This book first came to our attention via a friend's website, Winter Wells. And while it took some time for it to percolate to the top of my reading list, it has proven to be a fascinating look at American-Soviet relations prior to the Cold War. The Forsaken, An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia, by Tim Tzouliadis, begins by examining the fate of thousands of American Citizens who, during the Great Depression of the 1930's, immigrated to Russia in search of jobs and a better life. While the oppressive effects of the Depression had perhaps heightened the immigrants' susceptibility to Russian propaganda, the generally high level of public ignorance of Russian social conditions helped pave the way for what now seems like the height of folly. Suffice it to say, it didn't end well for most of these Americans who quickly found themselves abandoned by the American Government and adrift in the hellish Stalinist society.
In addition to tracing the fate of these Americans, however, another, more sobering set of facts emerges. First is new look at the monumental loss of human life under Stalin's totalitarianism. The total number of those killed, either by torture and execution, or banishment to the slow painful agony of the Gulag, is estimated to be an astonishing 20 million souls. Moreover the fact that these deaths were, for the most part, meant to terrorize, and thus eliminate, any opposition to the Communist leadership, spread a pall of anxiety and fear over everyday life.
Given this massive scale of inhumanity, it is a wonder that such evil could elude the court of world opinion, or more specifically, American opinion? It appears that the American Government's abandonment of its citizens in Russia, was part of a much broader pattern of appeasement of Stalin. While the obsequious Ambassador Joseph Davies did his best to avoid any antagonism of the Russians, including assisting Americans attempting to return to the U.S., he was clearly acting in full accord with a State Department policy of appeasement. To some extent, this strategy can be linked with Roosevelt's attempts to encourage Russia as an ally against the rising Nazi tide, it still does not fully explain the absence of protest against this barbarianism.
During this time, public opinion was heavily influenced by the fawning press reports such as those issued for years by New York Times reporter Walter Duranty, who lived a lavish lifestyle in Moscow while sending back flowery stories of Soviet life to American Readers. Another factor was the belief held by many Americans in the stated communist goal of creating a workers utopia, while blissfully ignorant of the full-scale terror being used to achieve it in Russia. It was not until faced with the reality of the Cold War that the general population began to realize the true nature of the Soviet system.
To paraphrase George Santayana, we must learn the lessons of history or risk repeating them. Early in the presidential campaign, Barack Obama was called to task by his willingness to meet directly with the leaders of belligerent countries, in spite of their animosity towards the United States. This seemingly innocuous idea, however, implies a policy of appeasement and supplication based upon a belief that these rogue regimes are really folks just like ourselves, open to reason and common sense and ignores the hatred, and perhaps imbalance, in their stated goal of American destruction. Good faith negotiation can only come after our enemies understand our strong commitment to self-defense and all that it implies.
Yesterday, Barack Obama named Leon Panetta, a liberal budget wonk and veteran of the Clinton White House, to be the CIA Director, replacing General Michael Hayden. Maybe Obama thinks that the spies, who are in many respects our first line of defense, will do a better job of protecting America if their expense reports are properly completed. Let's "hope" he's right.
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