The Ukrainian Holodomor (Hunger-Extermination) of 1932-1933

Chicago American - Monday, February 25th, 1934

Not widely known by many Americans, the Holodomor was the premeditated mass starvation of the Ukrainian peasantry in the name of Soviet collectivization of Ukraine's farmland in 1932-1933. Recent international human rights research estimates the number of dead at somewhere between 2.4 and 7.5 million victims. It is impossible to arrive at an accurate figure. But there is one thing that scholars agree upon, this was the worst peacetime catastrophe in Ukraine's long and fabled history. The loss of life rivals the Holocaust of European Jews by Adolph Hitler and the Nazis.

Since 2006, the Holodomor has been recognized by many countries as genocide of the Ukrainian people. History notes that the destruction of the Ukrainian peasantry was premeditated on the part of Joseph Stalin. The term Holomodor emphasizes the man-made causes of the famine, like the Soviet confiscation of private property, farmland, livestock, wheat crops, and all the implements of farm and industrial production.

A campaign of terror was unleashed on ethnic Ukrainians, primarily in the southeastern "breadbasket" region of the country. Those who resisted Soviet authorities were shot or deported to Siberia. Families who attempted to hide their grain stocks were killed. Even so, some families chose to burn their homes to the ground and kill their livestock rather than hand them over to their Soviet overlords.

A system of internal passports was instituted preventing the free movement of the Ukrainian populace from villages and towns to suppress widespread knowledge of what was occurring in Ukraine. When the news of the famine reached the West, the Ukrainian diaspora in Western Europe and the United States quickly raised relief funds and sent food supplies to Ukraine which were rejected at the border by Soviet authorities. As a result of growing international notice, the Soviets responded by banning all journalists in Ukraine, and among the Ukraine populace, the banning of the words "famine" and "hunger." Using either word could result in a jail term.

With the exception of grain reserves used to feed livestock and not people, the vast bulk of Ukrainian grain was exported to neighboring countries to generate revenue for fueling Stalin's Five Year Plan. The Soviet Union was able to purchase Western commodities, among them military weapons and hardware. In return, those countries turned a blind eye to the Soviet Union's internal problems.

In addition to Ukrainian farm peasants, more than 5,000 Ukrainian intellectuals were arrested and charged with plotting an armed rebellion. Those who were not summarily shot were deported to Siberian labor camps, never to be heard from again. It is believed that Stalin feared a general revolt in support of Ukrainian nationalism. The Soviet goal was to have Ukrainians abandon all nationalistic fervor. This preemptive move left the rest of the population without leadership or direction.


For more detailed information on Holodomor, visit the United Human Rights Council's site at:
http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/genocide/ukraine_famine.htm

To view the many monuments dedicated to the victims of Holodomor, tap on this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor#mediaviewer/File:Holodomormemorialbloomingdale.jpg

Ukraine Ranks Second Largest Fornology Audience

Ukrainian folk costume with lovely traditional hand embroidery.

Since I began my blog in May of 2011, the United States has been my biggest audience of Fornology readers by far. But from the start, the second place spot has been shared alternately by Great Britain, Canada, and Germany, with Australia occasionally making a run for the second place spot. But in 2013, I added a translator feature to Fornology's sidebar and noticed a change in my international audience ratings. 

Russia had always made my top ten audience list but now they were climbing up the ranks. France and China started to hit my blog list at roughly the same time, but second place seemed to belong to Russia and Germany for many months on my All-time category report. Then Turkey began to rise up the ranks of my top ten and showed an interest in what I was writing. Finally, in late 2013 and into early 2014, Ukraine started making it onto the listing.

This new audience began to bound up my top ten list. Finally it happened. Ukraine leaped into second place in every reported category for the last month (Now, Day, Week, Month, and All-time).  No other country had come on as strong and as fast as Ukraine. It struck me that I needed to find out more about these proud people who have suffered much at the hands of history.

Pageviews by Countries

Entry	Pageviews
United States	79921
Ukraine	3099
Germany	2896
Russia	2869
France	2080
Canada	1958
United Kingdom	1724
Turkey	1224
China	915
Spain	705

(All-time list as of October 13th, 2014)
 
Like most Americans, I am woefully ignorant about Ukraine, other than it has been having sovereignty problems with the Russians over Crimea, and they have been moving towards possible civil war. Unlike many Americans, I can find Ukraine on the map. It is in southeastern Europe bordering the Black Sea between Poland, Romania, and Moldova to the west and the Great Russian Bear to the east. Its capital city is Kiev (Kyiv), one of the oldest and largest cities in Europe. Ukraine is 603,550 square kilometers with a population of 45,000,000 people.

