" Both Nations (the Jews and Ukrainians) were exterminated due
to political reasons and only because they were what they were."
US Congressman David Roth
to political reasons and only because they were what they were."
US Congressman David Roth
Reasons and lead up
The people of Ukraine had tried to revolt and claim their independence in 1918. The Ukrainian people no longer wanted to be under Soviet rule. Their rebellion was crushed, but this made the Soviet government wary towards the Ukrainian people. In the late 1920’s Joseph Stalin, one of the main leaders of the Soviet Union, declared that all Ukrainian farmland belonged to the state. Stalin wanted to establish something called, 'collective farms'.
Basically, Stalin had industrialization plans, and collective plans. He decided that all farmers should work on collective farms. The food from these farms would feed the industrial workers as well as the food could be sold to raise money for industrialization. The Ukraine people resisted this idea.
Many burned their fields and crops so the government could not get a hold of their farms. This created even further tension between the Stalin dictatorship and the Ukrainian people. Stalin decided that the Ukrainian people, the rural society, needed to be taught a lesson. He set up a quota for the harvest of 1932 that could not be met [an increase of 44%], and when the quota wasn't met, he implemented what is now known as the Holodomor.
Stalin felt that to control the Ukrainian people, he needed to crush the backbone of Ukrainian society, the rural communities.
But why punish the people with starvation?
This way of killing off the Ukranian people was very effective, and relatively easy for Stalin to enforce. By starving the Ukranian people instead of fighting them, he really gave the Ukranian people no chance to fight back. The Ukranian people suffered millions of casualties, but Stalin suffered little to none.
This also helped Stalin out with his industiralization plans. He was able to crush any resistance, and was able to take all of the grain that the Ukranian people were farming, and sell it world-wide to get money for the industiralization process.
Basically, Stalin had industrialization plans, and collective plans. He decided that all farmers should work on collective farms. The food from these farms would feed the industrial workers as well as the food could be sold to raise money for industrialization. The Ukraine people resisted this idea.
Many burned their fields and crops so the government could not get a hold of their farms. This created even further tension between the Stalin dictatorship and the Ukrainian people. Stalin decided that the Ukrainian people, the rural society, needed to be taught a lesson. He set up a quota for the harvest of 1932 that could not be met [an increase of 44%], and when the quota wasn't met, he implemented what is now known as the Holodomor.
Stalin felt that to control the Ukrainian people, he needed to crush the backbone of Ukrainian society, the rural communities.
But why punish the people with starvation?
This way of killing off the Ukranian people was very effective, and relatively easy for Stalin to enforce. By starving the Ukranian people instead of fighting them, he really gave the Ukranian people no chance to fight back. The Ukranian people suffered millions of casualties, but Stalin suffered little to none.
This also helped Stalin out with his industiralization plans. He was able to crush any resistance, and was able to take all of the grain that the Ukranian people were farming, and sell it world-wide to get money for the industiralization process.
The word Holodomor means, literally, "Death by Forced Starvation".
A newspaper article like this would not have been printed during the actual Holodomor. Even taking pictures of the Holodomor as a reporter risked your own life.
A newspaper article like this would not have been printed during the actual Holodomor. Even taking pictures of the Holodomor as a reporter risked your own life.