Joseph Stalin and Mao Tse-tung were the most ruthless killers of their own people in the 20th Century, and perhaps in the entire history of mankind. They were responsible for the world’s deadliest holocausts—or the mass destruction of human beings—yet their victims have never been identified or honored. It is time for the silent voices of those who died to be heard, and for these human tragedies of epic proportions to be recognized fully.
The famous Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal once spoke about the duty owed by survivors of the Nazi Holocaust to Jews and non-Jews alike to insure that other holocausts did not occur again, and of course he was correct. Memorials have been erected to those who died at the hands of Adolf Hitler’s thugs. However, those noncombatants who were killed by Japan prior to and during World War II, and by the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot in Cambodia, and in Africa and elsewhere are forgotten.
Saddam Hussein’s brutality with respect to the Kurds and Iranians, and those Kuwaitis whose fate has only been determined recently in shallow Iraqi graves, pales beside that of Stalin who was Hussein’s hero. Aside from ordering the killing of those in the Soviet hierarchy, it is estimated that Stalin was responsible for the deaths of more than 30 million men, women and children—his own countrymen—including millions during the collectivization of the Soviet farms in the 1930s.
History has focused on Hitler’s rise to power during that period, and his atrocities in the Nazi death camps and on the battlefields of World War II. Memorials have been erected to the fallen of many nations that brought an end to his cherished dream of a “Thousand Year Reich,” and to the Jews who were persecuted and systematically killed by the Nazis. However, there are no memorials or tributes to those who perished under Stalin.
He was revered in the former Soviet Union for having defeated Hitler on his Eastern Front, and for the Red Army’s capture of Berlin—even though as the Soviets moved through Germany, they raped at least two million German women in what is now acknowledged as the largest case of mass rape in history. As the truth about him became known following his death, a program of “de-Stalinization” was implemented. However, never in the Soviet Union’s history were steps taken to honor fully those whose only crime was working on the land. They were peasant farmers, most of them, but they stood in the way of “progress,” Soviet-style. To increase agricultural production and to implement the multi-year plans that were being devised for their confiscated farms, which became state-owned lands, they were expendable—and liquidated.
For such a colossal crime to go “unnoticed” outside of the Soviet Union can only be explained by the gathering storm clouds of World War II, and the march of Germany and Japan, which focused the world’s attention elsewhere. China and other parts of Asia came under attack and were later occupied by Japan, while Hitler marched into Poland and then conquered Europe. Straddling the Atlantic and Pacific with Hitler in the East and Japan in the West, and still dealing with the Great Depression’s aftermath, the United States was preoccupied prior to World War II. Also, there was a strong sense of isolationism—that America was an island, bounded by the Atlantic and Pacific—which militated against our involvement in the Soviet Union’s “internal affairs.”
China’s Mao Tse-tung was directly responsible for an estimated 30-40 million deaths between 1958 and 1960, as a result of what Mao’s regime hailed as the “Great Leap Forward.” Like Stalin, Mao’s crimes involved Chinese peasants, many of whom died of hunger from man-made famines under collectivist orders that stripped them of all private possessions. The Communist Party forbade them even to cook food at home; private fires were outlawed; and their harvests were taken by the state. Those who dared to question Mao’s agricultural policies—which sought to maximize food output by dispossessing the nation’s most productive farmers—were tortured, sent to labor camps, or executed.
More than 60 million human beings are forgotten, seemingly having disappeared without a trace in the Soviet and Chinese Holocausts of the 20th Century, as if they never existed or were swallowed up by history. Yet they did exist, and they might have produced descendants numbering in the hundreds of millions today. One can only conjecture as to the contributions they would have made to mankind, which are forever lost like the contributions of those Jews, Gypsies and others who were killed in the Nazi Holocaust, and by Japan, and by Pol Pot, and in Africa.
Approximately 70 years have passed since this human tragedy of epic proportions occurred in the Soviet Union. Approximately 25 years have passed since the comparable tragedy occurred in China. It is time for the world to pay tribute to more than 60 million people who perished under Stalin and Mao. While the precise numbers of the victims may never been known, each of us has a duty to honor their memories and take steps to insure that holocausts do not occur anywhere again. China, Russia and the other former Soviet-bloc countries whose citizens numbered among the silent voices must take the lead, and other nations must join as well.
