Stalin's murders and the West

[Dave Monroe]

... well, do hope to reconcile us all to some extent on issues recently raised,
though I am kind of itching to get back to Pynchon ...

jporter wrote:

> > From: Dave Monroe <monroe at mpm.edu>
>
> >
> >it's surprising that more wasn't done, if
> > only for propaganda purposes, to document the atrocities of Stalin's regime.
> > Point of coldwar diplomacy?  The problem of the US's own skeletons in the
> > closet?  At any rate, there seems to be no end of documentation ongoing these
> > days, for example, not that I've done much more than flip through it, Stephane
> > Courtois, et al., The Black Book of Communism ...
> >
>
> This seems like an interesting resource, and I know you mentioned it
> earlier. I'd heard  a discussion of it (somewhere) that also included the
> possibility that a fear of being labeled a "McCarthy-ite" etc., along with
> an effort to protect the USSR by idealogues among the left, particularly in
> France, could have contributed to a less vigorous attempt to uncover and
> publicize atrocities in Stalin's regime. It's a complicated area. I do agree
> with davemarc that "the facts" as they continue to emerge regarding the
> fascist versions of crimes against humanity, in general, and The Holocaust,
> in particular, are due to alot of hard work and determination, to the credit
> of those involved, as well as, to the good fortune of being carried out in a
> more media rich and open society.
>
> If there is a link between the atrocities committed by the fascists and the
> communists, it would seem to involve a dangerous combination of
> anti-democratic forces fueled by some flawed vision or ideal, amenable to
> oversimplification.
>
> jody