THE HOLODOMORTHE HOLODOMOR

AN ACT OF GENOCIDE AGAINST THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLEAN ACT OF GENOCIDE AGAINST THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLEof of

This booklet examines the primary causes of the greatest tragedy ever suffered bythe Ukrainian people, the Holodomor of 1932�33. The authors provide the context forand expose the man�made nature of the cataclysm. They provide an overview of thefactual evidence, that the Communist Party headed by Josef Stalin artificially createdthe famine. The authors provide the answer to the question: Why was the terrorfamine directed against Ukraine? The brochure describes the premeditation andmechanisms 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 extensiveresearch of historical records, primary source documents and eyewitness accounts.

Authors:

Vladyslav Verstiuk

Volodymyr Tylishchak

Ihor Yukhnovsky

Translated by:

Stepan Bandera

The Ukrainian Institute of National Memory expresses its sincerest gratitudeto 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,

National Academy of Sciences 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

© Olena Teliha Publisihing house, 2008

THE HOLODOMOR

1932–1933

AN ACT OF GENOCIDE AGAINST THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE

THE UKRAINIAN INSTITUTE OF NATIONAL MEMORY

KYIVOLENA TELIHA PUBLISHING HOUSE

2008

of

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The Holodomor of 1932�33 was a man�made famine engineered by the USSR’sBolshevik regime that took millions ofUkrainian lives. In all of human history,there are few crimes similar in scale, cruel�ty, cynicism and methods of execution.While the Soviet Union existed, the topicof the Holodomor was taboo. Even sur�vivors were afraid to speak about thistragedy in public. It was not until Ukrainegained independence in 1991 that thetruth about the Holodomor was restoredto national memory. The Holodomor hasbecome a symbol of national suffering aswell as a testament to the nation’s abilityto survive.

Ukraine’s role was crucial to the cre�ation of the Soviet Union. Its populationwas second only to Russia in size and larg�er than the populations of all non�Russianrepublics combined. After the Bolsheviksconquered the independent UkrainianPeople’s Republic, they established theUkrainian Socialist Soviet Republic(UkrSSR). The Bolsheviks’ experience infighting the independent UkrainianNational Republic led to the declaration of«Ukrainization» policies in the early1920s. This was a period of furious infight�ing among top Communist Party officialsthat resulted in serious problems forRussian�Ukrainian relations. These prob�lems went beyond ukrainization andincluded issues of the economy, theUkrainian�Russian border, formation ofarmed forces, distribution of powersbetween Moscow and Kharkiv (the capitalof Ukraine at the time). The creation of theUSSR in 1922 further subordinated theUkrainian Republic to the All�Union cen�ter. By June of 1923, the Party’s centralleadership dismissed Christian Rakovsky,the head of Ukrainian Republic’s govern�

ment who supported self�determination forall Soviet republics. In late July 1923,Politburo member Grigory Zinoviev pro�posed the following to Stalin, who wasthen the General Secretary of the CentralCommittee of the Russian CommunistParty: «Ukraine, I think, needs to besignificantly strengthened with new, greatpersons». That paved the path to Ukrainefor Stalin’s henchmen Lazar Kaganovich,Pavel Postyshev, Vsevolod Balitsky andothers.

Stalin’s* totalitarian regime was firmlyentrenched by the late 1920s and breaking

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

V.Tsymbal, Famine of 1933

Ukraine was a priority for the dictator.Stalin wanted to reassert his rule andUkraine was used as an example to teachthe other Soviet republics a lesson. Thedestruction of Ukraine as a state and anation was accomplished on multiplelevels. The first and heaviest blows target�ed the Ukrainian intelligentsia and pros�perous farmers.

The ideology of Bolshevism called forthe elimination of national and class dis�tinctions in order to build Communism. Itused terror to fight against «bourgeoisnationalism» and the «exploiter classes».Prosperous farmers were defined as«exploiters». According to Stalin’s under�standing of social development, well�to�do farmers were to disappear in theprocess of collectivization, i.e. the institu�tion of the collective farm system. Anyfarmer who refused to join collectivefarms was labeled a kurkul. The word«kurkul» (kulak in Russian) was used aspolitical intimidation in the battle againstany farmers who resisted Soviet rule.Liquidating prosperous farmers and dri�ving the rest to collective farms was partof the plan to establish complete controlover the Ukrainian countryside.Wherever the Bolsheviks encounteredresistance to collectivization, they confis�cated all food and instituted travel bans.Famine became a weapon of mass destruc�tion against Ukrainians. It damaged thenation’s genetic pool. In addition todemographic losses, the Holodomorinflicted moral and psychological woundsto national consciousness that cannot bemeasured by any number.

In November 2006, Ukraine’s Par�liament adopted the law that recognizedthe Holodomor as an act of genocideagainst the Ukrainian people. The processof passing the law was not easy. There wasmuch resistance and debate. Ukrainiansociety was faced with the task of funda�mentally reassessing its understanding ofthe causes of the Holodomor, its natureand scale, and properly honoring the me�mories of millions of victims. Ukrainiansociety thus made a pledge to future gene�rations and to the entire world: similartragedies must never be repeated. In hisaddress on November 24, 2007, PresidentViktor Yushchenko pointed out:

«The Holodomor resulted not only in suf�fering and excruciating death. TheHolodomor brought fear to the Ukrainianland, and this fear still lives among us. Onlythe truth about the genocide of theUkrainian people and honoring the memoryof everyone who was senselessly killed canfree the nation of this grave legacy».

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G. Shevtsov, What harvest are we expecting?

he considered «the dictatorship of the proletariat» tobe Marxism’s corner stone. The principles of democra�cy and divisions of power were alien to Stalin. Heplaced the Bolshevik Party at the core of all govern�mental and civic institutions, and entrenched this pro�vision in the Soviet Constitution. Stalin consideredstate terror and repressive measures to be normal go�vernment policies. Massive repressions in the USSRand the Holodomor of 1932�33 in Ukraine are associ�ated with his name.

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THE HOLODOMOR – GENOCIDE

In 1932�33 Ukraine lived through a ter�rible tragedy: in the breadbasket of Europe,millions died of starvation. The cruelty of theHolodomor lies in the fact that famine wasnot caused by natural disaster, drought orpoor harvest. It was the result of deliberategovernment policy. By forcibly confiscatingfood resources, blocking villages and entireregions, banning travel from famine�strickenareas, prohibiting trade in rural areas andusing repressions against political oppo�nents, the totalitarian system created con�ditions that made life impossible.

Bolshevik policies and practices resulted ina crime against humanity as defined by theUN Convention on Genocide.

