Stalin was born into a poverty-stricken family, and his father abused him. As a child, he contracted smallpox and was left with permanent scars, while another illness crippled his left arm. His mother wanted him to become a priest, so he enrolled in an Orthodox theological seminary. He was expelled from school after he decided he was more interested in revolutionary politics than religion. Then he put all his energy into his work for labor activist groups, and he raised money by robbing government trains.
Stalin was one of Lenin's close associates during the Russian Revolution that began in 1917. He returned from fighting in Russia's civil war in 1920 and suddenly became gravely ill with appendicitis. It was thought that he might die. But a doctor performed a risky operation and he made a full recovery. He completed his rise to power after Lenin died in 1924.
Joseph Stalin said, "A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic."
~Writer's Almanac
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