The Davenport Public Library presents “A Tale of Two Famines" -- November 18.

Thursday, November 18, 6 p.m.

Presented by the Davenport Public Library

In the Davenport Public Library's latest virtual program in its monthly 3rd Thursday at Hoover's series, the November 18 presentation A Tale of Two Famines will offer a fascinating exploration into the role Herbert Hoover played during the Russian famines of 1921 and 1932, with the humanitarian effort viewed from the perspective of speaker Robert Zapesochny's grandparents who experienced it and were ultimately fed by Hoover.

In the summer of 1921, during one of the worst famines in the country's history, head of the new Soviet government Vladimir Lenin appealed in an open letter to "all honest European and American people" to "give bread and medicine." Gorky described the crop failure which had brought his country to the brink of starvation, and Hoover, who would later become the U.S. President, responded immediately. Hoover's ARA had already been distributing food aid throughout Europe since 1914, and when the organization began its emergency feeding operation in Russia, it planned to feed about one million Russian children for a full year. Other bodies such as the American Friends Service Committee, the British Friends' War Victims Relief Committee and the International Save the Children Union, with the British Save the Children Fund as the major contributor, also later took part, and as historian Douglas Smith wrote, the food relief would likely help "save communist Russia from ruin." But America was the first country to respond, and although Hoover had agreed to provide food for a million people, mostly children, within a year, the country was feeding more than 10 times that number of Russians daily.

In The Soviet Famine of 1932-1934, author Dana G. Dalrymple writes that “the famine of 1932-34, unlike its predecessors, was a man-made disaster. It was an almost direct result of the economic and social policies followed by the Soviet government during its first five-year plan. To carry out its programme of rapid industrialization, the government felt that kit needed to collectivize agriculture quickly. The disruptions growing out of collectivization led to the famine and the death of millions of peasants.” The Russian government, Dalrymple adds, “did such a good job of suppressing knowledge of it that few today know of the famine, and even some otherwise well-informed students of the Soviet Union suggest that the famine was of little consequence.”

A Tale of Two Faines speaker Robert Zapesochny is a researcher and writer who has appeared in a range of publications including Newsmax, The American Spectator, the Washington Times, and The American Conservative. For several years, Zapesochny worked closely with Peter Hannaford, a senior aide to Ronald Reagan, as the primary researcher on four books and numerous columns. Robert graduated with a major in Political Science from the University at Buffalo, and received his Master’s degree in Public Administration, with a focus in healthcare, from the State University of New York College at Brockport. When he’s not writing, Zapesochny works for a medical research company in Rochester, New York.

The virtual A Tale of Two Famines presentation begins at 6 p.m. on November 18, registration is available through the Davenport Public Library Web site, and more information on the free event and the monthly 3rd Thursday at Hoover's series is available by calling (563)326-7832 and visiting DavenportLibrary.com.

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