Page 130 - Communism in Ambush

a ants, using methods very similar to those
used by anti-Japanese guerrilla groups.
At least 10,000 peasants were imprisoned,
and many died of hunger behind bars.
The order was given to smash all pri-
vately owned cutlery that had not yet
been turned to steel to prevent people
from being able to feed themselves by pil-
fering the food supply of the commune.
Even fires ware banned, despite the ap-
proach of winter. The excesses of repres-
sion were terrifying. Thousands of
detainees were systematically tortured,
and children were killed and even boiled
Mao's "Great Leap Forward" was a and used as fertilizer—at the very mo-
senseless, cruel project that para- ment when a nationwide campaign was
lyzed the county's agriculture and
economy. Over 30 million died of telling people to "learn the Henan way."
starvation. In Hungry Ghosts: In Anhui, where the stated intention was
Mao's Secret Famine, Jasper to keep the red flag flying even if 99 per-
Becker—who was the Beijing bu-
reau chief of the South China cent of the population died, cadres re-
Morning Post—gave a detailed ac- turned to the traditional practices of live
count of the famine. burials and torture with red-hot irons. 81
Mao began with the slogan of
"peasant socialism." Before coming to
power, he'd promised Chinese peas-
ants land, food, and protection. But his power subjected them to levels of
pain and torture never to be seen in modern history:
This campaign took on the proportions of a veritable war against the peas-
antry… Deaths from hunger reached over 50 percent in certain villages,
and in some cases the only survivors ware cadres who abused their posi-
tion. In Henan and elsewhere there were many cases of cannibalism (63
were recorded officially): children were sometimes eaten in accordance
with a communal decision.
The death rates across the country reached immense levels:
For the entire country, the death rate rose from 11 percent in 1957 to 15 per-
cent in 1959 and 1961, peaking at 29 percent in 1960. Birth rates fell from 33
percent in 1957 to 18 percent in 1961. Excluding the deficit in births, which