I once worked for the son of a Kulak farmer. He had emigrated to the States and was a successful businessman. If you wanted to hear some hair-raising stories all you had to do was get him drunk and ask him about the war (WWII). He fought for the Nazis against the Soviets and he gave them hell in the worst ways imaginable. To the end of his days he secretly sent money to help finance something inside the USSR (I suspected industrial sabotage). He died the same month that the USSR ceased to exist. I sometimes think that it was because he knew his work was done.
The liberals always respond “that could never happen here.” I would like to see that translated into Russian, Chinese, German, Yiddish, Cambodian, Armenian, Urdu, Farsi, Bantu ... I think you get the idea.