It is possible that relatives and people who knew those who died are still alive today, and can bear witness to what happened and give new meaning to their lives. However, the likelihood of that being true diminishes with each passing day, and it is a race against the clock before they too are gone—certainly in the case of those who might remember victims of the Soviet Holocaust. It is time for the silent voices to be heard again, so they are not forgotten, which would compound their catastrophic fate.
© 2010, Timothy D. Naegele
[1] Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass), the first black senator since Reconstruction after the U.S. Civil War. He practices law in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles with his firm, Timothy D. Naegele & Associates (www.naegele.com). He has an undergraduate degree in economics from UCLA, as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University. He is a member of the District of Columbia and California bars. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal. Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years. See, e.g., www.naegele.com/whats_new.html#articles
[2] This article was published first at MensNewsDaily.com on August 9, 2005. See http://www.naegele.com/documents/StalinMaoHolocausts.pdf
Because more than four years have passed, the number of relatives and other people who knew those who perished, and can bear witness to what happened and give new meaning to their lives, has continued to diminish. It is even more of a race against the clock before they are gone too, which would compound the catastrophic fate of those who were victims of Stalin’s Soviet Holocaust and Mao’s Chinese Holocaust.
Russia’s dictator-for-life Vladimir Putin is every bit as sinister and evil as Stalin, and it is unlikely that he will be of any help in such an effort.
The Rise Of Stalin!
See http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6241M820100305
None of this would be happening if Russia’s dictator-for-life Putin was not approving of it. One must never forget that Stalin was responsible for the deaths of more than 30 million men, women and children—his own countrymen—including millions during the collectivization of the Soviet farms in the 1930s.
Also, as the Soviets moved through Germany, they raped at least two million German women in what is now acknowledged as the largest case of mass rape in history.
I had a secretary who grew up in Berlin, and was a young girl when it happened. She said that she had seen things no human being should ever experience. Surely, there are Germans alive today who remember this, or have learned of such barbarism.
Putin is Stalin’s heir.
On a positive note, the head of Putin’s dominant United Russia faction in parliament strongly denounced plans to put up posters honoring Stalin:
See http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9EL40780&show_article=1; see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/the-silent-voices-of-stalin’s-soviet-holocaust-and-mao’s-chinese-holocaust/
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The Most Murderous Tyrant Of The 20th Century
Stalin’s daughter, Svetlana, lives in Richland Center, Wisconsin, a sleepy little dairy farming community of the American Midwest, spending more than half of her 84 years trying to escape the dark shadows of her past.
In a Daily Mail article, she states:
See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1268374/Still-running-Stalin-Tyrants-daughter-84-tells-tragic-life-escaping-legacy-new-home-sleepy-U-S-farming-town.html
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Both China And Russia Are America’s Enemies . . .
. . . although Russia is a “paper tiger,” and a mere shadow of the former Soviet Union—much less at the Evil Empire’s zenith, both economically and militarily.
Our real enemy in the world today is China, and its young military leaders believe this, as the New York Times notes in a fine article:
See http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/world/asia/12beijing.html?_r=2&hp=&pagewanted=all
One of hopefully-many rays of hope is Liu Xiaobo, who just won the Nobel Peace Prize. He was sentenced to eleven years in prison for putting his name to the “Charter 08” human-rights manifesto, which says that the Chinese people “see clearly that freedom, equality, and human rights are universal values.” On what grounds was he imprisoned, you ask? “Incitement to subvert state power.”
The Wall Street Journal’s excellent Bret Stephens writes:
See http://www.naegele.com/documents/BretStephens-FromAthenstoBeijing.pdf
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While USSR is consigned to history, China has become the apple of world’s eyes. China’s so called grandeur rests on the bones of 40 millions of their countrymen. There is no one in this world to shame the Chinese for this. A sure sign of ominous things to come. Prepare for more millions to die. Not necessarily Chinese. It could be Asian’s turn this time.
