How many murders, massacres, tortures and famines does it take to rival the loathsome evil of Nazism? The Black Book of Communism, a methodical, scandalous inventory by French scholars, builds the case that 20th century Communism caused 85-100 million deaths worldwide, dwarfing the numbers if not the cruelty of 25 million deaths attributed to Fascism. The toll defies imagining. 1.7 million dead in Cambodia. 25 million in the Soviet Union. 65 million in China.
Part of the authors’ argument is that the sympathetic left in the West, and notably in France, has romanticized Communist ideology and whitewashed the multitudinous crimes in its name. But these were not excesses in pursuit of some greater good, the Black Book documents. It also raises questions about the judgment of evil. Is “class genocide” essentially different from race genocide?
(Hosted by Christopher Lydon)
Guests:
Mark Kramer, Director of the Harvard Project on Cold War Studies
Paul Hollander, Professor of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.