Document 19

Anonymous letter to Izvestia on rumors in North Caucasus Krai, 1932

RGAE, f. 7486s, op. 1, d 236, ll. 4-5. Typed copy.

Dear Izvestia Newspaper, Tell me if it's true that there's a directive that all the collective farm workers be sent into industry and foreigners brought in to take their place. So allegedly the authorities take all the grain away and do not leave any for us to eat or plant, so that the collective farm members themselves have abandoned the kolkhozes and gone to work in industry. Further, they deprive all able-bodied workers of their rations so that they will croak faster and not impede the building of socialism. To the children of collective farm workers barley bread is given that is half bran, one hundred grams per child and nothing more because it's impossible to build socialism out of Russians so that only the strong remain and the weak croak.

That all collective farm workers went to work in industry is a correct policy, but regarding the weak it is not correct. Because the weakest of all are new-born children whose mother is starving and cannot give them the breast. This means [that only] children more than two years old survive, and there won't be any young.

We collective farm workers do not believe that the higher authorities want to take all our grain away, even the seed grain, we petitioned RIK, they send us to Novocherkassk Raion, there they don't even want to listen to us. It's already the beginning of March and our kolkhoz doesn't know if it's going to get grain for sowing or not. There's a real kolkhoz for youCwithout grain, without sowing! Dear Izvestia Newspaper, Don't you take away our faith that kolkhozes will lead us not to ruin but to a better life, and that if we starve, guilty are not the higher authorities but the local ringleaders. Dear Izvestia Newspaper, Let there be at least some good white bread for babes in arms, let there be some seed for sowing, otherwise things will get even worse.