Great Purge - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org

Matvei Bronstein: Theorical physicist. Pioneer of quantum gravity. Arrested, accused of fictional “terroristic” activity and shot in 1938

Lev Shubnikov: Experimental physicist. Accused on false charges. Executed

Adrian Piotrovsky: Russian dramaturge. Accused on false charges of treason. Executed.

Nikolai Bukharin: Leader of the Communist revolution. Member of the Politburo. Falsely accused of treason. Executed.

General Alexander Egorov: Marshal of the Soviet Union. Commander of the Red Army Southern Front. Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Arrested, accused on false charges, executed.

General Mikhail Tukhachevsky Supreme Marshal of the Soviet Union. Nicknamed the Red Napoleon. Arrested, accused on fake charges. Executed.

Grigory Zinoviev: Chairman of the Communist International Movement. Member of the Soviet Politburo. Accused of treason and executed.

Even the secret police themselves were not safe:

Genrikh Yagoda : Right-hand of Joseph Stalin. Head of the NKD Secret Police. He spied on everyone in Russia and jailed thousands of innocents. Yagoda was arrested and executed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genrikh_Yagoda

Nikolai Yezhov : Appointed head of the NKD Secret Police after the death of Yagoda. Arrested on fake charges, executed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Yezhov

Everybody was absolutely terrified during this period. At least 600 000 people were killed and over 100 000 people were deported to Gulags in Siberia.

Today, Russian schools no longer teach what Joseph Stalin did. Many young russians actually believe that Stalin was a great patriot.

This is part of an effort by Vladimir Putin to rehabilitate him:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/10/vladimir-putin-russia-rehabilitating-stalin-soviet-past

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/05/21/stalin-is-making-a-comeback-in-russia-heres-why-a89155

    • Sunforged@lemmy.ml
      2310·
      11 hours ago

      I honestly have no issue there. My issue is the claim that such atrocities don’t happen in democratic institutions.

      • MushuChupacabra@lemmy.world
        102·
        10 hours ago

        I honestly have no issue there. My issue is the claim that such atrocities don’t happen in democratic institutions.

        I can’t recall any democratic countries, fragile or not, that can hold a candle to the atrocities committed by Joseph Stalin.

        Can you point out the equivalent that we should look at in this case of whataboutism? Since we’re talking about millions being killed by Joseph Stalin, what are the comparables?

        • sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          77·
          9 hours ago

          Before the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the archival revelations, some historians estimated that the numbers killed by Stalin’s regime were 20 million or higher.[5][6][7] After the Soviet Union dissolved, evidence from the Soviet archives was declassified and researchers were allowed to study it. This contained official records of 799,455 executions (1921–1953),[8][9][10][11][12] around 1.5 to 1.7 million deaths in the Gulag,[13][14][15] some 390,000[16] deaths during the dekulakization forced resettlement, and up to 400,000 deaths of persons deported during the 1940s,[17] with a total of about 3.3 million officially recorded victims in these categories.[18] According to historian Stephen Wheatcroft, approximately 1 million of these deaths were “purposive” while the rest happened through neglect and irresponsibility.[2] The deaths of at least 5.5 to 6.5 million[19] persons in the Soviet famine of 1932–1933 are sometimes included with the victims of the Stalin era.[2][20] - wikipedia

          So being generous we’ll go high and say 10 million

          According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 9 million people die annually from hunger and malnutrition, mostly in regions where capitalist-driven global inequality has made basic necessities unaffordable or inaccessible.

          So less in a year due to capitalism (ignoring wars and whatnot) than the total of Stalin. But also dealing with huge differences in populations involved. Both seem pretty shitty if you ask me.

          • brainwashed@feddit.org
            1·
            7 minutes ago

            How many global soviel block deaths of malnourishments did you tally up for old boy Stalin? Do we calculate relative or absolute numbers? Do the deaths of malnutrishion of nominally socialists states today also count as being capitalisms fault?

