Questions from the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation Curriculum

Read the following chapters: Chapter 1: Communism 101; Chapter 2 Tools of Communism and Chapter 3 Communism and Religion and answer the questions* below. Remember to save all answers as a PDF to submit with your application.

Communism: A History of Repression, Violence, and Victims 

Chapter 1 Communism 101 

Answer the following:

1. The tragedy of communism is that it promises a utopia, but this never becomes a reality. Why? Consider the consequences of a monopoly of power by a totalitarian leader and a fearsome security apparatus.
2. What are the differences between the U.S. Bill of Rights’ 10 specified rights and the Communist Manifesto’s 10 measures to achieve communism?
3. Watch Communism will Always be Violent (3 minutes). Why is violence a central component to communism as outlined by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the Communist Manifesto?

Chapter 2 Tools of Communism 

Answer the following:

1. Why are propaganda and censorship fundamental in a communist country? How might tearing down local statues and artwork or removing certain books be considered propaganda?
2. Many communist regimes maintain control over the population by disrupting family bonds and friendships, turning people against one another. Why might loyalties to something or someone other than the government be a bad thing for communism?  
3. Several famines resulted from communist revolutions throughout the twentieth century. What caused these?
4. Watch the following video The Truth About Stalin's Prison Camps: https://youtu.be/62BQ4Ruu1tk 

•  What tools from the chapter 2 are prevalent in Vera’s story?
•  Why were Vera and her family sent to the Gulag? 
•  What was the main reason people were sent to the Gulags?
•  What characteristics do all communist regimes share?

Chapter 3 Communism & Religion 

Watch the videos listed below as a primer on the treatment of religion in communist countries. 

o  The Chinese Communist Party is Erasing Muslim Identity (1 minute) https://youtu.be/dDrdjL0bkrM

o  The History of Christian Persecution in the Soviet Union (4 minutes)  https://youtu.be/D0XSw3uMKWk

Answer the following:

1. Why did the Communists seek to suppress or eliminate religion and why was doing so a central component of the Communist Manifesto?*
2. What methods did the Communists use to remove religion from society?
3. How and where is religious persecution still used today?

Communist Manifesto’s 10 Measures to Achieve Communism*[i]

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.    

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.  

3. Abolition of all right of inheritance.  

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.  

5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.  

6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State; the bringing into cultivation of wastelands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.  

8. Equal liability of all to labor. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.  

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equable distribution of the population over the country.  

10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, &c., &c.”

[i] Public Domain, The Communist Manifesto, photograph, Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed June 29, 2022, https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Communist-Manifesto/images-videos#Images and “The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels,” Full Text Archive, accessed June 29, 2022, https://www.fulltextarchive.com/page/The-Communist-Manifesto/.

About Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation:

The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) is an educational, research, and human rights nonprofit organization devoted to commemorating the more than 100 million victims of communism around the world and to pursuing the freedom of those still living under totalitarian regimes. 

*The above assessment is adapted and abridged from Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation’s Online Curriculum. Visit the VOC to view the unabridged curriculum.