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For sale: Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

The legendary communist revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Lenin is for sale on Craigslist.

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For sale: Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

POSTED: Friday, January 11, 2013, 10:53 AM

The legendary communist revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Lenin is for sale on Craigslist.

Oleg Zeleniak, a Ukrainian-born businessman, is seeking buyers for the 15-foot statue of Lenin he recently won at an auction in Atlantic City. The imposing likeness had stood for seven years at the entrance to a Russian-themed restaurant at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino.

"Make me an offer which I won't decline...or just stop by and take a look yourself at this beautiful piece of art," Zeleniak says in his Craiglist pitch.

By phone, the Egg Harbor Township resident, 22, tells me he purchased the piece thinking it would make a good promotion for his Hammonton-based warehouse business. But Lenin proved too tall for the space.

"He is a part of history to me, just like Hitler and Napoleon, all those guys," says Zeleniak, who grew up after the Soviet Union Lenin is credited/blamed for founding had fallen to pieces, enabling Ukraine to become independent.

Regarding Lenin's significance, Zeleniak adds, "people can agree or disagree."

Indeed: conservative columnist Michelle Malkin, who grew up in Absecon, was among those assailing the "commie" statue after it was installed outside the Red Square restaurant in 2005.