PREFACE
FOR the last fifteen years the author has championed this view
—that the rendering of assistance to those inhabitants oi
Russia who are in danger of death from hunger or malnutrition
is a problem which concerns the whole of civilized mankind
and does not depend on political factors. Nor ought it to be
affected by the views held with regard to the Communist
experiment within the Soviet State, or by the achievements
which characterize onq department or another of Russian life.
As early as November 1920 I published a description of
the situation in the former capital, St. Petersburg, where the
population was suffering from famine, coupled with an appeal
for help. In the spring of 1921, on returning from a long stay
in Russia, I was one of the first to raise my voice and to point
out, on the strength of personal observation, that millions of
people in the Volga basin were in danger of famine.
Later, when the extermination of the so-called kulaks began
in Russia, I wrote to the press, and for the last two years, as
Honorary Secretary of the "Interconfessional and Inter-
national Vienna Relief Committee for the Russian Famine
Areas," I have been trying to solve the problem of how to
bring to the attention of the world the position of millions
of innocent people who have been dying in vast numbers since
the collectivization of agriculture began. The aim of this book
is to make the truth known despite all obstacles, in order that
adequate relief may be rendered,
How does it come about that I have been dealing with this
question for so long a time? This question must be answered
in detail, since anyone attacking the question of the famine
and the mortality it has caused during the last few years runs
the risk of aspersion and denunciation, or at any rate is felt
to be a disturber of the peace by many who are jpurstrog
political and economic aims.