‘Death by Hunger’

The soil in Ukraine is some of the most fertile anywhere. In fact, the country is sometimes known as “the breadbasket of Europe” for its vast fields of grain. But in 1932 and 1933, millions of people in this region known for producing so much of the world’s food were dying in the streets of starvation.

This deadly famine is known in Ukraine as the Holodomor, or “death by hunger.” It wasn’t caused by a plague or drought. Instead, it happened because of a government policy under the rule of the Soviet Union’s dictator at the time, Joseph Stalin.

Stalin forced millions of Ukrainian peasant farmers onto state-run collective farms. He did so as part of his plan to crush Ukrainian independence and make the Soviet Union an industrial power. Stalin punished resistance to his harsh measures by leaving the population without enough food to survive.

The result was a horrific mass starvation. It left more than 4 million Ukrainians dead. Many historians have called it a genocide.

“The Soviet assault on the peasantry, and on the Ukrainian nation, . . . was one of the largest and most devastating events in modern history,” historian Robert Conquest told members of Congress in 1986. He added that “a great effort was put into denying or concealing the facts.”

Now, 90 years later, the tragedy still strikes a chord throughout Ukraine. It’s seen today in the bold resistance Ukrainians have shown to Russia’s recent invasion.

Ukraine, a country about the size of Texas, sits to the west of Russia (see map, above). In the late 18th century, the land that makes up modern-day Ukraine was split between the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires. That lasted until 1917, when, in the aftermath of World War I and the collapse of the Russian Empire, Ukraine became an independent nation.

But Ukraine’s independence was short-lived. In 1922, most of Ukraine was forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union, which would comprise modern-day Russia and 14 other republics. The newly established communist state sought to control all spheres of life within its borders, including government ownership of businesses and absolute control over the press.

When Stalin rose to power in the Communist Party in the 1920s, he set out to create a modern superpower, no matter the cost. 

Ukraine sits to the west of Russia. The country is about the size of Texas (see map, above). In the late 18th century, the land that makes up modern-day Ukraine was split between the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires. That lasted until 1917. In the aftermath of World War I and the collapse of the Russian Empire, Ukraine became an independent nation.

But Ukraine’s independence was short-lived. In 1922, the Soviet Union took control over most of Ukraine. The newly established communist state included modern-day Russia and 14 other republics. It sought to control all parts of life within its borders. That included government ownership of businesses and complete control over the press.

Stalin rose to power in the Communist Party in the 1920s. During his rise, he set out to create a modern superpower, no matter the cost.

“We are fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced countries,” he said in a 1931 speech. “We must make good this distance in ten years. Either we do it, or they crush us.”

Stalin instituted a series of five-year plans for the Soviet state, the first of which was aimed at collectivizing agriculture—combining the millions of small farms owned by individual peasants into large farms owned and run by the state.

But millions of independent small-scale farmers in Ukraine resisted collectivization. Some slaughtered cattle, destroyed machinery, and even burned their land to prevent the government from seizing their farms.

Stalin meanwhile deemed the wealthier farmers, known as kulaks, “sworn enemies of the collective-farm movement.” He had them rounded up and imprisoned, deported, or even executed. Any farmer caught resisting collectivization was labeled a kulak and was punished as such.

“We are fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced countries,” he said in a 1931 speech. “We must make good this distance in ten years. Either we do it, or they crush us.”

Stalin created a series of five-year plans for the Soviet state. The first one aimed to take full control of agriculture. Stalin set out to combine the millions of small farms owned by individual peasants into large farms owned and run by the state.

But millions of independent small-scale farmers in Ukraine resisted the plan. Some killed cattle, destroyed machinery, and even burned their land. They aimed to prevent the government from taking control of their farms.

The wealthier farmers were known as kulaks. Stalin deemed them “sworn enemies of the collective-farm movement.” He had them rounded up and imprisoned, deported, or even executed. Any farmer caught resisting Stalin’s plan was labeled a kulak and was punished as such.

Historians say that Stalin saw the idea of Ukrainian independence as a challenge to the success of the Soviet state. He was fearful that a peasant uprising in Ukraine could keep him from achieving his master plan. That’s why he targeted the region.

First, in 1932, he put impossibly high grain collection quotas in place. Soviet officials went through Ukrainian villages and took all the wheat, barley, and other types of grain that were grown. The crops were used to feed other parts of the Soviet Union and also exported to other countries. That left Ukrainians with little or nothing to eat.

