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From: berman@psuvax1.UUCP (Piotr Berman)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: "We will bury you." -Khruschev
Message-ID: <1920@psuvax1.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 9-Dec-85 23:38:27 EST
Article-I.D.: psuvax1.1920
Posted: Mon Dec  9 23:38:27 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 18-Dec-85 20:06:07 EST
References: <252@gargoyle.UUCP> <1951@akgua.UUCP> <1272@ames.UUCP> <13734@rochester.UUCP>
Organization: Pennsylvania State Univ.
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> > > 
> > > If the Soviets have murdered approximately 30 million
> > > of their own folks in the 68 years since the Revolution
> > > began
> > 
> > Almost all of them during Stalin's rule before World War II.  Note
> > that Khruschev was the one who revealed Stalin's crimes which, incidentally,
> > virtually destroyed the U.S. communist party.
> 
> Khruschev revealed Stalin's crimes to whom?  The Russian government?  The
> Russian people?  Do you for a moment believe either the people or the 
> government were unaware of what was going on under Stalin (communism)?
> Can 30 million people just die or vanish mysteriously and not raise questions?

Two points: 
a.  Solzhenitsin estimates 20 million victims, not a biased 
    pro-communist.  Let us not multiply the dead.

b.  One should notice that it is much easier to notice a single case
    of unjust death than 20 million.  Make a mental experiment: imagine
    that three of your friends vanished, then two others shown interest
    in their fate, only to vanish subsequently.  Repeat 100 times.
    Either you will vanish yourself, or you will learn not to notice
    anything.

c.  One should not diminish the courage of Khrushchev: being in the 
    ruling circle, his hands could not be very clean.  It would be
    much easier for him to rule in the way Brezhnev did, without
    any admition of any past "irregularities".  One may say that his
    was the only ethical act of the Soviet government.