Honoring honor
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| Brave Welsh journalist Gareth Jones broke story on Soviet famine |
Gareth Jones, a Welsh journalist broke the story on the Ukranian famine on March 29, 1933 despite official denials. Walter Duranty of The New York Times wrote an article a day later rebutting Jones's claims that was published in the paper of record on March 31, 1933.
In the end seven million souls starved to death in a communist manufactured famine in the Ukraine between 1931 and 1933 under the rule of Josef Stalin. Mr. Jones was banned from returning to the Soviet Union by the Communists.
Two years after publishing this story he was murdered in Inner Mongolia on the eve of his 30th birthday by Chinese bandits in what his family believes was a Moscow coordinated plot to eliminate him.
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| Mr. Gareth Jones |
There are many who look the other way, remain silent, or worse defend the lie to cover up the crime, and are rewarded with prizes and a long and healthy life. This was the case of Walter Duranty, who won a Pulitzer Prize for covering up the famine. Gareth Jones took the path less traveled, that of truth and honor, and paid a high price.
Thankfully, the Polish director Agnieszka Holland has brought his story to the big screen in the 2019 film Mr. Jones.
The film is not a docudrama, and takes dramatic license, but it should lead a new generation to explore what he did and the price he paid for witnessing a great crime and reporting the truth. Between 1931 and 1933 Josef Stalin weaponized famine against millions of civilians in the Ukraine, and he had willing accomplices in the West, like Mr. Walter Duranty of The New York Times.
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| Famine victim in the Ukraine |
Thankfully, there were also men of honor like Gareth Jones who risked their lives gathering the facts, and reporting the truth. These are heroes that are still needed today, and tragically all too rare. If you have not seen the film, see it, but also learn the full story of Mr. Jones.
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