The Harvest of Sorrow. Part 2

“…To date, this book is the only historical account of the most important period of Soviet history. It reflects the terrible time of the bloody Stalin era—the most catastrophic in terms of the number of its victims. The book shows how, under the tyranny of Stalin and his accomplices, all the old peasantry was destroyed, and along with it the historical roots of the Russian, Ukrainian, and other peoples were cut down. In the absence of a truthful history of these events, it seems important to me that my book reaches the Russian reader…

It was claimed that in 1932–1933 there was no famine, and talk of it was interpreted as anti-Soviet agitation. And only a few years ago they acknowledged that famine existed, explaining it by sabotage by the kulaks and drought. The refusal to accept such an explanation was interpreted as anti-Soviet sentiment. Later, however, it was acknowledged: the famine was provoked by the government’s policy. But even then it wasn’t admitted that this was the plan of Stalin and his circle. And this viewpoint was classified as anti-Soviet. Today in the USSR they acknowledge that this was also the case, but claims that more than four or five million people died are still considered anti-Soviet…

All this is important to point out at least in order to show how, in the Soviet Union, “anti-Soviet” assessments are being gradually removed. “The inhuman power of lies,” as B. Pasternak said, begins to collapse…“