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AN ACT of GENOCIDE AGAINST the UKRAINIAN PEOPLE Of

AN ACT of GENOCIDE AGAINST the UKRAINIAN PEOPLE Of

THETHE HHOLODOMOROLODOMOR

ANAN AACTCT OOFF GGENOCIDEENOCIDE AAGAINSTGAINST TTHEHE UUKRAINIANKRAINIAN PPEOPLEEOPLE ofof This booklet examines the primary causes of the greatest tragedy ever suffered by the Ukrainian people, the of 193233. The authors provide the context for and expose the manmade nature of the cataclysm. They provide an overview of the factual evidence, that the Communist Party headed by Josef Stalin artificially created the . The authors provide the answer to the question: Why was the terror famine directed against ? The brochure describes the premeditation and mechanisms used to implement the Holodomor and how it qualifies as an act of geno cide according to the UN Convention of 1948. The brochure is based on extensive research of historical records, primary source documents and eyewitness accounts.

Authors: Vladyslav Verstiuk Tylishchak Ihor Yukhnovsky Translated by: Bandera

The of National Memory expresses its sincerest gratitude to the following historians for providing materials and guidance: Valentyna Borysenko Vasyl Danylenko Stanislav Kulchytsky Vasyl Marochko Ruslan Pyrih

The brochure includes the following graphical materials: photographs from the fonds of the H. S. Pshenychny Central State Film Archive of Ukraine and the Institute of History, of of Ukraine;

reproductions of posters from Morgan Williams’ private collection.

Published to order of Ukrainian institute of national memory

© Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, 2008 © Publisihing house, 2008 THE UKRAINIAN INSTITUTE OF NATIONAL MEMORY THE HOLODOMOR

AN ACT OF AGAINST THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE 1932–1933 of

KYIV OLENA TELIHA PUBLISHING HOUSE 2008 The Holodomor of 193233 was a man made famine engineered by the USSR’s Bolshevik regime that took millions of Ukrainian lives. In all of , there are few similar in scale, cruel ty, cynicism and methods of execution. While the Union existed, the topic of the Holodomor was taboo. Even sur vivors were afraid to speak about this tragedy in public. It was not until Ukraine gained independence in 1991 that the truth about the Holodomor was restored to national memory. The Holodomor has become a symbol of national suffering as well as a testament to the nation’s ability to survive. Ukraine’s role was crucial to the cre ation of the . Its population was second only to in size and larg er than the populations of all nonRussian combined. After the conquered the independent Ukrainian People’s , they established the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic (UkrSSR). The Bolsheviks’ experience in fighting the independent Ukrainian National Republic led to the declaration of «» policies in the early V.Tsymbal, Famine of 1933 1920s. This was a period of furious infight ing among top Communist Party officials ment who supported selfdetermination for that resulted in serious problems for all Soviet republics. In late 1923, RussianUkrainian relations. These prob member pro lems went beyond ukrainization and posed the following to Stalin, who was included issues of the economy, the then the General Secretary of the Central UkrainianRussian border, formation of Committee of the Russian Communist armed forces, distribution of powers Party: «Ukraine, I think, needs to be between and (the significantly strengthened with new, great of Ukraine at the time). The creation of the persons». That paved the path to Ukraine USSR in 1922 further subordinated the for Stalin’s henchmen , Ukrainian Republic to the AllUnion cen , Vsevolod Balitsky and ter. By June of 1923, the Party’s central others. leadership dismissed , Stalin’s* totalitarian regime was firmly the head of Ukrainian Republic’s govern entrenched by the late 1920s and breaking

* Stalin (Josef Dzhugashvili) –’s ally, one of the creators of the Bolshevik party, a profes sional , who was engaged in terrorism and expropriation as a youth. He was arrested and exiled six times. Stalin played an active role in overthrowing the Interim of Russia ( 1917). In 1922 he became the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik). He used the post to fight for power within the party and country. The father of Communist totalitarianism,

2 Ukraine was a priority for the dictator. In November 2006, Ukraine’s Par Stalin wanted to reassert his rule and liament adopted the that recognized Ukraine was used as an to teach the Holodomor as an act of genocide the other Soviet republics a lesson. The against the Ukrainian people. The process destruction of Ukraine as a state and a of passing the law was not easy. There was nation was accomplished on multiple much resistance and debate. Ukrainian levels. The first and heaviest blows target society was faced with the task of funda ed the Ukrainian and pros mentally reassessing its understanding of perous farmers. the causes of the Holodomor, its nature The ideology of Bolshevism called for and scale, and properly honoring the me the elimination of national and class dis mories of millions of victims. Ukrainian tinctions in order to build . It society thus made a pledge to future gene used terror to fight against «bourgeois rations and to the entire : similar » and the «exploiter classes». tragedies must never be repeated. In his Prosperous farmers were defined as on November 24, 2007, President «exploiters». According to Stalin’s under pointed out: standing of social development, wellto do farmers were to disappear in the «The Holodomor resulted not only in suf process of collectivization, i.e. the institu fering and excruciating death. The tion of the collective farm system. Any Holodomor brought fear to the Ukrainian farmer who refused to join collective land, and this fear still lives among us. Only farms was labeled a kurkul. The word the truth about the genocide of the «kurkul» ( in Russian) was used as Ukrainian people and honoring the memory political intimidation in the battle against of everyone who was senselessly killed can any farmers who resisted Soviet rule. free the nation of this grave legacy». Liquidating prosperous farmers and dri ving the rest to collective farms was part of the plan to establish complete control over the Ukrainian countryside. Wherever the Bolsheviks encountered resistance to collectivization, they confis cated all food and instituted travel bans. Famine became a weapon of mass destruc tion against . It damaged the nation’s genetic pool. In addition to demographic losses, the Holodomor inflicted moral and psychological wounds to national consciousness that cannot be measured by any number. he considered «the dictatorship of the proletariat» to be ’s corner stone. The principles of democra cy and divisions of power were alien to Stalin. He placed the Bolshevik Party at the core of all govern mental and civic institutions, and entrenched this pro vision in the Soviet . Stalin considered state terror and repressive measures to be normal go vernment policies. Massive repressions in the USSR and the Holodomor of 193233 in Ukraine are associ ated with his name. G. Shevtsov, What harvest are we expecting? 3 THE HOLODOMOR – GENOCIDE

B. Pevniy, Land In 193233 Ukraine lived through a ter Bolshevik policies and practices resulted in rible tragedy: in the of , a against humanity as defined by the millions died of . The cruelty of the UN Convention on Genocide. Holodomor lies in the fact that famine was 2 of the Convention defines geno not caused by natural disaster, drought or cide as «acts committed with intent to poor harvest. It was the result of deliberate destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethni government policy. By forcibly confiscating cal, racial or religious group», including food resources, blocking and entire «deliberately inflicting on the group condi regions, banning travel from faminestricken tions of life calculated to bring about its areas, prohibiting trade in rural areas and physical destruction in whole or in part». using repressions against political oppo That is why the Holodomor – the man nents, the totalitarian system created con made famine of 193233 – was an act of ditions that made life impossible. genocide against the Ukrainian people.

