HOLODOMOR 1932-1933: Genocidal Famine in Ukraine

How will you celebrate Thanksgiving? Will it be feast or famine?

In Ukraine in 1933, every day was famine. At the time, Ukraine was part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics under Joseph Stalin’s regime. The Holodomor was the result of Stalin’s Communist Party and the Soviet State’s assault on Ukrainian subsistence farmers who opposed Soviet policies of collectivization. The regime had created new laws to force Ukrainian farmers to collectivize or “pool” all the wheat and other grains they had grown. Farmers and rural villagers were forced under threat of death to give up all that they produced.

The communist regime sent its army to confiscate by force all the grain, even seeds meant for planting the following year’s crops. Livestock were taken, too. This left almost no food for Ukrainian farmers and villagers, who usually only ate fresh foods or those they preserved themselves. The army also blockaded roads and villages, preventing people from leaving. Eventually, no food remained, and there was no way out. The people began to starve. And millions died.

Explore the story behind the tragedy of genocidal famine. You may better understand why Ukraine keeps fighting for its lives and independence as a sovereign nation.

With this exhibit, the Newark Public Library, in collaboration with the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America, marks November as Holodomor Remembrance Month.