Imagine you are an alien who wanders into both countries.
- Nazi Germany, you see:
- military on the street asking for papers
- secret police monitoring everyone
- picture of supreme leader hung up everywhere
- dissidents sent to labor camps
- USSR, you see:
- military on the street making sure you comply
- secret police monitoring everyone
- picture of supreme leader hung up everywhere
- dissidents sent to labor camps
Some people think Nazi Germany's system was far different than a communist country. On the things I care about it wasn't.
Hitler and Stalin hung around the same social groups and coffee houses in Vienna in the 1920's. They almost certainly knew each other personally, and likely even shared a few espressos with each other.
This probably contributes to why Stalin allowed Hitler to practice Blitzkrieg tactics in Siberia out of the peering eyes of British intelligence.