Stalinist Terror in Eastern Europe

Norman Naimark's book seeks to demonstrate that 'Stalin's mass killings of the 1930s should be classified as "genocide" (1). Naimark recognizes the difficulties in arguing that case, given that in the USSR there was no one, single, act of genocide, but rather 'a series of interrelated attacks on "class enemies" and "enemies of the people", and he argues that this period, when millions of people were repressed in the USSR, should be regarded as 'an important chapter in the history of genocide' (2), and that the governmental system created at that time in the USSR should be seen as a genocidal regime. Book Reviews 187 While international law understands genocide to mean the annihilation of individual groups of the population according to racial, national, ethnic or religious criteria, or the deliberate creation of conditions of life calculated to destroy a group wholly or in part, Naimark seeks to broaden the concept. In his definition, genocide is 'systematic mass murder intentionally perpetrated by the political elite of a state against a targeted group within the borders of or outside the state that should distinguish genocide from other forms of mass killing, like pogroms, massacres, and terrorist bombing' (4). He argues his case in chapters dealing with Stalin himself, de-kulakization, the Ukrainian famine ('Holodomor'), the deportation of whole nationalities and the 'Great Terror' of the 1930s. The conclusions he draws are not particularly original, and the whole work is more of a political rather than a historical investigation. It has no separate discussion of historiography and sources, which leaves an impression that the author has ignored evidence which does not fit the picture he is trying to present. Naimark argues that Stalin did not start with genocidal intent, but the pressure of circumstances pushed him that way. One reason for that might be that Stalin, who often declared himself to be Lenin's pupil, enthusiastically continued with Lenin's punitive policies. Naimark's definition of 'genocide' could equally well be applied to the Soviet decree abolishing the social estates of Tsarist Russia (10/23 November 1917) and the persecution of people of noble origin, or to the process of de-Cossackization in 1919-20 which put an end to the Cossacks as a separate military caste. Moreover, when the Cheka's M. Latsis declared in 1918 that 'we are not struggling against individuals, we are destroying the bourgeoisie as a class', this could also count as an incitement to genocide. The weaknesses of Naimark's formulation become apparent when it is tested against Soviet realities, even though its humanistic intent should be welcomed. There is a difference between the destruction of six million Jews by the Nazi regime - a clear case of genocide - and what happened in the USSR. To be sure, Soviet Jews suffered persecution, many Soviet nationalities were deported wholesale, and de-kulakization was a tragedy for millions of peasants, but in the USSR they were not put into gas chambers, they were sent to special settlements, in sparsely-populated areas of the country, with restrictions on their freedom of movement. The term 'Great Terror', denoting the repression in Russia in the 1930s, became popular following the publication of Robert Conquest's eponymous book 1974. However, one could argue that there was just one ongoing state terror against Soviet citizens, inaugurated by the government decrees of 18 February 1918, which brought in extrajudicial execution, and of 5 September 1918, on the Red Terror. By 1922, Red and White terror had already claimed 1.5 million victims. Stalin merely continued and perfected Lenin's repressive policies. While arguing that the 'Great Terror' had 'genocidal qualities' (1). Naimark recognizes the difficulties in arguing that case, given that in the USSR there was no one, single, act of genocide, but rather 'a series of interrelated attacks on "class enemies" and "enemies of the people", and he argues that this period, when millions of people were repressed in the USSR, should be regarded as 'an important chapter in the history of genocide' (2), and that the governmental system created at that time in the USSR should be seen as a genocidal regime. Book Reviews 187 While international law understands genocide to mean the annihilation of individual groups of the population according to racial, national, ethnic or religious criteria, or the deliberate creation of conditions of life calculated to destroy a group wholly or in part, Naimark seeks to broaden the concept. In his definition, genocide is 'systematic mass murder intentionally perpetrated by the political elite of a state against a targeted group within the borders of or outside the state that should distinguish genocide from other forms of mass killing, like pogroms, massacres, and terrorist bombing' (4). He argues his case in chapters dealing with Stalin himself, de-kulakization, the Ukrainian famine ('Holodomor'), the deportation of whole nationalities and the 'Great Terror' of the 1930s. The conclusions he draws are not particularly original, and the whole work is more of a political rather than a historical investigation. It has no separate discussion of historiography and sources, which leaves an impression that the author has ignored evidence which does not fit the picture he is trying to present. Naimark argues that Stalin did not start with genocidal intent, but the pressure of circumstances pushed him that way. One reason for that might be that Stalin, who often declared himself to be Lenin's pupil, enthusiastically continued with Lenin's punitive policies. Naimark's definition of 'genocide' could equally well be applied to the Soviet decree abolishing the social estates of Tsarist Russia (10/23 November 1917) and the persecution of people of noble origin, or to the process of de-Cossackization in 1919-20 which put an end to the Cossacks as a separate military caste. Moreover, when the Cheka's M. Latsis declared in 1918 that 'we are not struggling against individuals, we are destroying the bourgeoisie as a class', this could also count as an incitement to genocide. The weaknesses of Naimark's formulation become apparent when it is tested against Soviet realities, even though its humanistic intent should be welcomed. There is a difference between the destruction of six million Jews by the Nazi regime - a clear case of genocide - and what happened in the USSR. To be sure, Soviet Jews suffered persecution, many Soviet nationalities were deported wholesale, and de-kulakization was a tragedy for millions of peasants, but in the USSR they were not put into gas chambers, they were sent to special settlements, in sparsely-populated areas of the country, with restrictions on their freedom of movement. The term 'Great Terror', denoting the repression in Russia in the 1930s, became popular following the publication of Robert Conquest's eponymous book 1974. However, one could argue that there was just one ongoing state terror against Soviet citizens, inaugurated by the government decrees of 18 February 1918, which brought in extrajudicial execution, and of 5 September 1918, on the Red Terror. By 1922, Red and White terror had already claimed 1.5 million victims. Stalin merely continued and perfected Lenin's repressive policies. While arguing that the 'Great Terror' had 'genocidal qualities', Naimark recognizes that it cannot be directly described as genocide (136). As he points out, the terror intensified after the end of July 1937, when NKVD chief Ezhov and the CPSU approved Decree No. 00447. On the basis of that decree, former kulaks, 188 European History Quarterly 42(1) criminals, former activists in other parties, opponents of Bolshevism, members of religious communities, former Tsarist civil servants and Cossacks were shot or imprisoned. Between August 1937 and November 1938 around 800,000 people were sentenced, approximately half of them to death, the rest to long sentences in prisons and corrective labour camps. The sentences were passed by extra-judicial bodies: three- and two-man panels, special conferences and the like. But while this was a crime against hundreds of thousands of Soviet citizens, it is hard to discern truly 'genocidal qualities' within it. During the Soviet period, the years 1921-22, 1932-33 and 1946-47 were years of famine, but, thanks to the efforts of the Ukrainian diaspora, it was the famine of the early 1930s which got the name 'Holodomor'. This famine, Naimark argues, was an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people (71-5). In 1993 an Association of Researchers into the Famine-Genocide of 1932-33 was formed in Ukraine, so Naimark is not the first to allege this. But there is no consensus on this question. At a conference of Russian and Ukrainian historians in May 2007 on the 1932-33 famine, there was just one question on which the historians could not agree - was the famine in the Ukraine an act of genocide against the Ukrainians? The Russian historians were categorically opposed to such a characterization, and the final resolution of the meeting recommended that the question be considered 'in a strictly scientific, rather than a journalistic and speculative way'. Naimark uncritically adopts the standpoint of Ukrainian politicians and certain historians, arguing that although Stalin did not kill or deport the Ukrainians he 'wanted to destroy them as a hostile nation' (78-9). He disregards alternative perspectives from Russian historians, and pays no attention to the polemic between V. P. Danilov and Robert Conquest, or to V. V. Kondrashin's study on the famine of 1932-33, which showed that it affected an area far beyond Ukraine. Unfortunately, Naimark's book is excessively politicized, and its contentions are not adequately demonstrated. Nonetheless, his attempt to widen the concept of 'genocide' will certainly stimulate further study. Kevin McDermott and Matthew Stibbe's