Ukrainian authorities knew about many of the incidents: police reports contained great detail. But Balytsky made special efforts to prevent the stories from spreading. Ukraine’s secret police boss warned his subordinates against putting too much information about the famine into writing: “provide information on the food problems solely to the First Secretaries of the Party Provincial Committees and only orally…This is to ensure that written notes on the subject do not circulate among the officials where they might cause rumours…”