          • MushuChupacabra@lemmy.world
            93·
            7 hours ago

            An estimated 30 local NKVD agents, guards and drivers were pressed into service to escort prisoners to the basement, confirm identification, then remove the bodies and hose down the blood after each execution. Although some of the executions were carried out by Senior Lieutenant of State Security Andrei Rubanov, Blokhin was the primary executioner and, true to his reputation, liked to work continuously and rapidly without interruption.[14] In keeping with NKVD policy and the overall “wet” nature of the operation, the executions were conducted at night, starting at dark and continuing until just prior to dawn. The bodies were continuously loaded onto covered flat-bed trucks through a back door in the execution chamber and trucked, twice a night, to the nearby village of Mednoye. Blokhin had arranged for a bulldozer and two NKVD drivers to dispose of bodies at an unfenced site. Each night, 24–25 trenches were dug, measuring 8 to 10 metres (26 to 33 ft) in length, to hold that night’s corpses, and each trench was covered over before dawn.[17]

            Blokhin and his team worked without pause for 10 hours each night, with Blokhin himself executing an average of one prisoner every three minutes.[2] At the end of the night, he provided vodka to all his men.[18] On 27 April 1940, Blokhin secretly received the Order of the Red Banner and a modest monthly pay premium as a reward from Stalin for his “skill and organization in the effective carrying out of special tasks”.[19][20] His tally of 7,000 shot in 28 days remains the most organised and protracted mass murder by a single individual on record, and caused him being named the Guinness World Record holder for “Most Prolific Executioner” in 2010.[2][3]

            Ya, totally equivalent.

            Sit the fuck down.

            • sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyzEnglish
              35·
              6 hours ago

              What the fuck are you on about? I guess it’s easy for a smooth brain moron to hype up gross mass murder as somehow way worse than prolonged systematic suffering and death. You’re a fucking lost cause.

              • MushuChupacabra@lemmy.world
                32·
                5 hours ago

                Prolonged systematic suffering and death, huh? If you hate that sort of thing, you’re really gonna hate that Joseph Stalin guy.

                But here’s some more gruesome details about Stalin’s favorite executioner:

                Blokhin initially decided on an ambitious quota of 300 executions per night, and engineered an efficient system in which the prisoners were individually led to a small antechamber — which had been painted red and was known as the “Leninist room” — for a brief and cursory positive identification, before being handcuffed and led into the execution room next door. The room was specially designed with padded walls for soundproofing, a sloping concrete floor with a drain and hose, and a log wall for the prisoners to stand against. Blokhin would stand waiting behind the door in his executioner garb: a leather butcher’s apron, leather hat, and shoulder-length leather gloves. Then, without a hearing, the reading of a sentence or any other formalities, each prisoner was brought in and restrained by guards while Blokhin shot him once in the base of the skull with a German Walther Model 2 .25 ACP pistol.[13][14][15] He had brought a briefcase full of his own Walther pistols, since he did not trust the reliability of the standard-issue Soviet TT-30 for the frequent, heavy use he intended. The use of a German pocket pistol, which was commonly carried by German police and intelligence agents, also provided plausible deniability of the executions if the bodies were discovered later.[16]

                I bolded the part where Blokhin is literally dressed like Leatherface from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

                Like I said, sit the fuck down.

                • sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyzEnglish
                  2·
                  5 hours ago

                  Yep, bad dude. Bad, bad dude. His boss was too. You didn’t, and won’t, get any argument on that from me. But you come across as one of those people who talk about systematic racism and knee jerk react by saying,“I’M NOT RACIST”. All I said was capitalism causes a fuckload of pain, suffering, and death as well. You were of the opinion that capitalism is somehow immune to evil or something. And I’m not sure why you keep saying sit down. The only time I type on here is when I’m at my desktop, and I don’t have a standing desk. You need to try to come up with something more appropriate. Or you know, just shut the fuck up with your capitalist boot licking, grow up, take some classes, and realize humans really suck when they get any type of power, whatever political clothes they wear.

                  • MushuChupacabra@lemmy.world
                    12·
                    3 hours ago

                    Yep, bad dude. Bad, bad dude. His boss was too. You didn’t, and won’t, get any argument on that from me… blah blah blah …othes they wear.

                    I’ll explain for you (everyone else is able to pick up what you evidently can’t) why your equivocation attempt sucks ass, and why you should therefore, sit the fuck down, as was suggested previously:

                    My initial question was, Why do lemmy.ml users get hysterical when Joseph Stalin gets described accurately? Note that there is zero reference here to economic policy.

