The Gareth Jones Diaries

1. The Gareth JonesDiaries A Man Who Knew Too Much www.garethjones.org

2. Overview Part 1 – Who Was Gareth Jones? • Early Life / Education / Credentials. Part 2 – The Gareth Jones Diaries • Personal Diaries, Letters & Newspaper Articles of his Eyewitness Observations of Ukrainian Famine Conditions in 1930, 31 & 33. Part 3 – Covering-up the Famine • Denigration by Walter Duranty in The New York Times in 1933. • Gareth’s Forgotten Role in Randolph Hearst’s ‘Famine’ in 1935. Part 4 – Shooting the Messenger & Airbrushing the Truth • Soon After… Mysteriously Murdered by Japanese-Controlled Chinese Bandits (or Soviet Retribution)? • Memorial Plaque - Aberystwyth, Wales, 2006

3. Early Life • Mother, Former Governess to John Hughes’ family between 1889-92, founder of Hughesovka (now Donetsk). • Father, Headmaster Barry County Grammar School.

4. Early Life • Mother, Former Governess to John Hughes’ family between 1889-92, founder of Hughesovka (now Donetsk). • Father, Headmaster Barry County Grammar School. • Gareth, Born 1905 in Barry, South Wales.

5. Academic Career • 1922-26 – 1st Class Honours Degree in French & German from Aberystwyth University, Wales. • 1923-25 - Université de Strasbourg: Diplôme Supérieur des Etudes Françaises. • 1926 – Exhibition Scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge. • 1927, 1928 & 1929 - College Prizeman – Plus Senior Scholar in 1928. • 1929 – 1st Class Honours in German and Russian, with distinction in Oral Examinations.

6. 1930-31 – With Lloyd George • One month unsuccessful trial with The Times and through family acquaintance Tom Jones, (the long-standing British Government Cabinet Secretary) is introduced to Former World War One British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. • Appointed Foreign Affairs Advisor to Lloyd George Jan 1st 1930.

7. 1930-31 – With Lloyd George • Visits USSR for 1st time as the eyes & the ears of the Lloyd George, but with an ‘open mind’ in August 1930; soon after British Diplomatic relations are restored. • On Leaving USSR, Gareth writes candidly to his parents:

8. Hurray! It is wonderful to be in Germany again, absolutely wonderful.  Russia is in a very bad state; rotten, no food, only bread; oppression, injustice, misery among the workers and 90% discontented.  I saw some very bad things, which made me mad to think that people like [the Webbs] go there and come back, after having been led round by the nose and had enough to eat, and say that Russia is a paradise.  In the South there is talk of a new revolution, but it will never come off,

9. because the Army and the G.P.U. (Secret Police) are too strong.  The winter is going to be one of great suffering there and there is starvation.  The government is the most brutal in the world.  The peasants hate the Communists.  This year thousands and thousands of the best men in Russia have been sent to Siberia and the prison island of Solovki. People are now speaking openly against the Government.

10. In the Donetz Basin conditions are unbearable Thousands are leaving. I shall never forget the night I spent in a railway station on the way to Hughesovka. One reason why I left Hughesovka so quickly was that all I could [get to eat was a roll of bread.]

11. 1930 – October -The London Times: “Two Russias” Through Lord Lothian, Gareth was introduced to Geoffrey Dawson, Editor of The Times (who had no Moscow Correspondent) & invited to write 3 ‘uncensored’ articles, in which he stated: Click HERE for link to articles

12. 1930 - The London Times: “Two Russias” • “…foreign delegations [are] blissfully ignorant of the hunger, discontent, opposition, and hatred.”

13. 1930 - The London Times: “Two Russias” • “…foreign delegations [are] blissfully ignorant of the hunger, discontent, opposition, and hatred.” • “…Donetz Basin, where there has been a serious breakdown in food supplies.”

14. 1930 - The London Times: “Two Russias” • “…foreign delegations [are] blissfully ignorant of the hunger, discontent, opposition, and hatred.” • “…Donetz Basin, where there has been a serious breakdown in food supplies.” • A miner expressed …“Everybody is going away from the Donetz Basin, because there is no food here.  There is nothing in Russia.  The situation is terrible.”

15. 1930 - The London Times: “Two Russias” • “…foreign delegations [are] blissfully ignorant of the hunger, discontent, opposition, and hatred.” • “…Donetz Basin, where there has been a serious breakdown in food supplies.” • A miner expressed …“Everybody is going away from the Donetz Basin, because there is no food here.  There is nothing in Russia.  The situation is terrible.” • “The present food shortage was attributed by most Russians to two causes – the agricultural revolution begun last year and the absence of a free market...  “It is all the fault of this collectivisation, which the peasants hate.  There is no meat, nothing at all.”

16. 1931 – Ivy Lee (PR), New York • Head-hunted from Lloyd George’s Secretariat to work for world’s leading PR agency on Wall Street as their Soviet expert,

17. 1931 – Ivy Lee (PR), New York • Head-hunted from Lloyd George’s Secretariat to work for world’s leading PR agency on Wall Street as their Soviet expert, • Chaperoned 21 year old Jack Heinz’s on a month-long ‘unescorted’ visit to USSR in August 1931.

