Causes and Consequences of The Holodomor Genocide for The People of Ukraine

Introduction

The Holodomor was an atrocious event also known as the 'Hunger Plague', which began in the year of 1932 and ended in the year of 1933, causing more than seven million deaths (Applebaum, 2017). The Holodomor was designed to destroy the nation of Ukraine, particularly targeting the farmers. The goals of this genocide were collectivism and Soviet industrialization. The word Holodomor is a Ukrainian term used to describe death by hunger or starvation. The main areas affected by this genocide were central and eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian farmers were forced to give all their harvest to the government, resulting in famine. The famine was orchestrated by the Soviet Union, which made it appear as a crop failure; the mastermind behind this mass occurrence was Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Communist Party (Snyder, 2010). The purpose of this essay is to describe the causes and consequences of the Holodomor genocide and its effects on the people of Ukraine during and after the genocide.

The Role of Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin was a Georgian revolutionary born on December 18, 1878, in Russia. Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili was Joseph Stalin's real name. Before Stalin was in charge of the Soviet Union, Lenin was in control. Stalin climbed the political ladder and gained political support, but when Lenin died, Stalin took his place and assumed full control of the Soviet Union. Joseph Stalin played a significant role in the inception of the Holodomor genocide; he wanted to expand Russia and generate as much money as possible for the country. Stalin sought to remove undesirable people from Ukraine, either by sending them to forced labor camps or by killing them. Joseph Stalin collectivized farming and executed enemies who posed a threat to him. Stalin perceived Ukraine's growth as a danger. In 1932, Stalin remarked, 'If we don't make an effort now to improve the situation in Ukraine, we may lose Ukraine' (Conquest, 1986). The rise in population was evidence that motivated Stalin to implement the policy for the Holodomor genocide. Joseph Stalin played a major role in the Holodomor genocide. Before the genocide began, many steps were taken by Stalin to accomplish his goal of making Russia an industrial country. Stalin's idea was to use grain to feed industrial workers and to sell it to other countries to generate revenue for financing his industrialization plans.

Agricultural Collectivization and Policies

In 1928, Stalin implemented an agricultural collectivization program that forced people to give up their land and join collective farms owned by the government. In 1929, the 'Class Warfare' policy was issued because many farmers refused to join the collective farms, and this policy was used to suppress resistance against the collective farms (Fitzpatrick, 1994). Successful farmers were brutally treated by troops, and the secret police were used to eliminate them. Many people became victims of the Dekulakization policy, which transported them to remote areas such as Siberia without food or shelter. Stalin's policies indicated that he was planning something substantial. Life during the Holodomor was extremely difficult for people; twenty-five percent of the population was put to death. Another dreadful result of the Holodomor was that many children died under the age of ten. Poor people would steal food from soldiers to feed their children and save their lives. When soldiers raided homes for food, they took everything they found, a decision made by the government. 'If you hid some food, they could send you to Siberia,' said Kateryna Panchenko, a Holodomor survivor (Mace, 1984).

The Impact on Children and Population

In 1933, over three hundred thousand children were recorded dead in the Kyiv region alone. Most of the children died on the streets due to starvation, leading to overcrowded orphanages and shelters, with no space left for more kids (Plokhy, 2017). Additionally, two-thirds of Ukrainian children were recorded missing from schools, and many children became orphans or homeless. People walked to other towns and cities in search of food when supplies ran out in their villages. By 1933, as the famine became critical, people were dying at a rate of 30,000 a day, with close to one-third being children under the age of ten. Although food was available in the cities, city dwellers were not allowed to help, and doctors were prohibited from treating poor villagers, who ultimately died on the streets. Many events unfolded after the Holodomor genocide, which continued to affect people's lives, with many still dying from starvation.

Aftermath and Denial

Stalin denied to the world that a famine had occurred in Ukraine and continued to export millions of tons of grain, more than enough to feed the starving men, women, and children who perished from starvation (Tauger, 2001). As Joseph Stalin sought to achieve his goal of financing industrialization, his plan did not succeed as anticipated, as fewer grains began to be exported than before. Anyone who voiced opposition to Stalin was accused of spreading a disease. Many Holodomor survivors experienced mental breakdowns because their relatives died due to hunger caused by the lack of food. Between 1933 and 1934, four million deaths were attributed to starvation within the borders of Soviet Ukraine.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Holodomor was a catastrophic event—a famine that caused seven million deaths in Ukraine between 1932 and 1933, orchestrated by the Communist Party. As mentioned in the essay, Joseph Stalin refused to help the Ukrainian people, who were dying because of the famine he instigated. Stalin feared nationalism in Ukraine, which he viewed as a threat, prompting him to implement the Holodomor to destroy the Ukrainian national idea by wiping out the elite and their social support base. After Stalin decided to destroy life for the Ukrainian people, life became unbearable as they began to die of starvation. As a result of the Holodomor, more than seven million people in Ukraine lost their lives. People caught hiding food were sent to Siberia by soldiers.

Reflections on the Holodomor

The Holodomor was a deadly event that claimed many lives during the years 1932-1933. 'God spare us from reliving it again,' said another Holodomor survivor, Ksenia Datsenko (Dolot, 1985). Many children went missing from school, a result of the Holodomor, leading to a high children's mortality rate. Overcrowded orphanages and children's shelters contributed to the increase in child deaths caused by starvation.

References

• Applebaum, A. (2017). Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine. Doubleday.
• Conquest, R. (1986). The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine. Oxford University Press.
• Dolot, M. (1985). Execution by Hunger: The Hidden Holocaust. W.W. Norton & Company.
• Fitzpatrick, S. (1994). Stalin's Peasants: Resistance and Survival in the Russian Village after Collectivization. Oxford University Press.
• Mace, J. E. (1984). The Man-Made Famine of 1933 in the Soviet Union: What Happened and Why. Ukrainian Quarterly.
• Plokhy, S. (2017). Lost Kingdom: The Quest for Empire and the Making of the Russian Nation. Basic Books.
• Snyder, T. (2010). Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. Basic Books.
• Tauger, M. B. (2001). Natural Disaster and Human Actions in the Soviet Famine of 1931-1933. Carl Beck Papers in Russian and East European Studies.