they found 9,000 persons sick with typhus ; dozens of dead were lying in the streets, in the cemeteries masses of human corpses were being eaten by dogs. They appealed to Moscow for help. Remember all this happened under the Denikin and Koltchak régimes. It is also stated that right throughout the Kazan region unheard of suffering was being endured. At Omsk 20,000 persons were discovered affected by spotted typhus : over 400 dead bodies were found unburied. It was expected that cholera would break out at Kharkoff.
The Communists took this situation in hand and first of all organised drastic measures to keep the Red Army free from disease. A new scheme drafted by the Public Health Department in co-operation with Lenin, was put into operation. Each regiment was called upon to elect a private who, with a doctor and the colonel, was held responsible for the good health of the regiment. All the sanitary arrangements were in their charge and they were made responsible for the proper cleanliness of billets and camps. A public health order of the day was issued as follows : “ To be dirty is a crime against the revolution.” Arrangements were made for special isolation stations capable of dealing with about 30,000 cases every day and providing beds for 5,000 patients. I repeat this all happened in districts recaptured from the reactionists who were
