Harvest of Sorrow [Paperback]

Robert Conquest (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: University of Alberta Press; Paperback Edition edition (1987)
• ASIN: B000OHAV7Q
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An unnecessary Evil, July 9, 2010

By 

Anthony Murphy "feral cat" (Hull, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Harvest of Sorrow (Paperback)

This is a book which has to be read. It is the story of how the Communist Party of Russia led by a gang which called itself the Central Committee of the Party, and to which all Communists the world over, owed their allegience to brought about mass starvation in their vain efforts to industrialise, and in their even vainer efforts to construct a Marxist Utopia.Stalin the all knowing leader with his subordinates in tow, decided that the Ukraine in particular should be subject to Collectivisation.Activists were sent into thriving villages to implement this policy.They held 'voluntary' meetings which excluded the worst objectors who were villified as 'Kulaks'. As for the rest they were not allowed to leave these meetings, some of which dragged on interminably, until all opposition was literally exhausted.The grain which the peasants had produced was forcibly taken (confiscated) with not even enough being left to feed those who had worked the fields.Even the seed corn was taken and the consequence of this was a famine in what had been the 'breadbasket' of the USSR.The death toll was in the millions.Mothers told their children to eat them if they died - cannibalism -if not commonplace, was a regular feature of this period.Journalists who were there were not allowed into these areas unless the Soviet Government trusted them.Even with these resrictions some reports came back to the West but were not believed at the time.The Russians themseves are now beginning to learn the truth of his dreadful crime against humanity.The apologists still deny the truth of this episode even today or minimise its impact.This is a hard read for anyone with a shred of humanity in their hearts but it is almost mandatory if we are to do justice to its victims.A.Murphy.B.Sc(Econ);Postgraduate Psychology.