It's harder to notice propaganda when it's wrapped up in the dress of 'historic research' .
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Here's The Guardian's latest, promoting a book about a little known (in the West) episode of WWII: During the 900 days of the siege of Leningrad (when over 1 Million people died of hunger - that's a real genocide!), the scientists from the Soviet National Seed Fund made sure that the Fund wasn't looted, and all the samples of the seeds were preserved.
The fact is, that Russia (until just recently) has struggled with famines throughout its history, and the Seed Fund created by the tsar Nicolas II, has been vital in preventing later famines.
The book then goes on to recall the story of the famine of the early 1930s, including the so called "Holodomor", alleging that it, too, was caused "by government policy."
And that's the real purpose of the book - the narrative about the "Holodomor" and alleged Soviet “crimes” against Ukraine - which is the vilest invention of the vilest Ukrainian (and Western) propaganda. There was hunger in the USSR, but there wasn't and couldn't be a directed starving of a particular area. What happened then was this: the USSR was under massive western "sanctions" for daring to stabilize the country after its Civil War. The West refused to trade with the USSR. The country needed metal and technologies to jump start its recovery and industrialization, but the West demanded that the trade could only be done in exchange for grain. The Soviet government was trying to fulfill its contract obligations with the West when a large-scale crop failure and food shortages hit the country. It became a real humanitarian catastrophe for the Soviet Union. The devastating consequences of this phenomenon became a common tragedy for Russians, Ukrainians, Kazakhs and many other ethnic groups on the vast territories of the country. So we can agree that the deaths of the millions was a political decision, but that decision was made in the West.
The book's idea is to belittle the real sacrifice and deep humanity of the scientists in Leningrad who were ready to die but preserve the seed fund for the future generations. The article explains their motif as some kind of a vain 'legacy' interest. That's disgusting. There're many accounts of the people in Leningrad who worked at bakeries and food distribution centers who ended up dying of hunger. Likewise these scientists were prepared to die not because they thought of a 'legacy' or fame but because they understood the importance of preserving the source of food for the nation for centuries to come. And that was the right thing to do. Today, the West, including the UK government , continue their attempts to kill Russian people by whatever means possible. Current severe economic sanctions were designed to do just that: create economic and production collapse and cause hunger and disintegration of the state. Luckily for Russia, it has people like those unknown heroes from Leningrad whose work allowed it to develop a fully sustainable national food independence. They were heroes. But Simon Parkin would rather you think of them as maniacs only concerned with their careers.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/nov/09/the-forbidden-garden-of-leningrad-by-simon-parkin-review-the-botanists-who-defied-hitler
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