3 ms·
> I think if you try to take everything in his descriptions of the Gulag system as literal fact, you'll find historical discrepancies What ones stand out for y
by frabbit 5y ago
> I think if you try to take everything in his descriptions of the Gulag system as literal fact, you'll find historical discrepancies
What ones stand out for you? I am relatively ignorant on the subject. Your comment stimulated me to google a bit and I came up with this¹ critical (and currently topical) criticism of him for anti-semitism in which he is accused of blaming Jewish people for playing a leading role in the red terror:
His reported self defense included a reference to the Kiev/Kyiv Cheka (precursors to OGPU and NKVD):
'To explain the actions of the Kiev cheka [secret police] only by the fact that two thirds were Jews, is certainly incorrect."'
1. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jan/25/russia.books https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jan/25/russia.books
- frabbit 5y agoSidenote: regardless of the merits of the book or its criticisms I thought this was a funny line: "This book is a weak one professionally. Factually, it is so bad as to be beyond criticism. "
- ch4s3 5y agoI think he gets some fair criticism for reporting some third hand accounts of some mass executions and publishing some inflated numbers, but I don't think his intention was to pin those down precisely, but rather to give account of the magnitude of the tragedy.