18. 1931 – Ivy Lee (PR), New York • Afterwards, Heinz compiled a privately published & ‘Anonymously written’ book in spring 1932, entitled: “Experiences of Russia – 1931 – A Diary” – i.e., Gareth’s Diaries.

19. 1931 – Ivy Lee (PR), New York • Afterwards, Heinz compiled a privately published & ‘Anonymously written’ book in spring 1932, entitled: “Experiences of Russia – 1931 – A Diary” – i.e., Gareth’s Diaries. • Arguably, the first Western book to ‘honestly’ report the onset of famine conditions within the Soviet Union, again citing variations of the word ‘starve’ on half a dozen occasions…

20. 1931 Experiences of Russia – A Diary Gareth signed the Foreword: “With knowledge of Russia and the Russian language, it was possible to get off the beaten path, to talk with grimy workers and rough peasants, as well as such leaders as Lenin’s widow and Karl Radek [editor of Pravda].

21. 1931 Experiences of Russia – A Diary Gareth signed the Foreword: “With knowledge of Russia and the Russian language, it was possible to get off the beaten path, to talk with grimy workers and rough peasants, as well as such leaders as Lenin’s widow and Karl Radek [editor of Pravda]. We visited vast engineering projects and factories, slept on the bug-infested floors of peasants’ huts, shared black bread and cabbage soup with the villagers - in short, got into direct touch with the Russian people in their struggle for existence and were thus able to test their reactions to the Soviet Government’s dramatic moves.”

22. Extract from Gareth’s 1931 Diary [transcribed in next 2 slides]

23. Sept 5Woke, Keen supporter came; later whispered to Vice President, then he came & there was a complete change in his attitude. “Its terrible. We can’t speak worse than before the Rev. But 1926-27, those were fine years”. Absolute change in [his] attitude & gestures.“We’ve got to keep quiet or they will send us to Siberia .

24. Then went to the Village Soviet, an old man came, whispered “It’s terrible in Kolkhoz. They took away my cows & my horse. We are starving. Look what they give us. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing! How can we live with nothing in our dvor. But we can’t say anything or they’ll send us away as they did the others. All are weeping in villages.

25. Another Telling / Published Extract from Gareth’s 1931 Diary [transcribed in next slide]

26. 1931 As published in ‘Experiences of Russia – A Diary’ • A doctor’s wife on the boat said to Jones:  “The peasants have been sent away in thousands to starve. They were exiled just because they worked hard all their lives. It’s terrible how they have treated them; they have not given them anything; no bread cards even. They sent a lot to Tashkent, where I was, and just left them on the square. The exiles did not know what to do and many starved to death.”

27. 1931 – Oct 14thThe London Times THE REAL RUSSIA  - 3 Articles […In which he first used the Doctor’s wife’s anecdote.]

28. Back with Lloyd George in 19311932 - Oct 14th - Letter to Parents -London Circles Knew of Raging Famine… “On Friday, I had exceptionally interesting talks … with Prof. Jules Menken (LSE) a very well known economist.  He was appalled with the prospects: what he had seen was the complete failure of Marxism.  He dreaded this winter, when he thought millions would die of hunger. 

29. Back with Lloyd George in 19311932 - Oct 14th - Letter to Parents -London Circles Knew of Raging Famine… “On Friday, I had exceptionally interesting talks … with Prof. Jules Menken (LSE) a very well known economist.  He was appalled with the prospects: what he had seen was the complete failure of Marxism.  He dreaded this winter, when he thought millions would die of hunger.  He had never seen such bungling & such breakdowns.  What struck him was the unfairness & the inequality.  He had seen hungry people one moment & the next moment he had lunched with Soviet Commissars in the Kremlin with the best caviar, fish, game & the most luxurious wines.”

30. Planning a Trip to Expose the Soviet Famine • Gareth immediately penned two articles for the Cardiff Western Mail published on Oct 15 & 17, 1932 to highlight the tragic situation entitled; “Will there be Soup?” • In line with his Welsh Non-Conformist beliefs & virtues; Gareth decided to make a trip to view the conditions firsthand – otherwise it could have been officially denied.

31. Planning a Trip to Expose the Soviet Famine • Gareth immediately penned two articles for the Cardiff Western Mail published on Oct 15 & 17, 1932 to highlight the tragic situation entitled; “Will there be Soup?” • In line with his Welsh Non-Conformist beliefs & virtues; Gareth decided to make a trip to view the conditions firsthand – otherwise it could have been officially denied. • On 23 February 1933, Gareth became the first foreign journalist to fly with Hitler, the newly appointed German Chancellor (& afterwards dining privately with Goebbels…) He prophetically wrote in the Western Mail: “If this aeroplane should crash then the whole history of Europe would be changed. For a few feet away sits Adolf Hitler, Chancellor of Germany and leader of the most volcanic nationalist awakening which the world has seen.”

