Agreed with your point about the armies. Still it sits wrong with me comparing war crimes with war crimes. Yes, Nazis are absolutely horrible, but that doesn't make the war crimes on the other side any good in any way.

As for the social part - I know it sounds stupid to say it on the internet, and to a person I've never met irl, but believe me, the social conservatism is absolutely a factor. It is what lies behind stuff like people lamenting community spirit, positive outlook on the future and the like. The gays and the LGBT is just the most visible part on a general outlook of tolerance towards minorities, women's rights and so on seen as western influence, as part of capitalism that ruined this great power, and as something to be rolled back and reversed And these countries were and are very socially conservative. And likely will be, unfortunately.

Honestly, my experience growing up in one of these countries, talking to people, reading textbooks from the Soviet era, etc. is the major source of my belief that when we fight for socialism we have to absolutely fight for ending racism, discrimination and so on in addition to fixing the economic base. You can absolutely have reactionary and conservative communism and that is something we should strive to prevent.