Soviet Union: Cracking Down

Andropov vs. free thought

At the conclusion of Soviet Historian Roy Medvedev's monumental 1971 study of the Stalin era, Let History Judge, the author sounded a warning note: "Not everything connected with Stalinism is behind us, by no means everything. The process of purifying the Communist movement, of washing out all the layers of Stalinist filth, is not yet finished." Those words rang true last week when the Soviet Union's top law enforcement agency warned Medvedev to "cease hostile activities" or face criminal charges.

The move against Medvedev added weight to evidence that...

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