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide Adopted by Resolution 260 (III) A of the General Assembly on 9 1948. (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births Article I within the group; The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to whether committed in time of or in time of war, another group. is a crime under which they under take to prevent and to punish. Article III The following acts shall be punishable: Article II (a) Genocide; In the present Convention, genocide means any of (b) to commit genocide; the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in (c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide; whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious (d) Attempt to commit genocide; group, as such: (e) Complicity in genocide. (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to mem Article IV bers of the group; Persons committing genocide or any of the other (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of acts enumerated in Article 3 shall be punished, whether life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public offi whole or in part; cials or private individuals.

4 Communist policies resulted in famine in These volumes could have easily saved the many areas of the USSR in 1932. But the lives of millions. most repressive measures were used in «This ’ethnographic material’ should be Ukraine and , the latter inhabited pri replaced, cynically said … a highranking marily by Ukrainians. These areas saw the official of a local GPU body… However greatest number of victims and were subject terrible and unbelievable this intention to travel bans. The totalitarian regime’s goal may seem, it should be considered as real was to destroy independent Ukrainian farmers, the core of a nation whose traditions and values were incompatible with Communist ideology and thus hostile towards Bolshevism. Stalin realized this early on before the Holodomor when he wrote in 1925: «…Farmers form the main army of the national movement… Without an army of farmers, a strong national movement does not and cannot exist. That is what they mean when they say that the national issue is, in fact, an Victims of the Holodomor, Kharkiv region, 1933 (pictured by A. Vinerberger) issue of farmers». The Soviet leadership used famine to and is being fully implemented. Through crush national resistance. This was made merciless confiscation… the Moscow go clear by the Politburo’s Resolution «On vernment caused famine and deprived Ukrainian villages of all means of Grain Procurement in Ukraine, Northern survival… Caucasus and Western », adopted Based on this, I conclude: the current on December 14, 1932. Despite the resolu catastrophe will result in the colonization of tion’s title, its authors formulated policies Ukraine mostly by . This will change that have nothing to do with agriculture its ethnographic nature». and economics. The resolution spoke about Dispatch from Italian Consul «properly conducting Ukrainization», Sergio Gradenigo, which involved the closing of Ukrainian Kharkiv, May 31, 1933 language schools and newspapers in Kuban and persecution of the Ukrainian intelli «In under one year, Postyshev has gentsia. strengthened the authority of the Soviet sys The famine of 193233 in Ukraine was tem in Ukraine, by sacrificing many victims not caused by a poor harvest or drought. and millions of dead from famine…he has There was grain in Ukraine. The Soviet go destroyed a dangerous national movement for vernment was selling considerable quantities an indefinite period of time. This is the way on foreign markets. Distilleries operated at the national issue, as it is understood here, was full capacity in Ukraine, processing grain and resolved in Ukraine». potatoes into alcohol for export. 1.72 million Dispatch from the Consul tons of grain were exported from Ukraine General of in Kharkiv in 1932, and 1.68 million tons in 1933. 26, 1934

5 DEATHS CAUSED BY THE HOLODOMOR The victims of the Holodomor number Half the residents of Sukha [] died in the millions. According to estimates by from famine in just one spring. In the family of historians and demographers, the minimum Bulat the blacksmith, the elder children ate the number of direct and indirect casualties younger ones… My friends, the Kysil brothers among the population of Ukraine reached 8 from Breusiv, my classmates who were unrivaled million people. in mathematics, were at school one day but gone Implementation of totalitarian policy the : both of them died. Meanwhile hams reached its peak in the winter and spring of from the Haleshchyne plant were being sold 1933, when tens of thousands of complete abroad through Torgsin stores… ly innocent people died of famine on a daily This was Stalin’s eternal sin, his crime that basis. The horror of the Holodomor resulted cannot and never will be justified». in an extremely high death rate among From the diary of writer children. Hoping to rescue their children, farmers broke through cordons into «The conditions were critical in Ukraine this where they simply left their children. year – there was a here, or, as Children’s homes were «overcrowded», leav authorities call it, a victory for the socialist regime ing the young to die from famine or illnesses in agriculture […] According to trustworthy data on the streets. Statistics show that in many from official sources, the death toll from famine is regions to twothirds of children did not estimated at nearly seven million people». show up for school in 1933. In Dispatch from the Office of Consul addition to the physical extermination of General of Germany in Kharkiv millions, the tragedy resulted in the destruc Dispatch from the Office of Consul tion of the traditional Ukrainian way of life General of Germany in Kharkiv for many years to come. January 26, 1934

«The Holodomor in the countryside has been written about, but no mention has been made about the famine in Ukrainian cities… My native town of Hadyach fell victim to this terrible crime of Moscow as well. Hadyach res idents died right on the streets, their bodies were picked up by wagons and taken away. Sometimes they were still alive; I saw it myself. […] Bread ration cards were supposedly available in the towns. This was not true. Some people received cards, but not everybody. My father, for example, received no bread card, and famine ruled in our family. We survived because we exchanged our gold belongings at the Torgsin store… In the store at the center of town… there were various foodstuffs on dis play behind the windows, which could be acquired for gold and silver. Hungry residents of Hadyach were lying and dying there, right in front of the store». Yevhenia FesenkoKovalska Starving girl with swollen knees «I recall the year 1933. It truly was an act of (pictured by A. Vinerberger) genocide! 6 THE HOLODOMOR MAP CAUSES OF THE HOLODOMOR

