Ukraine commemorates the victims of the Holodomor-Genocide of 1932–1933
Every year, on the fourth Saturday of November, Ukrainians and the international community commemorate the victims of the Holodomor of 1932–1933 – a man-made famine that was enforced by the deliberate policies of the totalitarian Stalinist regime of the USSR and claimed millions of innocent lives. For decades, this appalling act of inhumanity and immense national tragedy was kept a secret by the Soviet Union, vehemently denied, and largely unknown to the world. To date, research of archives and documents collected by historians indicates that over 6 million Ukrainians – mostly peasants, the backbone of Ukrainian identity, culture, and traditions – were literally starved to death within 2 years by Stalin’s policies, which sought to enforce submission to Soviet rule and resolve the “Ukrainian issue.” It was not only an artificial famine, but a thoroughly planned and executed Holodomor, which in Ukrainian means “inflicting death by starvation.” Deprivation of food was used as a weapon to carry out ethnic cleansing of Ukrainian territories. Not only grain but all food was taken away from villages by force; people trying to hide even small amounts of food were deported or shot; those attempting to move to cities or other places in search of food were barred from leaving their villages. At the height of the Holodomor, Ukrainians died at a rate of 25,000 per day; nearly a quarter of the rural population perished, and more than 3 million children born during 1932–1933 died of starvation. During the same period, the Soviet Union sold 1.7 million tons of grain on western markets. As Raphael Lemkin, a renowned expert in international criminal law and the founder of the modern concept of genocide, noted, the Holodomor was “not simply a case of mass murder but a case of genocide, of destruction, not of individuals only, but of a culture and a nation.” Since Ukraine's independence, 29 states and 3 international organizations, including the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, have officially recognized the Holodomor of 1932–1933 as genocide against the Ukrainian people. Through the joint efforts of Ukraine’s leadership, parliamentarians, scholars, the Ukrainian community abroad, and diplomats, this recognition continues to expand year by year. In mourning the millions of innocent victims of the Holodomor, killed by the barbaric policies of the Soviet totalitarian regime, the international community also counters decades of denial and misinformation. The Soviet Union and, later, Russia have consistently sought to suppress and minimize the truth about these events. Modern recognition helps combat misinformation and propaganda, fostering a more accurate global understanding of Soviet-era crimes and the legacy of totalitarian regimes. The memory of the Holodomor is pivotal to understanding the nature of Ukrainian-Russian relations and the true purpose of Russia's current war of aggression against Ukraine. In its essence, it bears disturbing similarities to the genocide of 1932–1933, aimed at destroying the Ukrainian state and people and erasing Ukrainian culture and language. There is a direct link between past crimes and the current atrocities committed by the Kremlin. Moscow's motives, goals, and methods have not changed over the past 90 years. Systematic attacks on civilians, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, the forced deportation of Ukrainian children, and mass war crimes and crimes against humanity demonstrate Russia’s genocidal intent — an effort to erase Ukrainian identity. Both Stalin's totalitarian regime in the 20th century and Putin's criminal regime in the 21st century have used famine as a weapon. Russia systematically strikes Ukraine’s port infrastructure, grain storage facilities, and civilian vessels, while burning agricultural lands and contaminating them with mines — thus causing disruptions to food supplies, food shortages, and increased food prices worldwide. Such actions bear all the signs of a genocidal policy. Feeding the world carries profound meaning for the Ukrainian nation, which survived the Holodomor — the genocide by starvation — and despite Russia’s ongoing aggression, remains a guarantor of food security for many countries and regions. No one in any corner of the world should suffer from hunger. Ukrainians understand this better than anyone and remain ready to help guarantee it. That is why stopping Russian aggression against Ukraine is essential for global food system stability. Accountability for all past and present crimes of the Kremlin is inevitable. Moscow must not succeed in its attempt to exterminate the Ukrainian people, just as it attempted to do ninety years ago.
Every year, on the fourth Saturday of November, Ukrainians and the international community commemorate the victims of the Holodomor of 1932–1933 – a man-made famine that was enforced by the deliberate policies of the totalitarian Stalinist regime of the USSR and claimed millions of innocent lives. For decades, this appalling act of inhumanity and immense national tragedy was kept a secret by the Soviet Union, vehemently denied, and largely unknown to the world. To date, research of archives and documents collected by historians indicates that over 6 million Ukrainians – mostly peasants, the backbone of Ukrainian identity, culture, and traditions – were literally starved to death within 2 years by Stalin’s policies, which sought to enforce submission to Soviet rule and resolve the “Ukrainian issue.” It was not only an artificial famine, but a thoroughly planned and executed Holodomor, which in Ukrainian means “inflicting death by starvation.” Deprivation of food was used as a weapon to carry out ethnic cleansing of Ukrainian territories. Not only grain but all food was taken away from villages by force; people trying to hide even small amounts of food were deported or shot; those attempting to move to cities or other places in search of food were barred from leaving their villages. At the height of the Holodomor, Ukrainians died at a rate of 25,000 per day; nearly a quarter of the rural population perished, and more than 3 million children born during 1932–1933 died of starvation. During the same period, the Soviet Union sold 1.7 million tons of grain on western markets. As Raphael Lemkin, a renowned expert in international criminal law and the founder of the modern concept of genocide, noted, the Holodomor was “not simply a case of mass murder but a case of genocide, of destruction, not of individuals only, but of a culture and a nation.” Since Ukraine's independence, 29 states and 3 international organizations, including the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, have officially recognized the Holodomor of 1932–1933 as genocide against the Ukrainian people. Through the joint efforts of Ukraine’s leadership, parliamentarians, scholars, the Ukrainian community abroad, and diplomats, this recognition continues to expand year by year. In mourning the millions of innocent victims of the Holodomor, killed by the barbaric policies of the Soviet totalitarian