Mr. Conquest had taken a great deal of abuse for his "slanders" against the Soviet

Union; Mr. Koch, coming after the Cold War, had had a somewhat easier ride. But they

both get a chance, in this high-energy discussion, to explore the way the Soviet Union ran

its propaganda operation in the West and the reasons people fell for it. WFB: "One critic of your [Mr. Koch's] book said that what made your book essentially incredible is that,

after all, one need only ask the question: Given how manifest was the terror and the

horror in the Soviet Union, obviously nobody would side with it if they had access to the

truth. You answer that how?" SK: "... of course the horrors of the regime were leaking

out, seeping out in one way or another. At this point the apparatus would come forward

and make an argument that would run roughly as follows: The Soviet Union stands for

certain crucial things; for one thing it was anti-fascist. It stands against Hitler. You are

making a choice, and the choice must be between Hitler and Stalin...." RC: "Well, I

think the atmosphere was very much in all those circles--and it's difficult to think of it

now--the enormous euphoria about the Soviet Union ... Although, as you say, the facts

were around, they were not believed."