In 1932, mass famine was atrocious in the USSR. It was in Ukraine that the word “famine” appeared, which means deliberate extermination by hunger.
The causes of famine were many. The most important is collectivization. Wealthy peasants were dispossessed, their cattle and grain were taken from them. However, things went no better on collective farms. People worked, but they saw bread only in a dream. All grain was handed over to the state. It was a terrible time. Not many years have passed since then, it seems that historians know everything about this period. But disputes among them do not subside. What events really took place, and which were created artificially, hardly anyone will be able to find out. Now this is nothing more than a subjective opinion. But still try to figure out what happened in those days in the USSR. Below is a list of 10 facts about the Holodomor of 1932-33.
10. First mention in the press
Oddly enough, information about the Holodomor was first published in an English publication. A journalist from England traveled to the Ukrainian SSR, he was struck by how people live. Magerage in his article mentioned the famine, he noted the mass deaths of peasants. After its publication, foreign journalists were forbidden to travel freely around the USSR. Those territories where famine raged were under a special ban. However, this was not the only mention of the famine in the press. Soon, similar articles appeared in American newspapers.
9. Natural fines
The peasants had to hand over grain to the state. They had a plan in front of them. But the authorities for some reason believed that the peasants were hiding grain from them. In fact, people gave the last, they simply had nowhere else to take. Then they used punitive measures. They took food, livestock, everything that was from the peasants. Moreover, debt due to this did not decrease, the peasant owed to the state. People who managed to survive with a shudder recalled that time. They said that the collectors did not disdain anything, took even the oldest products. In addition, collectors not only deprived people of products, they beat them and scoffed.
8. Genocide
The opinions of historians and politicians differ. Some of them believe that the famine was caused in order to destroy the Ukrainian people. Others speak of the tragedy of the entire Soviet Union. In 2006, the Verkhovna Rada recognized the Holodomor as genocide. The Government of the Russian Federation has a different opinion on this. Still, many historians are inclined to believe that there can be no talk of genocide. Indeed, in other republics and regions a lot of people also died from a lack of food, but no one says that they were specially starved. Ukrainians believe that the Holodomor dealt a severe blow to demography.
7. The geography of hunger
Famine suffered not only in Ukraine. Residents of Siberia, the Volga region, the Urals, and Kazakhstan were also victims of food shortages. Most people in Ukraine died in the Kiev, Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk, Poltava region. Among all the dead, 81% of Ukrainians, the rest are Russians, Poles, Jews, Bulgarians. Historians attribute this to the fact that more people died in the villages, in the city they were given food cards. In addition, there was an opportunity to earn some money.
6. Where was the Holodomor?
Overpriced grain harvesting plans at that time were put forward by 25 thousand collective farms. That was in 1932. But among them there were 1,500 "lucky" who managed to fulfill this plan. At least vegetables and fruits were not taken from them. People could somehow hold out. Such collective farms were in every region. Collective farm chairmen often tried to lower the plan, but long discussions usually had no result. Very often, when they refuse to accept such a plan, the chairmen are removed from their posts or even declared enemies of the people.
5. The number of victims
There is still no consensus on the number of victims. This figure ranges from 1.8 million to 10 million people. The Institute of Demography of Ukraine calls the number 3.9 million. According to scientists, the number of victims is often overstated by politics. Some sources indicate 12 million. Therefore, scientists recommend checking the accuracy of the data before rushing with loud statements. By the way, in the USSR 8.7 million people died of starvation. And Ukraine in terms of relative losses takes the second place, the first place in Kazakhstan. These indicators are calculated by reproducing demographic dynamics. Scientists have calculated what size would have been if there had not been a famine and compared it with the actual number.
4.
During the reign of Soviet power, honor boards were popular, they were also called "red boards". But if a country knows its heroes, it should know those who pull it back. So thought the majority of those close to power. “Black boards” appeared on which they wrote the name of the village, wrongdoing and repressive measures. Collective farm workers, whose name appeared on this board, did not burn with shame. No, everything was much worse. Those who did not fulfill the plan lost everything. The authorities applied in-kind fines, many different punitive measures were introduced, the chairmen were removed, entire villages were evicted, people were killed.
3. Official Recognition
They first heard about the Holodomor in 1978. The source is the works of Ukrainian emigrants who left for America. But the authorities of the USSR denied everything. Historians were also forbidden to talk about this period. The only thing that could be spoken about was the difficulty in providing food. It was only in 1987 that the USSR recognized that in 1932 - 1933 there were many starving people throughout the Union, and people really were starving. And already in 1990 a book was published about this difficult time. True, its circulation was small, only 2.5 thousand copies.
2. The Five Spikelets Act
It seemed that it would not be any worse, but in 1932, at the suggestion of Stalin, a new law was introduced. The law "On Five Spikelets" was nicknamed the law on the protection of property of state enterprises and collective farms. They punished everyone who dared to encroach on what the state owns. Criminals were sentenced to death or imprisonment. They punished not only those who stole on a large scale. In a literal sense, because of several spikelets, the grains could be shot. Peasants, who, while harvesting grain, hid a handful in their pockets to feed a hungry child, were put in jail, and property was taken. In the first year alone, about 150 thousand people were convicted.
1. Cannibalism
The most terrible phenomenon at that time was cannibalism. People could not stand the hunger, they ate dead children and adults. They stole corpses in the cemetery. There were many terrifying cases. The woman left for the city, leaving three young children, the youngest of them was 3 years old, the oldest 9. The elder brother and sister killed the younger sister and simply attacked the corpse. Parents killed the children, justifying themselves by dying from exhaustion anyway. Nowhere has so many cases of cannibalism been recorded. The mission was assigned to the medical workers of the villages: to kill the cannibals. Doctors went to the homes of cannibals with poisonous food. Such people were punished and even shot.