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Russian Despot Putin’s Repression Continues, While Obama Is Endorsed
In an article entitled, “Medvedev hints he and Putin won’t be 2012 rivals,” Reuters has reported:
See http://ca.news.yahoo.com/medvedev-hints-putin-wont-2012-rivals-213400461.html
It is not surprising that his lapdog, Medvedev, will not oppose Russia’s “Hitler,” Putin, in perpetuating his brutal de facto dictatorship. Hitler’s henchmen and those of Stalin did not oppose them either.
Similarly, it is not surprising that they would endorse and embrace Barack Obama, who was responsible for giving them the New START Treaty. George W. Bush withdrew from the ABM Treaty, which had expressly prevented major advances in missile defense. The next GOP administration must withdraw from the New START Treaty as soon as it comes to power.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-1137 and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-1147 (“Obama And His Democrats Did Not Get The Message—Their Ranks Need To Be Thinned Even More, Starting With Obama”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-1167 (“Russia Warns Against START Changes—So What?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-1182 (“Republicans Who Voted To Ratify START Should Be Defeated”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-1194 (“The New START Treaty Is Another Obama Travesty—Like ObamaCare—Which The Next GOP Administration Should Withdraw From Immediately”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-1245 and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-1397 (“WikiLeaks cables: US agrees to tell Russia Britain’s nuclear secrets”) and http://www.theotherrussia.org/2011/06/09/russia-nato-missile-defense-negotations-break-down/ (“Russia-NATO Missile Defense Negotations Break Down”)
In important testimony before Congress, former world chess champion and chairman of the United Civil Front—a pro-democracy group—and co-chair of the Russian Solidarity Movement, Garry Kasparov stated:
See http://www.theotherrussia.org/2011/06/19/kasparov-asks-congress-to-take-a-courageous-stand/ (“Kasparov to Congress: Take a Courageous Stand [And Stop Treating Vladimir Putin And Other Corrupt Russian Officials As Members Of An Actual Democracy]”) (emphasis added)
The Washington Post’s Fred Hiatt has added with respect to Kasparov:
See http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/garry-kasparov-has-a-suggestion/2011/06/17/AGPUyiYH_blog.html
The KGB lieutenant-colonel who became Russia’s ruler, Putin, must be tried, convicted for his many crimes globally, and terminated. His lackey, Medvedev, is also complicit; and he too must be tried, convicted and imprisoned, at the very least.
The West’s goal must be to bring down a Russia increasingly focused on domination and replace it with a democratic nation that lives at peace with the world—and this is true with respect to China as well.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/ (see also all of the footnotes and comments beneath the article and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/the-silent-voices-of-stalin’s-soviet-holocaust-and-mao’s-chinese-holocaust/#comment-900)
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China Salutes 90 Years Of Oppression
In a fine article about China that is worth reading entitled, “Chinese Party Marks Nine Decades,” the Wall Street Journal discusses what 90 years of communism has brought to the Chinese people and the world, and what the future may hold. It states in pertinent part the following:
See http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303763404576417503968123210.html
What the Journal’s article fails to emphasize is that China’s ruthless dictator Mao Tse-tung was directly responsible for an estimated 30-40 million deaths between 1958 and 1960, as a result of what his regime hailed as the “Great Leap Forward.” Like the Soviet Union’s equally-brutal dictator, Joseph Stalin, Mao’s crimes involved Chinese peasants, many of whom died of hunger from man-made famines under collectivist orders that stripped them of all private possessions.
Approximately 70 years have passed since this human tragedy of epic proportions occurred in the Soviet Union. Approximately 50 years have passed since the comparable tragedy occurred in China. It is time for the world to pay tribute to more than 60 million people who perished under Stalin and Mao.
While the precise numbers of the victims may never been known, each of us has a duty to honor their memories and take steps to insure that holocausts do not occur anywhere again. These victims are forgotten today, seemingly having disappeared without a trace and having been swallowed up by history, as if they never existed. This compounds the crime against humanity.
