… weiß jedermann bestens Bescheid. Zumindest bildet sich das jedermann ein, besonders in Deutschland, wo man sich mitunter strafbar macht, wenn man in böser Absicht sein Schulbuchwissen nicht korrekt memoriert oder ein schlechtes Zahlengedächtnis hat.
Da die Wissenschaft allerdings laut einem Interview, das der renommierte Holocaust-Historiker Raul Hilberg im Jahr 2006 kurz vor seinem Tod gab, erst 20% der Materie erforscht hat, wird es da noch einigen Nachholbedarf geben, wenn eines Tages alle Rätsel gelöst sind (sofern das überhaupt möglich ist.)
Inzwischen kann man sich auch darüber Gedanken machen, wieviel man eigentlich wirklich über den von den Medien und der Schock-Ikonographie des 20. Jahrhunderts stiefmütterlich behandelten “kommunistischen Holocaust” weiß. Auf der Webseite des US-Ökonomie-Professors Bryan Caplan findet sich ein interessanter, lehrreicher Multiple Choice-Test mit Fragen wie diesen:
- Lenin appears to have caused the post-Civil War famine deliberately, or at least acted with malevolent indifference. What are the main facts establishing this contention?
A. The weather conditions in 1920–21 were actually favorable. B. Lenin reversed his agricultural policies once starvation appeared to threaten the survival of the Soviet regime. C. Substantial stockpiles of grain held by the Whites were captured in 1920. D. Seed grain as well as food for family consumption was requisitioned from peasants as a punitive measure. E. Both A and D, but not C. F. B, C, and D, but not A.
- EXCLUSIVE of the Ukrainian famine in 1932–33, the numbered of “kulaks,” or better-off peasants (and their families) murdered by Stalin numbered about:
A. Only a few thousand village leaders – almost all of the “kulak” fatalities actually occurred during the Ukrainian famine following the dekulakization campaign. B. 100,000 – about as many Japanese who died from the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. C. 250,000 – about equal to the number of Gypsies exterminated by Hitler. D. 1.5 million – about as many as the Turks killed in the Armenian holocaust. E. 2.5 million – about as many as killed by Pol Pot in Cambodia. F. 6.5 million – somewhat more than the number of Jews murdered by Hitler.
- In late 1939, Hitler invaded Poland from the west, while Stalin’s forces attacked from the east. During the two following years of peace between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia:
A. Stalin exterminated over 3 times as many Poles as Hitler did, even though the eastern zone held only half the population of the western zone. B. Millions of Poles fled to the Soviet zone to escape even worse conditions inflicted by the Nazis. C. Approximately equal numbers of Poles died in both zones, although the Nazi kill ratio was greater. D. Tens of thousands of Polish intellectuals, officers, and other community leaders were executed by a special unified task force of the German and Russian secret police. E. B and C. F. A, B, and C.
- The single greatest atrocity committed in eastern Europe (outside of the Soviet Union) from 1945 on was:
A. The post-war expulsions of ethnic Germans from Poland, Czechoslovakia, and other countries. B. Deportation of Poles to Siberia. C. The 1956 invasion of Hungary and subsequent deportations. D. The 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. E. Tito’s “anti-Cominformist” persecutions. F. Executions of persons attempting to escape from East Germany.
Die Ergebnisse einer Testgruppe kann man hier nachlesen. Mein eigener “Score” lag nur bei 57%, mit den meisten Wissenslücken bezüglich China, Vietnam und Kambodscha: “This marks you as an ADVANCED student of communist atrocities.” Das ist allerdings nicht soo schlecht, wenn man bedenkt, daß etwa die Hälfte der Testgruppe über den “Novice”-Status nicht hinauskam. Nun, viel “Spaß” also beim Selbertesten…