On March 5^th 1933 Gareth undertook his third visit to Ukraine and the U.S.S.R and he arrived in Moscow to investigate the Famine about which he had already heard in the autumn of 1932. Soon after his arrival he called on Malcolm Muggeridge who had returned from the villages. 

Gareth had been advised by the British Embassy not to visit the villages in Ukraine and the staff told him that any possessions he had would be stolen.  But he disregarded this warning, and piled his rucksack with many loaves of white bread, with butter, cheese, meat and chocolate which he had bought with foreign currency at the Torgsin stores.  He arrived at a suburban station in Moscow from which the trains leave for the south, picked his way through the dirty peasants lying sleeping on the floor and in a few minutes he found himself in the hard class compartment of the slowest train which left Moscow for Kharkiv.  To see Russia it was necessary to travel “hard class,” and go by a slow train; he tourists who travelled “soft class.” and by express trains, would not see the real Russia.

 

Gareth spoke to the people on the train asking many questions and these he noted in his diaries.

 

“I dropped orange peel into spittoon.  Peasant picked it up and ate it. Later apple core.  Man speaking German same story, “Tell them in England Starving” Belly extended. Hugh. Another peasant ; belly extended.”

Later Gareth was apprehended by an O.G.P.U. man and accompanied to the German Consulate in Kharkiv. There in Kharkiv he was to see a queue for bread