regime, the international community also counters decades of denial and misinformation. The Soviet Union and, later, Russia have consistently sought to suppress and minimize the truth about these events. Modern recognition helps combat misinformation and propaganda, fostering a more accurate global understanding of Soviet-era crimes and the legacy of totalitarian regimes. The memory of the Holodomor is pivotal to understanding the nature of Ukrainian-Russian relations and the true purpose of Russia's current war of aggression against Ukraine. In its essence, it bears disturbing similarities to the genocide of 1932–1933, aimed at destroying the Ukrainian state and people and erasing Ukrainian culture and language. There is a direct link between past crimes and the current atrocities committed by the Kremlin. Moscow's motives, goals, and methods have not changed over the past 90 years. Systematic attacks on civilians, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, the forced deportation of Ukrainian children, and mass war crimes and crimes against humanity demonstrate Russia’s genocidal intent — an effort to erase Ukrainian identity. Both Stalin's totalitarian regime in the 20th century and Putin's criminal regime in the 21st century have used famine as a weapon. Russia systematically strikes Ukraine’s port infrastructure, grain storage facilities, and civilian vessels, while burning agricultural lands and contaminating them with mines — thus causing disruptions to food supplies, food shortages, and increased food prices worldwide. Such actions bear all the signs of a genocidal policy. Feeding the world carries profound meaning for the Ukrainian nation, which survived the Holodomor — the genocide by starvation — and despite Russia’s ongoing aggression, remains a guarantor of food security for many countries and regions. No one in any corner of the world should suffer from hunger. Ukrainians understand this better than anyone and remain ready to help guarantee it. That is why stopping Russian aggression against Ukraine is essential for global food system stability. Accountability for all past and present crimes of the Kremlin is inevitable. Moscow must not succeed in its attempt to exterminate the Ukrainian people, just as it attempted to do ninety years ago.
Every year, on the fourth Saturday of November, Ukrainians and the international community commemorate the victims of the Holodomor of 1932–1933 – a man-made famine that was enforced by the deliberate policies of the totalitarian Stalinist regime of the USSR and claimed millions of innocent lives. For decades, this appalling act of inhumanity and immense national tragedy was kept a secret by the Soviet Union, vehemently denied, and largely unknown to the world. To date, research of archives and documents collected by historians indicates that over 6 million Ukrainians – mostly peasants, the backbone of Ukrainian identity, culture, and traditions – were literally starved to death within 2 years by Stalin’s policies, which sought to enforce submission to Soviet rule and resolve the “Ukrainian issue.” It was not only an artificial famine, but a thoroughly planned and executed Holodomor, which in Ukrainian means “inflicting death by starvation.” Deprivation of food was used as a weapon to carry out ethnic cleansing of Ukrainian territories. Not only grain but all food was taken away from villages by force; people trying to hide even small amounts of food were deported or shot; those attempting to move to cities or other places in search of food were barred from leaving their villages. At the height of the Holodomor, Ukrainians died at a rate of 25,000 per day; nearly a quarter of the rural population perished, and more than 3 million children born during 1932–1933 died of starvation. During the same period, the Soviet Union sold 1.7 million tons of grain on western markets. As Raphael Lemkin, a renowned expert in international criminal law and the founder of the modern concept of genocide, noted, the Holodomor was “not simply a case of mass murder but a case of genocide, of destruction, not of individuals only, but of a culture and a nation.” Since Ukraine's independence, 29 states and 3 international organizations, including the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, have officially recognized the Holodomor of 1932–1933 as genocide against the Ukrainian people. Through the joint efforts of Ukraine’s leadership, parliamentarians, scholars, the Ukrainian community abroad, and diplomats, this recognition continues to expand year by year. In mourning the millions of innocent victims of the Holodomor, killed by the barbaric policies of the Soviet totalitarian regime, the international community also counters decades of denial and misinformation. The Soviet Union and, later, Russia have consistently sought to suppress and minimize the truth about these events. Modern recognition helps combat misinformation and propaganda, fostering a more accurate global understanding of Soviet-era crimes and the legacy of totalitarian regimes. The memory of the Holodomor is pivotal to understanding the nature of Ukrainian-Russian relations and the true purpose of Russia's current war of aggression against Ukraine. In its essence, it bears disturbing similarities to the genocide of 1932–1933, aimed at destroying the Ukrainian state and people and erasing Ukrainian culture and language. There is a direct link between past crimes and the current atrocities committed by the Kremlin. Moscow's motives, goals, and methods have not changed over the past 90 years. Systematic attacks on civilians, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, the forced deportation of Ukrainian children, and mass war crimes and crimes against humanity demonstrate Russia’s genocidal intent — an effort to erase Ukrainian identity. Both Stalin's totalitarian regime in the 20th century and Putin's criminal regime in the 21st century have used famine as a weapon. Russia systematically strikes Ukraine’s port infrastructure, grain storage facilities, and civilian vessels, while burning agricultural lands and contaminating them with mines — thus causing disruptions to food supplies, food shortages, and increased food prices worldwide. Such actions bear all the signs of a genocidal policy. Feeding the world carries profound meaning for the Ukrainian nation, which survived the Holodomor — the genocide by starvation — and despite Russia’s ongoing aggression, remains a guarantor of food security for many countries and regions. No one in any corner of the world should suffer from hunger. Ukrainians understand this better than anyone and remain ready to help guarantee it. That is why stopping Russian aggression against Ukraine is essential for global food system stability. Accountability for all past and present crimes of the Kremlin is inevitable. Moscow must not succeed in its attempt to exterminate the Ukrainian people, just as it attempted to do ninety years ago.
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Ukraine commemorates the victims of the Holodomor-Genocide of 1932–1933
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