Article 2 of the Convention defines geno�cide as «acts committed with intent todestroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethni�cal, racial or religious group», including«deliberately inflicting on the group condi�tions of life calculated to bring about itsphysical destruction in whole or in part».That is why the Holodomor – the man�made famine of 1932�33 – was an act ofgenocide against the Ukrainian people.

Article IThe Contracting Parties confirm that genocide,

whether committed in time of peace or in time of war,is a crime under international law which they under�take to prevent and to punish.

Article IIIn the present Convention, genocide means any of

the following acts committed with intent to destroy, inwhole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religiousgroup, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to mem�

bers of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of

life calculated to bring about its physical destruction inwhole or in part;

(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent birthswithin the group;

(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group toanother group.

Article IIIThe following acts shall be punishable:(a) Genocide; (b) Conspiracy to commit genocide; (c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide; (d) Attempt to commit genocide; (e) Complicity in genocide.

Article IVPersons committing genocide or any of the other

acts enumerated in Article 3 shall be punished, whetherthey are constitutionally responsible rulers, public offi�cials or private individuals.

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide Adopted by Resolution 260 (III)

A of the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1948.

B. Pevniy, Land

Communist policies resulted in famine inmany areas of the USSR in 1932. But themost repressive measures were used inUkraine and Kuban, the latter inhabited pri�marily by Ukrainians. These areas saw thegreatest number of victims and were subjectto travel bans. The totalitarian regime’s goalwas to destroy independentUkrainian farmers, the core ofa nation whose traditions andvalues were incompatible withCommunist ideology and thushostile towards Bolshevism.Stalin realized this early onbefore the Holodomor whenhe wrote in 1925: «…Farmersform the main army of thenational movement… Withoutan army of farmers, a strongnational movement does notand cannot exist. That is whatthey mean when they say thatthe national issue is, in fact, anissue of farmers».

The Soviet leadership used famine tocrush national resistance. This was madeclear by the Politburo’s Resolution «OnGrain Procurement in Ukraine, NorthernCaucasus and Western Oblast», adoptedon December 14, 1932. Despite the resolu�tion’s title, its authors formulated policiesthat have nothing to do with agricultureand economics. The resolution spoke about«properly conducting Ukrainization»,which involved the closing of Ukrainian�language schools and newspapers in Kubanand persecution of the Ukrainian intelli�gentsia.

The famine of 1932�33 in Ukraine wasnot caused by a poor harvest or drought.There was grain in Ukraine. The Soviet go�vernment was selling considerable quantitieson foreign markets. Distilleries operated atfull capacity in Ukraine, processing grain andpotatoes into alcohol for export. 1.72 milliontons of grain were exported from Ukrainein 1932, and 1.68 million tons in 1933.

These volumes could have easily saved thelives of millions.

«This ’ethnographic material’ should bereplaced, cynically said … a high�rankingofficial of a local GPU body… Howeverterrible and unbelievable this intentionmay seem, it should be considered as real

and is being fully implemented. Throughmerciless confiscation… the Moscow go�vernment caused famine and deprivedUkrainian vi l lages of a l l means ofsurvival…

Based on this, I conclude: the currentcatastrophe will result in the colonization ofUkraine mostly by Russians. This will changeits ethnographic nature».

Dispatch from Italian Consul Sergio Gradenigo,

Kharkiv, May 31, 1933

«In under one year, Postyshev hasstrengthened the authority of the Soviet sys�tem in Ukraine, by sacrificing many victimsand millions of dead from famine…he hasdestroyed a dangerous national movement foran indefinite period of time. This is the waythe national issue, as it is understood here, wasresolved in Ukraine».

Dispatch from the Consul General of Germany in Kharkiv

January 26, 1934

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Victims of the Holodomor, Kharkiv region, 1933 (pictured by A. Vinerberger)

The victims of the Holodomor numberin the millions. According to estimates byhistorians and demographers, the minimumnumber of direct and indirect casualtiesamong the population of Ukraine reached 8million people.

Implementation of totalitarian policyreached its peak in the winter and spring of1933, when tens of thousands of complete�ly innocent people died of famine on a dailybasis. The horror of the Holodomor resultedin an extremely high death rate amongchildren. Hoping to rescue their children,farmers broke through police cordons intocities where they simply left their children.Children’s homes were «overcrowded», leav�ing the young to die from famine or illnesseson the streets. Statistics show that in manyregions up to two�thirds of children did notshow up for school in September 1933. Inaddition to the physical extermination ofmillions, the tragedy resulted in the destruc�tion of the traditional Ukrainian way of lifefor many years to come.

«The Holodomor in the countryside hasbeen written about, but no mention has beenmade about the famine in Ukrainian cities…My native town of Hadyach fell victim to thisterrible crime of Moscow as well. Hadyach res�idents died right on the streets, their bodieswere picked up by wagons and taken away.Sometimes they were still alive; I saw it myself.

[…] Bread ration cards were supposedlyavailable in the towns. This was not true. Somepeople received cards, but not everybody. Myfather, for example, received no bread card,and famine ruled in our family. We survivedbecause we exchanged our gold belongings atthe Torgsin store… In the store at the center oftown… there were various foodstuffs on dis�play behind the windows, which could beacquired for gold and silver. Hungry residentsof Hadyach were lying and dying there, rightin front of the store».

Yevhenia Fesenko�Kovalska

«I recall the year 1933. It truly was an act ofgenocide!

Half the residents of Sukha [village] diedfrom famine in just one spring. In the family ofBulat the blacksmith, the elder children ate theyounger ones… My friends, the Kysil brothersfrom Breusiv, my classmates who were unrivaledin mathematics, were at school one day but gonethe next: both of them died. Meanwhile hamsfrom the Haleshchyne plant were being soldabroad through Torgsin stores…

This was Stalin’s eternal sin, his crime thatcannot and never will be justified».

From the diary of writer Oles Honchar

«The conditions were critical in Ukraine thisyear – there was a great famine here, or, asauthorities call it, a victory for the socialist regimein agriculture […] According to trustworthy datafrom official sources, the death toll from famine isestimated at nearly seven million people».

Dispatch from the Office of ConsulGeneral of Germany in Kharkiv

Dispatch from the Office of ConsulGeneral of Germany in Kharkiv

January 26, 1934

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DEATHS CAUSED BY THE HOLODOMOR

Starving girl with swollen knees (pictured by A. Vinerberger)

TH

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CAUSES OF THE HOLODOMOR

The Bolsheviks and Ukraine

A powerful libe�ration move�ment arose inUkraine afterthe FebruaryRevolution of1917. With theproclamation ofthe UkrainianPeople’s Repub�lic, the nationembarked on acourse of estab�lishing an inde�pendent demo�cratic state. Butin November1917, the Bol�

sheviks led by Vladimir Lenin took power inRussia proclaiming the «Dictatorship of theProletariat» and «Red Terror». One monthlater, in early December 1917, Lenin andLeon Trotsky declared war on Ukraine.

