Matthew John's Reviews > Fraud, Famine and Fascism: The Ukrainian Genocide Myth from Hitler to Harvard

The myth of the “Holodomor”, or purposeful famine-genocide in Ukraine (1932-33), was swiftly and completely debunked by journalists and experts throughout the 1930s. However, this unfounded assertion then saw a resurgence in the 1950s - in conjunction with McCarthyism - and again in the 1980s. In this (unfortunately now out of print) book, Douglas Tottle chronicles the embarrassing tale of this myth’s historiography - from its origins in the Nazi press, to its subsequent popularity in fascist newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst’s American publications, to its continued proliferation by Nazi-collaborating Ukrainian nationalists, to its mainstream acceptance by the likes of Harvard University. The famine-genocide myth is not only an insidious fabrication, but it also seeks to equate the unspeakable crimes of Nazi Germany with the development of the first successful socialist nation - the USSR. In this sense, the modern purpose of the Holodomor story is to endlessly demonize socialism and, more covertly, to promote reactionary ideologies such as fascism. “Fraud, Famine and Fascism” is both an indispensable exposé and a timeless lesson in refuting right-wing propaganda.