the great purge
is this just atrocity propaganda, or was stalin actually a mass murderer? deleting someone from a photograph is not a good sign.
hundreds of thousands is still a lot, and mass executions/murder are surely not healthy for a country, even if those are people with dangerous beliefs. imprisonment or reeducation would be more humane. i would also hope that they were given fair trials before their punishments.
You're right, it's not healthy for a country, but considering the USSR was under the threat of (and eventually actual) war, and influenced by espionage and sabotage, it's at least understandable the party had this period of repression. Besides, the people, the workers in general, were not affected at all by this, most of those who suffered from repression were high-ranking party members.