The Bolsheviks viewed Ukraine as ahuge resource base. Ukrainian bread, coal,salt and metals were the primary targets ofBolshevik Russia’s aggression against theUkrainian People’s Republic.

In January 1918, Lenin wrote to his alliesin Ukraine:

«…Take the most intense revolutionarysteps to send grain, grain and grain!!!Otherwise, St. Petersburg may die…».

Military actions against Ukraine weredictated by economic and ideological goals.In occupied Ukraine, the Bolsheviks beganto translate Communist ideology into statepractice later known as «militaryCommunism». It was based on nationaliza�tion of industry, demonetization and stateregulation of trade, strict state control overfood supplies and workforce mobilization.Terror was the key to its implementation.«Food requisitions» were introduced inspring 1919, requiring farmers to hand over

all grain to the state except for the neces�sary minimum (seeds for sowing, minimalgrain for family members and fodder) atextremely low prices fixed by the state. Inpractice this meant that almost all grain wastaken away with very little, if any, compen�sation. The introduction of «food requisi�tioning» and accompanying terror resultedin resistance on the part of farmers. Thedilemma of personal freedom andCommunist coercion became the focal pointof the conflict between the government andUkrainian farmers. Numerous uprisingsswept Ukraine as tens of thousands joinedpartisan units that fought Soviet rule in1920�21.

It was the policy of «military Commu�nism» – the complete dictatorship of theCommunist regime over the individual –that was the primary cause of the famine of1921�23 which swept through Ukraine andsouthern Russia. The Bolshevik governmentfaced the double jeopardy of a paralyzedeconomy and a large�scale war with thefarmers. Under the circumstances, Lenin andthe Bolsheviks took one step back from thecourse of immediately building Communismand adopted the more liberal «NewEconomic Policy» (NEP). But the limitedmarket activity allowed under NEP was onlya tactical retreat in the campaign to buildCommunism.

In spring1922, Lenin

wrote:«The

biggest mis�take is to

think thatNEP means

an end to ter�ror. We will

still return toterror, eco�

nomic terror».

Fourth Universal of UkrainianCentral Rada, by which

the independence of UPR was declared, 22nd of January, 1918

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Attack on Ukraine

The national revolution of 1917�21 andthe subsequent Ukrainization campaignresulted in the growth of national conscious�ness among the country’s rural population,which accounted for 80.8 % of UkrainianSocialist Soviet Republic’s entire populationin 1926.

The reprieve provided by NEP (1921�28)allowed farmers to rebuild farms ruined bymilitary Communism. Grain and crop harvestyields and cattle stocks began to approachtheir pre�revolutionary levels. The homesteadfarming system took root in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Soviet regime graduallygrew stronger. A struggle within the Bolshevikhierarchy resulted in the concentration ofabsolute state power in Josef Stalin’s hands.The strengthening of the regime made it possi�ble to reverse the concessions previously madein the national, cultural, social and economicspheres. In late 1927, the XV Convention ofthe Communist Party of the Soviet Unionapproved the introduction of collectivizationin agriculture. NEP was discontinued in 1928.In January 1928, the government resumedforced grain procurements.

The Kremlin was particularly concernedabout 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’sexistence. The Bolsheviks viewed theUkrainian intelligentsia as a priori hostile totheir rule. Ukrainian leaders were placedunder constant watch by Soviet secret servic�es. A new phase in the attack on Ukrainebegan in the second half of 1920s. In March1926, the GPU state security service issuedinstructions in a letter entitled «About activeUkrainians», which provided for «monitor�ing of all Ukrainian public groups [and]active intelligence gathering among leadingfigures». In September of that year, theUkrainian republic’s GPU issued a secretinstruction entitled «On Ukrainian sepa�ratism», which expanded upon the directivesof the previous letter and defined the cultur�al activities of the Ukrainian intelligentsia asanti�Soviet. The secret services defined any

efforts at nation building as «efforts byUkrainian chauvinists to instill the spirit ofhatred towards Moscow in the countryside».The directive instructed «to combine workamong the Ukrainian intelligentsia withwork among the rural populace».

GPU documents noted strong «sepa�ratist» attitudes among the Ukrainian intelli�gentsia and farmers. GPU reports indicatedthat similar attitudes had spread to the armedforces as well. A secret police report «On thespread of farmers’ attitudes to the army»dated January 24, 1928 noted that «inUkraine, along with the spread of farmers’ atti�tudes [to the army], it is worth pointing out theclearly nationalist nature of these attitudes,which brazenly define the burden carried byUkraine to be caused by Moscow’s ’oppres�sion’».

Numerous analytical documents com�piled by the secret police concluded that theanti�Soviet mood was widespread in Ukraineand that the republic was on the verge ofrevolt.

S. Yefremov, UAS academician,

was condemned for ULL case,

died while in prison

Thus, by the late 1920s, Soviet leadershad realized that their rule in Ukrainewas fragile and that the threat of anational uprising was very real. The sub�sequent changes to economic policies(mandatory grain procurements werereintroduced in January 1928) wereaccompanied by increased pressure alongnational lines. From 1928 until the early1930s, representatives of the Ukrainianintelligentsia were arrested and triedunder the pretexts of concocted conspir�acies throughout Ukraine. The trialagainst the «Union of Liberation ofUkraine» (1929�30) in Kharkiv culmi�nated this campaign. This and other fab�ricated conspiracies (such as the casesagainst «Ukrainian National Center» andthe «Ukrainian Military Organization»)

showed that the Soviet «justice» systemspecifically targeted nationally consciousUkrainians.

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Collectivization – a Tragedy of the CountrysideThe offensive against the Ukrainian coun�

tryside began with the liquidation of the mostsuccessful private farming operations. Cruelrepressions against prosperous farmers, whowere labeled «kurkuls», were launched in1928.

Many dispossessed kurkuls were deported tothe north, beyond the Ural Mountains andSiberia, where certain death awaited them.According to statisticscomplied by the UkrainianRepublic People’s Eco�nomy Accounting De�partment, some 285,000families, comprising near�ly 1 million people, weredeported from Ukraine bythe mid�1930s. These de�portations were used tosow fear among the farmerswho remained.

C o l l e c t i v i z a t i o nwas launched en massein 1929. The centuries�old traditions of pri�vate farming weredestroyed in Ukraine’svillages.

In joining collective farms, everyrural family had to turn over all farmingequipment and livestock. Farmers weredeprived of their most valuable posses�sions: their ancestral lands. The end of1932 collectivized some 70 percent ofall homesteads, representing morethan 80 percent of Ukraine’s arableland.