32. 1933 March 10th – Gareth Packed a Rucksack Full of Food from Moscow Torgsin & Caught ‘Local’ Train to Ukraine. The following are some of his eye-witness accounts of his lone foray into Ukraine – some of you may wish to follow his handwriting as I narrate, others might wish to just close your eyes and picture the scene in your minds…

33. 1933 March 10th – Gareth Packed a Rucksack Full of Food from Moscow Torgsin & Caught ‘Local’ Train to Ukraine. Boy on train asking for bread.I dropped a small piece on floor and put it in spittoon. Peasant came and picked it up & ate it.

34. Peasant on train – ‘Kolkhoz had no bread’.Many Nationalists in UkrainePeasant woman: “Many are dying. We’re starving. There is little cattle left. They take all grain away.

35. Member Politdel“I’ve been a member of the party for 12 years. They are now sending 2,700 from Moscow Politdel. They are the best, the strongest. It is semi-military. We’ll smash kulaks and smash opposition. We’re promoting all men who served in the civil war. The elite, chosen ones. 60% of us have been in higher educational schools.He clenched his fist & hit down

36. …with every word: resolute, ruthless, cruel:“We are all workers mainly from the factories.”“We are going to organise. They’ll be about 4 of us in each MTC. The MTC where I shall be will look after 15 kolkhozes. We’ll give them strict control.” “The weather for the harvest is good, i.e. Lot of snow.”“The methods of the kulaks have changed. They used to murder. Now they are subtle. Now they say “yes we’re for the Kolkhoz”,

37. they’ll steal & wont work & they’ll make difficulties. They try to wreck by mean tricks, but they are not dangerous any longer.The conductor said that there were fewer travelling now, because it was difficult to leave factory. But soon there will be a lot of people leaving Moscow for south on account of passportisation. Also there were a lot about 2 months ago.I asked a man (Jew or Armenian) where he was going.

38. He had a lot of gold teeth and said: “I’ve left Leningrad and am going to Kharkov to look for a job. I have no vote. They have deprived me of my rights, because I was a private trader.”Boy Komsomolets:“Very strict now. They are dying in villages. In Belgorad there is bread, but that’s a town.“One woman stole 5 beets & got 10 years imprisonment.”“If you steel coal from station, 10 yrs. Very bad & we don’t know if it’ll be better.”

39. Talked to a group of women peasants; “We’re starving. Two months we’ve hardly had bread. We’re from the Ukraine and we’re trying to go north. They’re dying quietly in the villages. Kolkhozes are terrible. They won’t give us any tickets and we don’t know what to do. Can’t buy bread for money.A chicken was 20 rubles. Milk - 3 rubles a litre.I dropped orange peel in spittoon. Peasant picked it up, ate it. Later apple core. Man speaking German same story “Tell them in England, Starving, bellies extended. Hunger

40. “Be careful in the villages because the Ukrainians are desperate. They will grab any bread they can see.”Komsomolets: “When I left my mother and her sisters a couple of days ago, they had 2 glasses of flour left.”

41. First day[‘s] marchFrom train, I walked about an hour, chatted to all. The same story.There was a kolkhoz.Asked children outside hut: God? “Of course not. There is no God.”Talked to men on track. It was getting [to] sunset. One of them said:- “you’d better not go…

42. …further, for hooligans will rob you of your coat & your food & all.”The other – handsome, determined young Communist, said “ Yes, its dangerous. Come and stay with us in our village.”Communist took me along to a Selsoviet; full of young people, children. One of them belly swollen.All people say same ”XЛEБА HETУ BCE nyxnoie” (No Bread Here – All are Swollen) [Written phonetically in Russian – & translated later] One woman said:- “We are looking forward to death.” In one village, all bread had gone two months ago, & potatoes had run out, there was only bypяk (beetroot)

43. … for one month. How can they live till next harvest?

44. Two soldiers came … to arrest a peasant thief who had killed another. The thief had gone to steal potatoes from the hut of another. The owner of the hut had come out & the peasant had stabbed him with a knife. There were many cases of that happening. The Red Army soldier who came the next morning also said, “Don’t travel by night. There are too many wild…

45. uncultured men want food and to steal.” Went to bed late, slept on floor. In one bed; Pres., his wife & her sister & small bed the child. Woke up next morning before 8.

46. Talked to all the people as I tramped along the railway track. Ravens or crows (with…

47. … grey cap). White expanse of snow.Moscow – Sebastopol train rattled past with sleeping wagon. Politdel party members, etc. Went into village. There is no bread. “We’ve had no bread for 2 months”. “Each dvor [dvir] had one or 2 cows. Now none. There are almost no oxen left & the horses have been dying off.”

48. “How can I live? I got a lb of bread for all my family & we came here for a short time, there is no food here. My family is in Kharkoff & I don’t know how they’ll live.” “We’re all getting (swollen) nyxливi.”“In this village 5 or 6 kulak families were sent away to Siberia & to cut wood in the Northern forests,

49. …also to build a railway in Murmansk.” But some of the kulaks live better than those who remain in the villages because there is now more bread in the towns. “In the south 20% of the population have died of hunger” said the young worker “and in some parts 50%. They’re murdering us.”

50. Then, onto the railway and on to Ukraine.