Arts/Review _ Former ‘dissident’ Medvedev tackles legacy of Stalinism LET HISTORY JUDGE: The Origins and Consequences of Stalinism. By Roy Medvedev. 1989. Columbia University Press. Available at People’s Co-op Book- store. This is Roy Medvedev’s 30th book. Once again this prominent Soviet historian has used his considerable talents to deal with the subject of Stalinism. Let History Judge is an updated and much larger edition of his first book under the same title which was completed in 1969 and published in 1971. I have read many books on Stalinism, but this one, the revised edition, is the best. Although the details about the mass repres- sions under Stalin are shocking in many respects, they bear the mark of truth. The aim of the author is not to blacken social- ism, but to expose the harm done to the cause of socialism by Stalin’s arbitrary rule. At the same time, he recognizes the posi- tive achievements of socialism. A substan- tial part of the text is devoted to the idea that much more progress. would have been made, and at much less cost in suffering and human lives, if Stalinism had not prevailed. That is the main virtue of the book, as I see It. Medvedev experienced the pain of Stali- nism early in life. His father, a professor and lecturer at the Lenin Military-Political Academy, was arrested in 1937 and died in one of the far northern prison camps, a victim of Stalinist repression. While still at school, the author began to feel that “while ours is a socialist society, something is not right.” He always had a desire to write a book about Stalin and he went to work on that theme after the historic 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1956). “I had set my hopes on the archives which were to be declassified. But after the 22nd Congress (1961) I realized that the archives were not the_main thing. The key element was the eyewitness accounts of people who had returned from imprison- ment and passed through the horrible years of Stalinism. Prior to that they were afraid. They were even afraid after, but this fear was no longer so strongly pronounced.” For the earlier edition he interviewed more than 2,000 people of widely differing backgrounds and opinion, and researched much of the writings on the subject pub- lished after the 20th Congress. The new edition carries more than 200 additional interviews. While the new edition was being com- pleted, major changes were in the official Soviet attitude to Stalin and to the former Opposition leaders were announced. For example, Bukharin, Rykov, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Pyatakov and Radek were cleared of all charges levelled against them in the Moscow trials of 1936-38. Bukharin’s - party membership was posthumously -res- tored and it is likely that all the defendants in those trials will be rehabilitated, including Leon Trotsky and his son, Leon Sedov. The political changes in the Soviet Union have also altered the status of Medvedev. Once treated as a hostile dissident, he is now published in the Soviet press and in 1989 was elected to the Congress of People’s Deputies, the highest body of state author- ity. 10 Pacific Tribune, January 22, 1990 In summarizing Stalin’s place in Soviet history he makes the following points: @ Stalin was a leader in difficult times. For many years he had the confidence of the party and the people. During those years there was considerable progress, culturally and economically, and a great victory was won in the war of 1941-45. But the successes would have been greater if the terror of the Thirties had not taken place, and the war could have been won with much fewer Soviet losses if Stalin had not destroyed the best military leaders before the war, and if he had conducted a better foreign policy. @ Stalin succeeded Lenin as leader of the CPSU and the world Communist move- ment, but he squandered rather than increased his inheritance. Stalinism cannot be equated with Marxism or Leninism. Stal- inism is the sum total of the perversions he introduced into the theory and practice of socialism. @ The process of cleansing socialism and the Communist movement, of washing out all the layers of Stalinism, is not yet finished. Those who are striving for a deeper understanding of the recent and current changes in Eastern and southeastern Europe should study the chapter, ““Repres- sion in the People’s Democracies,” which covers the period from 1948 to 1953. Stalin regarded the leaders of those coun- tries as his subordinates, obligated to carry out all of his instructions. That attitude led to the unjustifiable break with Yugoslavia, Stalin’s major political defeat. “Considering himself the absolute master and supreme arbiter in the socialist camp, Stalin intervened unceremoniously in the affairs of East European parties, imposing his own decisions, which were often stereo- typed, and treating the leaders of those par- ties with extreme rudeness. Ignoring the political and economic individuality of each East European country, their specific inter- ests and needs, he tried to convert them into protectorates rather than independent, friendly allies of the Soviet Union.” Medvedev goes on to point out that