The Holodomor

8/2/2019 The Holodomor

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I. Introduction

In this paper I will explain the tragedy of the Holodomor in which Soviet Russiakilled millions of Ukrainians through famine as genocide. In Part II we look at

communism as the root cause of the Holodomor and see that as long as the government of

Russia was a communist one the Holodomor would still have occurred: maybe in afashion different than the one found in our history, but never the less whether the means

were guns or slogans the fact is that communisms ultimate goal requires genocide tactics

to be used. In Part III we look at seven of the eight stages that occur in genocide astheorized by Gregory H. Stanton (Stanton) are rearranged in an order that is both

chronological and logical (keep in mind that many of the stages happen in parallel with

other stages). And in Part IV we look at the reasons for the denial of the Holodomor thelast stage of the Genocide. (Please review the Glossary before reading the report.)

II. Communism and the Events Leading to Genocide

Figure 1. (Left)Map of Europe in 1848 showing revolutions during Karl Marxs time.(Right) Mar Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (Hayes).

A. Under Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

When Marx developed the idea of communism there are two properties ofcommunism, that directly contributed to the Holodomor. The first is an anti- national

aspect of communism which is summarized in this question and answer given at the First

Congress of the Communist League in London in 1847:

Question: Will nationalities continue to exist under communism?Answer: The nationalities of the peoples who join together according to

the principle of community, will be just as much compelled by this unionto merge with one another and thereby supersede themselves as the

various differences between estates and class disappear through the

superseding of their base - private property.(9,Hryshko)

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In this quote we see an indirect answer to the question which makes it sound as if the

abolishment of nationalities is a good thing. But in order for communism to achieve its

goal of the liquidation of classes there must also be a liquidation of nationalities.

The second aspect of communism that makes it a genocidal policy is its anti-

peasant aspect. When Marx and Engels write about peasants they feel it is the bestinterest of peasant nations to be under the control or revolutionary nations. This excerpt

from Engels writings explains his thoughts:

Among all the large and small nations of Austria, only three standard-

bearers of progress took an active part in history, and still retain their

vitality- the Germans, the Poles and the Magyars. Hence they are now

revolutionary. All the other large and small nationalities and peoples aredestined to perish before long in the revolutionary world storm. For that

reason they are now counter - revolutionary. (14, Hryshko)

Here the anti- peasant nature of communism is clear as countries with large peasantpopulations are labelled counter revolutionary and are seen as inferior to revolutionary

nations that had an active part in history.

It is important to notice that the peasant is more populous and therefore has more

political power than the proletariat. It would have been in Karl Marxs best interest to

use their strength to lead the revolution rather than looking to the proletariat. It is onlymuch later in Engels writing that he said in order to conquer the political power this

party must first go from town to the country, must become a power in the countryside

(Vol. 2.pg. 382, Marx and Engels). However, communisms goal of abolishing privateproperty cannot be achieved as long as the peasant remained. We see their successor

Vladimir Lenin start where Marx and Engels left off.

B. Under Vladimir Lenin

In 1916 Vladimir Lenin took the application of communist theory to the Russianempire the country Marx and Engels thought was least likely to adopt communism.

Vladimir Lenin wanted to create a centralized government in which the Russian

proletariat was in charge. This was described as the dictatorship of the proletariat by

Lenin. We see here the twist that Lenin has put on Marxism. The fusing and merging ofnations to form a nation less state is replace by the fusing and merging of nations to form

one stable and indivisible Russian state. Lenin had a humongous task on his hands as in

the multinational Russian empire the majority of the population was non-Russian no lessthan 57 percent, according to Lenin (vol.22, pg.154, Lenin). Even among the Russians

few of them would be proletariat. To achieve political success in the Russian empire

Lenin practiced a two faced policy remembering Engels words in order to conquer thepolitical power this party must first become a power in the countryside (Vol. 2.pg.

