Alexander Nekrich

Aleksandr Moiseyevich Nekrich ( _ru. Александр Моисеевич Некрич) (1920–1993) was a Soviet Russian historian, since 1976 in emigration to the United States, known for his works on the history of the Soviet Union, especially under Joseph Stalin’s rule.

Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, Nekrich fought in the Red Army ranks during World War II and subsequently graduated from the Moscow University with a degree in history. In 1950, he joined the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of General History as a senior researcher and a secretary of that institute’s party cell.

Nekrich gained fame for his sensational work "June 22, 1941; Soviet Historians and the German Invasion", a study of the Soviet-German confrontation during World War II, which was critical of Stalin and the Soviet leadership over their failure to prepare the country for an anticipated German onslaught. The book was harshly criticized and quickly banned, while Nekrich was excluded from the Communist party. [ [http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20070508/65131205.html Great Patriotic War - non-stop debates?] RIA Novosti. May 5 2008.] He was allowed, though, to leave the Soviet Union in 1976. Nekrich settled in the U.S. and lectured at Harvard. In emigration, Nekrich published his memoirs (1979), wrote "The Punished Peoples: The Deportation and Fate of Soviet Minorities at the End of the Second World War" (1978), and coauthored, with Mikhail Heller, "Utopia in Power: The History of the Soviet Union from 1917 to the Present" (1982). [ru icon [http://hronos.km.ru/biograf/bio_n/nekrich.html Александр Моисеевич Некрич,] Hronos Project. Accessed on May 10, 2008.]

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