Edi
You're quoting only direct deaths through execution or in prison, while ignoring Stalin's other actions such as deliberately starving Ukraine and people dying from overwork in the labor camps.
Death from indirect actions of the government (starvation, etc.) are not included, true. The 642.980 is the actual death penalty, but I said that a few millions can be dropped on top from the GULAG labor camps.
I've never heard figures lower than 20 or 30 million dead from any source.
Could you provide at least one? I can provide the most trusted: a mail of one of the higher Soviet leaders, Nikita Sergeevitch Krushev. As you may not believe me, I will qoute it here:
1 February 1954.
To the Secretary of ZK KPSS komrade Krushev N.S.
In connection with the reports to the ZK KPSS from a number of people about illegal accusations of anti-revolutionary actions by the OGPU comitee, NKVD "triades", Special Council, War comitee, courts and war tribunals, we report:
From 1921 to present day, 3.777.880 men were admitted guilty of anti-revolution crimes, therein 642.980 to HMoP (Highest Measure of Punishment), to containment in camps from 25 years and below: 2.369.220, exiled: 765.180.
[...] (the rest says which comitees were responsible for this)
Rudenko
Kruglov
Gorshenin
This is far away from the "20.000.000". And strangely, all documents, no matter who made them, indicate
these numbers. But the novel literature or yellow press always or nearly always comes up with 20.000.000 numbers, because they don't bother with stats.
These sources account for actions and decisions made by Stalin that directly or indirectly (through negligence) caused people to die (of starvation or whatever).
That may come up with 5 millions, but certainly not 20 or 30.
Then there's the atrocities Stalin's soldiers committed against elsewhere, such as in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland and other places.
Indeed. I'm not defending Stalin, he is a criminal dictator. I'm just commenting the wrong stats.
You can rest assured that those figures aren't just pulled out of thin air.
They are. The sources like these obviously count everyone guilty, then make it: "everyone killed". By 1% deaths in year they easily make the 1% in month bullshit, and so on.
Even the Solgenitsyn, who is one of the most truthful authors, can't provide a worthy statistic. All the "uber-millions" are thought-out by those suffered from Stalin's horrible crimes. These people didn't even bother looking in the stats, they simply got the number they like and then came forth with it, quoting each other. Luckily not
all sources do that (in fact, the yeloow press does, but not formidable reference material).