The Bolsheviks and Ukraine

A powerful libe all grain to the state except for the neces ration move sary minimum (seeds for sowing, minimal ment arose in grain for family members and fodder) at Ukraine after extremely low prices fixed by the state. In the practice this meant that almost all grain was Revolution of taken away with very little, if any, compen 1917. With the sation. The introduction of «food requisi proclamation of tioning» and accompanying terror resulted the Ukrainian in resistance on the part of farmers. The People’s Repub dilemma of personal freedom and lic, the nation Communist coercion became the focal point embarked on a of the conflict between the government and course of estab Ukrainian farmers. Numerous uprisings Fourth of Ukrainian lishing an inde swept Ukraine as tens of thousands joined Central Rada, by which pendent demo units that fought Soviet rule in the independence cratic state. But 192021. of UPR was declared, nd in November It was the policy of «military Commu 22 of January, 1918 1917, the Bol nism» – the complete dictatorship of the sheviks led by Vladimir Lenin took power in Communist regime over the individual – Russia proclaiming the «Dictatorship of the that was the primary cause of the famine of Proletariat» and «». One month 192123 which swept through Ukraine and later, in early , Lenin and . The Bolshevik government declared war on Ukraine. faced the double jeopardy of a paralyzed The Bolsheviks viewed Ukraine as a economy and a largescale war with the huge resource base. Ukrainian bread, , farmers. Under the circumstances, Lenin and salt and metals were the primary targets of the Bolsheviks took one step back from the Bolshevik Russia’s aggression against the course of immediately building Communism Ukrainian People’s Republic. and adopted the liberal «New In , Lenin wrote to his allies Economic Policy» (NEP). But the limited in Ukraine: market activity allowed under NEP was only «…Take the most intense revolutionary a tactical retreat in the campaign to build steps to send grain, grain and grain!!! Communism. Otherwise, St. Petersburg may die…». In spring Military actions against Ukraine were 1922, Lenin dictated by economic and ideological goals. wrote: In occupied Ukraine, the Bolsheviks began «The to translate Communist ideology into state biggest mis practice later known as «military take is to Communism». It was based on nationaliza think that tion of industry, demonetization and state NEP means regulation of trade, strict state control over an end to ter food supplies and workforce mobilization. ror. We will Terror was the key to its implementation. still return to «Food requisitions» were introduced in terror, eco spring 1919, requiring farmers to hand over nomic terror».

8 Attack on Ukraine

The national revolution of 191721 and efforts at nation building as «efforts by the subsequent Ukrainization campaign Ukrainian chauvinists to instill the spirit of resulted in the growth of national conscious hatred towards Moscow in the countryside». ness among the country’s rural population, The directive instructed «to combine work which accounted for 80.8 % of Ukrainian among the Ukrainian intelligentsia with Socialist Soviet Republic’s entire population work among the rural populace». in 1926. GPU documents noted strong «sepa The reprieve provided by NEP (192128) ratist» attitudes among the Ukrainian intelli allowed farmers to rebuild farms ruined by gentsia and farmers. GPU reports indicated military Communism. Grain and crop harvest that similar attitudes had spread to the armed yields and cattle stocks began to approach forces as well. A report «On the their prerevolutionary levels. The homestead spread of farmers’ attitudes to the army» farming system took root in Ukraine. dated January 24, 1928 noted that «in Meanwhile, the Soviet regime gradually Ukraine, along with the spread of farmers’ atti grew stronger. A struggle within the Bolshevik tudes [to the army], it is worth pointing out the hierarchy resulted in the concentration of clearly nationalist nature of these attitudes, absolute state power in Josef Stalin’s hands. which brazenly define the burden carried by The strengthening of the regime made it possi Ukraine to be caused by Moscow’s ’oppres ble to reverse the concessions previously made sion’». in the national, cultural, social and economic Numerous analytical documents com spheres. In late 1927, the XV Convention of piled by the secret police concluded that the the Communist Party of the Soviet Union antiSoviet mood was widespread in Ukraine approved the introduction of collectivization and that the republic was on the verge of in agriculture. NEP was discontinued in 1928. revolt. In January 1928, the government resumed forced grain procurements. The Kremlin was particularly concerned about Ukraine. Moscow viewed the power ful national elite and the economically inde pendent and nationally conscious country side as a very real threat to the USSR’s existence. The Bolsheviks viewed the Ukrainian intelligentsia as a priori hostile to their rule. Ukrainian leaders were placed under constant by Soviet secret servic es. A new phase in the attack on Ukraine began in the second half of 1920s. In 1926, the GPU state security service issued instructions in a letter entitled «About active Ukrainians», which provided for «monitor ing of all Ukrainian public groups [and] active intelligence gathering among leading figures». In September of that year, the Ukrainian republic’s GPU issued a secret instruction entitled «On Ukrainian sepa ratism», which expanded upon the directives of the previous letter and defined the cultur S. Yefremov, UAS , al activities of the Ukrainian intelligentsia as was condemned for ULL case, antiSoviet. The secret services defined any died while in prison 9 Thus, by the late 1920s, Soviet leaders showed that the Soviet «justice» system had realized that their rule in Ukraine specifically targeted nationally conscious was fragile and that the threat of a Ukrainians. national uprising was very real. The sub sequent changes to economic policies (mandatory grain procurements were reintroduced in January 1928) were accompanied by increased pressure along national lines. From 1928 until the early , representatives of the Ukrainian intelligentsia were arrested and tried under the pretexts of concocted conspir acies throughout Ukraine. The trial against the «Union of Liberation of Ukraine» (192930) in Kharkiv culmi nated this campaign. This and other fab ricated conspiracies (such as the cases Felon's dock on the trumped up ULL case against «Ukrainian National Center» and Kharkiv, 1930 the «Ukrainian Military Organization»)

