Hi Geoff, Few remarks in reply to your post: 1. Stalin died in 1953. Stories about him being poisoned by Beria are just conspiracy theories, largely unfounded. 2. Never heard this 'Stalins quote-One death is a tragedy' you are citing. Quotes easily loose meaning once taken out of context. But I would mention on this occasion that Stalin's son Jacob died in German concentration camp, after Stalin refused to exchange him for German Field-marchall. Well established historic fact. 3. A comment on 'what ifs': When Germany started the war in the East, everybody expected their quick victory- that the war would last just few weeks, a nice stroll around for the German army, similar to what they had in France with allied armies before. That is how accurate 'what if' assumptions can be! 4. For Stalin, there was absolutely no choice for any alternative decisions- the Germans HAD TO BE STOPPED at any price! Unlike the prospect of simply setting up puppet governments as was done in Europe-such as Vichy in France, the outlook for Russians was completely different: total physical extermination and mass resettlement of those who still survive to Siberia and beyond the Polar circle (clearing up the territories). Russians had no other way- and all this became pretty clear soon after the invasion. Nazis considered peoples of eastern Europe as "inferior race"- just one step up from Jews. From the beginning of the war in the east Red Army was loosing battle after battle with staggering losses and retreated all the time, however German advance was slowed down and eventually stopped. It became clear very soon that Barbarossa plan failed and the war will extend far beyond the winter. 2. As for some of your other comments (starving millions of people) in the 30-s, I totally agree with you, though it may be remotely relevant to the WW2. Stalin crimes were mostly against people of his own country- that is where he is different. Cheers Alexei