Just think of the contributions that the offspring of those who perished might have made to this world, whose numbers might be in the hundreds of millions today.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/the-silent-voices-of-stalin%E2%80%99s-soviet-holocaust-and-mao%E2%80%99s-chinese-holocaust/
The Journal’s article continues:
China is America’s enemy; and the United States’ and the West’s goal must be to bring down a China increasingly focused on domination, and replace it with a democratic nation that lives at peace with the world. The Chinese people have been oppressed and intimidated long enough, and they deserve nothing less. The same is true of the Russian people, who live under Putin’s barbarous regime—in a country where Stalin’s memory is being rehabilitated as well.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/ (see also the footnotes and comments beneath the article)
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Our real enemy is Israel. Gee, that was not so difficult to figure out, was it?
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Thank you, Jimmy, for your comment.
While I have disagreed with many things that Israel has done over the years, and I disagree vehemently with the policies of Netanyahu—and have expressed my views on these subjects perhaps ad nauseam—I do not believe that Israel or the Israeli people are our enemies.
I am not anti-Semitic; and I believed in its “David vs. Goliath,” “cat with nine lives” ability to survive when I was growing up. I have thought highly of former Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and even Ariel Sharon whom I came to like before his second stroke—and Rabin’s wife, Leah.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/israels-senseless-killings-and-war-with-iran (see also the footnotes and comments beneath the article)
While I would like to see Israel survive, I am not convinced that it will.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/israels-senseless-killings-and-war-with-iran/#comment-544 (“Why I Write And Say What I Do”); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/the-madness-of-benjamin-netanyahu/ (“The Madness Of Benjamin Netanyahu”)
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The Armenian Holocaust
In addition to those who died as a result of Hitler’s Nazi Holocaust, Stalin’s Soviet Holocaust, Mao’s Chinese Holocaust, and other holocausts through history—some of which are discussed above—the world must never forget about the Armenian Holocaust either.
It consisted of the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I, which resulted in an estimated 1-1.5 million deaths.
Those who died might have produced descendants numbering in the millions today. One can only conjecture as to the contributions they would have made to mankind, which are forever lost.
See, e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide; see also http://abcnews.go.com/International/turkey-freezes-relations-france-armenian-genocide-bill/story?id=15228910#.Tvj67hzWq1k (“Turkey Freezes Relations With France Over Armenian Genocide Bill“) and http://www.wsj.com/articles/one-hundred-years-later-a-bloodbath-haunts-turkey-1429695006 (“Consequences of Mass Killings of Ethnic Armenians Still Reverberate”—”One hundred years later, a bloodbath haunts Turkey”)
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WORLD WAR III [UPDATED]
Has it begun already?
Is this what Barack Obama’s betrayal of Ukraine thus far has given us? Will he go down in history as the Neville Chamberlain of our times, who handed Crimea, Ukraine and more to Russia’s Putin without a fight, like Hitler was appeased? Will Obama be viewed by history as a coward, a racist and a liar—and much much worse?
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-4422 (“BARACK OBAMA’S COWARDLY BETRAYAL OF UKRAINE”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/05/is-barack-obama-a-racist/ (“Is Barack Obama A Racist?”) and http://washingtonexaminer.com/poll-most-americans-believe-obama-lies-on-important-issues/article/2547367 (“Poll: Most Americans believe Obama lies on important issues”)
Both Drudge and Edward Lucas—writing for the UK’s Daily Mail—have raised the specter of World War III, having begun already with Putin’s aggression, like Hitler before him. Lucas states:
See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2605578/Edward-Lucas-I-hope-Im-wrong-historians-look-say-start-World-War-III.html (emphasis added); see also http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/04/17/jews-ordered-to-register-in-east-ukraine/7816951/ (“Jews ordered to register in east Ukraine“) and http://www.jpost.com/International/Odessa-Jewish-community-mulls-emergency-evacuation-351334 (“Odessa Jewish community mulls emergency evacuation“) and http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Ukrainian-Jews-form-defense-force-to-combat-anti-Semitic-attacks-351701 (“Ukrainian Jews form defense force to combat anti-Semitic attacks“)
Lucas is correct that the Cold War never ended. It merely morphed into a different form, with Putin becoming Stalin’s heir—or Hitler’s, take your pick.