Kulaks family is driving out their house,

Donetsk region, early 1930s

Felon's dock on the trumped up ULL case

Kharkiv, 1930

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Bolshevik policies were met with resist�ance from farmers. In the spring of 1930,protests and uprisings were commonplace inUkraine’s countryside. Farmers began leav�ing collective farms, taking back their prop�erty and freeing arrested farmers. Armeduprisings against the regime, conducted inthe name of national and social liberation,were widespread.

On March 16, 1930, the chief of theUkrainian Republic Central PoliticalAdministration (GPU) Vsevolod Balitskywrote:

«Yesterday, I arrived in Tulchyn district.The entire district is seized by disturbances anduprisings. Rebellions are currently occurring in153 villages. Soviet authorities and activistshave been completely expelled from 50 vil�lages… Collective farms have been liquidatedin most of the district’s villages… Armed upris�

ings are taking place in some villages. Trencheshave been dug around the villages where armed[men] are preventing entry. In some villagespeople are singing «Ukraine is still alive»…[national anthem]

Armed resistance was encountered whileconducting operations in the villages ofHoryachivka and Vilshanka of Myastkovskyraion, where the shootout lasted for threehours. In the village of Balanivka, Bershadskyraion… 500 men took to the forests armed withpitchforks and axes.

The entire district has been divided intooperative sectors. Armed units of Communistsand GPU cavalry have been assigned to everysector. Orders have been issued to resolutelycrush the uprisings…»

In 1930, more than 4,000 uprisings,involving 1.2 million villagers, took placethroughout Soviet Ukraine.

Farmers’ Resistance to Collectivization

Rebel leaflet, Podillya, late 1920s

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Dear leaders! We, pupils of the PecherskSchool, Bratslav raion, request your assistancebecause we are dying of famine. While we needto study, we cannot walk anywhere because weare starving. Private and collective farmers alike– we are all swelling from starvation, becausewe are unable to work and bread is given only tothose who have earned workdays. The Octoberholidays are drawing near, we should be rejoic�ing, but our eyes have turned yellow from hungerand our stomachs are aching from the garbagewe’re eating. The last kernel of grain, potatoes,beans and anything edible has been taken awayfrom us. While vodka is being made of potatoes,we have nothing to eat. We won’t say anythingabout our clothes and shoes, but implore you tonot to kill us through famine. We hope that theSoviet government will not let us die and will notfeed us with bullets instead of bread, as the tsarsonce fed our parents. We believe that the Sovietgovernment will help and save us from death bystarvation.

This appeal is being submitted by pupilsMil’hota, Syrokha, Moskaliuk, Mahdych,Pylypenko, Antonyshyna, Vistiak, and others

A letter from the pupils of Pechersk School, Bratslav raion, to the All�UkrainianCentral Executive Committee regarding the famine:

November 1, 1931

The Consequences of CollectivizationDeclines in crop yields and agri�

cultural productivity were recordedin the early 1930s. The state’s actionshad undermined the profitability offarming.

Nevertheless, the governmentstrived to extract as much grain as pos�sible from the countryside. The prob�lems with agricultural productionwere attributed to «sabotage».

The state procurement cam�paign turned into a war betweenthe government and the farmers.Nearly half of all crops harvest�ed in the Ukrainian republicwere confiscated as grain pro�curements in 1931. Faminebegan to arrive in Ukrainian vil�lages in 1931.

Dispossessed kulaks family near ruins of their house,

Donetsk region, early 1930s

In 1932, the Soviet government planned to punishUkraine. Stalin’s correspondence with his closest alliesin July and August 1932 provides evidence of that plan.

«Pay as much attention to Ukraine as possible…takeall necessary measures… to isolate whining and rottendiplomats and ensure that a truly Bolshevik decision ismade».

From Stalin’s letter to Kaganovich and Molotov, July 2, 1932

«Affairs in Ukraine are extremely bad. …Bad from thestandpoint of the GPU. Redens lacks the energy to directthe struggle with the counterrevolution in such a large andunique republic as Ukraine…We can lose Ukraine».

From Stalin’s letter to Kaganovich, September 11, 1932

KILLING UKRAINE IN 1932�33

Bolshevik policies in Ukraine weregoal�oriented and systematic in nature.The goal was to create conditions thatdoomed millions of Ukrainian farmers tostarvation. The first step was the confis�cation of all food resources. The secondstep was the complete isolation of thepopulation and prevention of escape to

search for food. In the fall of 1932, theBolshevik government’s actions beganto clearly display the essence of what isdefined as genocide by Article II of theConvention on the Prevention andPunishment of the Crime of Genocide,adopted by the U. General Assembly onDecember 9, 1948.

Confiscation of Food Resources

In July 1932, the Kremlinestablished deliberately unrealisticgrain procurement quotas forUkraine. Grain procurement wasthe forced requisition of grain fromagricultural producers by thestate. The unrealistically highquotas, set at levels that wereimpossible to achieve, providedthe formal legal basis for apply�ing repressive measures againstthose who failed to fulfill grainprocurement targets.

On August 7, 1932, the Sovietgovernment adopted a resolutionwhereby «embezzlement of collec�tive farm property» was punish�

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Search for grain in the peasant yard,

Donetsk region, early 1930s

I. Stalin

able by death through shooting or 10�yearprison terms. In popular lore the resolutioncame to be known as the «Law of FiveWheat Ears», because people were punishedeven if they were caught with a few spikeletsof wheat taken from a field that oncebelonged to them.

In the fall of 1932, an extraordinary go�vernmental Grain Procurement Committee,led by the Chairman of the USSR’s Councilof Peoples’ Commissars VyacheslavMolotov, arrived in Ukraine. The flywheelof repressions was set into motion. OnNovember 5, Molotov and MendelKhatayevich, secretary of the CentralCommittee of theCommunist (Bolshevik)Party of Ukraine, sent adirective to oblast Partycommittees demandingthat prompt and decisiveactions be taken to fulfillthe August 7, 1932 reso�lution that mandated«speedy repressions andmerciless punishment ofcriminal elements amongthe management of col�lective farms».

On November 18,1932, under pressurefrom Molotov, theUkrainian Party’sCentral Committeeadopted the Resolution

on «Measures to intensify bread procurementefforts». The Council of People’s Commissarsof Ukraine adopted an analogous resolution onNovember 20. The resolutions established in�kind fines as measures for confiscating foodresources and livestock from farms that had«incurred debts» by failing to meet the unreal�istic grain procurement targets. In December1932 the Central Committee of the All�Union Communist Party (Bolshevik)instructed the Ukrainian leadership to seizeall available grain resources, including sow�ing seeds, from Ukrainian villages within theframework of the grain procurement cam�paign. This order was duly executed.

