Stalin's murders and the West

[davemarc]

From: <kevin at limits.org>

> One or two people have recently brought up the way the West (as in
> countries west of the old "Iron Curtain") tends to ignore the fact that
> Stalin killed 20 million Soviet citizens, at least it just doesn't get
> talked about as much as Hitler's comparable atrocities.  Stalin built
> gulags; Hitler built concentration camps, so what's the difference that
> makes the West build a museum in Washington, DC about one and not the
> other?
>
> The reasons are, of course, complicated, but I think the British comedian
> Eddie Izzard really cuts to the chase:  his explanation is that, in the
> perception of the West, Stalin killed his own people, whereas Hitler
> killed his neighbors.
>
Here's another reason for the difference:  The survivors of Nazi genocide
have made an unprecedented effort to keep the atrocities in the public
conscience and bring perpetrators to justice.  Many survivors also happen to
be politically active and dispersed around the world.  Furthermore, the many
nations directly affected by the Holocaust and World War II were also home
to most of the media of the Twentieth Century.  On top of that, there has
been a major effort in the West (not only by historians and bureaucrats but
by politicians and "the people") to document and otherwise "come to terms"
with the Holocaust.

d.