                    The entirety of your response has been Argle bargle whaddabout capitalism yip yip yip you capitalist bootlick blah blah blah whaddabout whaddabout whaddabout.

                    Joseph Stalin was a fucking awful man is a stand alone, easily defended premise.

                    Meanwhile, you want to pivot so hard to hurr durr capitalism bad, that you’re going to snap your own ankles.

                    Sit the fuck down.

      • Buffalox@lemmy.world
        917·
        11 hours ago

        My issue is the claim that such atrocities don’t happen in democratic institutions.

        But that’s the point, they don’t. Atrocities can happen, but not as bad as such.
        Just give one example of a democracy where an atrocity remotely close to that happened.

        • flandish@lemmy.world
          103·
          11 hours ago

          they don’t?

          lol. have you seen how child labor works? or banana republics? or coups? or prison labor? or slavery?

          come on now. stop being a thick moron.

        • Sunforged@lemmy.ml
          1210·
          11 hours ago

          You sure?

          Really?

          How sure?

          Like, I could look at ICE raids and their obvious purpose of terrorizing the immigrant community, but I have a feeling you’re the type of bootlicker that thinks those actions are justified.

          • Buffalox@lemmy.world
            813·
            11 hours ago

            Compared to genocide by Stalin, ICE is peanuts.
            But no it’s not justified, that still doesn’t make it an equal atrocity to what Stalin did.
            Also USA is not a democracy, it is a deeply dysfunctional democracy. And In USA it can go 2 ways now, they either go full dictator, or if they go the other, these things will be softened.

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excess_mortality_in_the_Soviet_Union_under_Joseph_Stalin

            official records of 799,455 executions (1921–1953),[8][9][10][11][12] around 1.5 to 1.7 million deaths in the Gulag,[13][14][15] some 390,000[16] deaths during the dekulakization forced resettlement, and up to 400,000 deaths of persons deported during the 1940s,[17] with a total of about 3.3 million officially recorded victims in these categories.

            So kindly piss off with your false equivalences.

            • Sunforged@lemmy.ml
              144·
              11 hours ago

              Dude the US is fully funding a genocide right now. Since October 7, 2023, the U.S. has provided Israel with billions in military aid, including at least $21.7 billion in approved funding, along with tens of billions more in future arms sale commitments.

              Your entire premise is so inherently flawed.

              Also rofl at you sounding like a tankie:

              Also USA is not a democracy, it is a deeply dysfunctional democracy.

              “It wasn’t real communism bro.”

              • Buffalox@lemmy.world
                46·
                11 hours ago

                Please read my edited post.
                And no I’m not anything remotely like a tankie, I am one who favor ACTAUL democracy, where among the best models we have running currently is the Scandinavian model.
                A 2 party system can never be accepted as a functional democracy, also the level of corruption in elections is undemocratic. preventing people from voting and gerrymandering.
                All those things detract from USA as a democracy.

                You are delusional and create strawmen and then you think you have a superior view based on your delusions and false equivalences that have no basis in reality.

            • flandish@lemmy.world
              82·
              11 hours ago

              fine. compare stalin to something else that was closer to his time than he is to us:

              American slave trade. do it. tell me stalin was worse than slavery?

              the gfy.

              • Buffalox@lemmy.world
                17·
                10 hours ago

                Again with USA as the example, no other democracy had slaves like USA did.
                On the other hand comparable stories to Stalin can be found in multiple autocratic systems.
                Where USA is the exception as in exceptionally bad among democracies, what Stain did is commonplace among autocracies.

                  • Buffalox@lemmy.world
                    14·
                    10 hours ago

                    If you are referring to South Africa you are a moron.
                    Because South Africa was very much an authoritarian leadership, and ruled by a white minority by force.
                    WTF is that reference supposed to show that does anything but support democracy?

                  • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
                    12·
                    10 hours ago

                    Yeah. The US definitely was horrifically evil long after other Global North countries had decided to chill but we were far from the only people running on the genocide and enslavement of the Global South.

                    In a lot of ways, the US was late to colonialism and took it WAY too far and commit atrocities for it. The USSR/Stalin was late to (there is probably a better term for it but I can’t remember it) peasant revolutions and took it WAY too far and commit atrocities for it… and then ended up being a global power that extended said reign of terror to anyone sharing a border with them.