Nazis, Jews, and Soviets

Stalin's murder of leading Jews since mid-1937 (the Communist Party's newspaper Pravda asserted that like Judas they sold themselves for fascist coins and silver), or the sidelining of international-socialism proponents like Maksim M. Litvinov in May 1939, was aimed at demonstrating to Hitler less Bolshevism and more nationalism, hence a greater ideological compatibility that enabled Hitler to turn - first - against the Western democracies. [...] keeping silent over the Nazi atrocities and portraying the Nazis as faithful allies of the Soviets facilitated a stronger blow to the unprepared Jewish populace in the soon-to-be-occupied areas.