any misstep can result in a violent encounter with angry KGB agents. All of the activity lasts two hours, costs more than 35 Euros, and takes place inside a bunker located in the woods.
(Thanks to investigator Julia Lunetta for bringing this to our attention.)