Even as the Ukrainian countryside wasdying from famine, the Party leadership clungto the official explanation that Ukrainian far�mers were purposefully sabotaging the grainprocurement campaign. Politburo memberKhatayevich declared that 85 to 90 percent ofcollective farmers were hiding grain. OnJanuary 1, 1933, Stalin sent a telegram toUkrainian farmers in which he openly threat�ened to use «the severest measures of punish�ment» against all farmers who did not volun�tarily turn over grain they were allegedly hidingfrom the state. The telegram accusedUkrainian farmers of sabotage and authorizedmass searches and seizure of remaining foodresources. Stalin’s New Year’s Day telegram

14

Activists with confiscated grain,

Donetsk, 1932

V. Molotov

was in fact an ultimatum and, coming in thedead of winter, is proof of the famine’s manmadenature. Furthermore it was specifically directedat Ukraine, thus closely resembling Lenin’s ulti�matum of December 3, 1917 to the UkrainianCentral Council. Lenin gave the independentUkrainian government only 48 hours to fulfillunacceptable and unrealistic conditions, afterwhich he declared war on Ukraine.

Special units of Party activists – so�called«tow brigades» – traveled through Ukraine’srural areas and confiscated food resources. Areporter for the Radianske Selo newspaperdescribed the actions of one such team in thevillage of Krasnopillia, then Odesa (currentlyKirovohrad) oblast, in a December, 1932article: «The team goes from one house to anoth�er and takes what it wants from everybody but itis unclear where it all goes. There are incidentswhen all grain is seized and if somebody does nothand over what is left in their house, they arearrested and all their property is confiscated. If youdon’t comply, you are beaten. If you refuse entry toyour home, the door is broken down. In some casespeople actually purchased grain, but the brigademembers claim ’they stole it from the collective far.’The team simply takes away cabbages, cucumbersand everything from the cellars».

As a result, the vast majority ofUkraine’s residents were doomed to star�vation. Death from famine, which tooktens of thousand lives every day, lasteduntil the new crop was harvested.

«The death toll has increased recently… Inthe villages most affected by famine, up to 10deaths occur every day. In these villages, manyof the houses are boarded up; in most housesfarmers lie motionless and are no good for anywork due to their physical condition…»

Letter from V. Cherniavsky, first secre�tary of the Vinnytsia Oblast Committee

of the CPU(B), spring 1933

«The number of villagers who died offamine and were picked up off the streetsin Kharkiv has grown significantly. InFebruary, 431 [corpses] were collected, 689in March and 477 in April; the statistics forMay are as follows: 182 in the first tendays, 300 in the second ten days and 510 inthe third ten days. In total: 992. The num�ber for the first three days of June is 196».

Report from the Head of the KharkivOblast GPU

Z. Kantselson, June 5, 1933

15

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

In order to punish farmers, Soviet authori�ties widely applied a special, extra judicialrepressive measure called blacklisting. Entireraions, village councils, villages and collectivefarms were blacklisted for «failing to meetbread procurement targets». Blacklisting wastantamount to declaring a state of emergencyand applying a system of coercive measures intargeted communities.

In early November 1932, Kaganovich intro�duced the blacklisting system in Kuban. Shortlythereafter, the system was duplicated by theextraordinary Grain Procurement Committee inUkraine. On November 18, 1932, the Politburoof the CP(B)U Central Committee authorizedblacklisting those collective farms that had failedto meet bread procurement targets. Repressivemeasures were introduced against the farms andvillages placed on the blacklist: entering andleaving villages was prohibited, delivery andtrading of goods was suspended, existing goodswere seized from stores and any milling of grainwas prohibited. In�kind fines were imposed onfarmers. Villages and collective farms were«politically cleansed» of unsavory elements.

On December 6, 1932, the Politburo of theCP(B)U’s Central Committee, together withthe Ukrainian Republic Council of Peoples’Commissars, demonstratively blacklisted sixlarge villages: Verbky, Pavlohrad raion and

Havrylivka, Mezhiv raion in Dnipropetrovskoblast; Liutenky, Hadyach raion and KamianiPotoky, Kremenchuk raion in Kharkiv oblast;Sviatotroyitske, Troyitsk raion and Pisky,Bashtan raion in Odesa oblast.

On December 8, 1932, the GeneralSecretary of the Ukrainian Communist PartyStanislaw Kosior reported to Stalin that therepublic’s Party had authorized the blacklist�ing of 6 villages and that 400 collective farmshad been blacklisted by decision of oblastexecutive committees. Widespread applicationof the repressive measures lasted throughoutDecember 1932 and into 1933. Certain villagesremained blacklisted until the end of 1933. Thepractice of blacklisting was also applied toentire village councils that encompassed seve�ral villages and hamlets. In some cases, entireraions were placed on the blacklist.

Blacklisting collective farms, villages andentire raions resulted in their complete isola�tion and expropriation of all food resources,which was often the equivalent of death sen�tences for all their residents.

16

USSR Sovnarkom and Central Committee of CP(B)U

resolution about blacklisting of villages

Blacklisting

USSR Sovnarkom resolution,

which determined blacklisting

Famine was observed inUkraine 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 1932because they fled the areasengulfed by famine. For exam�ple, in spring 1932, nearly onethird of the population of theZinoviev raion, or 28,000 peo�ple, fled their homes. Currentestimates based on historicalrecords indicate that there were3 million refugees by the springof 1932. In June 1932, Stalindiscontentedly wrote Kagano�vich about the tens of thousand

of Ukrainian farmers reported to be travelingacross the European part of the USSR anddemoralizing other collective farmers withtheir stories about the state of affairs inUkraine.

The situation changed dramatically in1933 when the government adopted measu�res to limit the movement of Ukrainians. OnJanuary 22, 1933, Stalin issued an order thatprohibited farmers from leaving the territoryof Soviet Ukraine and Kuban «in search ofbread» to other areas of the Soviet Union.The sale of train and boat tickets toUkrainian farmers was prohibited. GPUunits blocked the roadways. Those who ma�

naged to flee were arrested andreturned. In the month and a halfafter the order was issued, nearly220,000 farmers were arrested. Ofthat number, more than 186,000were forcibly returned to their vil�lages where they were doomed tostarvation.

Later that year, roadways intoUkraine’s cities were blocked andpatrolled to ensure starving villagerswere kept out.

Essentially all of Ukrainewas blacklisted.

17

Isolation of Soviet Ukraine and Kuban

Peasants leaving villages in order to find food,

Kharkiv region, 1933 (pictured by A. Vinerberger)

Peasants in order to find food,

Donetsk region, 1933

Central Committee of CP(B)U and USSR Sovnarkom

directive about prohibition to leave Ukraine

18

Information Ban

Soviet authori�ties criminally co�vered�up the facts ofthe famine. Not asingle official refe�rence to this terribletragedy was record�ed. Officially, nofamine existed TheUSSR’s leadershippurposefully misin�formed the interna�tional community.In January 1933,the USSR People’sCommissar (Mi�nister) of ForeignAffairs Maxim Lit�vinov issued a state�ment denying fa�mine in the country.The Soviet regime refused offers of assis�tance from abroad.

