Official Statement: “The struggle against the Gospel and Christian legend must be conducted ruthlessly and with all the means at the disposal of Communism.”{203}
Student: “Is it true that you have already suppressed the clergy in Russia?”
Stalin: “Have we suppressed the reactionary clergy? Yes, we have. The unfortunate thing is that it has not been completely liquidated. Anti-religious propaganda is a means by which the complete liquidation of the reactionary clergy must be brought about. Cases occur when certain members of the Party hamper the complete development of anti-religious propaganda. If such members are expelled it is a good thing because there is no room for such ‘Communists’ in the ranks of the Party.”{204}
Student: “What do you propose to substitute for religion?”
Lenin: “We said at the beginning… Marxism cannot be conceived without atheism. We would add here that atheism without Marxism is incomplete and inconsistent.”{205}
Student: “If you are going to take away the concept of God, what spiritual substitute do you propose to offer your people?”
Official Statement: “What better means of influencing pupils than, for example, the characteristic of the spiritual figure of Stalin given in the Short Biography: ‘Everyone knows the irresistible, shattering power of Stalin’s logic, the crystal clearness of his intellect, his iron will, devotion to the party, his modesty, artlessness, his solicitude for people and mercilessness to enemies of the people.”{206}
Student: “I understand Soviet leaders missed no opportunity when Stalin was alive to indoctrinate the children with the idea of Stalin as a spiritual figure. What was the slogan stamped on children’s toys?”
Official Statement: “Thank you, Comrade Stalin, for my joyous childhood.”{207}
Individual Freedom and Civil Liberties
Student: “Is there any opportunity for freedom and democracy under Communism?”
Engels: “We say: ‘A la guerre comme a la guerre’; we do not promise freedom nor any democracy.”{208}
Student: “Then you do not believe that men should be free and equal in the enjoyment of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?”
Engels: “As long as classes exist, all arguments about freedom and equality should be accompanied by the question: Freedom for which class? And for what purpose? The equality of which class with which? And in what relation?”{209}
Student: “But is it not your desire to have freedom and equality for all classes?”
Engels: “We do not want freedom for the bourgeoisie.” {210}
Student: “Do not the people in Communist satellites want freedom and equality for their citizens?”
Engels: “Anyone who talks about freedom and equality within the limits of toiler democracy, i.e., conditions under which the capitalists are overthrown while property and free trade remain—is a defender of the exploiters.”{211}
Student: “Do you believe in freedom at all?”
Lenin: “While the state exists there is no freedom. When freedom exists, there will be no state.”{212}
Student: “But the USSR still preserves the State. Does this mean the government of Russia is not intended to promote the freedom of the Russian people?”
Engels: “So long as the proletariat still uses the state it does not use it in the interest of freedom but in order to hold down its adversaries.”{213}
Student: “Then do I conclude from this that in Russia you do not even pretend to has the civil liberties which we enjoy over here?”
Vyshinsky: “In our state, naturally there is and can be no place for freedom of speech, press, and so on for the foes of socialism. Every sort of attempt on their part to utilize to the detriment of the state, that is to say, to the detriment of all the toilers—these freedoms granted to the toilers, must be classified as a counter-revolutionary crime.”{214}
Student: “Supposing I were living in Russia and wanted to publish a newspaper which criticized the government. Would I be granted the same freedom of press which I enjoy in America?”
Stalin: “What freedoms of the press have you in mind? Freedom of the press for which class— the bourgeoisie or the proletariat? If it is a question of freedom of the press for the bourgeoisie, then it does not and will not exist here as long as the proletarian dictatorship exists.”{215}
Student: “Then you mean freedom of the press is only for the privileged proletariat? It would not include a person like myself?”
Stalin: “We have no freedom of the press for the bourgeoisie. We have no freedom of the press for the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries, who represent the interests of the beaten and overthrown bourgeoisie. But what is there surprising in that? We have never pledged ourselves to grant freedom of the press to all classes, and to make all classes happy.”{216}
Student: “But how can a government fairly administer its laws unless they apply equally to all the people?”
Lenin: “Dictatorship is power based upon force and unrestricted by any laws. The revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat is power won and maintained by the violence of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie—power that is unrestricted by any laws.”{217}
Student: “But if laws are against classes rather than violators, how can there be any justice?”
Vyshinsky: “The task of justice in the USSR is to assure the precise and unswerving fulfillment of Soviet laws by all the institutions, organizations, officials and citizens of the USSR. This the court accomplishes by destroying without pity all the foes of the people in whatever form they manifest their criminal encroachments upon socialism.”{218}
Education
Student: “Let me ask a few questions about Soviet schools and the Communist theory of education. How would you describe the objectives of education in Russia?”
Official Statement: “It is in the schools, at the desk, in the first class, that the foundations for a Communist outlook are laid in future Soviet citizens. The country entrusts the school with its most treasured possessions—its children—and no one should be allowed to indulge in the slightest deviation from the principles of the Communist materialistic upbringing of the new generation.”{219}
