David Thompson wrote:... How such propaganda "increases the atmosphere in which the atrocities were done" depends on the discipline of the troops and the quality of their commanders.
After reading some books and eye-witness stories of the subject (in addition of the long list of the Finnish experiences in our wars) I can not value the discipline of the soviet troops nor the (moral) quality of their commanders very highly.
This brings us to the next point -- the alleged frequency of Soviet war crimes in eastern Europe. Anyone who has read anything about the period knows that they occurred, but how frequently? The fact that something happened tells you little or nothing about how often it happened. There is a lengthy discussion of this problem in the "Red Army Rape Row" thread. Since the Reich was collapsing, there are relatively few reliable sources for statistics during the final months of the war, and the ordinary population-base statistics are skewed by the flight of refugees trying to move west.
I cannot tell how much is much. Since the horror stories (by eye-witnesses) are so common and the "professional estimates" are so high I personally will continue to believe they were "frequent".
As for Marshal Stalin's sentiments, it's difficult to know how they should be taken, or how they affected military discipline -- this subject is also discussed in the "Red Army Rape Row" thread. He may have been serious, he may have been making a very heavy "joke," or he may have been threatening the subject populations and everyone around him. Taking Marshal Stalin at his word was dangerous when he was alive, and nearly as dangerous now.
Of course one can never be absolutely sure about anybody's real thoughts. However there's a saying, which goes something like this: if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck - it must be the bloody duck! Stalin's personality, actions and sayings all fit to the general picture - together with those of Beriya's.
Anybody, who has been in the army, knows that many things accepted - sometimes even expected - are not officially ordered or agreed on. Sometimes they are even officially forbidden, like the duels in the imperial Russian army. Still everybody knows what is ok to do - regardless of the official orders.