The Ukrainian Holodomor represents the death of millions of inhabitants of rural areas by starvation between the years 1932 and 1933. The term holodomor (which in Ukrainian means "death by hunger") is associated with policies of collectivization of agricultural production imposed by Josef Stalin. (1878-1953).
The numbers are inaccurate due to the control of information carried out in the period by the Soviet Union. Among controversies, it is estimated that between 1.5 and 7 million Ukrainians died directly or indirectly because of famine in the period.
The famine that devastated the Ukrainians is considered by historians as genocide imposed by the Stalinist government on the population to impose acceptance of the regime.
The term "genocide" is used because it considers the event to be "artificial famine". Historians claim that there was an intentionality in restricting access to food as a way of imposing power.
Holodomor, the Ukrainian Holocaust
In 1928, Stalin came to power in the Soviet Union and the hardening of the regime followed with persecution and confrontation of opponents. A wave of collectivization of agriculture followed.
As a result, the territories of Ukraine that were traditionally places of intense resistance to the centralized power of Moscow were the target of harsh sanctions by the Stalinist government.
In the countryside, the so-called kulaks (peasant bourgeoisie) refused to have their property confiscated by the State. There were countless cases of fires to properties and part of the production, as well as the death of animals and sabotage of the harvest as a form of protest.
This scenario gave rise to a series of uprisings and armed uprisings against Stalin's government, causing food production to fall, initiating shortages.
In a letter to a colleague Stalin states:"If we do nothing to improve the situation in Ukraine, we risk losing Ukraine".
The process of collectivization imposed by the Soviet government was intensified. Almost all the remaining grain production was withdrawn, food stocks by households were banned and control in Ukrainian territory was intensified.
The so-called "law of the five ears" came into force and people who stole food from the kolkhoz (collective farms owned by the state) were punishable by death by firing squad.
Thus, at the end of 1932, hunger affected almost the entire population. In addition to hunger, diseases linked to malnutrition advanced and decimated thousands of families.
1933, the height of the Holodomor
Despite intense restrictions on access to food, the Soviet government still sensed resistance from the Ukrainian peasantry. Thus, in January 1933, the government imposed the total confiscation of food (not just grain).
There are documents with the accounts of witnesses of the time about a large number of corpses in the streets, people driven insane and even episodes of cannibalism due to hunger.
Adjustment to the regime and the end of the Holodomor
With the advance of the year 1933, there was the extinction of the Ukrainian resistance foci. The survivors of the famine imposed by the Stalinist regime received training and began to work on the collective lands of the state.
The adaptation to the Soviet production model meant that the productive goals determined by the government were achieved, the State reduced sanctions and, consequently, hunger.
Several historians are still trying to estimate the number of dead from famine in Ukraine during the Holodomor, it is certain that the episode marks one of the greatest genocides in human history.
See also:
- Stalin
- Stalinism in the USSR
- Gulag