HOLODOMOR -Victims of Death by Hunger Created by Stalin Rule on Ukrainians Remembered

Islamabad/Pakistan; 25 Nov 2019-Ukrainians around the world commemorated the victims of 1932-33 of artificial famine created and imposed by Stalin Regime on innocent farmers of Ukraine that resulted in half of their population’s death due to hunger. It is called Holodomor (“death by hunger” )by Ukrainians and marked every year to express their solidarity with the victims and to refresh the sacrifices they rendered for their homeland. Stalin regime confiscated their crops by force leaving nothing to eat for those who their-selves had grown the food mainly wheat and corn.

The Embassy of Ukraine in Islamabad held a briefing in this regard in which the Ukrainians in Pakistan and the local media persons were invited. Ambassador Vlad Lakomov and Second Secretary on Culture and Humanitarian issues Dr. Olena Bordilovska shed light on the facts and back ground of the tragic events of that difficult time.

Ambassador of Ukraine in his preliminary remarks said that “We commemorate the victims of Holodomor, genocide of Ukrainian population, which left deep wounds not only on the body of Ukrainian nation, but on all of humanity. It was a crime, committed by the Soviet regime and it was one of the most tragic events in the 20th century world history”.

Ambassador informed participants that before World War I, Ukrainian farmers (90% of the population) harvested 20% of the World’s wheat and 10% of the corn productions and had been considered as Bread Basket of Europe.It may be mentioned that Ukrainian lands had been divided, and at 80% of Ukrainian ethnic territory fell under the control of Soviet Russia. By the end of 1920 the Soviet Army captured a large portion of the territory of Ukraine.

It provoked a resistance against Communist regime with more than 100.000 fighters. Under these circumstances, the Bolsheviks launched an anti-Ukrainian policy – to destroy the traditional style of life, nationalize industry, regulate the trade and agriculture and vanish Ukrainian culture. It was the first period when the Soviet regime used famine as a weapon of mass terror to suppress Ukrainian opposition.

Ambassador further added “In 1927, the decision to finally collectivize agriculture adopted, which launched the elimination of “prosperous” farmers, grain confiscation and total change in agriculture production. A lot of efforts had been made by Soviet propaganda to create an image of “Kulaks”, greedy farmers, “bourgeois nationalists”. In 1932 the Soviet government created a chain of special decrees and decisions which led to the mass starvation in Ukraine, in the beginning of 1933, Stalin personally ordered Ukrainian farmers to give up all the grain. As a result, Holodomor took away millions of human lives”.

Dr. Olena Bordilovska, the Second Secretary on Culture and Humanitarian issues in Ukraine Embassy gave a detail presentation about background of Holodomor and informed participants that independent writers consider this event as Famine-Genocide of ethnic Ukrainians and during the Holodomor, millions of Ukrainians died of starvation as Soviet government took away grains from fields and nothing was left to people for eating.

Dr. Olena Bordilovska showed photos from history and documents that malnutrition played havoc with Ukrainians who died of hunger in chilling winters because they had nothing to eat and their sources of production like horses, grain seeds and agriculture tools were taken away by Soviet authorities.