Who was more evil? Hitler or Joseph Stalin?

Question

I remember growing up hearing stories of Joseph Stalin and how he ran his empire.

It was said that if he didnt like you, he could just simply point you out, and a KGB would put a bullet in your head before you knew what happened.

He killed many generals for their actions during World War II and the near loss.

It was reported that in all he ordered the deaths of some 20 mil people in Russia.

Yet Hitler besides the war deaths orders 6 mil deaths.


In a way id say Stalin was.

No wonder why so many people wanted to take the invasion of Europe to Moscow instead of stopping in Germany.

Answer 1

I consider them both pretty evil. Consider this, Stalin's mass killings were mostly before WW II (100,000 a year), and mostly from his purges and 'collectivization in early 30's with the latest estimate of around 20-30 million dead. His genocide wasn't a full time occupation to his death, unlike Hitler, but that's where the comparison stops. When comparing the two, both were evil, both put people in concentration camps, both committed genocide, both were dictators, both...well you get the picture. The one factor Hitler had over Stalin tho, Hitler was insane. Stalin was just angry and distrustful.

Other things to consider,Stalin killed more people, Hitler started WW II, Hitler killed the Jews and some people in his nation, but he started the war that resulted in many troops dying on both sides. Hitler may be considered the greater of both evils; tho Stalin killed more people it is said, Hitler's action ensured that those loses were as high as possible.

It is my conclusion that Hitler may be the 'evil-er" of them all, but comparing the them is ludicrous, now that i think about it, so just forget about it!

Answer 2

First, Charles' answer adresses valid points to why the Allied governments treated Stalin and Soviet brutality with a blind eye compared to Hitlers'. The answer to your question lies more in developments after the war then occurences during. It is to be noted that the Holocaust for example was rarely mentioned, even by Jews, up until the mid 60's. The Soviets were the enemy now and would have taken the most brutal award back then had the West known exactly what was happening behind the Iron curtain ( Let alone what was going on in Mao's domain). After the 67 Israeli war however, the perception of having Israel as an ally became entrenched in the Elite American circles ( Jew and non-Jew). It is at this point that suddenly, the Holocaust is a very practical tool to use politically to further support Israel. In the 50's, the World Zionist Congress would not beat down the Germans too much because it was important to have West Germany as a strong and important ally. Once it was back up ( And able to be financially exploited), and this new perception of Israel could be profitable, suddenly Hitler and the old Germany became the evil boggey man of all times. Stalin's army raped 2 million women in East Prussia in a period of 6 months, raped another 45,000 women in Berlin in a 3 day period. These were only those incidents in the end of the war. This type of information, though true, was not profitable, but exploiting Germanys past suddenly became so. Hitler gets the attention because it became more politically convenient and profitable. It would be also dificult to defend a Potsdam conference where the West gave up half of Europe to Soviet brutality if indeed that brutality was worse than Hitlers. That was sadly the case though...

Answer 3

Before we give Hitler to much credit for the Holocaust. First the Treaty of Versailles which the US had a very big hand in put Germany on its knees, and the people of Germany were the ones who followed orders. Also war is a very profitable business and the Germans were starving after WW1. All Hitler did was talk. The German people listened and acted.

The youth of Hitler were the orginal Boyscouts.

Answer 4

If ya gotta comparison shop then yes Josef Stalin was 'more evil,' but really both men were turds the key difference was that Josef Stalin knew how to run an empire and Hitler was a complete idiot who bluffed his way to seemingly easy success before being tripped up by his own stupidity. Stalin made many mistakes as well but he recovered from them, learned from them.

My measure of evil is a bit different. Josef Stalin had several chances to 'go straight,' to rectify his evil by doing good, instead he continued to be a ruthless monster. Actually an apt comparison is Sadaam Hussein. Stalin's enemies were much too busy fighting each other to effectively fight Stalin and Stalin was the one man who kept various factions from flinging the Soviet Union into a not so Civil War. As was the case with Sadaam and one can see what happens when an evil dictator is removed from power.

Peace...

Answer 5

I say Hitler. Stalin did what he did as part of a political plan, there was an aim. Although, I do not aprove either the aim or the means. Hitler did what he did out of hatred and he contaminated a whole nation with this hatred. After he started losing the war it was just pure destruction for destruction's sake. Not only did he ordered the useless murderes of millions he also let his own country be destroyed and led his soldiers to death with no reason apart from saving face acording to his own twisted logic. In history there have been many people who ruled with violence and terror but very few who did evil just for doing it.

Answer 6

In my standard Stalin is more evil. Hitler had a vision to raise German become world top super power. He started unnecessary war. These does make him evil, but killing Jewish does.

In another hand Stalin killed who ever he want. In his mind he is God, he can do what ever he want. He is not only evil, he is also mentally ill. May be both of them got the same problems.

Answer 7

Stalin.He terrorized his own nation while Hitler terrorized the others.Not to mention how Stalin killed half of his high ranking officers...

Answer 8

Stalin was much worse than Hitler.

Not only did he kill more people, but he didn't have any real good reason. Not that hitler's reason was good, but at least his made sense, he hated the Jews, so he killed them.

Stalin killed more of his OWN people than others. He was paranoid.

Answer 9

Definately Stalin.

Pol Pot was the worst though as he killed a third of his people, but Cambodia was a much smaller country so there were less people for him to kill.

Answer 10

I agree. Evil people take advantage of weakness in others, and Stalin was skillful enough to die of old age. Hitler died because he overreached, lost the war, then he had to kill himself.