382, Marx and Engels). His policy promised that after the bourgeois-democratic

revolution (in which petty bourgeoisie, peasants and proletariats would crush thebourgeoisie in the Russian empire) land acquired would be redistributed among the petty

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bourgeoisie and individual nations (such as Ukraine) would be allowed to gain

independence from Russia. However, Lenin had no intention of keeping these promises

as it was not communist policy. Despite Lenins efforts the bourgeois-democraticrevolution of 1905 was unsuccessful. After he was exiled Lenin strengthened and grew

his party by making them seem pro-peasant. This tactic led to the successful October

revolution of 7 November 1917. Lenins strategy for success was as follows:It is beyond any doubt that any national movement can only be the

bourgeois-democratic movement, since the overwhelming mass of the

population of the backward countries consists of peasants who representbourgeois-capitalist relationships [] we, as communists, should, and will

support bourgeois-democratic movements in colonial countries only when

they are genuinely revolutionary and when their exponents do not hinder

our work of educating and organizing in a revolutionary spirit thepeasantry and the masses will be exploited (vol. 31. pg. 242-243, Lenin).

Figure 2. Pictures of Vladimir Lenin and His successor Joseph Stalin from left to right.

C. Fours Wars, a Famine and Lenin

As soon as the previous government had been overthrown Lenin became the headof the dictatorship of the proletariat in Russia and his position regarding Ukrainian

statehood changed drastically. Lenin immediately tried to subvert the Ukraine National

republic and bring Ukraine under full soviet control. Although Lenin had eliminated thebourgeoisie rather swiftly it would take four small wars before Ukraine could

successfully be pinned down as a colony of Russia.

What ultimately crushed the peasant resistance was not the Bolsheviks but a

famine that occurred from 1920-1922, which was caused by bad weather conditions but

capitalized on by the Bolsheviks.

Even though Ukraine did not have enough to feed itself the Soviet government

exported its crops and let no relief enter. In a foreshadowing of what was to come in the

later famine, a representative of the relief committee of Fridtjof said eight million soulswere starving in the south of Ukraine, 2.5 million of them had absolutely nothing to eat

child mortality is tremendous, it reaches 50%. Ten thousand people die in Zaporoje

daily (55,Hryshko). With the famine all resistance died with the peasants. Though the

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Ukrainians suffered significant losses so did the soviet government whose economic

system was about to collapse.

To recover from these losses Lenin implemented the New Economic action Plan

(NEP) which temporally gave peasants property. It was unknown to the peasants at the

time that this would only be a temporary measure. After the recovery, Lenin divided thepeasantry in a similar fashion as the last class system with the Kulaks as the most

bourgeoisie. This class would be the target of the new attack; however, Lenin died before

this was achieved and was replaced by the right wing leader of the communist party,Joseph Stalin.

III. The First Seven Stages of Genocide

A. Organization

We see the first stage of this genocide start with the October Revolution when the

weak democracy of Russia and its colonies failed to keep the tsarist government in

power. From then on the genodcial government strengthens for many years until the endof the NEP. In Ukraine the puppet communist party is set up. From the October

Revolution the communists hold little control over the people until 1922 when the

Bolsheviks regain control of Ukraine. After 1922 the Ukrainian Communist partybetrayed Ukraine by letting the USSR take their plans too far, only realizing their error in

judgement too late. Also in this time period Russia builds its army and secret police.

Unlike other genocides such as the Holocaust or Rwanda the government existedbefore the prejudices against the racial group (Ukrainians) was strong enough to

empower it. In fact the Bolsheviks two-faced campaign used peasants to overthrow the

government by encouraging the hope of independence from Russia. On the other hand,the government openly and proactively used their hate propaganda to further their own

interests. The organization of the soviet empire did not oppose the peasant majority at

first. To gain the power they needed; then they crushed them.

B. Classification

The Russian Revolution had eliminated the bourgeoisie. But the final enemy of the

Soviets, the peasantry, still remained strong after the NEP. A new class struggle was

created by classifying the peasant population into four groups: the agricultural proletariat,

bedniaks, sredniaks, and kulaks (poor peasants, middle peasants, and bourgeoisiepeasants respectively) (Hryshko 57). This kulak class of peasantry was indentified as a

target of another class purge. But this time around all of Ukraine would be targeted for

killing. After 1924 Joseph Stalin incites Russian nationalism to an all time high. Each dayUkraine nationalism grew stronger under the NEP. There was every bit as much growth

in Russian nationalism which was being spread through native Russians who were told

by Russian propaganda of the differences between Ukrainians and Russians. Althoughthere had been differences between Ukrainians and Russians before the time of soviet

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occupation the differences were not numerous as cultures, religions, foods, language and

traditions were similar between the two groups. The true classification of the Ukrainians

during the soviet regime lay in the increasing growth in nationalism.

