BenTha'er-Horizons

Soviet Union
Vicki's Blog

The Great Terror

07/08/15 20:47 Filed in: History
I have blogged about the book, Bloodlands, by Timothy Snyder. It was fascinating but disturbing. I have to believe his inspiration was derived from an author and historian called Robert Conquest. Mr. Conquest died at the age of 98. He wrote in 1968 the definitive history of the time of the Great Terror in the Soviet Union. He tore the mask off of Stalinism and let the world know what Stalin and Lenin were like. I just ordered the book and also the one he wrote about the planned starvation of the Ukraine. They came today. One can read about the books and Mr. Conquest here.

Tags:

Comments

Holodomor

10/11/13 08:54 Filed in: History
In the Ukraine, they refer to it as the Holodomor. It refers to the time in the 1930s when Stalin decided to bring the Ukraine to heal under the Soviet yoke by starving much of the population. I have mentioned this in previous blogs when talking about the books Bloodlands and Savage Continent. Millions of people were starved, often to death, to achieve a better system overall for the Soviet totalitarian regime. Do we possibly have a milder form of that going on now with “We know what health care system is better for you than the horrible plan you had and didn’t know it” routine we hear on TV lately about Obamacare. A discussion about the Holodomor is found here.

Tags: , ,

Comments

A Spy from the Cold War

27/04/13 12:58 Filed in: History
  • This coming Wednesday will be the finale of the TV show, The Americans (spelled with the C being a Soviet sickle).
  • The premise is that the Soviet Union planted spies amongst the regular population who would blend in as families yet seek
  • American secrets to send to the Communists. All cloak and dagger stuff.
  • There is a recent book review about a real Soviet spy who hated the KGB and gave very valuable information to the French
  • who eventually gave it to Reagan, our President at the time. The TV show is set in the 1980’s time frame also. The TB show
  • gave the appearance that Soviet spies where winning the game in most instances. They hurt us yet lost in the end.
  • To read about Vladimir Vetrov, Farewell- code name, please go here.
Vetrov crossed over to the West as a defector-in-place and spied against the KGB and his former Soviet comrades. Why? Because he was sickened by the nepotism of the apparachiks, the abuses, corruption, and injustice plaguing the KGB specifically, and the lack of individual freedom, hypocrisy of the nomenklatura, inequalities and abuses sustained by the citizens in the entire Soviet system where family connections were more important than merit and hard work. What was his goal? To break the machinery of repression of the corrupt KGB and bring down the Soviet system, even if this task would ultimately lead to his personal destruction and death.

Tags:

Comments
RapidWeaver Icon

Made in RapidWeaver