The Washington times., 1935-04-30
Of SOVIET
ENFORCED BY
DEATH, EXILE
CONTINUED from Page -

Even as our faith weakened, re-
fuctantly, after months in Russia
we were unwilling to believe the
whispered, word-of-mouth charges
that wholesale starvation was by
edict, planned. When we came
face to face with the evidence I
suspended judgment until the
mass of it was irrefutable. And
now that I am reporting, mod
Grafton is my watchword. To say,
as above, that populations were
"decimated" is extreme conserva'
tism-aS applied to several dis
tricts.
Certainly this Conservatism"
must be abandoned in describing
what happened in the Kuban. I
collected my facts on the spot.
I travelled through the Kuban
valley in April Of last year. I
visited four of the largest villages
in the region, villages which be-
fore the revolution were famous
throughout Russia for their high
standard of living. Now they look
like sections of Northern France
Immediately after the war.
Homes Deserted
On some streets every other
house was empty-itS owner killed
by the Red army, the Commu-
nistLmade famine, or exiled to 81
IBERIA. The glass has gone from
the windows. The grass roofs
have fallen into the deserted 1iv-
ing rooms. The mud walls are
crumbling.
The Cossacks who are left are
erumbling, too. Gone is their
proud manner. Instead, I found
them, listless from hunger. And
when they got me alone, bitter
with hate for the government that
had ruined their lives.
They told me that SIS PER
CENT were either killed by gun
fire, by starvation or exiled to
forced labor under conditions
which in most cases bring about
early death by starvation or dis
ease.
And this disaster was decreed
for an area comparable in rich
ness of soil and general standards
of living to prosperous farmland
counties of Indiana.
Of all the granaries of Russia,
the richest was the valley OF the
Kuban River, southeast of the
Sea Of Azov, in the fertile North
Caucasus Steppe. Here lived the
Kuban Cossacks. Brave men; in
telligent, able.
Land Tax Free
In return for long and distin"
guished military service, the Car
had given these Cossacks land,
tax free. They had built a coun-
tryside of prosperous farms and
villages. Like our own Midwest
farmers, these men were individu-
aliSts. They did not wish to be
herded onto collective Farms"
So, to convince these peasants
Of the error in their thinking,
the government in the fall Of
1882 made grain levies so heavy
there was not enough food left
to carry the valley through the
winter.
Virtually identical tactics were
being used throughout other agri-
cultural areas of USSR. The re-
action of the average peasant
was merely to shrug his Shout
derS and eat bark until he died.
The CosSackS are made Of sterner
stuff.
Dressing in their wives clothes,
to add insult to injury, men OF
the village of PoltavSkaya at
tackled every Communist party
member in town. Those as
saulted even included the power"
full head of the local Soviet, and
the chief Of the dreaded OGPU.
No such thing had happened in
Russia since the civil war.
Troops were called from Time
shevSkaya, nearest garrison town.
But none came. In the garrison
town CoSSackS were similarly
showing their opposition.
Valley In Revolt
The whole valley was in re-
volt, and even regiment sent
from KraSnodar, provincial CAPT
tai, could not Quell the uprising.
The Red army had to come down
from Rostov-well equipped with
tanks, poison gas and machine
guns-before this civil war could
be checked. No Russian papers
carried any report of this.
CoSSackS lay casualties were
more than 10000 killed or seri-
Ously wounded.
It was necessary that this blow
to Communist prestige be counter.
acted Immediately. A member Of
the politboro, or Soviet cabinet,
was sent down from Moscow. He
had unlimited authority.
He ordered SEVENTY THOU
SAND Kuban peasants into exile.
They were exiled for resisting
taxes which they knew would
have killed them.
They were given "a hours no.
lice before being loaded onto
trains Of prison cars. From Pol
tavskaya alone 10000 were exiled,
one-half Of the population.
Wrecked Own Homes
Before boarding the trains,
many Of these Kuban CosSackS
#~ cash