Douglas Tottle

Douglas Tottle (born 1944, believed to have died 2003 or earlier)[1] was a Canadian trade union activist, historian, Holodomor genocide critic, and the author of Fraud, Famine, and Fascism: The Ukrainian Genocide Myth from Hitler to Harvard. Tottle asserts that the theory that the Soviet famine of 1932–33 (often dubbed the Holodomor) was intentionally created by the Soviet government, originated from propaganda spread by former Nazis, anti-communists and Ukrainian nationalists, sometimes posing as academics in Canadian universities.[2] Although Douglas Tottle was not a professional historian, Fraud, Famine and Fascism was highly praised and supported by several historians including Professor Clarence J. Munford of the University of Guelph, and Professor David Whitefield of the University of Calgary.[2] Tottle's critics regard him as a "Soviet apologist",[3] or a "denunciator" of the famine.[4] Tottle has been defended by the Stalin Society, author Jeff Coplon, and the Swedish Communist Party, who insist that his book is valid historical research that exposed the "myth of the famine-genocide [...] once and for all".[5] Tottle's work was subbmitted to the International Commission of Inquiry Into the 1932–33 Famine in Ukraine and was examined as evidence during the Brussels sitting of the commission.[6]

Biography
"For almost 70 years the study of the Soviet Union has been trapped in a sea of distortion, lie and propaganda. While this has not always been one-sided, its overall effect has been to simulate fear, suspicion and danger of war. In the present age of new thinking about the history of socialism in the USSR, it remains necessary to deal with and disperse at least the worst of the lies. Tottle's book demonstrates clearly the viciousness surrounding the theory of the Ukrainian genocide and hopefully will open the way to genuine study of the Ukrainian road to socialism."

David Whitefield, Professor of History, University of Calgary, Inner-cover reviews, 'Fraud, Famine and Fascism', 1987

Tottle was born in Quebec, but later lived mainly in Western Canada. He had various jobs throughout his working life, including photo-lab technician, fine artist, miner and steelworker. As a trade union activist, he edited The Challenger, a journal of the United Steelworkers, from 1975 to 1985. Tottle also researched labour history and worked as a union organiser, for example among Chicano farm workers in California and Native Indian farm workers in Manitoba. Tottle has written for various Canadian and American publications.

Fraud, Famine, and Fascism: The Ukrainian Genocide Myth from Hitler to Harvard

Douglas Tottle is mostly known for his controversial book Fraud, Famine, and Fascism: the Ukrainian Genocide Myth from Hitler to Harvard in which he argues that the theory that the Soviet famine of 1932–33 was intentionally orchestrated by the USSR, was a creation of Nazis propagandists, thence perpetuated in America by Nazi-sympathizing newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst,[7] who also published columns by Hitler and Hermann Göring without rebuttal. Tottle argues that although mistakes in Soviet economic policy were contributors to the famine, other factors including kulak sabotage, hoarding of grain, weather conditions and foreign sanctions also contributed.[7]

"Douglas Tottle exposes the fraudulent charge of famine-genocide made against the USSR... Skillfully Tottle traces the labyrinthine history of the "evidence" - documentary and photographic - on its convoluted passage from nazi publications to the Hearst press to the misfounded "scholarship" of such present-day Kremlinologists as Robert Conquest. Tottle's sharp and engagingly written investigation is useful and intelligent. The author makes an important contribution by exposing the ways and wiles of anti-communist propaganda."

Clarence J. Munford, Professor of History, University of Guelph, Inner cover reviews, 'Fraud, Famine and Fascism', 1987

Tottle writes that he is more interested in the "Nazi and fascist connections" and the "coverups of wartime collaboration".[8] In 1988, the International Commission of Inquiry Into the 1932–33 Famine in Ukraine was set up to establish whether the famine existed and its cause. Tottle was invited by the commission to attend the hearings, but did not respond. Tottle's book was examined during the Brussels sitting of the commission,[6] held between May 23–27, 1988, with testimony from various expert witnesses. Commission president Jacob Sundberg subsequently concluded that Tottle was not alone in doubting a "famine-genocide", alluding to the fact that material included in his book could not have been available without official Soviet assistance.[9]

Although she lacks any definitive proof, writer Anna Applebaum claims that institutes of the Soviet government contributed to its writing and reviewed manuscripts and that Soviet diplomats also promoted the book.[10] She also theorises that this may have been a political response to the publication of CIA operative and former British propagandist for the Information Research Department Robert Conquest's The Harvest of Sorrow in the preceding year, although she does not provide any evidence of these claims.[10]

References
  1. Year of birth from Library of Congress bibliographic authority record, died 2003 or earlier
  2. Tottle, Douglas (1987). Fraud, Famine, and Fascism: The Ukrainian Genocide Myth from Hitler to Harvard. Toronto: Progress Books. pp. Page 3. ISBN 0-919396-51-8. OCLC 31968778.
  3. Sysyn, Frank (1999). "The Ukrainian Famine of 1932–3: The Role of the Ukrainian Diaspora in Research and Public Discussion". In Chorbajian, Levon; Shirinian, George (eds.). Studies in Comparative Genocide. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 193. ISBN 0-312-21933-4. OCLC 39692229. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  4. Marchak, Patricia (2003). Reigns of Terror. Montreal; Ithaca: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 183. ISBN 0-7735-2642-0. OCLC 52459228. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  5. "Kris i Ukraina 1932-1933". Klasskamp, historieförfalskning och den kapitalistiska förintelsen (in Swedish). Sveriges kommunistiska parti. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
  6. Sundberg, Jacob W.F. "International Commission of Inquiry Into the 1932–33 Famine in Ukraine. The Final Report (1990)". The Stockholm Institute of Public and International Law. Archived from the original on 4 December 2004. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  7. Douglas Tottle (1987). Fraud, Famine and Fascism: The Ukrainian Genocide Myth from Hitler to Harvard. Progress Books. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-919396-51-7. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  8. Tottle, Douglas (1987). Fraud, Famine and Fascism: The Ukrainian Genocide Myth from Hitler to Harvard. Toronto: Progress Books. p. 3. ISBN 0-919396-51-8.
  9. A.J. Hobbins, Daniel Boyer, "Seeking Historical Truth: the International Commission of Inquiry into the 1932-33 Famine in the Ukraine", Dalhousie Law Journalhh, 2001, Vol 24, page 166
  10. Applebaum, Anne (2017). Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine (1 ed.). New York: Doubleday. p. 338. ISBN 9780385538855.
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