Stalin Was Not Alone

Ludwik Kowalski

In the 2008 book,  Hell on Earth: Brutality and Violence Under The Stalinist Regime, by retired physics professor Ludwik Kowalski, an important statement (or declaration) is made: "Stalin Was Not Alone."

Relevant excerpt:

"Yes, Stalin was not alone; it would be impossible to kill millions without an efficient social structure and without numerous collaborators. Why didn't the idea of having a trial of Red Terror criminals ever materialize in Russia? Even Yeltsin, the most radical reformer, but also a child of the old regime, failed to initiate public trials in Russia. In another section of his autobiography, [Yuri] Orlov describes a dilemma facing many Soviet intellectuals during the post-Stalinst period. They sympathized with those who were agitating for speedy democratic reforms but feared unpredictable negative consequences. His physicist friend, Kobzarev, for example, was afraid of “the dark instincts of the masses.” Many kinds of dark forces emerged from ruins of the collapsed empire and it is remarkable that people like Kobzarev were able to anticipate them. Stalin knew about dark forces and used them skillfully to destroy the “loveliest dreams on earth.” How long will it take to regenerate truly the loveliest dreams on earth in Russia?"

"Not long" would seem the obvious answer.

However, what of the power of faith or just the common good character and the decency of "average" Joes (not Stalin)?

Another (powerful) excerpt:

"The ruthless suppression of millions in the desolated camps would have meant nothing if the `others,' those who temporarily remained behind, did not learn the lesson. The rules of Stalin's game of terror were desperately crude and desperately simple. They told you about them as soon as you entered the compound: In order to survive you must work, and in order not to die from work you must know how to make others work. Hunger was the regime's other whip. A man of culture looking for food in rotten garbage would have certainly exclaimed `It took a million years to make a human being from the animal, but it takes less than a few weeks to reduce him to that status again.' ''

Are mass killings avoidable? Hitler's holocaust was based on racism; Stalin's slaughter was based on the concept of class struggle. Can we say that these two ideologies of intolerance are responsible for mass killings? Or should the tragedies be attributed to the evil nature of leaders? The two tyrants were not alone; it is impossible to kill millions without favorable social conditions. Can such conditions be identified? Can they be eliminated? How can this be done? I am not sure how to answer such questions. But I strongly believe that all occurrences of mass genocide should be analyzed and exposed, not hidden or forgotten."

It seems that the author (whose father in 1931 as a civil engineer and idealistic Polish communist, entered the Soviet Union, was arrested, sent to the gulag camp at Kolyma where he died) has much more to say on such things, too, as he has written another book, Tyranny to Freedom: Diary of a Former Stalinist.

Read more excerpts and comments here.

And be sure to follow (at least some of) the various links (as some of the discussions get fairly heated).

Both of the author's books are available directly from Wasteland Press (at much better prices than Amazon) here.

Some of the Amazon.com reviews seem helpful though, as these are surely not easy reads.