Nomad News-Vol.4-No.85

GERMANY 1945- INTERVIEW WITH RUSSIAN FORCED LABORER: (ART 3 OF 4): RUSSIA--A WORKER'S PARADISE? According to Mr. Skivar, "Soviet propaganda always pictured Russia as a paradise for the working class and always pictured working conditions in foreign countries as extremely poor. Nevertheless, no Russian was permitted to leave the country but got all his information through the government-controlled press and radio. There was no chance for comparison between conditions in Russia and those elsewhere. In order to propagate Communistic theories in foreign countries, the government maintained branches of the Comintern, whose principle duty was the dissemination of favorable propaganda. Small surrounding countries, such as Latvia and Lithuania were also included in the sphere of Russian internal propaganda. They were told what a paradise Russia was for workers and to back up these statements, the Russians "dumped" large quantities of grain and produce into these small countries about the time the farmers were ready to harvest and market their crops. These "dumped" products were sold at about one-fifth the normal price, which completely upset economic conditions, as it was impossible to compete against the Russian prices. This was not very economical for the Soviet Government but the monetary loss was more than offset by the value of the propaganda. This policy was never attempted on the United States or other large nations, but only on those small countries unable to protect themselves economically." HUNGER AND HALF HUNGER "Russia is a country of great natural resources", he continued. "However in spite of vast opportunities for internal development, between the years 1914 and 1945 there have been reoccurring periods of hunger or half-hunger in Russia. Even in peace times, the population is issued ration cards which are classified into many different categories from light through heavy work. Special favoritism is granted to members of the NKVD (Secret Police), the police, and government workers--especially propagandists. Persons with these special ration cards are able to buy more and buy at lower price than the ordinary worker." (To be continued in Nomad News No. 86) (copyright 2014 - Andrew M. Dolan)