I came across this interesting flyer from WW2 today, it includes a speech by Albert Einstein and the goal of the flyer is donations for something or other on the front in the fight against the nazis.
I found this part particularly interesting:
In the political field, it was the Russian government, of all the great powers, that labored in the most honest and unequivocal way to promote international security. She pursued this goal in her foreign policy until shortly before the outbreak of war—actually until the other powers brusquely shut her out of the European concert, in the days of the betrayal of Czechoslovakia. Then she was driven to conclude the unhappy pact with Germany; for it was notorious that an attempt was being made to turn the force of the German attack eastwards. Russia, in contrast to the western powers, had supported the legal government of Spain; she offered assistance to Czech׳ oslovakia; and was not guilty of strengthening the arms of the German and Japanese adventurers.
There's a lot to unpack here but Einstein says:
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The USSR made all efforts to stop the war happening.
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The western powers(UK, France, US, etc) shut the USSR out of European discussions and betrayed Czechoslovakia.
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Molotov-Ribbentrop was an unhappy last resort that they were driven to, that the western powers were attempting to drive the nazis into attacking the USSR and that's why they would not help the USSR stop them.
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The USSR supported everyone while the other powers (UK, France, US, etc) strengthened the nazis and Japanese.
This is all obviously stuff most people here already know and agree with, but I think it's notable that Einstein said it. You may have libs in your life that will listen to him.
Yes.
Why Socialism? - An essay by Einstein
Not to mention he wrote numerous letters in defence of Stalin, the purges, trials and several other things.
Letter to Max Born (no date, 1937 or 1938); The Born-Einstein Letters (translated by Irene Born) (Walker and Company, New York, 1971).
It's a shame that Stalin's contribution to communist theory were largely overshadowed by his (admittedly important) other roles. He wrote a whole damn history of the Bolsheviks, even!
I think people still read Pricipals of Leninism and even his book on diamat.
I thought it was very something to find out that is most significant worldly posession was a huge library of like 25k books that he'd been sent or gifted or picked up during his life. He gets portrayed as somehow simultaneously the most diabolical evil menace to ever menace, but also a dumb hick who didn't know anything, and both those things can't be true.