Gareth Jones
[bas relief by Oleh Lesiuk]
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The
Western Mail [Cardiff]. August 30th 1933
THE
FAMINE IN RUSSIA
Striking
confirmation ‘of Mr. Gareth Jones’s revelations in the Western Mail &
South Wales News of the famine conditions in Russia is provided by the
Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna, who has issued the following appeal to the world:
“No
attempts at denial can flow hide the fact that hundreds of thousands - yes,
millions men and women have in the last few months perished of hunger in Soviet
Russia.
“Hundreds of tragic letters from the famine areas of soviet Union, especially from the Ukraine and North Caucasus, point to this, and eye-witnesses about whose authority there can be no doubt have depicted terrible details of the tragedy which is in progress in Russia.
“I
draw your attention to the appeal of the Metropolitan (Archbishop) of Galicia,
Andreas Scheptyckyj, who reports on the fearful sufferings of the population in
the Ukrainian regions of the Soviet Union. The Englishman Gareth Jones
also confirms this.
Starvation
“Starvation
in the Soviet Union is sweeping away members of all creeds and races.
“It
is already certain that the catastrophe is continuing, even at the time of the
new harvest. In order to make possible the supplying of the industrial
centres with food, the grain is, as the Soviet press openly admits, being seized
from the peasants in the Ukraine, in the North Caucasus, and elsewhere by the
application of brute force. The catastrophe of the Russian famine will,
therefore, reach a new climax in a few months and then millions will perish.
“To
remain silent any longer would be to render tile civilised world responsible for
part of the mass starvation; it would mean that we would be guilty of allowing
men and women Soviet Russia to starve to death when large areas of the world are
crammed to superfluity with grain arid food supplies.
“In the name of humanity and charity I raise my voice and appeal to all to work for relief organised on a world scale and supported by all creeds to help those threatened by starvation in Russia.
“(Signed)
THEODOR CARDINAL INNITZER
“Archbishop.”
Photographs of the famine-stricken population have been received in this office, but they are so appalling that no newspaper would venture to publish them. They show mass burials of victims of the famine and distorted bodies of starved children.
Another
confirmation of the famine is the report of Dr. Ammende, Secretary. General of
the European Nationalities Congress, which represents 40,000,000 members of
minority nations.
Millions
Dying
He
writes: “Already in February there reigned acute famine in what were formerly
the richest granaries of the world, in the Ukraine, in the Volga areas, and,
above all, in the North Caucasus. Hundreds of thousands - indeed, millions
- are dying. Weak and stricken by diseases, they starve to death without
revolting. Millions have passed away without disturbing the terrible
stillness which hovers over the famine areas. Children, youths, and old
men die with swollen limbs. Everywhere one sees the same picture of
painful death.”
The
Causes
Dr.
Ammende gives the following causes for the famine: “The uprooting of the
peasant from his own land and his trans. formation into a proletarian of the
State large-scale enterprise failed. Robbed of all initiative, the peasant
opposed the demands and the claims made upon him. As a result of the
refusal of the collectivised peasant to work and for other reasons (breakdown of
tractors, &c.) last year’s harvest did not produce even a part of the
amount stated. A big part of the grain could not be collected because of
the annihilation of live stock. Before the peasants entered the collective
farms they slaughtered their cattle and horses on a mass scale, and the number
of cattle decreased between 1928 and 1933 from 70.6 millions to 29.2 millions of
head.
“The
machines ruined and the live stock destroyed - can anything sum up the position
of Soviet agriculture better?
Moreover,
in the carrying out of collectivisation one factor in production was completely
ignored - Man.”
The report of Dr. Schiller, agricultural expert at the German Embassy, Moscow, fully bears out the tragic conclusions of Dr. Ammende and of Mr. Gareth Jones.
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