EUROPE-ASIA STUDIES, Vol. 48, No. 8, 1996 1319-1353 The Scale and Nature of German and Soviet Repression and Mass Killings, 1930-451 STEPHEN WHEATCROFT HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND repression a n d mass killing? Should we even try lo understand them?' Is it correct...
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EUROPE-ASIA STUDIES, Vol. 48, No. 8, 1996 1319-1353 The Scale and Nature of German and Soviet Repression and Mass Killings, 1930-451 STEPHEN WHEATCROFT HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND repression a n d mass killing? Should we even try lo understand them?' Is it correct that to understand is lo excuse? Who would ever dare to claim that they could understand mass killing? This article is written in t h e belief that historians do have an obligation to attempt to understand serious topics, and that they should not be diverted by t h e fear of t o u c h i n g something controversial. One of the major questions facing the historians of both the Soviet Union and of Germany is to explain how the governments of these countries could engage in mass repression and mass killings that arose in both their countries at almost the same time. In one sense it can be argued that these events were caused by totally independent factors that are exclusively related to the internal specifics of these countries. This is
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