Stalin’s regime attempted to concealthe facts of the Holodomor not only fromthe outside world but from future genera�tions of Soviet citizens as well.

On February 1933, when thousands offarmers were starving, local governmentalbodies received a strict order: : «All organiza�tions, except GPU structures, are prohibitedfrom keeping records on incidents of swellingfrom starvation and death from famine».

Village councils were ordered to notspecify causes of death in their registries. A

new order was issued in 1934: all civilian re�gistry office death records for 1932�1933were to be submitted to special units, wheremost of them were destroyed.

When the 1937 Census showed a signifi�cant population drop, the leaders of theCentral Statistics Department were arrest�ed. The census results were kept secret formany years. The ban on information aboutthe famine remained in effect in the SovietUnion until 1987.

The government’s efforts to concealevidence about the famine reveal the cri�minal intent of Stalin’s totalitarian regimein organizing the Holodomor.

Peasant starving to death on the outskirts of Kharkiv,

1933 (pictured by A. Vinerberger)

«One of my works that mentioned the famine of 1933 wastaken by censors from the publishing house. It has been on the shelffor a long time. Finally, someone decided to inquire about itsprogress. The censor�wise man provided the following explanation:’My own brother and sister starved to death. But… there was nofamine’ Why? Because no document from that period of time men�tions the word ’famine…’ In other words, for us, [famine] did notexist, because no such fact was ever recorded…»

From writer Oles Honchar’s diary.

The Guilty Party

Responsibility for the death of millionsof Ukrainians during the manmadeHolodomor rests entirely with the topleadership of the Communist Party of theUSSR and Soviet Ukraine. Stalin wasresponsible above all: he was fully informedabout the situation in Ukraine in 1932�33and sent Molotov and Postyshev tostrengthen the repressive machinery in therepublic. In addition to extracting all foodresources, Postyshev was charged with

«cleansing» Ukraine of supporters ofSymon Petliura and «Ukrainian nationa�lists». The scale of judicial repressionsapplied in Ukraine in 1933 was comparableto the Great Terror of 1937�38. Accordingto official data, more people were arrestedin the republic in 1933 than were in 1938.For this reason Postyshev was able toreport in January 1934: «the past year inUkraine was the year of defeating thenationalist counterrevolution».

O. Mykolaets, Millions of Ukrainian peasants, our forefathers,

died of Holodomor, which was created by communists

19

20

«The famine was artificial by nature. Inour village 500 people died, and 750 peopledied in the neighboring village. We ate pig�weed, reeds; the cattle died – we ate them too.My father was the head of the village counciland he ordered the distribution of a glass ofbuckwheat for every person. My father gaveout buckwheat and he was arrested the fol�lowing day. My father survived, but my moth�er died in the famine».

Viktor Petrovych Mikholevsky, Lytvynivkavillage, Zhashkiv raion, Cherkasy oblast

«My mother died from famine in 1933, she felldown on the roadside and died… so did my brother,who was still in his crib… We ate nettle, linden,chaff… People were buried without coffins. I sawdead people lying on the roadside. When our moth�er died, my younger sister was three, and my eldersister was seven… Many people died».

Maria Yosypivna Kucha, Zhytnyky vil�lage, Zhashkiv raion, Cherkasy oblast

«They wanted to strangle Ukraine. The year1933 was so terrible. People fell down on the

go. They approached their homes, poor as theywere, and saw their grain being raked away.What kind of kurkuls were they? They ownedsome land, had a horse, worked for themselves,but the government ordered their grain rakedaway. During the famine, some fled, some hid,some survived and some buried their grain –everything happened. It was all done by thegovernment».

Zinayida Ivanivna Irmolenko, born 1925,Pokrovske village, Troyitsk raion,

Luhansk oblast

«In 1933, my mother, father, sister and threeyounger brothers died, each was buried sepa�rately. When my last brother died, he was takenaway and thrown into a pit like a beet. Peopledied in every house. In our house seven peopledied. I was the only one to survive. I ate and sur�vived. God kept me alive… In our village onlythree girls and two boys survived. People dieden masse».

Maria Oksentiyivna Sukhomlyn, born1922, Liudvynivka village, Makariv raion, Kyiv oblast

«In 1932�33 my family and I lived inKherson. I remember well the very longqueues for bread near the stores. Every per�son received 200 grams of unbaked blackbread with peelings. People began lining upat night with children in their hands.Children had large, swollen stomachs. I sawdead children and swollen mothers. Our fam�ily lived on the outskirts, not far from thetown’s garbage dump. Cars drove up at night

EYEWITNESS TESTIMONIES

and dumped cookies, halva, sweets, and her�ring – from barrels. Bread was thrown away.All this was covered with insecticide andgasoline and set on fire or covered with sand.We were hungry. My mother and I ran to thedump and grabbed everything we could.They beat us with wicker and sticks. Khersonis a port city and we saw grain being loadedonto ships bound for Turkey. There weretimes when storms crashed the barges againstthe shore and the wind and waves washed thegrain ashore. They poured gasoline and set iton fire. Sometimes the piles of grain were onemeter high, and the shore was on fire withgrain».

Yevdokia Mykhailivna Poteraiko, born 1920

«My uncle had a small cross, so did myaunt, so they went to Kyiv to the Torgsin store.I had a cow that was not taken away from usbecause I was an orphan. That is how we sur�vived… A wagon moved through the village, hewas lying down and said: ’Don’t take me in thewagon, I’m still alive.’… They threw him intothe pit, saying: ’You’ll die tomorrow.’ It wasagony, yet they took the grain away. Verymany people died!»

Halyna Hryhorivna Kovtun, born 1918,Pishchane village, Zolotonosha raion,

Cherkasy oblast

«The livestock burial grounds alsosaved our family. A horse died of starva�tion in the collective farm, my fathernoticed when it was dumped in the pit,and that night he and my brothers snuckup to the pit, chopped off the dead horse’sleg and brought it home. My mothersoaked it in water for two�to�three daysso it would not smell, and only then was it

cooked and eaten. However, even horse�flesh did not help: my youngest sistersHanna, Liuba and Nata were the first todie, then my brother Mykhailo died, andthen my mother died. We were the onlysurvivors: my elder brother Petro, myfather and I. They tried to force my fatherto join the collective farm, to make himjoin the commission that took away thelast grain from people. He did not wantto. So, he was arrested and put in a shed.There he died of dropsy. My brother and Iwere left alone. We would have probablydied as well, but we were taken to a homefor children».