If we compare the Rwandan genocide and this one we can see similarities in the

classification stage. In Rwanda the differences between the groups were minimal and itcould be argued that if it were not for the extremist Hutu government tensions might have

subsided as the Belgians did earlier. However, of course, the genocide occurred. This

happened because of the classification the government encouraged and supported. Insteadof setting aside differences they heightened them. These actions were exactly the same as

the actions of the soviet government. Although you could not tell the difference between

the Ukrainians and Russians before, rising nationalism now told you the difference.

C. Symbolization

Of all the steps that occur in genocide this stage was the lest prominent in the

Holodomor as symbolization was not instituted by the government. Unlike the Holocaustthe citizens of Ukraine did not to have symbols of their Ukrainian-ness put on them.

Instead Ukraine symbols were destroyed to ruin Ukrainian nationalism. Figure 3 showsthe two most prominent symbols of Ukraine which would have been the targeted.

Figure 3. (Left) The Tryzub or Trident is as central a cultural symbol for Ukrainians as

the Star of David is for Jews or the Fleur-de-lys is for Francophones. (Right)TheOrthodox cross, made up of two horizontal and one diagonal bar crossing a vertical pole

D. Polarization

Although Russians and Ukrainians were mixed throughout Ukraine, there were

only a small number of Ukrainians in Russia - the center of power for the Soviet Union.

When it came to the polarization of Ukrainians from Russians only two things needed tobe done. Politicide and deportation of the Kulaks and sealing Ukraines borders. The first

was the massacre of prominent Ukrainian figures and Kulaks who, if not shot or torturedwere sent to Serbia to do slave labour. It is important to note that if this action had notbeen taken by the Bolsheviks these groups would have let the world know the nature of

Soviet policy before the genocide occurred. The second action is one of the simplest

actions the soviets had to do seal the borders of Ukraine, effectively stopping all contactwith the outside world. Although soviet Russia had effectively sealed the borders using

military force during 1932-1933 to keep the Ukrainians in and the world out trains still

went through the countryside to the proletariat cities that were mostly populated with

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Russians. During these train rides starving Ukrainians would crawl to the train tracks

begging for food. Sympathetic riders had initially throw bread out of the windows. Soon

that practice was stopped as trains were forced to close their windows further isolatingthe world from the famine.

Unlike the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide the Ukrainians existed in onecentral location and not spaced throughout the entire U.S.S.R. While the Jews and

Armenians were fairly integrated and spread throughout their native lands Ukrainians

were easily trapped as their only hope to combat the Russians was eliminated in warsover the sovereignty of Ukraine.

E. DehumanizationUnlike the Rwandan genocide the government of Russia does not go so far as to

say that its own people are cockroaches or tall trees. Instead the Russian government

called the exercising of any nationalism or sovereignty Bourgeoisie counter

revolutionary and as such the actions were considered hostile to soviets. Instead of beinglabelled as insects or vermin the Ukrainians were considered class enemies. They were

conspirators who held grain supplies preventing the soviets from achieving quotas. Theyhid this grain for themselves, they said, and had strong capitalist character in their blood.

This, of course, manifested into strong dislike of Ukrainians so that when it came to the

extermination stage party activists were easily convinced that it was moral to destroy andso they did not hesitate to destroy and murder Ukrainians.

F. Preparation

Preparation for the extermination stage started when the term cooperation was

replaced by collectivization behind which there was the idea of integration ofagriculture into a single socialist economy. Moreover, collectivization meant actionforced from above quoted by Stalin as utilizing, overcoming and ousting the peasantrys

capitalist elements (Hryshko 64). The collectivism used by the soviet government can

be easily described as the forced sharing of the means of production in order to giveimpossible grain quotas to fill, which if not filled are punishable by death. The first act

of terror was to deport Ukrainians who refused the collectivization to Serbia to be

dekulakized. In a way very similar to the Jews and Armenians the Ukrainians transportedto these labour camps faced the same fate on the rails. Disease, death and hunger were

rampant on these cars. Many died along the way but the total amount transported was

1.2 million (Hryshko 72). Despite the conditions it was better than staying in Ukraine

since if you were in the foremost group you were killed instantly. Even if you were notpart of the Kulaks or a leader of the people you could be mistaken for one! In this time

period even speaking a single word of Ukrainian was enough to get you shot. Even if you

did stay quiet the party activists had a terrible time distinguishing those who were or werenot Kulaks. After the mass deportations, which lead to the end of the Kulak class once

and for all the collectivization farms could not fulfill the impossibly high grain quotas the

Official Blockade Resolution of December 6, 1932 had passed (refer to Appendix B for aquotation from the blockade resolution). With this single act Ukraines access to the

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outside world and their fate was sealed. Because the government had set such high quotas

all of Ukraine was punished severely for acts they could not possibly stop.