Collectivization – a Tragedy of the Countryside The offensive against the Ukrainian coun In joining collective farms, every tryside began with the of the most rural family had to turn over all farming successful private farming operations. Cruel equipment and livestock. Farmers were repressions against prosperous farmers, who deprived of their most valuable posses were labeled «kurkuls», were launched in sions: their ancestral lands. The end of 1928. 1932 collectivized some 70 percent of Many dispossessed kurkuls were deported to all homesteads, representing more the north, beyond the Mountains and than 80 percent of Ukraine’s arable , where certain death awaited them. land. According to statistics complied by the Ukrainian Republic People’s Eco nomy Accounting De partment, some 285,000 families, comprising near ly 1 million people, were deported from Ukraine by the mid1930s. These de portations were used to sow fear among the farmers who remained. Collectivization was launched en masse in 1929. The centuries old traditions of pri vate farming were destroyed in Ukraine’s family is driving out their house, villages. region, early 1930s

10 Farmers’ Resistance to Collectivization

Bolshevik policies were met with resist ings are taking place in some villages. Trenches ance from farmers. In the spring of 1930, have been dug around the villages where armed and uprisings were commonplace in [men] are preventing entry. In some villages Ukraine’s countryside. Farmers began leav people are singing «Ukraine is still alive»… ing collective farms, taking back their prop [national anthem] erty and freeing arrested farmers. Armed Armed resistance was encountered while uprisings against the regime, conducted in conducting operations in the villages of the name of national and social liberation, Horyachivka and of Myastkovsky were widespread. , where the shootout lasted for three On , 1930, the chief of the hours. In the village of Balanivka, Bershadsky Ukrainian Republic Central Political raion… 500 men took to the forests armed with Administration (GPU) Vsevolod Balitsky pitchforks and axes. wrote: The entire has been divided into «Yesterday, I arrived in district. operative sectors. Armed units of Communists The entire district is seized by disturbances and and GPU cavalry have been assigned to every uprisings. Rebellions are currently occurring in sector. Orders have been issued to resolutely 153 villages. Soviet authorities and activists crush the uprisings…» have been completely expelled from 50 vil In 1930, more than 4,000 uprisings, lages… Collective farms have been liquidated involving 1.2 million villagers, took place in most of the district’s villages… Armed upris throughout Soviet Ukraine.

Rebel leaflet, Podillya, late 1920s

11 The Consequences of Collectivization Declines in crop yields and agri cultural productivity were recorded in the early 1930s. The state’s actions had undermined the profitability of farming. Nevertheless, the government strived to extract as much grain as pos sible from the countryside. The prob lems with agricultural production were attributed to «sabotage». The state procurement cam paign turned into a war between the government and the farmers. Nearly half of all crops harvest ed in the Ukrainian republic were confiscated as grain pro curements in 1931. Famine Dispossessed kulaks family near ruins of their house, began to arrive in Ukrainian vil Donetsk region, early 1930s lages in 1931.

A letter from the pupils of Pechersk School, raion, to the AllUkrainian Central Committee regarding the famine: November 1, 1931

Dear leaders! We, pupils of the Pechersk School, Bratslav raion, request your assistance because we are dying of famine. While we need to study, we cannot walk anywhere because we are starving. Private and collective farmers alike – we are all swelling from starvation, because we are unable to work and bread is given only to those who have earned workdays. The holidays are drawing near, we should be rejoic ing, but our eyes have turned yellow from and our stomachs are aching from the garbage we’re eating. The last kernel of grain, potatoes, beans and anything edible has been taken away from us. While is being made of potatoes, we have nothing to eat. We won’t say anything about our clothes and shoes, but implore you to not to kill us through famine. We hope that the Soviet government will not let us die and will not feed us with bullets instead of bread, as the tsars once our parents. We believe that the Soviet government will help and save us from death by starvation. This appeal is being submitted by pupils Mil’hota, Syrokha, Moskaliuk, Mahdych, Pylypenko, Antonyshyna, Vistiak, and others

12 KILLING UKRAINE IN 193233

In 1932, the Soviet government planned to punish Ukraine. Stalin’s correspondence with his closest allies in July and 1932 provides evidence of that plan. «Pay as much attention to Ukraine as possible…take all necessary measures… to isolate whining and rotten diplomats and ensure that a truly Bolshevik decision is made». From Stalin’s letter to Kaganovich and Molotov, July 2, 1932

«Affairs in Ukraine are extremely bad. …Bad from the standpoint of the GPU. Redens lacks the energy to direct the struggle with the counterrevolution in such a large and unique republic as Ukraine…We can lose Ukraine». From Stalin’s letter to Kaganovich, September 11, 1932 I. Stalin

Bolshevik policies in Ukraine were search for food. In the fall of 1932, the goaloriented and systematic in nature. Bolshevik government’s actions began The goal was to create conditions that to clearly display the essence of what is doomed millions of Ukrainian farmers to defined as genocide by Article II of the starvation. The first step was the confis Convention on the Prevention and cation of all food resources. The second Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, step was the complete isolation of the adopted by the U. General Assembly on population and prevention of escape to December 9, 1948.

Confiscation of Food Resources

In July 1932, the Kremlin established deliberately unrealistic grain procurement quotas for Ukraine. Grain procurement was the forced requisition of grain from agricultural producers by the state. The unrealistically high quotas, set at levels that were impossible to achieve, provided the formal legal basis for apply ing repressive measures against those who failed to fulfill grain procurement targets. On August 7, 1932, the Soviet government adopted a resolution whereby «embezzlement of collec Search for grain in the peasant yard, tive farm property» was punish Donetsk region, early 1930s 13 on «Measures to intensify bread procurement efforts». The Council of People’s of Ukraine adopted an analogous resolution on November 20. The resolutions established in kind fines as measures for confiscating food resources and livestock from farms that had «incurred debts» by failing to meet the unreal istic grain procurement targets. In December 1932 the Central Committee of the All Union Communist Party (Bolshevik) instructed the Ukrainian leadership to seize all available grain resources, including sow ing seeds, from Ukrainian villages within the framework of the grain procurement cam paign. This order was duly executed. V. Molotov Even as the Ukrainian countryside was able by death through shooting or 10year dying from famine, the Party leadership clung prison terms. In popular lore the resolution to the official explanation that Ukrainian far came to be known as the «Law of Five mers were purposefully sabotaging the grain Wheat Ears», because people were punished procurement campaign. Politburo member even if they were caught with a few spikelets Khatayevich declared that 85 to 90 percent of of wheat taken from a field that once collective farmers were hiding grain. On belonged to them. January 1, 1933, Stalin sent a telegram to In the fall of 1932, an extraordinary go Ukrainian farmers in which he openly threat vernmental Grain Procurement Committee, ened to use «the severest measures of punish led by the Chairman of the USSR’s Council ment» against all farmers who did not volun of Peoples’ Commissars Vyacheslav tarily turn over grain they were allegedly hiding Molotov, arrived in Ukraine. The flywheel from the state. The telegram accused of repressions was set into motion. On Ukrainian farmers of sabotage and authorized November 5, Molotov and Mendel mass searches and seizure of remaining food Khatayevich, secretary of the Central resources. Stalin’s New Year’s Day telegram Committee of the Communist (Bolshevik) Party of Ukraine, sent a directive to oblast Party committees demanding that prompt and decisive actions be taken to fulfill the August 7, 1932 reso lution that mandated «speedy repressions and merciless punishment of criminal elements among the management of col lective farms». On November 18, 1932, under pressure from Molotov, the Ukrainian Party’s Central Committee Activists with confiscated grain, adopted the Resolution Donetsk, 1932

