The Bolshevik Myth · Chapter
XXVII: Further South explained
The narrator describes a train journey through southern Russia in August 1920, witnessing devastation, poverty, and the gradual establishment of Soviet rule.
What happens
The narrator describes a train journey through southern Russia in August 1920, witnessing devastation, poverty, and the gradual establishment of Soviet rule. In Poltava, a primitive Revkom governs; in Krementchug and Znamenka, market life continues with Soviet money scorned. Pogrom stories and hunted looks among Jews are prevalent. Henry Alsberg loses his purse; the Museum car is mistakenly sent to Kiev. Stranded, the group boards a military supply train, where a Communist commissar espouses Trotsky's 'iron broom' methods and predicts imminent revolution in Western Europe. They reunite with their Expedition in Fastov.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Falling action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This excerpt marks the dramatic climax because it presents the emotional and psychological peak of disillusion…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Economic Collapse and Survival
The market scene in Znamenka illustrates barter and distrust of Soviet currency; widespread complaints about food shortages and starvation.
- Human Suffering and Dehumanization
Scars from violence, hunted looks in Jewish eyes, and the absence of young people reflect the toll of war and pogroms.
- Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict
Pogroms and the presence of Makhnovtsi (Ukrainian anarchist forces) highlight ongoing ethnic and political violence.
Characters to notice
- Henry Alsberg
American correspondent traveling with the Expedition; loses his purse containing foreign money in Znamenka.
- Trotsky
Admired by the Communist commissar for his 'iron broom' methods of revolutionary force.
- Unknown Narrator
Narrates the journey, observes conditions, and interacts with the commissar.
Key passages
“Soviet money is scorned, hardly anyone accepting it, though tsarskiye are in demand and occasionally kerenki are favored.”
People refuse Soviet currency, preferring tsarist or Kerensky rubles.
Illustrates the collapse of the Soviet economy and lack of trust in Bolshevik money.
“More frequently we meet men and women of Jewish type, the look of the hunted in their eyes, and more dreadful become the stories of pogroms that had taken place in the neighborhood.”
Jews appear terrified, and tales of nearby pogroms grow increasingly horrific.
Highlights the ethnic violence and persecution during the Civil War.
“Revolution can conquer only by the generous use of the sword, he believes; morality and sentiment are bourgeois superstitions.”
The commissar argues that revolution requires violence and rejects morality as a bourgeois notion.
Reflects the brutal ideology of some Bolsheviks, echoing Trotsky's methods.