G. Extermination

Stalin used his power to create a man-made hunger on a scale that would havemade Hitler blush. Compared to the other methods of genocide this was far cheaper as

even though Hitler stole property from the Jews, Stalin made a profit and gained property

for the state. As punishment for their disobedience and not filling the grain quotas Stalinbegan extracting what grain Ukraine had until one of the largest producers of food

became the hungriest. In its most severe stage 25,000 people died every day, 1,000 every

hour, 17 every minute. The morality rate was 18.8 percent five times larger than the

mortality during the great famine in India (1918-1919) and twice the number of dead inWorld War One (Hryshko 101). More grain was confiscated every day, by Russian

soldiers despite the cries of the innocent. Though it was the first peace time genocide in

history (107) the killing continued long into the last months of 1933 when Stalin finally

sent in the grain that he had wrought from the harvest of despair.

IV. The Final Stage of Genocide, Denial

Despite the overwhelming evidence that the Holomondor was genocide there is much

resistance to accepting it (Refer to Appendix C). During the time of the genocide the westturned a blind eye by the fact that Russia had flooded the market with wheat taken from

the Ukrainians. In a twist of tragic irony the only government who questioned Stalin was

the Nazis( Hryshko102). The most powerful stage of the Holodomor genocide is denial asthe total number of Ukrainian victims was ten million (Hryshko 108). How can one not

notice ten million people dying? For those who deny the genocide they say that both

Russians and Ukrainians were targeted equally by the soviet union however thepercentage of farms collectivised was 91.3% Ukraine compared to with only 70% inRussia (Hryshko 79). Clearly the Bolsheviks were more keen to attack Ukrainians. But

one should always remember that Moscow does not believe in tears for when a leader of

the Ukrainian communist party went to tell Stalin about the famine he replied. We havebeen told you, Comrade Terekhov, are a good speaker; it seems that you are a good

storyteller, youve made up such a fable about famine, thinking to frighten us, but it

wont work. Wouldnt it be better for you to leave [your post] and join the writersunion? Then you can write fables and fools will read them.(87)

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Appendix

Appendix A: Glossary

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Please read the flowing terms to avoid confusion as they can be misinterpreted

based on your understanding of communism. The definitions here are the ones that willbe used through out the report.

Bourgeoisie: These are the people who own the means of production. Because of thisthey own the profits that come from the selling of goods and services that are made using

the means of production. Because they can buy the services of the proletariat they do not

have to work to make the goods or contribute to the services.

Proletariat: One whose only means of living is obtained by selling their skills. This class

of people do not own the means of production but, have skills which can be bought by the

bourgeoisie. Therefore they are not the poor but rather the middle class as they have themeans to acquire an education.

Petty Bourgeoisie: These are people who can afford to buy some labour and own their

means of production. Because they own their means of production they are selfemployed. Their living depends on a combination of proletariat and bourgeoisie actions.

Because of this they are not full Bourgeoisie.

Peasant: One of two classes of the poor that will be discussed in this report. This class

shares many characteristics with the petty bourgeoisie except for a few factors. The first

difference is that peasants are farmers, so their means of production varies ineffectiveness based on factors that they cannot control or change easily such as weather

and the price of their commodity. Second because they usually cannot succeed in

producing a large profit they cannot (effectively) buy skills and labour from theproletariat.

Lumpenproletariat: the permanently and chronically unemployed. For clarifications sakethey also do not have capital or a means of production. Truly these are the poorest of the

poor.

Revolutionary: a term for countries or groups who in Karl Marxs mind support the

industrialization of the world or area they occupy. They are looked on positively by

communism.

Counter-revolutionary: a term for countries or groups who in Karl Marxs mind do not

support the industrialization of the world or area they occupy. They are looked on

negatively by communism. The largest a most counter-revolutionary group would be thepeasant class.

Kulaks: a group of peasants who after the October revolution of 7 November 1917 wereable to obtain wealth because of the new economic action plan gave them private

property under soviet law. Their prosperity was a result not of owning the means of

production but of their ability and hard work as other groups were given similar land and

did not fair as well.

