Stalin was not an atheist nor was Hitler or Pol-Pot nor Mao!
For factual evidence, see Infidel's article on violence.:
JOSEPH STALIN AND THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF RUSSIA
It is usual thing for religious people and societies, to name Josef Stalin as an “atheist”, like they did this many times with Adolf Hitler. Of course, there is no doubt, that majority of Soviet leaders, including Vladimir Lenin, Nikita Khrushchev or Mikhail Gorbachev, were atheists and few of them even militant. However, the bloodiest communist regime dictator Josef Stalin (1878 1953) was not an ATHEIST, but RELIGIOUS COMMUNIST. There was period in his life (during and after humiliating and cruel regime in Tbilisi Priests Seminary and revolution time, when Stalin fought against monarchical dictatorship, supported by church), when he hold grudge against priests and religion, struggled and leaned more towards atheism. But eventually he returned to his religious roots and chose to resurrect and protect religion in USSR. Stalin used blind faith-based religious principles to strengthen his own dictatorship. Stalin born in 1878. He received more power and started his mass murder journey through corpses in 1922 and died in 1953.
~6 years in Churchs School and ~5 years in Priests Seminary.
Stalin grew in religious family and it was planned that he will become a priest. Therefore Stalin received religious education in Gori Churchs School (1888-09-01 1894-06-??) and Tbilisi Priests Seminary (1894-09-01 1899-07-29) which he didn’t accomplished, because he entered Revolution movement. Ideas about rich people as oppressors of the poor, how to defend poor people from them and that rich people will go to Hell or, at least, it will be hard for them to go to (communistic) heaven, Stalin collected from his religious education and the Bible.
There are plenty or original language documentation listed along with their translations.