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Robeson's political statements and activism, including sympathies expressed towards the Soviet Union, [[Lenin]], [[Mao Zedong]], [[Josip Broz Tito]] and [[Joseph Stalin]] were the subject of great controversy in the mass media, in particular rumors of membership in the [[Communist Party USA|American Communist Party]].

Robeson's political statements and activism, including sympathies expressed towards the Soviet Union, [[Lenin]], [[Mao Zedong]], [[Josip Broz Tito]] and [[Joseph Stalin]] were the subject of great controversy in the mass media, in particular rumors of membership in the [[Communist Party USA|American Communist Party]].

Robeson first visited the Soviet Union in 1934, during<ref>[http://ukrainians.rutgers.edu/holodomor.htm Holodomor], Ukrainian Students Club, Rutgers University</ref> a genocide<ref>[http://www.ioir.se/ukrfamine.htm Final Report of the International Commission of Inquiry Into the 1932–1933 Famine in Ukraine]. Cf. [http://www.ukrainiangenocide.org/dsovietpolicyandukrainiangenocide.html Soviet Policy and the Ukrainian Genocide of 1932-33], Ukrainian Genocide Famine Foundation - USA</ref> in which the Soviet government intentionally<ref>United States Commission on the Ukrainian Famine, [http://genocidecurriculum.org/category/curriculum-resources/general-archive/united-states-congressional-commission-on-the-ukrainian-famine/1report-to-congress/ Investigation of the Ukrainian Famine], April 19, 1988. Cf. Volodymyr Vassylenko, [http://www.mfa.gov.ua/slovenia/en/19708.htm The Ukrainian Holodomor of 1932-33 as a Crime of Genocide: A Legal Assessment], Kiev 2009; Katya Mischenko-Mycyk, [http://www.ukrainiangenocide.org/htestimonytext.html Testimony Presented to the Elementary & Secondary Education Committee Hearing], February 9, 2005. HB0312, 94th General Assembly, SCH CD-GENOCIDE STUDY</ref> murdered some 14 million of its own citizens through deliberate starvation<ref>Robert Conquest, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Bp31GmfH-6YC The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine]'' (Oxford University Press, 1987) ISBN 0195051807, pp. 306, 327</ref> in an engineered famine.<ref>Askold Krushelnycky, [http://www.ukemonde.com/news/rferl.html Stalin's Starvation of Ukraine – Seventy Years Later, World Still Largely Unaware Of Tragedy], Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, April 8, 2003</ref> Upon his return, the official Communist Party organ ''The Daily Worker'' published an interview with Robeson, in which he gushed about the "workers' paradise":<ref>Vern Smith, "[http://revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv4n2/ussrpr.htm 'I Am at Home,' Says Robeson at Reception in Soviet Union]," ''The Daily Worker'', January 15, 1935, quoted in Philip Sheldon Foner, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=V_CJfbpKOLwC Paul Robeson speaks: writings, speeches, interviews, 1918-1974]'' (Citadel Press, 2002) ISBN 0806508159, p. 95</ref>

Robeson first visited the Soviet Union in 1934, during<ref>[http://ukrainians.rutgers.edu/holodomor.htm Holodomor], Ukrainian Students Club, Rutgers University</ref> a genocide<ref>[http://www.ioir.se/ukrfamine.htm Final Report of the International Commission of Inquiry Into the 1932–1933 Famine in Ukraine]. Cf. [http://www.ukrainiangenocide.org/dsovietpolicyandukrainiangenocide.html Soviet Policy and the Ukrainian Genocide of 1932-33], Ukrainian Genocide Famine Foundation - USA</ref> in which the Soviet government intentionally<ref>United States Commission on the Ukrainian Famine, [http://genocidecurriculum.org/category/curriculum-resources/general-archive/united-states-congressional-commission-on-the-ukrainian-famine/1report-to-congress/ Investigation of the Ukrainian Famine], April 19, 1988. Cf. Volodymyr Vassylenko, [http://www.mfa.gov.ua/slovenia/en/19708.htm The Ukrainian Holodomor of 1932-33 as a Crime of Genocide: A Legal Assessment], Kiev 2009; Katya Mischenko-Mycyk, [http://www.ukrainiangenocide.org/htestimonytext.html Testimony Presented to the Elementary & Secondary Education Committee Hearing], February 9, 2005. HB0312, 94th General Assembly, SCH CD-GENOCIDE STUDY</ref> murdered some 14 million of its own citizens through deliberate starvation<ref>Robert Conquest, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Bp31GmfH-6YC The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine]'' (Oxford University Press, 1987) ISBN 0195051807, pp. 306, 327</ref> in an engineered famine.<ref>Askold Krushelnycky, [http://www.ukemonde.com/news/rferl.html Stalin's Starvation of Ukraine – Seventy Years Later, World Still Largely Unaware Of Tragedy], Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, April 8, 2003</ref> Upon his return, the official Communist Party organ ''The Daily Worker'' published an interview with Robeson, in which he gushed about the "[[workers' paradise]]":<ref>Vern Smith, "[http://revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv4n2/ussrpr.htm 'I Am at Home,' Says Robeson at Reception in Soviet Union]," ''The Daily Worker'', January 15, 1935, quoted in Philip Sheldon Foner, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=V_CJfbpKOLwC Paul Robeson speaks: writings, speeches, interviews, 1918-1974]'' (Citadel Press, 2002) ISBN 0806508159, p. 95</ref>

{{cquote|I was not prepared for the happiness I see on every face in Moscow," said Robeson. "I was aware that there was no starvation here, but I was not prepared for the bounding life; the feeling of safety and abundance and freedom that I find here, wherever I turn. I was not prepared for the endless friendliness, which surrounded me from the moment I crossed the border. I had a technically irregular passport, but all this was brushed aside by the eager helpfulness of the border authorities.}}

{{cquote|I was not prepared for the happiness I see on every face in Moscow," said Robeson. "I was aware that there was no starvation here, but I was not prepared for the bounding life; the feeling of safety and abundance and freedom that I find here, wherever I turn. I was not prepared for the endless friendliness, which surrounded me from the moment I crossed the border. I had a technically irregular passport, but all this was brushed aside by the eager helpfulness of the border authorities.}}