New laws made stealing grain from a collective farm punishable by execution. Authorities also tore through villages and even individual homes to take any hidden grain and seeds.

Oleksandra Radchenko was a teacher in the Kharkiv region. She kept a diary to record the horror as it unfolded around her.

“Hunger, an artificial famine, is taking on a monstrous character,” she wrote on April 5, 1932. “Why are they taking the last grain of bread? No one understands why, and they continue to take everything down to the last kernel.”

Some farmers and entire villages got cut off from the outside world. That made it nearly impossible for them to get food. Soviet troops stationed around Ukraine’s border kept starving citizens from fleeing the country to beg for something to eat.

As Ukrainians worked to grow food for other parts of the Soviet Union and other countries, they were dying of starvation. In 1932, the Soviet state took more than 4 million tons of grain from Ukraine. That was enough to feed at least 12 million people for a year, according to the University of Minnesota’s Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

The hunger pushed Ukrainians to eat whatever they could get their hands on. They ate mice, dogs, rats, and tree bark. According to eyewitness accounts, some parents even killed and ate their own children.

“Children are being kidnapped,” Radchenko wrote in January 1933, “and sausage made from human meat is being sold.”

By spring, the carnage was all around. Miron Dolot, a survivor from the village of Cherkasy, later recalled seeing all the bodies of the dead.   

“Starvation in our village now reached a point at which death was a desirable relief,” he wrote in his 1985 book, Execution by Hunger. “As the snow slowly melted away, human corpses were exposed to view everywhere: in backyards, on roads, in fields.”

By the following fall, the death toll in Ukraine had created such labor shortages that Stalin eased up on collections, resettling peasants from elsewhere in the Soviet Union to work on the collective farms, and effectively ending the famine.

At the time, it was illegal to even mention the famine. The Soviet Union altered statistics to cover up true death tolls and refused international aid, historians say. And the foreign press was barred from visiting the region.

By spring, death was all around. Miron Dolot was a survivor from the village of Cherkasy. He later recalled seeing all the bodies of the dead.

“Starvation in our village now reached a point at which death was a desirable relief,” he wrote in his 1985 book, Execution by Hunger. “As the snow slowly melted away, human corpses were exposed to view everywhere: in backyards, on roads, in fields.”

By the following fall, the death toll in Ukraine had created huge labor shortages. That led Stalin to ease collections and resettle peasants from elsewhere in the Soviet Union to work on the collective farms. These moves helped end the famine.

At the time, it was illegal to even mention the famine. The Soviet Union changed statistics to cover up true death tolls and refused international aid, historians say. And the foreign press was barred from visiting the region.

But even after years of silencing, the Holodomor is a major part of Ukrainian collective consciousness today. Memories of the event have been told through the generations.

“My grandfather was starved during Holodomor,” said 26-year-old Olya, of Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine, after Russia invaded her country on February 24. “My grandmother was jailed in 1949 for aiding people fighting for Ukrainian independence. They never gave up and are the only reason I was born free.” 

But with the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine ordered by President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s freedom once again hangs in the balance. Historians see similarities between the 1932-33 famine and the Russia invasion.

But even after years of silencing, the Holodomor is etched into the minds of Ukrainians today. Memories of the event have been told through the generations.

“My grandfather was starved during Holodomor,” said 26-year-old Olya, of Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine, after Russia invaded her country on February 24. “My grandmother was jailed in 1949 for aiding people fighting for Ukrainian independence. They never gave up and are the only reason I was born free.”

But with the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine ordered by President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s freedom once again hangs in the balance. Historians see similarities between the 1932-33 famine and the Russia invasion.

“Putin, like Stalin, sees Ukrainian sovereignty as an existential threat to himself,” says historian Anne Applebaum, author of Red Famine. “I see a parallel in the way that Moscow has seen Kyiv [Ukraine’s capital] for a really long time.”

In the recent invasion, Russian forces have bombed hospitals, malls, schools, and homes. They’ve stormed into entire cities, where they’ve targeted civilians and killed thousands of Ukrainians. The conflict has forced millions to flee their country.

Historians say that these attacks are like the last attempt to erase Ukrainian independence. But instead of using mass starvation, Russia has turned to bombs. Applebaum says memories of the famine fuel Ukrainians to bravely resist today’s Russian aggression.

“One of the reasons Ukrainians are fighting so hard today,” says Applebaum, “is because they remember it.”