David Satter

First of all, that's a great title for a book. And this is a very good book.

Veteran journalist David Satter explores the difficult terrain of historical memory in post-Communist Russia. He explores issues like what do with mass graves from the Stalin era (and how to find them), memorials and museums, school textbooks, and so on. The book was published seven years ago, but it anticipates what the Putin era was going to be like, especially regarding Ukraine, Georgia and Russian foreign policy in general. The current debate between Putin and Western historians over the question of the Polish role in starting World War II is anticipated in Satter's discussion of how Russians today view what they still call the Great Patriotic War.

For those of us who grew up at a time when the Soviet Union still existed, the story of the rise and fall of Russian democracy, and the marginalisation of human rights organisations, makes for a depressing read. The era of glasnost and the first years after the breakup of the USSR were in some ways a hopeful time -- but that is now all gone.

Satter chooses to end the book without offering up much hope, but he does challenge the Russians to face up to their history as other countries (such as Germany) have done. He acknowledges that this is difficult, but writes that "it is certainly well within the capacity of a nation that tried to create heaven on earth." And, he adds, "it is the only hope for a better future."… (mais)

Vladimir Putin is one bad, corrupt dude. Satter’s basic argument is that instead of transitioning from Communism to democracy, Russia went almost straight to authoritarianism, with no tradition of regard for the value of people in themselves. Thus, the security services are routinely willing to set up or even fake “terrorist” incidents in order to build support for repressive and expansionist policies, from the election that initially put Putin in power to the justification for invading Ukraine. Not reassuring.… (mais)

Joseph Stalin once said, “One death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic.” David Satter makes a compelling statement for the necessity of Russia to acknowledge these deaths, punish the perpetrators, and memorialize the victims of the Communist state before she is ready to turn away from “sovereign democracy” and begin the slow advancement to real democratization. It is not possible to build monuments large enough or in more public places than the ones needed to daily remind Russian citizens of their failure to hold their leaders accountable for the deaths of millions of citizens tortured and murdered by the Cheka, the NKVD, and the KGB. 5 Jan 2016 "… (mais)