Author of quotes: Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev

I am one of those who knows a lot about Stalin. I cannot now agree with those who want, even using such events as the anniversaries of the victory over Germany and so on, to whitewash Stalin and create a halo around him. Clearly, he was a man of some demonic nature. Terribly cowardly. He could not find a place for himself, because he knew what he was doing ... It seems that he enjoyed [repressions]. I now understand why he praised Ivan the Terrible so much. Imagine, an order was sent to the region, that they were given 10 thousand to shoot and the second item was to [send] to the camps. They asked to be added. Add to shoot. It wasn't enough. What has been done to the people? With society? It was mangled. We must never, under any circumstances, forgive this cruelty. We have lost so much that the country was unsettled.