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Bolshevik: Originally was a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour

Party which split apart from the Menshevikfaction at the Second Party Congress in 1903.

They ultimately became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Bolsheviks cameto power in Russia during the October Revolution phase of the Russian Revolution of

1917, and founded the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic which would later in

1922 become the head of the Soviet Union. In this report Bolshevik and soviet are usedinterchangeably.

Appendix B: Official Blockade Resolution of December 6, 1932

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faction_(political)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menshevikhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menshevikhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faction_(political)


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In connection with the shameful wrecking of the grain-procurement plan, which was

organized by counterrevolutionary elements with the participation of some Communists

and with a passive or indifferent attitude by Party organizations in some raions[provinces], the Council of Peoples Commissars and the [Central Committee of the

Communist Party of Ukraine] have decided to place these raions on the blacklist and to

apply to them the following repressive measures:1. To halt delivery of consumer goods to these raions and to halt all state and

cooperative trade, for which purpose state and cooperative shops in these raions

will be closed and existing goods will be removed;2. To ban the trade in consumer goods that collective farms and individual

enterprises have been conducting until now;

3. To halt all credits for these raions and to withdraw all the credits that have already

been issued to them;4. To change the personnel of the local administrative and economic leadership,

eliminating all hostile elements;

5. To do the same in collective farms, eliminating from them all the hostile elements

that took part in the wrecking of grain procurements.(Hryshko 84)

Appendix C: Extra Maps

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Figure 4. (Top) A Maps of Ukraine black circle shows the capital Kiev. (Bottom) a mapof the countries that acknowledge the genocide (Spagnoli).

Appendix D: Denunciation of Communism

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Some may say that despite its genocidal nature that communism may have some

worth. To write this report and not expose the great flaws of communism would leave

this point open to interpretation. In a quote from Lenin we see how ineffectivecommunism is:

Weve promised no harmony, no equalitarianism or socialization following the victoryof the present peasant uprising; on the contrary, we promise a new struggle for

inequality, the new revolution we are struggling for (Lenin Vol. 31, pg. 217-218).

Using the example of Soviet Russia we see that the elimination of the bourgeoisie is

ineffective in stopping the class struggle. New classes are created from the petty

bourgeoisie and the cycle continues. Even if the bourgeoisie were totally eliminated

communism cannot provide equality to the lumpenproletariat who remain disadvantagedand communism provides no solution for this class inequality. Also econimicaly

communism is a crash course into disaster as seen by the use of the NEP by Lenin as they

have taken out the only known system that makes people work hard without much

incentive religion. Now we can clearly see that communism provides no benefit to itsprecipitants and cannot achieve its own goals. Thereby effectively all aspects of this

genocidal policy are denounced.

Works Cited

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Alsaker, R. L. Photograph of Lenin. Digital image.Knowledge Rush. Knowledge Rush,

2009. Web. 10 June 2011.

.

Dubrow, Marsha.Joseph Stalin, 1942. Digital image.Examiner.com. Clarity Digital

Group LLC, 25 June 2010. Web. 10 June 2011. .

Hayes, Brian J. "The European Revolutions of 1848." Map.Age-of-the-sage.org. Age-of-

the-sage.org, May 2000. Web. 10 June 2011. .

"Holodfacts."Holodomor | Famine Genocide in Ukraine 1932-33. Ukrainian Canadian

Congress, 2008. Web. 14 June 2011.

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Hryshko, Wasyl I., and Marco Carynnyk. The Ukrainian Holocaust of 1933. Toronto:

Bahriany Foundation, 1983. Print.

Lenin, Vladimir. Collected Works. 4th ed. Vol. 45. Moscow: Progress, 1960-1970. Print.

Malkavich, Dimitri.Lenin and Stalin 1922. Digital image.Joseph Stalin. Biography of

the Great Russian Commusit Leader. Stel. Web. 10 June 2011.

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Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. Selected Works. Vol. 2. Moscow: Foreign Languages

House, 1951. Print.

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Spagnoli, Filip. "Countries Which Officially Recognize the Holodomor as Genocide and

Rate of Population Decline during the Holodomor Famine." Map.P.A.P.- Blog.

Word Press, 2 May 2011. Web. 10 June 2011.

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Stanton, Gregory. "The 8 Stages of Genocide." Genocide Watch Home Page. Genocide

Watch, 1998. Web. 10 June 2011.

.

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