22 HUMAN LIFE IN RUSSIA
through these unvarnished accounts is frequently the one and
only means of dealing with the appalling deficiencies in various
spheres and of keeping the local officials working properly.
Reports on Soviet conditions from Soviet sources are the main
foundation of this book. As far as possible they are quoted
textually.
In addition there were a number of other sources. There
were reports from reliable eyewitnesses, from foreign experts
who had been at work in Russia for years, and from refugees of
various nationalities who managed to escape abroad across the
Dniester and other frontiers. There were also letters from
victims of the famine living in various parts of Russia.
I have further made use of reports from certain foreign
journalists of different nationalities living in the Soviet Union.
Here, however, caution and selective methods became neces-
sary, since most of the foreign journalists in Russia are in a
delicate position.
Other books, with a few exceptions, like Mr. Chamberlin's
Russia's Iron Age., did not provide a useful source. Travellers
in Russia show little interest in the fate of the people living
there and confine their attention to the external results of the
Communist experiment, such as the activity of the giant
concerns and the possible profits from trade with Moscowj
again, the present book covers the events of the last few years,
which have barely been touched on by writers.
Official evidence and statistical figures provided by the
government had to be used with the utmost caution for reasons
explained elsewhere. Relative rather than absolute figures are
ihe safest to use.
A few words should be said about the photographs which
illustrate the book. They are among the most important
sources for the actual facts of the Russian position. The
majority of them were taken by an Austrian specialist who
worked in Russian industry until 1934, *&& was able to take
the pictures unobserved during his stay at Kharkov, at the