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                                             January 15, 2009

 John Reed
 "Ten Days That Shook the World" (1922)
 [ref]


John Reed, discussing events in 1917:

   With these facts was mixed an astounding jumble of rumours,
   distortions, and plain lies. For instance, an intelligent
   young Cadet, formerly private secretary to Miliukov and
   then to Terestchenko, drew us aside and told us all about
   the taking of the Winter Palace.

   "The Bolsheviki were led by German and Austrian officers,"
   he affirmed.

   "Is that so?" we replied, politely. "How do you know?"

   "A friend of mine was there and saw them."

   "How could he tell they were German officers?"

   "Oh, because they wore German uniforms!"

   There were hundreds of such absurd tales, and they were
   not only solemnly published by the anti-Bolshevik press,
   but believed by the most unlikely persons-Socialist
   Revolutionaries and Mensheviki who had always been
   distinguished by their sober devotion to facts....

   But more serious were the stories of Bolshevik violence
   and terrorism. For example, it was said printed that the
   Red Guards had not only thoroughly looted the Winter
   Palace, but that they had massacred the _yunkers_ after
   disarming them, had killed some of the Ministers in cold
   blood; and as for the woman soldiers, most of them had
   been violated, and many had committed suicide because of
   the tortures they had gone through.... All these stories
   were swallowed whole by the crowd in the Duma. And worse
   still, the mothers and fathers of the students and of the
   women read these frightful details, _often accompanied by
   lists of names,_ and toward nightfall the Duma began to be
   besieged by frantic citizens....

   A typical case is that of Prince Tumanov, whose body, it
   was announced in many newspapers, had been found floating
   in the Moika Canal. A few hours later this was denied by
   the Prince's family, who added that the Prince was under
   arrest so the press identified the dead man as General
   Demissov. The General having also come to life, we
   investigated, and could find no trace of any body found
   whatever....

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