Criticism of "The Soviet Story" (was Re: Film The Soviet Story with director Edvins Snore on Jan. 27)

[Slivkin, Yevgeniy A.]

Dear Tanya,

Professor Furr continues to teach at an American university “defending Stalinism and Communism“ as you put it (though I am not sure that he does) only because in the USA Stalinism and Communism are purely academic subjects. 
As for a fashionable comparison between Stalinism and Hitlerism, I would say that poets are always right:

Господи, вступись Ты за Советы,
Защити страну от высших рас,
Потому что все Твои заветы
Гитлер нарушает чаще нас!
                (Н. Глазков)




Yevgeny Slivkin
University of Oklahoma




________________________________________
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] on behalf of Smorodinskaya, Tatiana [tsmorodi at MIDDLEBURY.EDU]
Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 5:25 PM
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Criticism of "The Soviet Story" (was Re: Film The Soviet Story with director Edvins Snore on Jan. 27)

Vivat American Academy!
Professor Furr, an Associate Professor of English at Montclair continues to teach his courses at a state university, defending Stalinism and Communism.

However, an "objective" historian  Aleksandr Diukov called for firing his colleagues from the Russian Academy of Sciences for expressing alternative views.
So much for unbiased truth.

Однако нельзя исключать и гораздо худшего варианта. Рогинский, Лебедева и Случ могли принять участие в создании антироссийского пропагандистского опуса сознательно. Сотруднику независимого центра <Мемориал> в этом случае судьей может быть только Бог. А вот сотрудники финансируемых государством академических институтов Лебедева и Случ в таком случае должны быть уволены с волчьим билетом. Ибо речь идет не об научных разногласиях, а об участии в создании заведомой фальшивке, наносящий серьезный урон имиджу нашей страны на международной арене. Если кому-то хочется заниматься антироссийской пропагандой - пусть он занимается этим не за государственный счет.

Либо мы слышим от Лебедевой и Случа публичное осуждение фильма, либо - заявление РАН об их увольнении.

Третьего не дано.

Александр Дюков
http://novchronic.ru/1205.htm


Tatiana Smorodinskaya
Middlebury College


-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Grover Furr-FM
Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 5:13 PM
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Criticism of "The Soviet Story" (was Re: Film The Soviet Story with director Edvins Snore on Jan. 27)

Dear Julia:

I wrote:

>  Re: the film "The Soviet Story": I recommend
>
>  Aleksandr Diukov. "The Soviet Story". Mekhanizm lzhi.
>
>  You can download it at several places on the internet, including
>  here:
>
>  http://actualhistory.ru/polemics-the-soviet-lies
>
>  "The Soviet Story" is a shameless fabrication. Meanwhile, it is true
>  that official honors are given to Nazi collaborators in the Baltics
>  and Ukraine.

You wrote:

>  I would think twice before using Alexander Diukov as an "objective"
>  authority on this issue. This is the man who wrote in his blog
>  (http://a-dyukov.livejournal.com):
>  <http://a-dyukov.livejournal.com%29:> 'Я человек спокойный, нопосле
>  просмотра 2/3 фильма у меня было одно желание: лично убить режиссера и
>  сжечь нахер латышское посольство'.

I recommended this book, and still do, because I actually READ it. To be
honest, after reading it I felt much like Diukov evidently did. I don't
like Nazi apologetics any more than Diukov does.

Diukov's analysis makes a strong argument that "The Soviet Story" is
precisely that.

The governments of the Baltics and Ukraine, abetted by right-wing
nationalist historians, have been attempting to equate the Soviets with
the Nazis.

It is clear that they are doing this the better to excuse Nazi
collaboration by Baltic and Ukrainian "nationalist" -- meaning
far-right, pro-Nazi armed nationalist groups. This includes
participation in the Holocaust of Baltic and Soviet Jews, as well as of
millions of non-Jews.

In the interest of full disclosure, let me say that Diukov's online
journal, _Aktual'naia istoriia_ (http://actualhistory.ru/) published an
article I coauthored. Vladimir Bobrov, my co-author, and I did not alter
our research to get it published; nor were we asked to do so. Diukov and
his associates acted in a completely professional manner in dealing
withi our submission.

Of course it is true that the results of our research are compatible
with Diukov's bias, which is a pro-Soviet one. By the same token, it
would be very unlikely that our research would be published in the great
majority of Soviet- and Russian-studies journals that have an
_anti_-Soviet bias. Sadly, that's how things are in the politically
polarized world of Soviet / Russian history.

But the fact that "The Soviet Story" is fiercely anticommunist does not
mean that it is "credible" any more than Diukov's fiercely
anti-anti-communist bias (he is certainly not a communist himself) mean
that _his_ writing is "credible." Truth, not political bias, is what's
important, and the truth does not consistently favor the anticommunists
any more than it always favors the pro-communists.

That said, I find Diukov's book to be pretty objective, given the norm
in this politically loaded field.

Sincerely,

Grover Furr
Montclair SU

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------