RUSSIA THREE MONTHS AGO

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18543, 2 May 1922, Page 8

RUSSIA THREE MONTHS AGO

The following is an extract from a letter from Miss Violet Tiljard. which was written at Bnzulnk on January 20; j “ Conditions here are perfectly appalling. Sir Benjamin - Robertson (sent out by the Red Cross and .Famine Relief Committee) has just paid us a visit—indeed, we are travelling in his tram. He is an expert on Indian famines, and is horrified at the things he has seen here; he finds them much worse than in Saratoff. Nansen also thought the Bu/.ulttk area the worst he had seen and, of course, our outlying distucts are worse than those on the railway, except that we have more typhus than they have. Yesterday we wore in one of the villages seeing the kitchen in which about 30 per cent, of the children were being fed. All need it. We visited several homes quite unexpectedly, one being that of the richest man in the village. The people were lying about, too weak to do anything else, some with great sores caused by starvation. In the ‘richest man’s’ house was a store of a few ounces of ‘flour’ made from glass and birch bark: in the otlicrs-nothmg. W' saw many closed houses where the people had all died, and there will lie very many more of these. They have eaten all the cats and dogs, have pounded up their bones to mix with the grass for bread, and there at-fe a good many cases of cannibalism. In a village I visited hist Sunday the local Famine Committee is combatting this by removing the bodies as quickly as possible, and—if anything is being cooked—looking into the pots to see whether what is there is huindn. Parents have killed and eaten their children. We are used to dead bodies lying in the streets. There were 20 in one of our houses a few days ago, I don t mmu them so much their agony is over. A groat, many come to ns to beg, and there is nothing for them. To-day. in Audnawaka and Alexiewska (our two worst dis-, tiicls) we are starting to feed a small proportion of the adults, and on February 1 m our whole district shall be given food to 70 000 children and 30,000 adults; but (hero will be many more unfed who must inevitably die. Deserted and orphan children are pouring into Buzttlttk from all the districts round. These come first, into preemniks’—receiving homes.—where they should stay only one night, where there are no beds, no clothes, nothing but harp boards and a modicum of heat, and food. I saw one yesterday arranged for 60 children where there were 400 odd. They stood or crouched in their ragged verminous clothes, many crying, with their pinched faces and little skeleton bodies, all traces of childhood gone from their haunted eyes. If only we had clothes to give them!—hut every garment has been given out, and hardly anything has been done to meet the needs. In the Other homes, the children have little cotton shirts, and huddle against the stoves or on the beds. Though they,may stay there weeks and months, they cannot go out. The windows me not opened, because there is so little wood that.everything must be done to keep what heat there is. So you ran imagine the atmosphere. The children connot keep strong, nor is the ration wc are able to give them enough to build up their devitalised bodies.”