"The abdication of Nicholas II, Czar of Russia in 1917 and the Revolution that followed left Europe's greatest country in a pitiful plight. A large number of South Dakota people hail from Russia and as soon as hunger and want reports reached here they organized a movement to help their stricken friends and relatives over there. Mr. Jacob Hieb, pioneer merchant of Marion, South Dakota, took a leading part in this relief work. During the year 1923 a shipload of clothing and provisions was collected from South Dakota and neighboring states and shipped to Riga, Russia, for distribution among the needy and destitute people. Some time thereafter private letters reached many of the donors that their packages did not reach them. More complaints came pouring in until it became evident that there was something irregular about the distribution of these goods. Interested friends began to look around for some one to make a trip to investigate these charges. Mr. Hieb volunteered to go and made this trip early in 1928. Upon his return he wrote up his experiences in serial form in the Marion Record. His written story proved so interesting that before it was finished a large number of demands came to the Record to have this narrative published in book form. In the following pages Mr. Hieb's story is re-printed in his own language and it is hoped that it will supply to the reading public first hand information of conditions in ill-fated Russia written from personal observation."--Forward.