Halyna Ivanivna Tkachenko, born 1925,Rvenky village, Piatykhatky raion,

Dnipropetrovsk oblast

«They severely tormented ordinary people.They took everything: horses, harrows,ploughs, wagons; barns were dismantled.During the famine years of 1932�33, commis�sioner Isayev arrived; his job was to take awayas much as possible from people and ship itout. He said that the country was poor.Whoever does not cooperate will remember theSoviet government for one hundred years,even in their coffins».

Vira Mytrofanivna Konovol, born 1918,Hnivan, Tyvriv raion, Vinnytsia oblast

«Those activists took away everything,drinking away and eating all they had seized.They took away cattle, hens, roosters, varioustools. They also took away good clothes,which they wore themselves. They took awayvaluables, mostly from those kurkuls, becausethe poor had nothing. People were put in jailfor a handful of grain, for wheatears cut in

21

22

the field, so people called that decree the«law of five wheat ears». This was notallowed and people were persecuted for this. Iremember that some corn was not harvestedand it was ploughed back into the earthinstead of being given to people.Remembering this today makes me scared.People were killed for a glass of grain, tor�tured, imprisoned for several ears… Peopledid help each other. Sometimes, people whowere suffering extremely would find a jarwith stewed fruit or grass pancakes or some�thing else on their doorstep. Kind peoplehelped. They tried to do so at night. If some�one saw and reported it, these people wereimmediately sent to jail».

Maria Fedorivna Bila, born 1927, VelykaOleksandrivka, Kherson oblast

«The activists took away flour and meal. Ifthey found anything in pots, they poured itout. They took away clothes and cattle. Therewas no place to hide anything. They came withprobing rods. They’re names were TymishKariuk, Khvedko Kurdakh and LevLiovandovsky. They went upstairs to searchfor anything».

Olha Vyktorivna Tsymbaliuk, born 1917,Velyka Berezna village, Polonne raion,

Khmelnytsky oblast

«There were five girls and two boys in ourfamily. What little grain we had, father hid in thecattle�shed for sowing. But then the brigadesstarted going from house to house. Our turncame. The brigade broke into our house and toldfather: ’If there is any hidden bread, you’d bettertell us, because if we find it, we’ll take awayeverything to the last kernel.’ Our family was

large, we were crying, begging them. My fatheranswered that there was some barley for sowing.When my father showed the pit in the cattle�shedwith some barley and the wheat in the attic, theytook away everything and swept the attic with abroom. Famine began. We searched the woodsfor some berries, but there were more people thanberries. There was nothing. Even grass was tornup. What can be said? People were dying everyday. Our family was large. So, we started goingseparate ways. Our relatives took my elder sisterto a mine. My mother took away my younger sis�ter Varia and left her near a children’s home inthe city of Izium. Later, I was also taken to mysister in Donbas. My sister Paraska died at home,and Dmytro, born in 1912, walked away some�where, and I do not know where he is to date.Regarding my mother and father, they starved todeath at home».

Kateryna Stepanivna Pavlenko, born 1920, Chystovodivka, Izium raion, Kharkiv oblast

«I remember the terrible famine of 1932�33 well. Komsomol members, both womenand men, went from one house to another.They’ve already died. They searched foranything, even in the oven and pots. We werethrown out of our house, so my mother and Iwent to another house and settled there. Myfather ran away to Donbas, and it was notuntil the famine ended that he took us there.My aunt would bake bread from beets, gratethe beets and add some flour. They found itsomewhere. She would always treat me, sharefood with us».

Maria Trokhymivna Bulba, born 1913,Hanzhalivka village, Lysianka raion,

Cherkasy oblast

The Soviet campaign of modernization ofthe 1920s and 30s, called «the great turningpoint» in the USSR for decades, was in fact aseries of terrible crimes which international lawclearly defines as crimes against humanity. Thecrimes included persecution of the free�think�ing intelligentsia, prosecution of anyonedeemed to be involved in anti�Soviet activities,forced liquidation of private property and itsowners, repressions along religious lines andthe separation of children from their families.

In the long list of Soviet crimes, theHolodomor of 1932�33 stands out as themost grave and horrific crime committed inthe seventy years the USSR existed. Thefamine was manmade and led to the deaths ofmillions of Ukrainians. Responsibility for thecrime rests entirely with the top leadershipof the Communist Party of the USSR andSoviet Ukraine. Stalin was responsible aboveall. Moral responsibility for the Holodomoralso rests with subsequent generations ofSoviet leaders who came after Stalin andcovered�up the crime.

The fact that the Holodomor of 1932�33occurred and took millions of lives was official�ly denied in the USSR until the late 1980s. Thetruth, however, could not be suppressed fore�ver. Holodomor survivors and their childrenpreserved the memory about the cataclysm toconvey the truth to future generations.

During the Thaw of 1960s, the issue of thefamine began to first poke through censorshipbans and was prominently featured in thepublications and statements made by dissi�dents including Yevhen Sverstiuk, Vya�cheslav Chornovil, Mykola Rudenko, andothers. A tremendous contribution to pre�serving the truth about the Holodomor wasmade by the Ukrainian Diaspora. It was inthe West that the first academic publicationsabout the Holodomor saw the light of day. In1983, on the occasion of the 50th anniversaryof the Holodomor, hundreds of events world�wide, including memorial services, academiclectures, workshops and rallies, told the inter�national community about the great tragedyof the Ukrainian people. The Diaspora initi�

ated the creation of a special USCongressional Commission for Studying theFamine of 1932�33. The commission, led bythe late Prof. James Mace, worked for manyyears, gathering and analyzing volumes ofevidence. It concluded that the famine wasnot caused by climatic conditions or sabotageon the part of kurkuls but was the result ofdeliberate policies drawn up and implement�ed by Stalin and his closest entourage.

The commission recognized the famine asan act of genocide against Ukraine, both as astate and as a nation. The commission’s reportwas presented to the US Congress in spring1988, the same time the policies of perestroikaand glasnost were in effect in the USSR. Afterdecades of denial, Soviet ideologists and apo�logists had to admit to the facts of the famineand began opening up Soviet records forexamination. The revelation of the truthabout the Holodomor gained momentum inUkraine after independence was gained in1991. Since then, Ukrainian historians haveproduced thousands of works on the topic ofthe Holodomor. Along with historical studies,campaigns have been launched to honor thememories of those who died, to compile lists ofvictims and to collect eyewitness testimoniesfrom those fortunate enough to have survived.All of these efforts have resulted in the officialrecognition of the Holodomor as an act ofgenocide by scores of countries and interna�tional organizations.

