Or colonisator's pure holocaust of natives indians... Conquistador's extermination of entire south-american tribes... and that's just those we know... ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Selvig" <selvig@earthlink.net> To: <zorn-list@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Monday, February 23, 2004 12:41 AM Subject: Re: I can't help myself
There's a pretty substantial body of Gulag survivors' accounts, of which Alexander Solzhenitsyn's "Gulag Archipelago" books are the most famous. As for Russians not being told nasty things about their own country, well, it stinks, but then how many Americans are taught about the Trail of Tears, or read Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, in which he's willing to let the Southerners keep their slaves in order to preserve the Union?
-Chris
At 07:34 PM 2/22/04, mod bohemian wrote:
I'm not so sure why first we have to rank historical atrocities and then accord the Holocaust top honors.<<
I'm no scholar in the area, but here is a guess. At the end of WWII, when some Jews miraculously survived, many (most? I don't know) moved to areas where they would not be punished for telling the truth. Therefore, we have more first-hand reports. I've read a few of them and physically became ill. Although I absolutely believe the accounts, I simply cannot fathom or begin to comprehend them. In my worst nightmares, I've never even dreamed about anything close to what those people witnessed and endured. What is almost as bad is that some of them are still being refused possessions for which they have proof of ownership. (Reference: "Pack of Thieves : How Hitler and Europe Plundered the Jews and Committed the Greatest Theft in History," by Richard Chesnoff)
In contrast, Stalin didn't keep his victims around very long before he killed them, so they're probably all dead and have no voice on earth. Also, although Kruschev understood Stalin's crimes, he didn't want the Soviet Union to look bad, so I imagine he kept a lot under wraps. Stalin even had 75% of his own personal staff (allegedly his most trusted advisors) murdered because he was so paranoid. It's also possible that any of his surviving victims were never allowed to leave Russia. Although the Soviet Union is no more, there are still some very stringent rules about emigration from Russia. A year-and-a-half ago, I spent some time in middle of the country and am completely appalled about what Russians haven't been told about the history of their country.
Thus, we simply know more about the particulars of what happened in Nazi Europe. However, I don't know that either Nazi or Stalin atrocities ranks above the other. Not that it makes any difference, but my great great grandfather emigrated from Germany in the late 1800s and left behind 7 or 8 siblings whose lives and descendants most likely perished as a result of Hitler's crimes.
Jennifer
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