Yale University's Timothy Snyder discusses the mass murders committed by the Nazi and Stalinist regimes, and looks at how both the German and the Soviet killing sites fell behind the iron curtain after World War II, leaving the history of mass killings there in darkness. In Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin, he looks at what happened under totalitarianism, when Stalin killed millions of his own citizens and Hitler murdered six million Jews, as well as nearly as many other Europeans.

We’ll take a look at how Poland has changed in the 20 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union—and at the fallout from last week’s tragic plane crash—on today’s Backstory segment. We’ll be joined by Timothy Snyder, Professor of History at Yale University and a Poland expert. Mr. Snyder ...

We’ll talk a look at how Ukraine has changed in the 20 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union as part of today’s Backstory segment. We’ll be joined by Timothy Snyder, Professor of History at Yale University. His article "Gogol Haunts the Ukraine" is in the ...