14 was in fact an ultimatum and, coming in the As a result, the vast majority of dead of winter, is proof of the famine’s manmade Ukraine’s residents were doomed to nature. Furthermore it was specifically directed vation. Death from famine, which took at Ukraine, thus closely resembling Lenin’s ulti tens of thousand lives every day, lasted matum of December 3, 1917 to the Ukrainian until the new crop was harvested. Central Council. Lenin gave the independent «The death toll has increased recently… In Ukrainian government only 48 hours to fulfill the villages most affected by famine, up to 10 unacceptable and unrealistic conditions, after deaths occur every day. In these villages, many which he declared war on Ukraine. of the houses are boarded up; in most houses Special units of Party activists – socalled farmers lie motionless and are no good for any «tow brigades» – traveled through Ukraine’s work due to their physical condition…» rural areas and confiscated food resources. A Letter from V. Cherniavsky, first secre reporter for the Radianske Selo newspaper tary of the Oblast Committee described the actions of one such team in the of the CPU(B), spring 1933 village of Krasnopillia, then Odesa (currently Kirovohrad) oblast, in a December, 1932 «The number of villagers who died of article: «The team goes from one house to anoth famine and were picked up off the streets er and takes what it wants from everybody but it in Kharkiv has grown significantly. In is unclear where it all goes. There are incidents February, 431 [corpses] were collected, 689 when all grain is seized and if somebody does not in March and 477 in April; the statistics for hand over what is left in their house, they are May are as follows: 182 in the first ten arrested and all their property is confiscated. If you days, 300 in the second ten days and 510 in ’t comply, you are beaten. If you refuse entry to the third ten days. In total: 992. The num your home, the door is broken down. In some cases ber for the first three days of June is 196». people actually purchased grain, but the brigade members claim ’they stole it from the collective far.’ Report from the Head of the Kharkiv The team simply takes away , Oblast GPU and everything from the cellars». Z. Kantselson, June 5, 1933

Starved to death on Kharkiv streets, 1933 (pictured by A. Vinerberger)

15 Blacklisting

Havrylivka, Mezhiv raion in ; Liutenky, Hadyach raion and Kamiani Potoky, raion in ; Sviatotroyitske, Troyitsk raion and Pisky, Bashtan raion in Odesa oblast. On , 1932, the General Secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Party Stanislaw Kosior reported to Stalin that the republic’s Party had authorized the blacklist ing of 6 villages and that 400 collective farms had been blacklisted by decision of oblast executive committees. Widespread application of the repressive measures lasted throughout December 1932 and into 1933. Certain villages remained blacklisted until the end of 1933. The practice of blacklisting was also applied to USSR Sovnarkom resolution, entire village councils that encompassed seve which determined blacklisting ral villages and hamlets. In some cases, entire were placed on the blacklist. In order to punish farmers, Soviet authori Blacklisting collective farms, villages and ties widely applied a special, extra judicial entire raions resulted in their complete isola repressive measure called blacklisting. Entire tion and expropriation of all food resources, raions, village councils, villages and collective which was often the equivalent of death sen farms were blacklisted for «failing to meet tences for all their residents. bread procurement targets». Blacklisting was tantamount to declaring a state of emergency and applying a system of coercive measures in targeted communities. In early November 1932, Kaganovich intro duced the blacklisting system in Kuban. Shortly thereafter, the system was duplicated by the extraordinary Grain Procurement Committee in Ukraine. On November 18, 1932, the Politburo of the CP(B)U Central Committee authorized blacklisting those collective farms that had failed to meet bread procurement targets. Repressive measures were introduced against the farms and villages placed on the blacklist: entering and leaving villages was prohibited, delivery and trading of goods was suspended, existing goods were seized from stores and any milling of grain was prohibited. Inkind fines were imposed on farmers. Villages and collective farms were «politically cleansed» of unsavory elements. On , 1932, the Politburo of the CP(B)U’s Central Committee, together with the Ukrainian Republic Council of Peoples’ Commissars, demonstratively blacklisted six USSR Sovnarkom and Central Committee of CP(B)U large villages: Verbky, raion and resolution about blacklisting of villages

16 Isolation of Soviet Ukraine and Kuban of Ukrainian farmers reported to be traveling across the European part of the USSR and demoralizing other collective farmers with their stories about the state of affairs in Ukraine. The situation changed dramatically in 1933 when the government adopted measu res to limit the movement of Ukrainians. On , 1933, Stalin issued an order that prohibited farmers from leaving the territory of Soviet Ukraine and Kuban «in search of bread» to other areas of the Soviet Union. The sale of train and boat tickets to Central Committee of CP(B)U and USSR Sovnarkom Ukrainian farmers was prohibited. GPU directive about prohibition to leave Ukraine units blocked the roadways. Those who ma naged to flee were arrested and returned. In the month and a half after the order was issued, nearly 220,000 farmers were arrested. Of that number, more than 186,000 were forcibly returned to their vil lages where they were doomed to starvation. Later that year, roadways into Ukraine’s cities were blocked and patrolled to ensure starving villagers were kept out.