In 2006, on President Viktor Yushchen�ko’s initiative, Ukraine’s Parliament passedthe «Law on the Holodomor of 1932�1933 inUkraine», which recognized the Holodomoras an act of genocide against the Ukrainianpeople. Every Ukrainian citizen should knowabout the scale of the tragedy that saw mil�lions of our countrymen die like martyrs intheir own prosperous land and resulted inthousands of villages and small towns beingwiped off Ukraine’s map. And this knowl�edge must be passed on to children andgrandchildren, in honor of the memory ofthose who died and to ensure that such anevil will NEVER occur again.

23

Conclusions

24

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraineresolves:

In honor of the memory of millions ofcountrymen who fell victim to theHolodomor of 1932�33 in Ukraine and con�sequences thereof;

In respect towards all citizens who sur�vived this terrible historical tragedy of theUkrainian people;

In recognition of the moral obligation topast and future generations of Ukrainiansand to acknowledge the need to restore his�torical justice and to strengthen intoleranceto all forms of violence in society;

In acknowledgment that the tragedy ofthe Holodomor of 1932�1933 in Ukraine wasofficially denied by the Government of theUSSR for many decades;

In condemnation of the criminal actionsof the totalitarian regime of the USSR aimedat organizing the Holodomor, which resultedin the death of millions of people, thedestruction of social values of the Ukrainianpeople, its age�old traditions, spiritual cul�ture and ethnic identity;

In sympathy with the other peoples of theformer USSR who suffered casualties as aresult of the Holodomor;

In great appreciation of the solidarity andsupport on the part of the international com�munity in condemning the Holodomor of1932�1933 in Ukraine, as set forth in the re�levant acts passed by the parliaments ofAustralia, the Republic of Argentina, theRepublic of Georgia, the Republic of Estonia,the Republic of Italy, Canada, the Republicof Lithuania, the Republic of Poland, theUnited States of America, the Republic ofHungary, as well as in the Joint Statementon the Occasion of the 70th Anniversary ofthe Holodomor – the Great Famine of 1932�1933 in Ukraine published as an official do�cument by the 58th Session of the GeneralAssembly of the United Nations Organi�

zation, that was signed by the Republic ofArgentina, the Republic of Azerbaijan, thePeople’s Republic of Bangladesh, theRepublic of Belarus, the Republic of Benin,the Republic of Bosnia & Herzegovina, theRepublic of Guatemala, the Republic ofGeorgia, the Arabian Republic of Egypt, theIslamic Republic of Iran, the Republic ofKazakhstan, Canada, Qatar, the KyrgyzRepublic, Kuwait, Republic of Macedonia,Mongolia, the Republic of Nauru, theKingdom of Nepal, the United ArabEmirates, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,the Republic of Peru, the South AfricanRepublic, the Republic of Korea, theRepublic of Moldova, the RussianFederation, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,the Syrian Arabian Republic, the UnitedStates of America, the Republic of Sudan, theRepublic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, theDemocratic Republic of Timor�Leste, theRepublic of Uzbekistan, Ukraine andJamaica, and also supported by Australia,Israel, the Republic of Serbia & Montenegroand the 25 member�states of the EuropeanUnion;

In consideration of the Recommen�dations of the Parliamentary Hearing onHonoring the Memory of the Victims of theHolodomor of 1932�1933, adopted byResolution of the Verkhovna Rada ofUkraine No. 607�IV dated March 6, 2003,and the Address to the Ukrainian People ofthe Participants of the Special Session of theVerkhovna Rada of Ukraine of May 14, 2003on Honoring the Memory of the Victims ofthe Holodomor of 1932�1933, adopted byResolution of the Verkhovna Rada ofUkraine No. 789�V dated May 15, 2003,which recognized the Holodomor as an act ofgenocide of the Ukrainian people resultingfrom the deliberate actions of Stalin’s totali�tarian repressive regime aimed at massdestruction of part of the Ukrainian peopleand of other peoples of the former USSR;

In recognition that the Holodomor of1932�33 in Ukraine corresponds to the

LAW OF UKRAINEon the Holodomor of 1932�1933 in Ukraine*

* The English version is a courtesy transla�tion made by Stepan Bandera

Convention on the Prevention andPunishment of the Crime of Genocide datedDecember 9, 1948 as a purposeful act of massdestruction of people, to adopt this Law.

Article 1. The Holodomor of 1932�1933in Ukraine is genocide of the Ukrainian peo�ple.

Article 2. The denial of the Holodomor of1932�1933 in Ukraine in public shall be qua�lified as a violation of the memory of millionsof victims of the Holodomor and humiliationof the dignity of the Ukrainian people, andshall be illegal.

Article 3. Government bodies and bodiesof local government, in accordance with theirpowers, shall:

participate in the formulation andimplementation of government policy in thearea of reviving and preserving the nationalmemory of the Ukrainian People;

contribute to the consolidation anddevelopment of the Ukrainian Nation, its his�torical awareness and culture, to the dissemi�nation of information about the Holodomor of1932�1933 in Ukraine among Ukrainiannationals and the global community; ensurethe studying of the Holodomor tragedy ineducational institutions of Ukraine;

implement measures to perpetuate thememory of the victims of and those who suf�fered from the Holodomor of 1932�1933 inUkraine, including to build memorials and toestablish memorial signs in settlements inorder to commemorate the victims of theHolodomor;

according to the established procedure,provide access to archival and other materi�als on issues related to the Holodomor forscientific and community organizations andinstitutions, scientists, and specific individu�als who study the problems of theHolodomor of 1932�1933 in Ukraine and itsconsequences. .

Article 4. The state shall ensure the con�ditions for carrying out studies and organiz�

ing events to perpetuate the memory of thevictims of the Holodomor of 1932�1933 inUkraine on the basis of the relevant nationalprogram. The funds for the implementationof the above�mentioned program shall beannually allocated in the State Budget ofUkraine.

Article 5. Final Provisions1. This Law shall be effective on the date

of its publication.2. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine

shall:1) determine the status and functions of

the Ukrainian Institute of National Me�mory and ensure that it is maintained at theState Budget’s expense as a specially�authorized central body of the executivebranch of government in the sphere ofrestoring and preserving the memory of theUkrainian people;

2) within a period of three months uponenactment of this Law:

submit suggestions with regard to bring�ing the legislative acts of Ukraine into linewith this Law to the Verkhovna Rada ofUkraine for consideration;

bring its own regulatory and legal actsinto line with this Law; ensure that the bo�dies of the executive branch of governmentrevise and repeal tohe regulatory and legalacts, adopted by them, which do not complywith this Law;

3) resolve the issue of building theMemorial to the Victims of Holodomors inUkraine in Kyiv on the occasion of the 75thanniversary of the Holodomor of 1932�1933in Ukraine in accordance with establishedprocedure with the participation of the KyivCity State Administration.

President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko

November 28, 2006No. 376�V

THE HOLODOMOR

AN ACT OF GENOCIDE AGAINST THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLEof