From 1932-45, millions of individuals were slaughtered by Hitler and Stalin in pre-war Eastern Poland, the Baltics, Ukraine, and modern-day Belarus. Although we tend to think of the nearly six million Jews who were murdered, other ethnic groups suffered in huge numbers as the policy of collectivization was applied and as the Nazi and Soviet armies occupied the same area one after another bringing with them their ideologies, economic theories and security concerns. The numbers are staggering, especially when on realizes that the numbers involved were very often accomplished on a one on one basis. The deaths were not the result of vast bombing raids or clouds of poison gas but were rather individuals methodically executing people one after another, day in and day out.
How many people were killed in this manner? About fourteen million (14,000,000) broken down as follows:
- 3.3 million Soviet citizens (mostly Ukrainians) starved by their own government from 1932-33
- 300,000 Soviet citizens (mostly Poles and Ukrainians) shot by the Soviet government in the western USSR (they were among the 700,000 murdered during the Great Terror of 1937-38)
- 200,000 Polish citizens (mostly Poles) shot by German and Soviet forces in occupied Poland 1939-41)
- 4.2 million Soviet citizens (largely Russians, Belarussians and Ukrainians) starved by the German occupation in 1941-45
- 5.4 million Jews (mostly Polish or Soviet citizens) gassed or show by the Germans in 1941-44)
- 700,000 (mostly Belarusian and Poles) shot by the Germans in “reprisals” chiefly in Belarus and Warsaw, 1941-44
Of course, these numbers do not include the Poles, Balts, Ukrainians, etc. who were sent to the Gulag for being “kulaks”, political opponents, intellectuals, community leaders, etc. and who died in exile. The numbers do not also include nearly a million Ukrainians who died of starvation after WWII in the Ukraine or about 100,000 Poles who were murdered by Ukrainians nationalists after WWII, Soviet troops who were imprisoned by being “contaminated” by contact with the West during the war, etc.
How did the mass of the people survive, given the various occupations? Imagine that you are a citizen of Eastern Poland and you face these events in a few short years:
- September 1939, the Soviets invade, take away or execute anyone with higher than a high school education
- June 1941, the Germans drive out the Soviets and institute a policy by which all schools are shut down, your city is surrounded, and no food is allowed in as starvation begins. At the same time, Jews are herded and executed or placed into ghettos. As time goes on, various streets are closed off, all males are taken away for forced labor in Germany
- Late 1944, the Soviets return after the Germans have burned down your town and arrest anyone who worked in the German occupation (such as police, firemen, doctors, etc.) and send them to a Gulag
- 1944-1989, you live under a Communist system based on what is good for the state and individual rights are minimal
Now multiply that by what happened in literally tens of thousands of towns and villages across the area of the Bloodlands. Snyder provides us with a harsh look at the reality that was that area. When we hear today of the troubles in the Eastern Ukraine, or how the Baltic countries and Poland take a hard stand regarding Russia and argue with the EU over various issues, we can better understand the history of those countries and how their experiences shape their perception of the neighbors and the future.
Snyder’s book is an excellent primer on what mankind is capable of, all in the name of building a better world, or racial superiority. He brings humanity to the numbers as he weaves in individuals, some who survive, some who do not, and we realize that behind these facts and figures are real humans who were deprived of those things which we take for granted. There is no finer example of what we can learn from history than this book.
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