Posted on 03/04/2005 1:13:47 PM PST by Grzegorz 246
That man was a monster, and he's burning in hell as we speak.
I read that Putin's grandfather headed Stalin's security detail. Is that true?
....The Soviet Union was nearly destroyed by Hitler because of Stalin, not in spite of him....
History says otherwise. Hitler betrayed Stalin and looked to Russia as Reich expansion area. Stalin stopped him. It took while for the inertia to develop, but it did at Stalin's hand. To deny it is to deny historical realities.
The current thread was to discuss the Russian view. American views to the contrary are not really gerane to the thread.
You have a point. The book of the Revelation in Greek
is referred to as the "apocalypse of John". Apocalyptic
biblical literature (and there is some in the Old
Testament but it has never been accepted by normative
Judaism) generally has the theme of impending doom,
catastrophe, and ultimate divine intervention. Since most
apocalyptic writings were done in times of persecution
it commonly employed bizarre imagery, symbolism, metaphor.
It was assumed that the faithful would know what all these
literary allusions were -- but NOT the persecutors. Thus,
Revelation was composed at the time Domitian was
persecuting Christians c. 96 A.D. Some references we
can readily grasp. Obviously the frequent use of the
number "seven" referred to Rome - the city of "the seven
hills". In any case what happened with Communism can
certainly be considered "apocalyptic".
Or "Bablylon the Great"...
They're of the opinion that absent Stalin, their parents and grandparents would've been sent to death camps by Hitler's lads.
come on! the krauts ran out of gas at the front door and it was friggin' freezing and no supplies! Please.!
Ancient Babylon was located on the east bank of the
Euphrates -- present day Iraq! When the ancient Jews
were held captive by the Babylonians the scripture
tells us that "we sat by the waters of Babylon and wept".
The "tower of Babel" that was built there is a biblical
story that illustrates the sin of pride and human
arrogance. The Babylonian empire fell in due time to
the Persians (now Iranians! - who are not Arabs). Perhaps
if we carry the historical metaphor into the present we
can call Sadam, Nebuchchadnezzer -- but without his
ability or civilizing inclination.
Its not like they've been getting a proper education on Stalin over there
If he had such a positive influence on Russia, how come his daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva defected to the West in the 60's?
And the Russian viewpoint is totally skewed in the direction of what Stalin wanted his people to know, not what actually happened. Why would you want to grant any credence to propaganda?
Stalin was about as brilliant a military leader as Hitler. The only reason the fighting was so brutal was because the armies were very tenacious, not because the leaders of their countries had any clue how to run a military campaign.
Stalin was a thug and a delusional maniac. He casually signed off on the deaths of millions of his own people throughout his reign. I can't believe you would defend his "greatness."
And some of those camps held US soldiers after WWII.
But I have seen Stalin defended here by our Jewish contingent because he is credited with beating back Hitler.
I see no reason to doubt that Stalin was worse than Hitler and his blood is still in those who admire his Russian philosophy of dominate by terror.
"I read that Putin's grandfather headed Stalin's security detail. Is that true?"
I'm not sure. I think I once read that his grandfather was a Stalin's cook - anyway he must have been completely trust, because he could easily poison him.
The figure that most experts give for the Jews, gypsies,
and others who were exterminated in the camps is about
6 million. John Keegan, British historian, whose recent
book on the First World War claims that about 10 million
died in the Great War and about 40 million in the Second.
You speak about those killed "indirectly", and in the
case of both Hitler and Stalin -- you can extrapolate
and guesstimate forever! For example, many historians
say that Stalin's purge of the Soviet military before
the war and his failure to adequately prepare for
invasion (despite many warnings) cost the lives of
millions of Soviet troops. Dmitri Volkogonov, former
Soviet marshall and historian, says in his book (Stalin:
Triumph and Tragedy) that the 1939 pact with Hitler
really put Stalin's guard down. We're ultimately dealing
with vast numbers and how to interpret them. It was
Stalin himself who said, "One death is a tragedy; a
million is a statistic."
I didn't comment on how many he slaughtered or how many he saved.
My point that is being lost on all those wanting to dis Stalin and let off some anticommunist steam, is that the Russians have good reason for positively assesing Stalin. He was the leader in WWII and regardless of shortcomings led a military effort to defeat Hitler. He saved Mother Russia.
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