Western Civilization II / Unit 15 WC2 1416 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Purges, the NKVD, and the Gulag
Captions available
The idea
The purges struck the party, the army and the police: kulaks, Old Bolsheviks, officers, party members, then ordinary citizens. The NKVD tortured confessions to outlandish charges; each purge purged the purgers. The Gulag held the survivors. The anchor counts at least seven hundred thousand killed.
In practice
"Every communist is a possible hidden enemy", Stalin said.
Where people slip
The figure is the anchor's; estimates vary.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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