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Gareth Jones: Eyewitness to the Holodomor, Stalin's Famine-Genocide in Ukraine

Leo Tolstoy

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Gareth Jones was a young Welsh journalist who traveled to the Soviet Union in 1933 and witnessed the horrors of the Holodomor, Stalin's famine-genocide in Ukraine. His eyewitness accounts helped to bring the Holodomor to the attention of the world, and his death in mysterious circumstances in 1935 remains a mystery.

Gareth Jones: Eyewitness to the Holodomor

by Brian Godawa

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Language	:	English
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Early life and career

Gareth Jones was born in 1905 in Barry, Wales. He studied history at Cambridge University and then worked as a journalist for the Western Mail in Cardiff and the Times of London. In 1933, he was sent to the Soviet Union to report on the country's economic development under Stalin.

Eyewitness to the Holodomor

Jones arrived in the Soviet Union in March 1933. He traveled extensively throughout the country, and he soon began to see signs of a terrible famine. In Ukraine, he witnessed people dying of starvation in the streets. He also saw evidence of forced collectivization, which was Stalin's policy of confiscating land from peasants and forcing them into collective farms.

Jones was one of the first Western journalists to report on the Holodomor. He wrote a series of articles for the Times of London and other newspapers, in which he described the famine and its devastating effects. He also gave lectures and speeches about the Holodomor, and he helped to organize relief efforts.

Death and legacy

Jones's reporting on the Holodomor angered Stalin and the Soviet government. In 1935, he was arrested and charged with espionage. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. He was executed on August 18, 1935.

Jones's death remains a mystery. Some historians believe that he was murdered by the Soviet secret police, while others believe that he was killed by accident. Whatever the circumstances of his death, Jones's legacy lives on. He was a courageous journalist who risked his life to report on the Holodomor, and his work helped to bring this tragedy to the attention of the world.

Gareth Jones was a courageous and compassionate journalist who witnessed one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century. His reporting on the Holodomor helped to bring this crime against humanity to the attention of the world, and his legacy continues to inspire journalists and human rights activists today.