VOC Launches Section 3 of Curriculum on Communism

The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation is excited to announce the launch of Section 3 of our new digital curriculum, Communism: A History of Repression, Violence, and Victims. VOC is proud to offer a reimagined approach for rising generations of teachers and students to study the violent past and enduring legacy of communism.

In Section 3, Stalin and the Building of Socialism, students will explore Stalin’s communist policies and the dire consequences of his decisions for the Soviet Union. Students will learn about the Five-Year Plan, the use of engineered famines, the Great Terror, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Treaty with Adolf Hitler, and the impact of Stalin’s rule on the USSR, Europe, and the world.

Joseph Stalin succeeded Vladimir Lenin. Stalin extended Lenin’s reign of terror, and Stalinism was grafted on to Marxism-Leninism. Through plotting, pressure, and pervasive violence, Stalin systematically eliminated all threats to his power, ruling as the undisputed head of the Soviet Union from the late 1920s until his death in 1953. Alarmed that the USSR lagged so far behind the West, Stalin was determined to vindicate communism and industrialize the nation no matter the cost—even the imprisonment and killing of millions, by violence, terror, and state-imposed famine.Building on the impact of VOC’s 3rd Edition of the curriculum, this new curriculum provides 10 sections and 33 chapters of material. Each chapter contains its own set of classroom activities, and adds brand-new, digitally focused supplementary resources for students to read, watch, and listen, as well as fully sourced and peer-reviewed essays by leading experts

Launching with Section 1, Introduction to Communism, the curriculum’s first module explores what communism is, how is it implemented and maintained, and how it represses or eliminates religion.

Section 2, Fathers of Communism, dissects the lives, the human toll of their ideology, and the global influence of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin.

The newly released Section 3, Stalin and the Soviet Union, examines Stalin’s rise to power, his brutal rule, and the legacy of the Soviet Union.

For press inquiries, please contact Lily McHale, at lily.mchale@victimsofcommunism.org.