The Holodomor
Between 1929 and 1932 the Soviet Communist Party, on Stalin’s orders, dispossessed and deported millions of peasant families, called “dekulakisation”, and abolished private property in land and the concentrated the remaining peasantry in “collective” farms under Party control.
There followed a “terror-famine”, inflicted on the collectivised peasants of the Ukraine and some other regions, in which the Stalin set impossibly high quotas, the state stole what food the peasants had stored for themselves and prevented outside help from reaching the starving millions. More deaths resulted from these actions than the total number of deaths from all the countries in the First World War [1].
7 – 10 million Ukrainians died between 1932 and 1934 in Soviet Ukraine. In Ukraine today this disaster is called “The Holodomor” (‘holod’ – starvation and ‘mor’ – death) [2].
It is very little known or remembered outside Ukraine but there, since 2006, Holodomor Remembrance Day has officially been observed on the fourth Saturday of November.
On 7 November 2003 the United Nations General Assembly published a letter signed by 25 member states addressed to the Secretary-General which said, in part:
In the former Soviet Union millions of men, women and children fell victims to the cruel actions and policies of the totalitarian regime. The Great Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine (Holodomor), which took from 7 million to 10 million innocent lives and became a national tragedy for the Ukrainian people. In this regard we note activities in observance of the seventieth anniversary of this Famine, in particular organized by the Government of Ukraine.
Honouring the seventieth anniversary of the Ukrainian tragedy, we also commemorate the memory of millions of Russians, Kazakhs and representatives of other nationalities who died of starvation in the Volga River region, Northern Caucasus, Kazakhstan and in other parts of the former Soviet Union, as a result of civil war and forced collectivization, leaving deep scars in the consciousness of future generations.
Expressing sympathy to the victims of the Great Famine, we call upon all Member States, the United Nations and its special agencies, international and regional organizations, as well as non-governmental organizations, foundations and associations to pay tribute to the memory of those who perished during that tragic period of history. [3]
The European Parliament called the Holodomor “an appalling crime against the Ukrainian people, and against humanity” [4].
Denial of the Holodomor was the Soviet state’s position and was reflected in Soviet propaganda and the work of some Western intellectuals and journalists. Notable exceptions were Gareth Jones, Malcom Muggeridge, Mendel Osherowitz and Rhea Clyman.
Holodomor is one example of the murder of people by their own governments. In total the Soviet Union murdered about 62 million people, the People’s Republic of China about 35 million, Japan about 6 million and many other countries, including the UK, have murdered hundreds of thousands or millions more [5].
Such mass murders are called Democide [6]
There are many videos on YouTube [7] and elsewhere about the Holodomor.
The Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain is organising the 3RD ANNUAL HOLODOMOR ESSAY PRIZE in 2021 [8].
This article includes contributions from Roman Leszczysyzn, Vice Chair of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (Coventry Branch). Contact him at coventry@augb.co.uk or visit their Facebook page. They are based at 103 Leicester Causeway, Coventry, CV1 4HL.
Resources on the Holodomor
National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide: https://holodomormuseum.org.ua/en/
Holodomor Research and Education Consortium: https://education.holodomor.ca/
On Gareth Jones, The Times correspondent: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Jones_(journalist)
On Rhea Clyman, Toronto Telegram writer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhea_Clyman
Raphael Lemkin and the Holodomor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor_genocide_question
References
[1] The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivisation and the Terror-Famine by Robert Conquest
[2] Wikipedia article on Holodomor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor
[3] General Assembly Letter on Holodomor: https://web.archive.org/web/20170313040724/http://repository.un.org/bitstream/handle/11176/246001/A_C.3_58_9-EN.pdf
[4] European Parliament Commemoration of the Holodomor: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?reference=P6-TA-2008-0523&type=TA&language=EN&redirect
[5] Table 1.2 in Death By Government by R.J. Rummel.
[6] Democide article on Wikipedia: https://unacov.uk/democide/
[7] Holodomor videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Holodomor
[8] 3RD ANNUAL HOLODOMOR ESSAY PRIZE 2021: https://www.augb.co.uk/holodomor-essay-prize-2021.php