This conversation contrasts the public image of Stalin as a national hero with the reality of his brutal rule, characterised by grand modernisation projects, but also by artificially provoked famines, the Gulag, and the great purges. The aim is to highlight the propaganda used to maintain power, the systematic repression of opponents, and the extremely high human cost of his regime. Finally, Stalin's role in World War II is analysed, from his initial alliance with Hitler to his subsequent victory over Nazism.