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Jared Wilkins's avatar

Solzhenitzyn was talented novelist and literator, he got into prison system because as soldier he was writing remarks about replacing government. Imagine a soldier that does that during war time. His millions upon millions of dead by Soviet regime myth was debunked by historians who actually took a deep dive into this issue using historical documents. How come this particular guy is so propped up in the West? He wrote the most outrageous lies and was a good prop for anti Russian propaganda at the time. How come the world knows him so much and not other dissidents of more worthy stature, like Sakharov?

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libertate's avatar

"His millions upon millions of dead by Soviet regime myth was debunked by historians who actually took a deep dive into this issue using historical documents."

You are a fabulist and apologist for genocide.

The horrors perpetrated by the Soviets are well documented:

- The Black Book of Communism, Courtois et. al., Harvard University Press 1999. https://smile.amazon.com/Black-Book-Communism-Crimes-Repression/dp/0674076087/

- Death by Government, Rummel. Transaction Publishers, 1998. https://smile.amazon.com/Death-Government-Genocide-Murder-Since/dp/1560009276

- The Bykivnia Graves in Ukraine alone contain the remains of an estimated 100K victims. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bykivnia_graves

- Mass graves are commonly found in the Russian Far East. https://smile.amazon.com/Death-Government-Genocide-Murder-Since/dp/1560009276. There are stories of river erosion exposing them resulting in thousands of bodies floating past riverside towns.

Shame on you.

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Jared Wilkins's avatar

article makes unsubstantiated claims, was this mass grave looked into? bones analyzed? any conclusions reached? end of the article suggests its bias

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libertate's avatar

Right.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-grave-idUSTRE6584HJ20100609

I guess the skull with the bullet hole between the eyes held by the researcher is "unsubstantiated" too, right?

“This happens all over the country, it’s impossible to say how often,” Felige said. “All we can to (sic) is put up monuments to remember the dead.”

What the hell is wrong with you?

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Jared Wilkins's avatar

Reuters for source? You indeed have poo instead of a brain.

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INGRID C DURDEN's avatar

It is proven that Soviets did kill many many people of their own. That is common knowledge in Europe.

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Jared Wilkins's avatar

You have already made your mind, what's the point of discussion? I don't have access to these books and quoting Wikipedia as source is laughable.

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libertate's avatar

Blah blah blah.

You have not presented a single fact or source for anything you've asserted. That is the unmistakable mark of bullshit.

You don't have access to "these books"? Really? Do you live in one of the last remaining commie shitholes then?

If so, you best be careful what you say on the net, or you may find yourself in one of those mass graves you don't think exist.

Idiot.

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Jared Wilkins's avatar

When you started insulting you just proved that you have no reasonable arguments and instead of retreating (realising the stupid argument you made) resorted to personal attacks.

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statsman's avatar

What, exactly, did he lie about, jackass?

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Barbelo of the Pleroma's avatar

Aw this Jared Wilkins fellow takes me back to the Usenet days! There were lots of Soviet atrocity deniers on the net in the 90s. There was also a great camp of "Shostakovich revisionists" who believed Shostakovich was a happy patriot who loved his country. Haven't seen any of those folks crawl out from under a rock in a while, I figure they are all not in the flat earth society of eomthing.

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Jared Wilkins's avatar

We are not talking about Shostakovich but completely another person who was discredited by scientific community, but it didn't make it popular culture. Usually ones talking about Soviet atrocities are Nazi apologists, so there is that.

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Jared Wilkins's avatar

I will only reply to such arrogance once. What was researched by historians who studied historical documents is that total number of active prisoners in Soviet system claimed by Solzhenitzyn was more or less equal to total numbers of prisoners that went through the system. This is blatant manipulation which is insult to the logic. One can also compare total numbers of dead by Soviet system claimed by Solzhenitzyn with total number of citizens. Claims by Solzhenitzyn are impossible. Still some believe these lies, like many today believe that 99% of people dying from covid are unvaccinated. When working with statistics it's imperative to use a brain in order not to mix up the contexts. All his outrageous claims have been a good fit for anti Russian propaganda though.

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libertate's avatar

Once?

You haven't actually replied at all, just made one unsubstantiated assertion after another.

You are the personification of why leftists are the laughing stock of thinking people everywhere.

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Jared Wilkins's avatar

I have already put more effort into this discussion than you. There is no point in throwing pearls before swine.

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statsman's avatar

What numbers are you talking about, dimwit? Did Solzhenitsyn make any claims about numbers? How about you point to a passage in his works in which he talked about actual numbers? Then we can talk about the actually Russian atrocities. Which, from the last count, were considerably worse than the Nazis.

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Jared Wilkins's avatar

that what Nazi apologist would say. Have Soviets conducted human experiments (Mengele like) and put people in the ovens?

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libertate's avatar

Paging Mike Godwin...

What a piece of work you are.

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INGRID C DURDEN's avatar

I read part of his Gulag archipelago and found it extremely boring. We had to read it for school.

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brian kennedy's avatar

I read it as an innocent man in prison in a foreign country while the State was dismissing my exonerating evidence and trying to railroad me into a 30 year sentence. I found the book riveting. I guess maybe you had to be there…

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Jared Wilkins's avatar

When you had to be there when Frodo had to let go of the ring. Oh wait, it's just a literary work.

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statsman's avatar

Wow, there is a considered and important opinion. Thanks for contributing.

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Margaret Anna Alice's avatar

Try reading it again—or listening to the audiobook if that’s easier. I guarantee you will see it with different eyes now that what he described is unfolding before our eyes in technicolor. His biting humor, countless firsthand accounts, and exceptional literary skill make his lessons from the gulags all the more captivating. It is a must-read for anyone who wishes to understand and resist tyranny.

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INGRID C DURDEN's avatar

It might be different now, as I would read it free will, contrast to the must from school, I would have time, then I only had a week to read that heavy book, and I am way older which causes your perception to shift. Thanks for the tip, I might just do that !

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Margaret Anna Alice's avatar

A week?! Goodness gracious, that’s not an assignment, that’s a recipe for sleep deprivation and incomprehension. Definitely worth revisiting at your own languid pace!

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INGRID C DURDEN's avatar

INdeed ! I had to read it way into the night. We had only a few books available. Hardly anyone wanted to buy it, new and expensive. So we circulated them.

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Jared Wilkins's avatar

I find it interesting that in the 90s in the post Soviet countries there has been a lot of propaganda how Soviet Union was bad and how Nazis are so mysterious and enigmatic. It was more popular to become skin head and slap a swastika tattoo than defend Soviet past among younger generation. Sure there have been bad things, but all countries have dark in their past.

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