Holodomor

The Holodomor (Ukrainian meaning "to kill by starvation'") was an at least partially man-made famine in Ukraine in 1932–33 that killed an estimated 3–10 million Ukrainians in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (excludes Galicia). It was one part of a wider famine, the Soviet Union famine of 1932–33.

Starvation during the Holodomor, Kharkivshchyna, 1933

History

Scholars disagree on the relative importance of natural factors (such as the weather) and catastrophic communist agricultural policies as causes of the famine, but many argue that the Holodomor was deliberately planned by Joseph Stalin, in an attempt to eliminate Ukrainian nationalism, in which case it would be a genocide. Actions such as rejection of outside aid, confiscation of all household foodstuffs, and restriction of population movement are said to support this.

Ukrainian Jewish Committee

The "Ukrainian Jewish Committee" objected in 2009 to a criminal case against a list of former Soviet officials accused of committing the Holodomor. Most of the names on the list were Jewish.

The Holocaust and the Holodomor

Holodomor is often referred to as "the forgotten Holocaust". Supporters of the "unique" status of the Holocaust have objected to Holodomor comparisons, claiming that this would "cheapen the memory of Germany's victims". See also the article on Holocaust uniqueness.

Use in recent propaganda

The Holodomor has recently been used in the propaganda war between Russia and Ukraine, with both sides accusing the other side of inaccuracies.

Holodomor Law

In 2006, the Holodomor Law proclaimed state-made famine organized by the Stalinist regime in Ukraine an act of genocide against Ukrainian people. In addition, Art. 2 of the Holodomor Law has stipulated explicit provision on historical denialism by stating that “public denial of the 1932–1933 Holodomor in Ukraine shall be recognized as desecration of the memory of millions of victims of the Holodomor as well as disparagement of the Ukrainian people and shall be unlawful.

Mr. Jones (film, 2020)

"Mr. Jones, a new movie directed by Agnieszka Holland, explores the incredible story of journalist Gareth Jones’ struggle to expose the horrors occurring under Joseph Stalin in Ukraine. In 1933, Welsh journalist Gareth Jones traveled to the Soviet Union to investigate rumors of events in Ukraine. What he uncovered was an immense man-made famine and one of the greatest crimes of the twentieth century—the Holodomor. Despite millions of deaths, Kremlin propagandists and other Soviet-friendly Western journalists downplayed and denied his reporting. Mr. Jones, a new movie directed by Agnieszka Holland, explores the incredible story of Jones’ struggle to expose the horrors occurring under Joseph Stalin at a time when Western reports were laudatory. The Holodomor stands out as one of the greatest tragedies of the Soviet regime, with Ukraine still fighting for its recognition and understanding of this dark chapter."

See also

• Walter Duranty – Involved in the cover-up of the Holodomor.
• War Communism – The mass starvation under the regime of Lenin and Trotsky.
• The World Wars and mass starvation – On the Soviet scorched-earth policy contributing to mass starvation and mass deaths during WWII.
• Stalinist crimes (negationism)
• The Black Book of Communism

Sources

• Conquest, Robert, The Harvest of Sorrow - Soviet Collectivisation and the Terror-Famine, Pimlico publishers, London, 1986/2002, ISBN: 0-7126-9750-0

External links

• Destination 1933: The Holodomor and White Sea-Baltic Canal
• Bitter Harvest: A Brilliant Film on the Ukrainian Holodomor
• Mobile ‘Gas Vans’ Not Invented By ‘Nazis’ But By Communist Jew Isai Berg To Mass Murder Ukrainians During Holodomor (Archive)
• ADL to Ukraine: Don’t Link YOUR Holocaust with OURS
• Jta: Jewish group objects to ‘Great Famine’ case