Peasants leaving villages in order to find food, Essentially all of Ukraine Kharkiv region, 1933 (pictured by A. Vinerberger) was blacklisted. Famine was observed in Ukraine in 1931 and was evi dent in early 1932, but the vic tims did not number in the mil lions. People managed to sur vive in 1931 and early 1932 because they fled the areas engulfed by famine. For exam ple, in spring 1932, nearly one third of the population of the Zinoviev raion, or 28,000 peo ple, fled their homes. Current estimates based on historical records indicate that there were 3 million by the spring of 1932. In June 1932, Stalin discontentedly wrote Kagano Peasants in order to find food, vich about the tens of thousand Donetsk region, 1933

17 Information Ban

Soviet authori ties criminally co veredup the facts of the famine. Not a single official refe rence to this terrible tragedy was record ed. Officially, no famine existed The USSR’s leadership purposefully misin formed the interna tional community. In , the USSR People’s (Mi nister) of Maxim Lit vinov issued a state Peasant starving to death on the outskirts of Kharkiv, ment denying fa 1933 (pictured by A. Vinerberger) mine in the country. was issued in 1934: all civilian re The Soviet regime refused offers of assis gistry office death records for 19321933 tance from abroad. were to be submitted to special units, where Stalin’s regime attempted to conceal most of them were destroyed. the facts of the Holodomor not only from When the 1937 Census showed a signifi the outside world but from future genera cant population drop, the leaders of the tions of Soviet citizens as well. Central Statistics Department were arrest On February 1933, when thousands of ed. The census results were kept secret for farmers were starving, local governmental many years. The ban on information about bodies received a strict order: : «All organiza the famine remained in effect in the Soviet tions, except GPU structures, are prohibited Union until 1987. from keeping records on incidents of swelling The government’s efforts to conceal from starvation and death from famine». evidence about the famine reveal the cri Village councils were ordered to not minal intent of Stalin’s totalitarian regime specify causes of death in their registries. A in organizing the Holodomor.

«One of my works that mentioned the famine of 1933 was taken by censors from the publishing house. It has been on the shelf for a long time. Finally, someone decided to inquire about its progress. The censorwise man provided the following explanation: ’My own brother and sister starved to death. But… there was no famine’ Why? Because no document from that period of time men tions the word ’famine…’ In other words, for us, [famine] did not exist, because no such fact was ever recorded…» From writer Oles Honchar’s diary.

18 The Guilty Party

Responsibility for the death of millions «cleansing» Ukraine of supporters of of Ukrainians during the manmade and «Ukrainian nationa Holodomor rests entirely with the top lists». The scale of judicial repressions leadership of the Communist Party of the applied in Ukraine in 1933 was comparable USSR and Soviet Ukraine. Stalin was to of 193738. According responsible above all: he was fully informed to official data, more people were arrested about the situation in Ukraine in 193233 in the republic in 1933 than were in 1938. and sent Molotov and Postyshev to For this reason Postyshev was able to strengthen the repressive machinery in the report in January 1934: «the past year in republic. In addition to extracting all food Ukraine was the year of defeating the resources, Postyshev was charged with nationalist counterrevolution».

O. Mykolaets, Millions of Ukrainian peasants, our forefathers, died of Holodomor, which was created by communists 19 EYEWITNESS TESTIMONIES

go. They approached their homes, poor as they were, and saw their grain being raked away. What kind of kurkuls were they? They owned some land, had a , worked for themselves, but the government ordered their grain raked away. During the famine, some fled, some hid, some survived and some buried their grain – everything happened. It was all done by the government». Zinayida Ivanivna Irmolenko, born 1925, Pokrovske village, Troyitsk raion, «The famine was artificial by nature. In oblast our village 500 people died, and 750 people died in the neighboring village. We ate pig weed, reeds; the cattle died – we ate them too. My father was the head of the village council and he ordered the distribution of a glass of for every person. My father gave out buckwheat and he was arrested the fol lowing day. My father survived, but my moth er died in the famine». Viktor Petrovych Mikholevsky, Lytvynivka village, raion, oblast

«In 1933, my mother, father, sister and three younger brothers died, each was buried sepa rately. When my last brother died, he was taken away and thrown into a pit like a beet. People died in every house. In our house seven people died. I was the only one to survive. I ate and sur vived. God kept me alive… In our village only three girls and two boys survived. People died en masse». Maria Oksentiyivna Sukhomlyn, born 1922, Liudvynivka village, «My mother died from famine in 1933, she fell raion, oblast down on the roadside and died… so did my brother, who was still in his crib… We ate nettle, linden, «In 193233 my family and I lived in chaff… People were buried without coffins. I saw . I remember well the very long dead people lying on the roadside. When our moth queues for bread near the stores. Every per er died, my younger sister was three, and my elder son received 200 grams of unbaked black sister was seven… Many people died». bread with peelings. People began lining up Maria Yosypivna Kucha, Zhytnyky vil at night with children in their hands. lage, Zhashkiv raion, Children had large, swollen stomachs. I saw dead children and swollen mothers. Our fam «They wanted to strangle Ukraine. The year ily lived on the outskirts, not far from the 1933 was so terrible. People fell down on the town’s garbage dump. Cars drove up at night 20 and dumped cookies, halva, sweets, and her cooked and eaten. However, even horse ring – from barrels. Bread was thrown away. flesh did not help: my youngest sisters All this was covered with insecticide and Hanna, Liuba and Nata were the first to gasoline and set on fire or covered with sand. die, then my brother Mykhailo died, and We were hungry. My mother and I ran to the then my mother died. We were the only dump and grabbed everything we could. survivors: my elder brother Petro, my They beat us with wicker and sticks. Kherson father and I. They tried to force my father is a port and we saw grain being loaded to join the collective farm, to make him onto ships bound for . There were join the commission that took away when storms crashed the barges against last grain from people. He did not want the shore and the wind and waves washed the to. So, he was arrested and put in a shed. grain ashore. They poured gasoline and set it There he died of dropsy. My brother and I on fire. Sometimes the piles of grain were one were left alone. We would have probably meter high, and the shore was on fire with died as well, but we were taken to a home grain». for children». Yevdokia Mykhailivna Poteraiko, born 1920 Halyna Ivanivna Tkachenko, born 1925, Rvenky village, Piatykhatky raion, Dnipropetrovsk oblast

