Stalin's Atrocities While in Power When Vladimir Lenin died in 1924, he was succeeded by Joseph Stalin, one of the cruelest people to ever hold power. For Stalin, the growing national revival movement and the continued loss of Soviet influence in their satellite states were completely unacceptable. To destroy his subject's free spirit, he began to implement the same methods he had successfully used in the Soviet Union. Those arrested were killed on sight like animals or deported to prison camps in remote areas of Russia. Joseph Stalin was a brutal dictator responsible for countless atrocities, including multiple genocides. In the days before the revolution of the struggling Bolshevik Party, Stalin became known to the party leadership as a tireless party worker. However, once appointed general secretary by Lenin, who was seriously ill, he began a campaign to consolidate as much power as he could in his own hands. His actions did not go unnoticed, as we read in Lenin's so-called “Testament” against Stalin, as he explained: “...Stalin is too rude, and this fault, completely bearable in relations between us communists, becomes unbearable in the office of general secretary. I therefore propose to the comrades to find a way to remove Stalin from this position and to appoint another who in all respects differs from Stalin only in superiority, that is, more patient, more loyal, more polite and more attentive to comrades, less capricious, etc." (Glotzer) In 1929, over 5,000 Ukrainian cultural and religious leaders, scholars and scientists were arrested after being falsely accused of planning an armed uprising. An infamous example of Stalin's brutality came with his conflict with the rich Ukrainian family.. .... half of the document ... and transported to their deaths near Kazakhstan. Estimated deaths from this act of genocide were between 170,000 and 200,000 in the first four years alone (Operation Lentil). German-speaking nation not long before The deportation was explained by Stalin by the fact that the Chechens "... voluntarily joined formations organized by the Germans and resisted with weapons against the Red Army" (Operation Lentil). Stalin is said to have been one of the most influential men of the 20th century, but it is also agreed that his contribution to the world and his country came at a terrifying cost. Stalin's ruthless ambition, consuming paranoia, and callous disregard for human life would mark him as one of the most inhumane and savage leaders in history. "One death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic." -Joseph Stalin