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Stalin-era repressions 'justified' claims new 'anti-Semitic' Russian textbook

Stalin-era repressions, including the Gulag camp system and the deportation of entire ethnic groups were justified according to a new history textbook published in Russia, which critics claim is anti-Semitic.

"A History of Russia, 1917-2009," written by two Moscow State University academics, Alexander Barsenkov and Alexander Vdovin, attempts to justify forced collectivisation and the mass arrests and executions of the 1930s.

Supporters say the book is filled with patriotism and love of the Motherland.

But critics claim the textbook offers a pro-Stalinist and anti-Semitic view of Soviet and Russian history.

Describing the mass arrests and executions of the 1930s, the authors write that the authorities had a justified fear of enemies within the Soviet Union....
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)