kyiv.Ukraine.Ukraine Gate – November 27,2021- The Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Great Famine is observed annually on the fourth Saturday of November.
In the twentieth century, Ukrainians experienced mass famine three times: in 1921-1923, 1932-1933 and 1946-1947. However, Holodomor 1932-1933 was the most ambitious – it is the so-called genocide of the Ukrainian people, perpetrated by the Stalinist regime. The Ukrainian peasants became the next victims of the then authorities after the complete repression of the Ukrainian intelligentsia and the clergy.
A number of events preceded the mass famine in Ukraine. On November 18, 1932, the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) U “On measures to strengthen grain procurement” was issued, which provided for punishment for non-fulfillment of grain procurement plans – farms were punished with fines in kind, that is, confiscation of a 15-month ration of meat. Subsequently, the list of compensatory products was expanded with potatoes and lard, and at the end of the year – with long-term storage products. In addition, the decree “On the liquidation of counter-revolutionary nests and the defeat of kulak groups” issued on the same day allowed the grain to be taken from the peasants under the article “counter-revolutionary crimes.”
On November 26, an order was issued by the People’s Commissar of Justice and the Prosecutor General of the Ukrainian SSR, which emphasized that “repression is one of the most powerful means of overcoming class resistance to grain procurement.” Thus, artificially created famine became a well-conceived and carefully disguised punitive operation.
First of all, the grain they had grown was taken away from the Ukrainian peasants, and then the last food supplies were taken away by numerous in-kind fines and searches. In December 1932, trade in food was prohibited in 82 regions of Ukraine, and the supply of industrial goods was also stopped. In early 1933, the ban on leaving the famine-stricken Ukraine deprived the peasants of their last hopes of salvation.
Terror by famine, which continued in Ukraine for 22 months, claimed the lives of almost 4 million people.
For decades, the Holodomor theme was taboo. While the communist regime existed, it was strictly forbidden to even talk about the famine of those years. Research into this tragedy began only at the end of the 1980s. Now in Ukraine, in accordance with the law of November 28, 2006 “On the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine”, the famine of 1932-1933 is regarded as an act of genocide of the Ukrainian people, and his “public objection … is recognized as an outrage against the memory of millions of victims of the Holodomor, humiliation of the dignity of the Ukrainian people and is illegal. “
On December 7, 2016, Ukrainian parliamentarians called on other states to recognize the Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people. Currently, 17 states of the world have done this. Another 10 countries in official appeals condemned the Holodomor as an act of extermination of humanity, committed by the totalitarian Stalinist regime, or paid tribute to the memory of its victims. In addition, the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine was recognized as an act of genocide at the regional and municipal levels in 8 countries.
National events dedicated to the Day of Remembrance of Holodomor Victims will be held throughout Ukraine. On this day, mourning events, thematic scientific, informational and cultural events, exhibitions, presentations of documents, photo and video materials are provided. At the same time, the State flag will be lowered on the territory of Ukraine.
At 16:00 in every home, Ukrainians will light candles of memory and join the nationwide minute of silence.