the inevitable result was discontent, not only among middle class elements with strong feelings about national independence, but also among working class people and inside the Communist parties. Medvedev cites Wladyslaw Gomulka, a _ leading Polish Communist, as giving a very apt description of the Stalinist system when he addressed the central committee of the Polish United Workers Party in October, 1956. He stated that the cult of the personal- ity went beyond the Soviet Union to proba- bly all of the Communist parties, as well as to the countries in'the socialist camp, includ- ing Poland. Gomulka charged that leaders in the other socialist countries occupied lower - rungs on the ladder. They in turn wore the robes of infallibility within their own coun- tries. Be oo et “Matters were worse or even quite bad when a limited man, a stupid agent for someone else got power. Such a man buried socialism, unthinkingly but surely .... If anyone tried to get outside this framework he was threatened with anathema by his comrades. If an entire party was involved then the other parties anathematized it,” Gomulka stated. Medvedev writes that the Stalin cult TOP PHOTO: Stalin (I) with “‘rehabili- tated’’ leaders Alexi Rykov, Leon Kamenev and Gregory Zinoviev; RIGHT: Nikolai Bukharin. affected the party and people in the Soviet Union. Many believed and were convinced that Stalin was the infallible interpreter of Marxist science, that he was enriching it and was showing the only true road to socialism. From that flowed the concept that what did not correspond to his ideas and orders was harmful, that it meant the abandon- ment of Marxism-Leninism. Those who had doubts were, in most cases, convinced that if they spoke their true minds in public, nothing would change and they would suffer very unpleasant consequences. Still others were indifferent to everything except their own advancement. “The system violated democratic princi- ples and the rule of law. Under this system the character and conscience of men were broken, people were trampled under foot and their honour besmirched. ’ Slander, falsehoods, lies and even provocation served as instruments in the exercise of power .... “Terror and demoralization were spread | far and wide ... which violated and even nullified the most profound meaning of people’s power.” Medvedev does not rate Stalin as a great theoretician, arguing that he was unable to cope with the tasks that posed theoretical challenges for Marxists and the :nterna- tional Communist movement from 1924 until his death in 1953. “The list of theoreti- cal problems that he helped to solve is small. On the other hand there is a long list of important problems that should have been solved in the Stalin era but were not solved.” Citing many examples, the author arrives at the conclusion that under Stalin’s leader- ship there was stagnation and decline in the - theoretical field, which adversely affected the CPSU and the world Communist movement. A harsh verdict indeed, but Medvedev presents a very convincing case. He characterizes the Stalin era and the suc- ceeding period not only as the open struggle between socialism and capitalism, but also as the struggle between socialism and bar- racks socialism. The book deals with many other aspects of Soviet life under Stalin, including the negative effects on historiography, science, literature, arts, the press, pedagogy, agricul- ture, industrialization, foreign policy and the national question. We can expect more books from Med- vedev. Personally, I believe they will be even better books because many of the restric- tions under which he worked are being removed. — Jack Phillips Black History Next month is Black History Month and the arts community in Vancouver is featuring events to mark the occasion. The Vancouver East Cultural Centre Gallery features the paintings of Valerie Romain, a Trinidad-born Canadian artist and Vancouver resident. These are on display in the gallery Feb. 5-March 4. Gallery hours are 12 noon-6 p.m. daily and during evening performances. For more information on Black History Month events phone Charles Arthur, 224-6627, or Mary Regester, 733-6478. The Vancouver Folk Music Festival adds its contribution with two concerts at the cultural centre. Guy and Candie Carawan — white U.S. musicians who did much to popularize black music in the Fifties — and the Joyful Sound Gos- pel Singers perform Sunday, Feb. 4, 8 p-m. And on Sunday, Feb. 25, 8 p.m., Month marked U.S. rural blues musician Moses Rascoe performs. Admission for both events is $12, phone 254-9578 to reserve. * ok ok Knowledge Network airs a National Film Board special, Black Sugar, about the plight of Haitian sugar workers in the neighbouring Dominican Republic, on Monday, Jan. 29, 9 p.m: and Wednesday, Jan. 31, 10 p.m. Also on is Native Indians: Images of Reality. The Wake, on the effect of a high school celebration on its - Metis and white students, Wednesday, ’ Jan. 31, 8 p.m. And one can can follow freelance reporter Susan Morgan, injured in the 1984 bombing of the press confer- ence of contra Eden Pastora, who revisits Nicaragua in In Search of an Assassin: Part I, on Thursday, Feb. 1, 8 p.m.