Stalin and Genocide
This lecture summarizes the argument of a forthcoming book (Suhrkamp, Princeton University Press) that Stalin's crimes of the 1930s should be considered genocide. This requires a review of historical/legal concepts of genocide and of the mass killing of the period itself.
Norman Naimark is the Robert and Florence McDonnell Professor of East
European Studies: a professor of history; core faculty member of FSI's Forum on
Contemporary Europe; and an FSI senior fellow by courtesy. He is an expert on
modern East European, Balkan, and Russian history. His current research focuses
on the history of genocide in the 20th century and on postwar Soviet policy in
Europe. He is author of the critically acclaimed volumes: The Russians in
Germany: The History of the Soviet Zone of Germany, 1945-1949 (Harvard
1995) and Fires
of Hatred: Ethnic Cleansing in 20th Century Europe (Harvard 2001). Most
recently, he has co-edited books on Yugoslavia and its
Historians (Stanford 2003), Soviet Politics in Austria, 1945-1955:
Documents from the Russian Archives (in German and Russian, Austrian
Academy of Sciences, 2006), and The Lost Transcripts of the
Politburo (Yale 2008).
The series is also supported by the Division of Humanities and Sciences,the Stanford Humanities Center, Department of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages, and the German Stanford Club.