«My uncle had a small cross, so did my aunt, so they went to Kyiv to the Torgsin store. I had a cow that was not taken away from us «They severely tormented ordinary people. because I was an orphan. That is how we sur They took everything: , harrows, vived… A wagon moved through the village, he ploughs, wagons; barns were dismantled. was lying down and said: ’Don’t take me in the During the famine years of 193233, commis wagon, I’m still alive.’… They threw him into sioner Isayev arrived; his job was to take away the pit, saying: ’You’ll die tomorrow.’ It was as much as possible from people and ship it agony, yet they took the grain away. Very out. He said that the country was poor. many people died!» Whoever does not cooperate will remember the Halyna Hryhorivna Kovtun, born 1918, Soviet government for one hundred years, Pishchane village, raion, even in their coffins». Cherkasy oblast Vira Mytrofanivna Konovol, born 1918, , raion, «The livestock burial grounds also saved our family. A horse died of starva «Those activists took away everything, tion in the collective farm, my father drinking away and eating all they had seized. noticed when it was dumped in the pit, They took away cattle, hens, roosters, various and that night he and my brothers snuck tools. They also took away good clothes, up to the pit, chopped off the dead horse’s which they wore themselves. They took away leg and brought it home. My mother valuables, mostly from those kurkuls, because soaked it in water for twotothree days the poor had nothing. People were put in jail so it would not smell, and only then was it for a handful of grain, for wheatears cut in

21 the field, so people called that decree the large, we were crying, begging them. My father «law of five wheat ears». This was not answered that there was some for sowing. allowed and people were persecuted for this. I When my father showed the pit in the cattleshed remember that some corn was not harvested with some barley and the wheat in the attic, they and it was ploughed back into the earth took away everything and swept the attic with a instead of being given to people. broom. Famine began. We searched the woods Remembering this today makes me scared. for some berries, but there were more people than People were killed for a glass of grain, tor berries. There was nothing. Even grass was torn tured, imprisoned for several ears… People up. What can be said? People were dying every did help each other. Sometimes, people who day. Our family was large. So, we started going were suffering extremely would find a jar separate ways. Our relatives took my elder sister with stewed fruit or grass or some to a mine. My mother took away my younger sis thing else on their doorstep. Kind people ter Varia and left her near a children’s home in helped. They tried to do so at night. If some the city of . Later, I was also taken to my one saw and reported it, these people were sister in . My sister Paraska died at home, immediately sent to jail». and Dmytro, born in 1912, walked away some Maria Fedorivna Bila, born 1927, Velyka where, and I do not know where he is to date. Oleksandrivka, Regarding my mother and father, they starved to death at home». Kateryna Stepanivna Pavlenko, born 1920, Chystovodivka, Izium raion, Kharkiv oblast

«The activists took away flour and meal. If they found anything in pots, they poured it out. They took away clothes and cattle. There was no place to hide anything. They came with probing rods. They’re names were Tymish «I remember the terrible famine of 1932 Kariuk, Khvedko Kurdakh and Lev 33 well. members, both women Liovandovsky. They went upstairs to search and men, went from one house to another. for anything». They’ already died. They searched for Olha Vyktorivna Tsymbaliuk, born 1917, anything, even in the oven and pots. We were Velyka village, raion, thrown out of our house, so my mother and I Khmelnytsky oblast went to another house and settled there. My father ran away to Donbas, and it was not «There were five girls and two boys in our until the famine ended that he took us there. family. What little grain we had, father hid in the My aunt would bake bread from beets, grate cattleshed for sowing. But then the brigades the beets and add some flour. They found it started going from house to house. Our turn somewhere. She would always treat me, share came. The brigade broke into our house and told food with us». father: ’If there is any hidden bread, you’d better Maria Trokhymivna Bulba, born 1913, tell us, because if we find it, we’ll take away Hanzhalivka village, raion, everything to the last kernel.’ Our family was Cherkasy oblast

22 Conclusions The Soviet campaign of modernization of ated the creation of a special US the 1920s and 30s, called «the great turning Congressional Commission for Studying the point» in the USSR for decades, was in fact a Famine of 193233. The commission, led by series of terrible crimes which international law the late Prof. James , worked for many clearly defines as . The years, gathering and analyzing volumes of crimes included persecution of the freethink evidence. It concluded that the famine was ing intelligentsia, prosecution of anyone not caused by climatic conditions or sabotage deemed to be involved in antiSoviet activities, on the part of kurkuls but was the result of forced liquidation of private property and its deliberate policies drawn up and implement owners, repressions along religious lines and ed by Stalin and his closest entourage. the separation of children from their families. The commission recognized the famine as In the long list of Soviet crimes, the an act of genocide against Ukraine, both as a Holodomor of 193233 stands out as the state and as a nation. The commission’s report most grave and horrific crime committed in was presented to the US Congress in spring the seventy years the USSR existed. The 1988, the same time the policies of famine was manmade and led to the deaths of and were in effect in the USSR. After millions of Ukrainians. Responsibility for the decades of denial, Soviet ideologists and apo crime rests entirely with the top leadership logists had to admit to the facts of the famine of the Communist Party of the USSR and and began opening up Soviet records for Soviet Ukraine. Stalin was responsible above examination. The revelation of the truth all. Moral responsibility for the Holodomor about the Holodomor gained momentum in also rests with subsequent generations of Ukraine after independence was gained in Soviet leaders who came after Stalin and 1991. Since then, Ukrainian historians have coveredup the crime. produced thousands of works on the topic of The fact that the Holodomor of 193233 the Holodomor. Along with historical studies, occurred and took millions of lives was official campaigns have been launched to honor the ly denied in the USSR until the late 1980s. The memories of those who died, to compile lists of truth, however, could not be suppressed fore victims and to collect eyewitness testimonies ver. Holodomor survivors and their children from those fortunate enough to have survived. preserved the memory about the cataclysm to All of these efforts have resulted in the official convey the truth to future generations. recognition of the Holodomor as an act of During the Thaw of 1960s, the issue of the genocide by scores of countries and interna famine began to first poke through censorship tional organizations. bans and was prominently featured in the In 2006, on President Viktor Yushchen publications and statements made by dissi ko’s initiative, Ukraine’s passed dents including Yevhen Sverstiuk, Vya the «Law on the Holodomor of 19321933 in cheslav Chornovil, , and Ukraine», which recognized the Holodomor others. A tremendous contribution to pre as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian serving the truth about the Holodomor was people. Every Ukrainian citizen should know made by the Ukrainian . It was in about the scale of the tragedy that saw mil the that the first academic publications lions of our countrymen die like martyrs in about the Holodomor saw the light of day. In their own prosperous land and resulted in 1983, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary thousands of villages and small towns being of the Holodomor, hundreds of events world wiped off Ukraine’s map. And this knowl wide, including services, academic edge must be passed on to children and lectures, workshops and rallies, told the inter grandchildren, in honor of the memory of national community about the great tragedy those who died and to ensure that such an of the Ukrainian people. The Diaspora initi evil will NEVER occur again.

