I think you are conflating the two because of the case of Soviet Union. A) Soviet Union was not communism. Communism never happened. Communism/communist societ

I think you are conflating the two because of the case of Soviet Union. A) Soviet Union was not communism. Communism never happened. Communism/communist society is an ideal. B) Soviet Union was a totalitarian state, yes. C) One of the main concepts in communism is that there is/should be no state. Totalitarianism assumes that there is a state. This is in every definition of communism and totalitarianism. Here I'm going to quote it from the first line of each from Wikipedia: "Totalitarianism is concept of a political system in which the state holds total control over the society" "Communism ... absence of social classes, money, and the state."