THE words “fascist” and “Nazi” seem to often get casually used in HAS letters.

Perhaps your correspondent John Gilmore or some other expert on right-wing policies could explain the difference between Hitler and Stalin – if any (HAS, Feb 2).

Both were ruthless and killed vast numbers of their own people.

Ukraine citizens willingly joined in the murder of their Jewish neighbours, when Ukraine was overrun by the German army.

In addition, Russian NKVD secret police simply changed uniform and became auxiliary police and camp guards. They rapidly changed uniform back to NKVD when Ukraine was re-occupied by Soviets.

To my knowledge, no Ukraine civilians, nor NKVD, have ever been prosecuted by Soviets. Stalin refused to differentiate between Jewish deaths and Soviet battle casualties.

GB Butler, Stockton-on-Tees.