The Death on Animals Farm

    Presently, the tumult died down. The four pigs waited, trembling, with guilt written on every line of their countenances. Napoleon now called upon them to confess their crimes. They were the same four pigs as had protested when Napoleon abolished the Sunday Meetings. Without any further prompting, they confessed that they had been secretly in touch with Snowball ever since his expulsion, that they had collaborated with him in destroying the windmill, and that they had entered into an agreement with him to hand over Animal Farm to Mr Frederick. They added that Snowball had privately admitted to them that he had been Jones' secret agent for years past. When they had finished their confession, the dogs promptly tore their throats out, and in a terrible voice Napoleon demanded whether any other animal had anything to confess. 
     The three hens who had been the ringleaders in the attempted rebellion over the eggs now came forward and stated that Snowball had appeared to them in a dream and incited them to disobey Napoleon's orders. They too, were slaughtered.  Then a goose came forward and confessed to having secreted six ears of corn during last year's harvest and eaten them in the night.  Then a sheep confessed to having urinated in the drinking pool-urged to do this, so she said, by Snowball-and two other sheep confessed  murdered an old ram, an especially devoted follower of Napoleon, by chasing him round and round a bonfire when he was suffering from a cough.  They were all slain on the spot.
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 George Orwell's Animals Farm, chapter 7, page 83-84

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      This part of the book makes me sad and confused.  The animals confess to doing such crimes, but why?  It is difficult to believe that they really did those things.  Somehow convincing them to admit, Napoleon was able to get them out of the way, but why did he see them as a threat?  What had they done?  Why would they say such things when they saw before them, their fellow friends get torn to pieces?  Torturing them, Napoleon must have made them so weak that they would admit to what he wished, so why then did Orwell not mention that certain animals had gone missing for a period of time?  I also find it hard to understand how the animals, having witnessed such a horrific scene, would not have had a discussion in the barn about what had happened.  How could they keep from talking?  The poor things must have been in such shock!  Communism is truly terrible, and it makes me sad to read about creatures dieing even as simply as George Orwell has put it.