What Lucas fails to recognize is that the United States is still the world’s only Superpower, and the most powerful nation on earth, both militarily and economically. It has a broad array of more than adequate “non-military” tools at its disposal to decimate a weak Russia economically, and bring the pygmy Putin to his knees.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-4010 and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-4452 (“Decimating Putin: America’s Financial Neutron Bomb”); see also http://watchdog.org/138940/solar-flare-emp/ (“Experts: Civilians not ready for EMP-caused blackout”)
War has begun. Russia must be dismembered; and Putin must be terminated.
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Russians to Putin: We Will Not Forget Stalin’s Crimes
In an article subtitled, “As Putin tries to paper over the atrocities of Stalinism, thousands of Russians are taking to the streets to say, ‘Never forget,’” the Daily Beast has reported:
See http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/11/03/russians-to-putin-we-won-t-forget-stalin-s-crimes.html (emphasis added)
The total number of people killed by Stalin and his goons were more than 30 million. As I have written:
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/the-silent-voices-of-stalin’s-soviet-holocaust-and-mao’s-chinese-holocaust/ (“The Silent Voices Of Stalin’s Soviet Holocaust And Mao’s Chinese Holocaust“)
The murderous Putin is every bit as sinister and evil as Stalin, Hitler and Mao.
He came to prominence as a KGB operative in East Germany—or the DDR, as it was known before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of Erich Honecker’s government—which was one of the most repressive regimes in the Soviet Union’s orbit, or the Evil Empire.
After its collapse, he and his cronies and thugs hijacked Russia’s incipient democracy, and have been exploiting it ever since. The Russians deserve better. He must be terminated or history will repeat itself.
The world must never forget that Putin left the Olympics in Beijing to launch his aggression against Georgia. Then, he left the Olympics in Sochi and launched his aggression against Crimea and the rest of Ukraine.
Also, the world must never forget that in addition to downing Malaysia Airlines Flight 17—and killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board—Putin killed Alexander Litvinenko and countless others.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/russias-putin-is-a-killer/#comment-7486 (“Putin Meets Economic Collapse With Purges, Broken Promises“)
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The Dark Side To China’s Campaign Against Official Graft
The Wall Street Journal has reported:
See http://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-anticorruption-drive-ensnares-the-lowly-and-rattles-families-1482248291 (“China’s Anticorruption Drive Ensnares the Lowly and Rattles Families“) (emphasis added; chart omitted)
Pursuing the “peasants” must send fear far and wide in China, since it is reminiscent of Mao Tse-tung’s “Great Leap Forward” between 1958 and 1960, when an estimated 30-40 million Chinese died.
Like Stalin in the USSR, Mao’s crimes involved Chinese peasants, many of whom died of hunger from man-made famines under collectivist orders that stripped them of all private possessions. The Communist Party forbade them even to cook food at home; private fires were outlawed; and their harvests were taken by the state.
Those who dared to question Mao’s agricultural policies—which sought to maximize food output by dispossessing the nation’s most productive farmers—were tortured, sent to labor camps, or executed.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/the-silent-voices-of-stalin’s-soviet-holocaust-and-mao’s-chinese-holocaust/ (“The Silent Voices Of Stalin’s Soviet Holocaust And Mao’s Chinese Holocaust“); see also https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/ (“China Is America’s Enemy: Make No Mistake About That“)
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Are The Russian People Crazy?
The Moscow Times has reported:
See https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/04/16/stalins-approval-rating-among-russians-hits-record-high-poll-a65245 (“Stalin’s Approval Rating Among Russians Hits Record High“) (emphasis added)
As stated in my article above:
Vladimir Putin is Stalin’s heir, and deserves a fate similar to that of Benito Mussolini.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/29/the-death-of-putin-and-russia-the-final-chapter-of-the-cold-war/ (“The Death Of Putin And Russia: The Final Chapter Of The Cold War“) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/20/the-real-russian-conspiracy-barack-obama-the-clintons-and-the-sale-of-americas-uranium-to-russias-killer-putin/ (“The Real Russian Conspiracy: Barack Obama, The Clintons, And The Sale Of America’s Uranium To Russia’s Killer Putin“)
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Ominous But Predictable
See https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/23/xi-follows-maos-footsteps-puts-himself-at-core-of-chinas-government (“In Mao’s footsteps: Xi Jinping puts himself at core of China’s government”)
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