Duranty remained unwavering in his defense of Stalin and his policies, even as the famine unfolded. He used approved euphemisms like “malnutrition” instead of “famine.” And in that March 1933 story, Duranty appeared to justify Stalin’s use of force.

“To put it brutally,” Duranty wrote, “you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs.”

In August 1933, Duranty started another front-page story with these words: “The excellent harvest about to be gathered shows that any report of a famine in Russia is today an exaggeration or malignant propaganda.”

He acknowledged the shortages affecting Ukraine and other agricultural regions but added, “there will be more than sufficient [food] to cover the nation’s food supply for the coming year and to justify the Kremlin’s policy of collectivization.”