collection, Stalinist Terror in Eastern Europe stands in stark contrast to Naimark's book. It is much more academic and objective in its arguments. Its ten chapters contain detailed accounts of the Stalinist terror in the Baltic states (Aldis Purs), Soviet Moldavia (Igor Cascu), Eastern Germany (Matthew Stibbe), Poland (Lukasz Kamin' ski), Czechoslovakia (Kevin McDermott), Hungary (La' szlo' Borhi), Romania (Dennis Deletant), Yugoslavia (Jerca Vodus ek Staric ), Bulgaria (Jordan Baev) and Albania (Robert C. Austin). The editors' (1). Naimark recognizes the difficulties in arguing that case, given that in the USSR there was no one, single, act of genocide, but rather 'a series of interrelated attacks on "class enemies" and "enemies of the people", and he argues that this period, when millions of people were repressed in the USSR, should be regarded as 'an important chapter in the history of genocide' (2), and that the governmental system created at that time in the USSR should be seen as a genocidal regime. Book Reviews 187 While international law understands genocide to mean the annihilation of individual groups of the population according to racial, national, ethnic or religious criteria, or the deliberate creation of conditions of life calculated to destroy a group wholly or in part, Naimark seeks to broaden the concept. In his definition, genocide is 'systematic mass murder intentionally perpetrated by the political elite of a state against a targeted group within the borders of or outside the state that should distinguish genocide from other forms of mass killing, like pogroms, massacres, and terrorist bombing' (4). He argues his case in chapters dealing with Stalin himself, de-kulakization, the Ukrainian famine ('Holodomor'), the deportation of whole nationalities and the 'Great Terror' of the 1930s. The conclusions he draws are not particularly original, and the whole work is more of a political rather than a historical investigation. It has no separate discussion of historiography and sources, which leaves an impression that the author has ignored evidence which does not fit the picture he is trying to present. Naimark argues that Stalin did not start with genocidal intent, but the pressure of circumstances pushed him that way. One reason for that might be that Stalin, who often declared himself to be Lenin's pupil, enthusiastically continued with Lenin's punitive policies. Naimark's definition of 'genocide' could equally well be applied to the Soviet decree abolishing the social estates of Tsarist Russia (10/23 November 1917) and the persecution of people of noble origin, or to the process of de-Cossackization in 1919-20 which put an end to the Cossacks as a separate military caste. Moreover, when the Cheka's M. Latsis declared in 1918 that 'we are not struggling against individuals, we are destroying the bourgeoisie as a class', this could also count as an incitement to genocide. The weaknesses of Naimark's formulation become apparent when it is tested against Soviet realities, even though its humanistic intent should be welcomed. There is a difference between the destruction of six million Jews by the Nazi regime - a clear case of genocide - and what happened in the USSR. To be sure, Soviet Jews suffered persecution, many Soviet nationalities were deported wholesale, and de-kulakization was a tragedy for millions of peasants, but in the USSR they were not put into gas chambers, they were sent to special settlements, in sparsely-populated areas of the country, with restrictions on their freedom of movement. The term 'Great Terror', denoting the repression in Russia in the 1930s, became popular following the publication of Robert Conquest's eponymous book 1974. However, one could argue that there was just one ongoing state terror against Soviet citizens, inaugurated by the government decrees of 18 February 1918, which brought in extrajudicial execution, and of 5 September 1918, on the Red Terror. By 1922, Red and White terror had already claimed 1.5 million victims. Stalin merely continued and perfected Lenin's repressive policies. While arguing that the 'Great Terror' had 'genocidal qualities', Naimark recognizes that it cannot be directly described as genocide (136). As he points out, the terror intensified after the end of July 1937, when NKVD chief Ezhov and the CPSU approved Decree No. 00447. On the basis of that decree, former kulaks, 188 European History Quarterly 42(1) criminals, former activists in other parties, opponents of Bolshevism, members of religious communities, former Tsarist civil servants and Cossacks were shot or imprisoned. Between August 1937 and November 1938 around 800,000 people were sentenced, approximately half of them to death, the rest to long sentences in prisons and corrective labour camps. The sentences were passed by extra-judicial bodies: three- and two-man panels, special conferences and the like. But while this was a crime against hundreds of thousands of Soviet citizens, it is hard to...