J_CERNY@UNHH (02/13/90)
Considering the question: >1) If these numbers are anywhere accurate--this genocide vastly exceeds those >killed in the Holocaust--why is this not as welll known? (Regarding Stalin) What Stalin was responsible for was not genocide by the usual definitions. I too have the impression that Stalin's death toll is not at all understood, at least by reasonably well educated Americans. For example, in the past I have asked some college faculty members to estimate how many deaths Stalin was responsible for -- asking non-historians across a variety of disciplines -- and none were even within an order of magnitude of being correct. What seems especially odd about this is that during the cold war there was no attempt to underestimate the evils of the Soviet Union, so you might think this information would be stressed. But I'm not sure when it really became known. Maybe not until Kruschev came to power in the mid-50's?? Finally, another book worth looking at on this general subject, is Gil Elliot, 1972. Twentieth Century Book of the Dead. Jim Cerny, University of New Hampshire