s decided. When arrested Yakir wrote to Stalin a letter saying, “I will die with the words of love to you.” (Suvorov, 177) Replacing Yakir and Tukhachevsky came Apanasenko, Zhukov, Rokossovsky, and Vasilevsky. These people were professional at what they did, but most importantly, they stood up for their opinions even facing the risk of being arrested. In May of 1944 the greatest attack of the Second World War was launched on the Germans: the Belorussian offensive (Sorry, no D Day). Stalin, Zhukov, and Vasilevsky planned it. General Rokossovsky (who just returned from the camps before the war) had his own plan, which was better. He faced the opposition of all three and still defended his point and won. And beat the Germans. Would those destroyed by Stalin do anything like it? Those whose will was destroyed by Stalin did not deserve to be in power.Khrushchev says that the NKVD fabricated cases against the people (Revolutions, 83). His real concern, however, was not with the people, but with the Party members. At the same time when he criticizes Stalin for suppressing the freedom of opinion within the Communist Party, Khrushchev fails to see anything wrong with oppression of those non-Bolsheviks who criticized Stalin and were sent to GULAG because of it. This is not a surprise. Such a policy comes from Lenin and is continued by Stalin and Khrushchev himself. During the time of Lenin’s leadership the CHEKA (GPU) was committing atrocities on a similar scale, but that was normal, because it was fighting the counterrevolution. One of the few true things that Khrushchev says about Lenin and Stalin is that Lenin actually called for the Party Congresses to address problems and issues, which Stalin never did. He only called for Congresses when he needed them, not the Party. They were more like staged performances then real meetings. The same is true concerning the Politburo meetings. They all new what Stalin wanted a...
