Dakota Beacon

“The Black Book of Communism” was published in France in 1997 on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution. Few scholarly books raise the ire and provoke controversy more than “The Black Book” did.

Why the controversy? Stephane Courtois, the book’s principal editor, asserts that, from a moral standpoint, Communism (kissing cousin of socialism), as a system of government, was no better than Nazism. Both were far better at killing people than they were at governing.

In addition to contributions by Editor Courtois, a scholar in his own right, five other French research scholars contributed to the volume. Significantly, all six scholars are former Communists. Each contributed to the chapters from their area of expertise covering every country having a significant Communist presence.

To miss this book is to miss one of the first and formidable attempts to document the criminal nature of Communism, the twentieth century’s most destructive ideology. Many of us lived through the zenith of Communist domination and are only vaguely aware of the extent and magnitude of its terror and repression. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the vast KGB archives were opened to the West. Historical research using these files as primary source material reveal a tale of inhumane and horrific proportions. Wherever it was established, the Communist Party sought to impose a classless society -- by eliminating the offending classes. The book’s conclusion: The Nazi holocaust pales in comparison to the brutality of the Communist system wherever it is found.

Communism ranks high in the hierarchy of violence for which the twentieth century was known. Conservative estimates of the death toll exacted by the practitioners of Communism at the time the book was published place the figure somewhere between 80 million and 100 million dead. The cumulative death toll breaks down as follows: USSR, 25 million; Red China, 65 million; Vietnam, 1 million; Cambodia, 2 million; North Korea, 2 million; Eastern Europe, 1 million; Africa, 1.7 million; Afghanistan, 1.5 million; Latin America, 150,000. Many of these deaths result from two reasons: Starvation as a result of man-made famine and torture followed by execution. Despite this butchery, there are those among us who defend or downplay the evil of Communist ideology.

Dictatorship and terror are the defining characteristics of Communists power. Deportation, man-made famine, and extermination were the weapons of choice. Sheer magnitude characterizes the Communist experiment. Whereas 25 million victims are attributable to the Nazis, by contrast Communist regimes victimized easily 100 million people. Whereas the Nazis practiced the genocide of a race (6 million Jews), the Soviet Communists practiced genocide of entire classes of people (6 million Ukrainian kulaks, extermination of the Don Cossacks, deportation and attempted extermination of Moldovans, Bessarabians, Balts, Crimean Tatars, Chechens, and Ingush). The numbers doubled, possibly tripled, as Communism expanded into China, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

There is increasing evidence that the techniques of mass terror developed by the Soviet Communists were later adopted by the Nazis, but on a much smaller scale. This is seen in the use of mass deportation of entire peoples and the use of camp systems for the purpose of forced labor and eventual extermination.

For all its horror and repression, Communism has escaped the judgment and denunciation normally associated with the Nazis. Names like Himmler and Eichmann are recognized around the world for their inhumanity. But how many people are repelled by the names of Feliks Dzerzhinsky and Genrikh Yagoda? The names of Lenin, Mao, and Castro are still revered in some quarters. Not so Hitler and Goebbels. Revelations of Nazi crimes stir the passions within people. Revelation of Communist crimes barely causes a stir. To the victims of the holocaust we build memorials and open concentration camps as museums. To the victims of Communism -- nothing.

Many have heard of, or read, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s works such as “Cancer Ward” and “The Gulag Archipelago.” What he wrote of his experiences in the gulag are true. There is no longer a debate whether his writing is fact or fiction.

I recall a visit to a used book store in Arlington, Virginia a few years ago. As used book stores go, this shop was somewhat upscale. Antiquarian material lined the walls in bookshelves. I engaged the proprietor in conversation. Eventually our chat came around to Solzhenitsyn’s “Gulag.” Being a liberal, the proprietor turned his nose up at the mention of Solzhenitsyn’s and his work. “Keep in mind,” he said, “that his writing is a fictional account.” It would be vindicating to continue that conversation today.

Many of our generation lived through the formative decades of Communist crime and terror. Our children may only know of the fate of millions at the hands of Communist despots if we take time to tell them. For starters, “The Black Book of Communism” should be required reading for all high school and college students.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).