In high school, all we were taught in history class about "the Ukraine" was that it was the "Breadbasket of the Soviet Union," and its people were brutalized by the Soviets and the Nazis during World War II. Why Ukrainians have shown such a strong interest in my Fornology blog is a mystery to me, so I decided to learn more about them, their history, and their culture and pass that information on to my Fornology readers.

The Ukrainian National Flag

In recent history, Ukraine became independent from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) when that communist regime dissolved in 1991. It is on August 24th that Ukrainians celebrate their Independence Day. The national flag of Ukraine was adopted in 1992. It simply consists of two stripes arranged horizontally, one blue stripe on top representing the skies and rivers of Ukraine and a yellow stripe below symbolizing Ukraine's lush golden wheat fields. Ukraine has a fledgling constitutional republic struggling to maintain its country's independence from Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin.

Bohdan Khmelnytsky, "Hetman of Ukraine", established an independent Ukraine after the uprising in 1648 against Poland.

Ukraine has an ancient history and its territory has changed hands and moved around many times since it was founded in 882 AD as Kievan Rus', a center for Slavic trade and culture. In 1240 AD there was a Mongol conquest, but by the 14th Century, the region was ruled by the Golden Horde, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and Poland before becoming a Cossack state in 1648. For much of the 18th and 19th Centuries, most of Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire, and the rest was controlled by the Austria-Hungary Empire.

Ukraine was free for a brief period after the Russian Revolution between 1917-1920. Ukraine became a republic of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991, when that communist regime collapsed. Check the link below for more detailed information and a timeline from CNN on Ukraine's ongoing political crisis.

Traditional Ukrainian cuisine

Ukrainian food is typically Eastern European. Hard cheeses, sausage, and borshch (beet soup), the national soup of Ukraine, are traditional dishes. Holubtsi (stuffed cabbage rolls), kovbasa (smoked or boiled sausage), and varenyky (dumplings with various meat, fruit, or vegetable fillings) are also part of traditional Ukrainian cuisine. Baked goods are bublik (similar to a bagel but bigger), babka (Easter bread made with sweet dough and dried fruit baked in a tall, cylindrical shape), and paska (traditional butter and egg rich Easter bread decorated with Easter symbols baked on top).

 

A Ukrainian folk art is Pysanka, decorated Easter eggs which are well-known the world over. Each region has its own traditional designs. They use the wax relief method to write intricate designs with beeswax to create symbolic patterns, next the eggs are dyed colors that also carry symbolic significance. The eggs are strongly tied to the Easter holiday and are painted during Holy Week to symbolize the rebirth of man and Jesus Christ's resurrection.

Woven goods with colorful embroidered motifs from around the country are found in traditional folk costumes worn for holidays and special occasions. Men's shirts and women's blouses and decorative vests are embroidered in brilliant colors with regional patterns, each with its own symbolic meaning.

Ukrainian customs and culture are heavily influenced by Christianity. Almost ninety percent of Ukraine's religious community is either Eastern Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, or Roman Catholic, though forty percent of its general population claim to be atheists. This is a residual effect of the Russification of Ukraine's population during Soviet domination to discourage Ukrainian national identity. But without their religious traditions to bind them through the dark times, Ukraine would long ago have lost its national identity, its heart, and its very soul. Even now, Ukraine struggles.

 

The Ukrainian people enjoy celebrations with family and friends, but as a people, they tend to be fatalistic because of their history and geography. Their country has been the corridor to Europe in the west and the gateway to Asia in the east since before written history. Their history is written in blood and is reflected in the Ukrainian anthem, Shche ne vmerla Ukraina (Ukraine has not yet died!). May Ukraine live long and prosper!

For more background on Ukraine's current political crisis with Russia, consult this CNN link: http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/28/world/europe/ukraine-fast-facts/

Petrykivka - Ukrainian ornamental folk art documentary in the Ukraine language. If the audio distracts you, turn the sound down and enjoy the visuals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsvcffwMpWg