Why Not Katyn?

Any American who received a semi-decent education learned about the 6,000,000 Jews who were murdered in Holocaust, the gas chambers of Auschwitz and the inherent wickedness of nazism. But why do so very few Americans know about Katyn, in which 21,768 Polish officers and intellectuals were murdered by the Soviets? Why does the word "communism" not provoke the same revulsion in Americans that "nazism" does when upwards of 10,000,000 people were murdered by the Soviet Union? Why do far too many Americans still hold a romantic vision of our radical left, yet (justifiably) recoil at the radical right?

And even more disturbing and puzzling is the romantic vision that many Americans, especially in academia and the arts held for communism and socialism.

In the 1920's, prominent American writers wrote sympatheticly about the Soviet Union, even as millions were starving to death in the "worker's paradise."

In the 1930's thousands of Americans volunteered to fight for the Spanish Republic even as they were murdering thousands and thousands of "counter-revolutionaries."

In the 1960's a socialist and radical spirit figured prominently in the student movements. Jane Fonda visited Communist North Vietnam. The Red Book of Mao was romantically waved around at student rallies and the works of marxist writers like Marcuse, Gramsci and Adorno were avidly taught by many professors.

In the 1970's, many leftists would curse General Pinochet, yet laud Fidel Castro.

Even today we see people wearing Che Gueverra shirts, even though he mercilessly executed 1,000's of Cubans at La Cabaña.

This is not simply an academic issue. A teacher of mine emphasized the importance of learning about nazism so we would guard against repeating the same horrible errors of those who supported or appeased fascism. The same applies to teaching about the dangers of socialism and any other doctrine that seeks to erode liberty for the "greater good."

My critics will correctly point out that not every instance of socialism led to slaughter. My response is that valuable lessons are also to be found in the economic stagnation that occurred even in "social democratic" regimes like Allende's Chile and other nations in which the state excessively limited economic freedom.

The widespread ignorance among educated Americans about the nature and history of socialism has allowed us to embark upon a dangerous path of "change."


To learn more about the Katyn Massacre:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyn

You can view the full movie at youtube, divided up in 12 parts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM1zyQ_zffM