Holodomor The Holodomor, which means “to kill by hunger, to starve to death,” was a peacetime catastrophe that resulted in the deaths of between 3 and 10 million Ukrainians between 1932-33 in the “breadbasket of the Soviet Union.” Ed Stelmach, described it as "one of the most heinous atrocities of modern history", and yet remarkably, still few people are aware of this tragedy.

Historical Outline

Russian Empire late to industrialization late to democratic reform citizens lacked rights enjoyed by most Europeans Russian Empire Russia was a geographically enormous empire in 1914 at the start of World War I. It was also far behind all the other great European powers in terms of industrialization, democratic reform and social modernization. Most citizens were still peasants and, though they had been released from serfdom in 1861, were still oppressed and lacked rights that European peasants had long since won.  

Czar Nicholas II Russia not prepared for WWI problems on the front food riots broke out in the cities forced to abdicate in early 1917 Czar Nicholas II was a weak leader who was resistant to change and who committed Russia to a war for which she was not prepared. As the army faced repeated defeats, morale deteriorated as food shortages led to bread riots and the Czar was forced to abdicate in early 1917.

Bolsheviks and Lenin overthrow provisional government and take control in November 1917 The provisional government struggled through a series of crisis until they were overthrown themselves by the Russian Bolshevik Party who had taken control of the government by the end of 1917 with the promise of Peace! Land! Bread!

Civil War  fighting takes place across the country against many groups opposed to Bolsheviks Bolsheviks ultimately win and consolidate power The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, withdrew from the war and spent the next several years fighting a civil war against a wide range of groups that opposed their rule. During this time, the Bolsheviks imposed a political and economic order known as War Communism, which attempted to transform the economy.

War Communism and Famine no private property,  nationalization of all industry,  rationing of food  government monopoly on foreign trade. War Communism & severe drought lead to 10 million deaths War Communism denied citizens the right to own private property, and included provisions for nationalization of all industry, rationing of food, and enforcing a government monopoly on foreign trade. This policy, as well as severe drought and economic disturbance caused by the civil war, created a famine across the Bolshevik controlled areas in 1921 that resulted in 10 million deaths.

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) created in 1922 Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukrainian SSR) was one of the founding Republics In 1922 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was established by the Bolsheviks, with Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukrainian SSR) being one of the founding members.

New Economic Policy introduced by Lenin to rejuvenate the economy embraced by many in Ukraine Lenin, in an attempt to rejuvenate the economy, introduced the New Economic Policy (NEP), which allowed peasants more economic freedom as long as they met certain quotas. Many in the Ukrainian SSR embraced this policy as it gave farmers incentive to invest and work harder.

Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union 1928 - 1953 rejected the NEP Stalinism was characterized by terror and totalitarian rule After Lenin’s death in 1924, a power struggle ensued resulting in Joseph Stalin emerging as the new leader of the Soviet Union. Stalin’s approach to governing, known as Stalinism, was characterized by terror and totalitarian rule. Stalin rejected the softening of communist principles under the NEP.

Five Year Plans organized the economy peasants forced to give up land and join collective farms goal was to quickly industrialize needed to sell grain to buy parts In 1928, he began a series of five-year plans that forced peasants to give up their property and join kolkhoz (collective farms). These five-year plans set economic goals aimed at making the nation militarily and industrially self-sufficient. The idea was to sell wheat abroad and buy foreign machinery and technology with the money generated. These five-year plans became the economic model the Soviet followed for the next sixty years.

Peasants Reject Collectivization many burn their crops and livestock rather than hand them over  Peasants were not happy to be giving up their property and forced to join collective farms. When they were given no choice, many burned their fields and livestock in protest rather than hand them over to the authorities.

Kulaks Kulaks were the most successful farmers under the New Economic Policy Bolsheviks knew they would be the strongest opponents of collectivization They were 'eliminated' as a social class  The most successful farmers who flourished under the NEP were labeled ‘Kulaks’ and a propaganda campaign was initiated against this class of people.

Attack on Peasants those resisting collectivization are persecuted Kulaks are arrested, exiled, sent to prison, tortured or killed In 1929, the Soviet government began methodically attacking peasant farmers who were resisting collectivization. Resistance from within Ukrainian SSR was labeled “bourgeois nationalism” and anyone who opposed collectivization was portrayed as an enemy of the people. Hundreds of thousands of peasants who resisted forced collectivization and all ‘Kulaks’ were arrested, sent to prisons, tortured and/or killed.

Great Depression 1930s hardship around the world wheat prices to drop lower prices affected the first Five Year Plan government increased quotas  The worldwide depression, which began in 1929, resulted in a drop in wheat prices that seriously affected the government’s ability to meet the objectives of the plan. In response, the Soviet government increased quotas dramatically for wheat production in 1932. They enacted a series of laws, many only affecting Ukrainian SSR, which ultimately caused the Holodomor. Most of the policies came directly from Stalin and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party based in Moscow.

Food Becomes State Property On August 7, 1932 a law came into force that stipulated that all food was state property peasants unable to meet quotas were stripped of all foodstuffs Food was decreed to be the property of the state in the Ukrainian SSR and anyone found hoarding, or looking for food was arrested or executed. Officials stripped collective farmers of food, livestock, seeds and tools.

Starving Peasants forbidden to take food from the field forbidden to flee the region or leave the country shot for looking for food Starving peasants were forbidden to take food from the fields where they worked. When they tried to flee the region, the government erected military blockades to prevent them from leaving or travelling between districts. Thousands were shots trying to flee the famine or search for food.  

Ukrainian Cities also saw famine as rations were cut off to many parts of the country urban workers were encouraged to see themselves as the leaders the revolution The famine also affected urban workers inside Ukrainian SSR, though some labourers received food rations at times during the crisis. City workers were encouraged to see themselves as leaders of the revolution and to see peasants as counter-revolutionaries who were hoarding food. After food was decreed state property, in the summer of 1932, communist brigades fanned out across the countryside to ensure that peasants were not committing theft.

Death By Famine By 1933, 25,000 were starving to death per day. Diseases were spreading  incidents of cannibalism  almost no one outside Ukrainian SSR knew By 1933, peasants were starving to death at a rate of 25,000 per day. Diseases were spreading due to people’s inability to care for themselves and incidents of cannibalism began appearing in government reports. Despite this, almost no one outside Ukrainian SSR was aware of these events. There were no reports about the famine in the Soviet Union, and only a few foreign media ever published stories about it. The worldwide depression, as well as new governments in America and Germany, garnered much more international attention than what was happening inside the Soviet Union. It is clear that the Soviet Government was aware of the famine though, and at no point did they request international assistance. Their response to the peasants’ inability to meet the unrealistic quotas was to punish them. One cannot blame this tragedy on climate issues or a failure to produce wheat. Ukraine produced more than enough wheat throughout the crisis to feed herself. The clear cause of the Holodomor was the policies implemented by the Soviet authorities at this time. For the next fifty years the Holodomor remained covered up, denied, and simply not talked about. This started to change with Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost in the late 80s and then, with the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the release of records from government archives led to a flood of information about the Holodomor. Researchers are still uncovering more information about this time of terror.