23 on the Holodomor of 19321933 in Ukraine*

The of Ukraine zation, that was signed by the Republic of resolves: , the Republic of , the In honor of the memory of millions of People’s Republic of Bangladesh, the countrymen who fell victim to the Republic of , the Republic of , Holodomor of 193233 in Ukraine and con the Republic of Bosnia & Herzegovina, the sequences thereof; Republic of Guatemala, the Republic of In respect towards all citizens who sur , the Arabian Republic of , the vived this terrible historical tragedy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Ukrainian people; , , Qatar, the Kyrgyz In recognition of the moral obligation to Republic, Kuwait, Republic of , past and future generations of Ukrainians Mongolia, the Republic of Nauru, the and to acknowledge the need to restore his Kingdom of Nepal, the United Arab torical justice and to strengthen intolerance Emirates, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, to all forms of violence in society; the Republic of Peru, the South African In acknowledgment that the tragedy of Republic, the Republic of Korea, the the Holodomor of 19321933 in Ukraine was Republic of , the Russian officially denied by the Government of the Federation, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, USSR for many decades; the Syrian Arabian Republic, the United In condemnation of the criminal actions States of America, the Republic of Sudan, the of the totalitarian regime of the USSR aimed Republic of , , the at organizing the Holodomor, which resulted Democratic Republic of TimorLeste, the in the death of millions of people, the Republic of , Ukraine and destruction of social values of the Ukrainian Jamaica, and also supported by , people, its ageold traditions, spiritual cul , the Republic of & ture and ethnic ; and the 25 memberstates of the European In sympathy with the other peoples of the Union; former USSR who suffered casualties as a In consideration of the Recommen result of the Holodomor; dations of the Parliamentary Hearing on In great appreciation of the solidarity and Honoring the Memory of the Victims of the support on the part of the international com Holodomor of 19321933, adopted by munity in condemning the Holodomor of Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of 19321933 in Ukraine, as set forth in the re Ukraine No. 607IV dated March 6, 2003, levant acts passed by the of and the Address to the Ukrainian People of Australia, the Republic of Argentina, the the Participants of the Special Session of the Republic of Georgia, the Republic of , Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of May 14, 2003 the Republic of , Canada, the Republic on Honoring the Memory of the Victims of of , the Republic of , the the Holodomor of 19321933, adopted by of America, the Republic of Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of , as well as in the Joint Statement Ukraine No. 789V dated May 15, 2003, on the Occasion of the 70th Anniversary of which recognized the Holodomor as an act of the Holodomor – the Great Famine of 1932 genocide of the Ukrainian people resulting 1933 in Ukraine published as an official do from the deliberate actions of Stalin’s totali cument by the 58th Session of the General tarian repressive regime aimed at mass Assembly of the United Nations Organi destruction of part of the Ukrainian people and of other peoples of the former USSR; In recognition that the Holodomor of * The English version is a courtesy transla 193233 in Ukraine corresponds to the tion made by

24 Convention on the Prevention and ing events to perpetuate the memory of the Punishment of the Crime of Genocide dated victims of the Holodomor of 19321933 in December 9, 1948 as a purposeful act of mass Ukraine on the basis of the relevant national destruction of people, to adopt this Law. program. The funds for the implementation Article 1. The Holodomor of 19321933 of the abovementioned program shall be in Ukraine is genocide of the Ukrainian peo annually allocated in the State Budget of ple. Ukraine. Article 2. The of Article 5. Final Provisions 19321933 in Ukraine in public shall be qua 1. This Law shall be effective on the date lified as a violation of the memory of millions of its publication. of victims of the Holodomor and humiliation 2. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of the dignity of the Ukrainian people, and shall: shall be illegal. 1) determine the status and functions of Article 3. Government bodies and bodies the Ukrainian Institute of National Me of , in accordance with their mory and ensure that it is maintained at the powers, shall: State Budget’s expense as a specially z participate in the formulation and authorized central body of the executive implementation of government policy in the branch of government in the sphere of of reviving and preserving the national restoring and preserving the memory of the memory of the Ukrainian People; Ukrainian people; z contribute to the consolidation and 2) within a period of three months upon development of the Ukrainian Nation, its his enactment of this Law: torical awareness and culture, to the dissemi submit suggestions with regard to bring nation of information about the Holodomor of ing the legislative acts of Ukraine into line 19321933 in Ukraine among Ukrainian with this Law to the Verkhovna Rada of nationals and the global community; ensure Ukraine for consideration; the studying of the Holodomor tragedy in bring its own regulatory and legal acts educational institutions of Ukraine; into line with this Law; ensure that the z implement measures to perpetuate the dies of the executive branch of government memory of the victims of and those who suf revise and repeal tohe regulatory and legal fered from the Holodomor of 19321933 in acts, adopted by them, which do not comply Ukraine, including to build memorials and to with this Law; establish memorial signs in settlements in 3) resolve the issue of building the order to commemorate the victims of the Memorial to the Victims of Holodomors in Holodomor; Ukraine in Kyiv on the occasion of the 75th z according to the established procedure, anniversary of the Holodomor of 19321933 provide access to archival and other materi in Ukraine in accordance with established als on issues related to the Holodomor for procedure with the participation of the Kyiv scientific and community organizations and City State Administration. institutions, scientists, and specific individu als who study the problems of the Holodomor of 19321933 in Ukraine and its Viktor Yushchenko consequences. . Article 4. The state shall ensure the con November 28, 2006 ditions for carrying out studies and organiz No. 376V THE HOLODOMOR

AN ACT OF GENOCIDE AGAINST THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE of

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