Shoah is not unique... It’s actually somewhere in the top-middle of the list. Stalin killed more (Holodomir and others) and Mao, as the man whose “immortal” remains are still in proud and loving display in a mausoleum, smack dab in the capital of a country that is everyone’s number one trading partner, did worse than Hitler on sterorids.
All holocausts need to be remembered and studied (starting with the French Revolution’s “enlightened” slaughter of Vendée) and of course the Armenian hecatomb.
But overall I’d say that the Holocaust is well known, whereas the Holodomir (except for Glenn Beck’s recent shows) gets no media, no movies, no museums, no documentaries... and Mao even gets praised by Obama politicans for being inspirational. Other mass murderers (Che) even become fashion statements.
Comparing Fascism and Communism is like comparing rotten meat with rotten fish. But one thing is certain, Communism has more blood on its hands... and yet look at all the Communist Parties still thriving in places like Europe. Italy’s President (mostly a ceremonial position) was a Stalinist in his younger days, a man who - for example - defended the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956.
What we really need to study is why and how Communism got a cultural pass. We know a lot about Hitler’s rise to power, some of the causes (the crippling Versaille treaty after the German defeat in WW1), hyperinflation, Prussian militarism, and even certain homo-erotic elements that came with a generalized breakdown of Judeo-Christian morals.
Why did Communism get a pass? My guess is it’s because it’s more “intelligent”, that is to say theoretic, “scientific.”
Another obvious entry is because it was an erstwhile victorious ally.
Another guess, and believe me, I’m no fan of stormfront, is the Jewish influence in the media and entertainment businesses, as well as the heavy Atheist-Jewish involvement in the Russian revolution and Frankfurt School.
There are skeletons in the closet and keeping them hidden instead of frank and open discussion will only feed the conspiracists. I don’t see the need for any sort of reticence when calling Trotsky a Jew is like calling Hitler a Catholic. Or is it?
Take your pick and add some more, but it is indeed a sobering fact that our biggest trading partner (and one for whom we have shed millions of jobs and whose military industrial complex we are indirectly bolstering) still venerates the biggest mass murderer in the history of humanity, whereas the likes of a Geert Wilder gets put on trial for “Fascism”... and Muslims are absurdly likened to the Jews of old Europe under Hitler.
I've been long perplexed by that very question myself, and I like the possible answers you pose. Communism seems a very seductive ideology to academics. Another reason I might add is that it made inroads into western societies during the economic troubles of the 20th century. There was a genuine loss of faith in our capitalist system which leftists exploited. There were also many in politics and communications who deliberately covered communism's backside. To this day it maddens me how villains in movies etc. are still frequently Nazi's, but almost never communists.
I believe the difference to the left is that murdering because of ethnicity is so much worse than murdering because of class. I beleive this twist was given to us by both the Hollywood (Jewish left) focus in the sixties and the euroweeenies focus from the 50’s forward. Both groups endorse “smiley” socialism and can’t bring themselves to grapple with the inherent evil that socialism brings with it. They prefer to steal from their neighbors and expect their neighbors to thank them for stealing from them. You see this mental disconnect displayed daily with the Dem left today. Funny, but the American left feels if you punish the majority for the benefit of the minority you are doing “good” works. Basically, the left wishes to re-write history to identify Hitler as evil with Stalin/Mao as a little evil, but progressive. They cannot square this circle, so they ignore it, and practice what they say is evil. The duplicity of the left is stunning.
What we really need to study is why and how Communism got a cultural pass.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yes...It is puzzling.
I believe that it has to do with those who hate Christian morality. If the atheist elite who control the media and the arts can paint Hitler as a Christian it smears and demeans Christianity.
One more thing:
The elites in the media and arts believe in Communism. It is still a viable social order. It failed ( in their opinion) because the wrong people implemented it. If they were in charge of the world, of course the results would be different.