[Smber]

The “difference” was that Hitler’s actions were primarily racial while Stalin’s were primarily political although there is plenty of overlap between the two. As for their victims, there was no difference.
It’s striking to continue to read how one is (rightfully) vilified - that being Hitler - and one is explained away - that being Stalin - by our leftist friends.
I am more convinced than ever that leftism (or progressivism) has NO moral compass; it exists only for the sake of power over the individual.

[Ditto]

I am more convinced than ever that leftism (or progressivism) has NO moral compass; it exists only for the sake of power over the individual.

Well said. And the most dangerous people on the planet are the Utopians whose foolish vanity that they can perfect society allows monsters like Hitler and Stalin to gain power.

[PzLdr]

Hitler killed you for what ypur birth certificate recorded for ethnicity or religion. Stalin killed you for what your W-2 recorded as occupation or profession.

[Skepolitic]

Marxism does indeed have a moral compass, but its true North is different from from ours.

Trotsky wrote an entire book on the topic: Their Morals and Ours, available online. Its bottom line:

A means can be justified only by its end. But the end in its turn needs to be justified, From the Marxist point of view, which expresses the historical interests of the proletariat, the end is justified if it leads to increasing the power of man over nature and to the abolition of the power of man over man.

Saul Alinsky, the intellectual mentor of Obama and Clinton, saw things from the same perspective. In Rules for Radicals, Alinsky writes:

That perennial question, “Does the end justify the means?” is meaningless as it stands; the real and only question regarding the ethics of means and ends is, and always has been, “Does this particular end justify this particular means?…The end is what you want, and the means is how you get it…The man of action views the issue of means and ends in pragmatic and strategic terms. He has no other problem; he thinks of his actual resources and the possibilities of various choices of action. He asks of ends only whether they are achievable and worth the cost; of means, only whether they will work.

The differences in morality arise from religion. Traditional European notions of morality arise of the Judeo-Christian religions. The morality of Marxism arises from a different source, perhaps most explicitly identified in Marx's own poetry:

“Till heart’s bewitched, till senses reel:

With Satan I have struck my deal.

He chalks the signs, beats time for me,

I play the death march fast and free.

-- Karl Marx, The Fiddler

The history of Marxism could well be described as a death march led by the Lord of the Flies.