Famine in Russia: the hidden horrors of 1921 12-08-2003 Article,
Le Temps, by Francis Haller Original title: "Secours en temps de
paix – la famine en Russie" – Press article published in the
Swiss daily "Le Temps" on 12 August 2003. How the Red Cross
joined forces with governments in a desperate attempt to save
millions of lives. - Read the complete article in French. After
the killing fields of the First World War, the political
upheavals in Russia and elsewhere, and the rampant spread of
disease among exhausted communities, came the threat of food
shortages that put an estimated 32 million lives at risk in
Russia, Ukraine and Georgia. In 1921, on top of the political
chaos that caused the breakdown of whatever health services
existed, the region experienced a devastating drought, leading
to a generalized famine. Thousands of villages were abandoned by
their wretched inhabitants, who went scavenging for food
wherever they could hope to find it. They survived on grass,
clumps of earth, domestic animals... and