Welcome to AUGB edinburgh branch
Holodomor 1932-1933, the campaign for recognition
Holodomor is based on two Ukrainian words: holod – ‘hunger, starvation, famine’, and moryty – ‘to induce suffering, to kill’.
The Holodomor was the barbaric and systematic starvation of more than 7 million Ukrainians over a period of just 18 months in 1932-33, on the most fertile lands in Europe. This included a third of all children in Ukraine who perished as a result.
The number of those who died during those 18 months is almost unimaginable, but it’s the equivalent of the number of students in the UK, or Wembley stadium filled almost 80 times over.
The famine was the largest and most secret of Stalin’s purges. It was covered up and denied at the time and for many decades afterwards. Only since the fall of the Soviet Union have documents become available which tell the full story of this most tragic page in 20th century history. Survivors of the famine are now able to talk openly about the Holodomor. Many of these survivors have had to live with the trauma of seeing their mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers die a cruel and needless death from starvation and for some, the memories are still too painful to recall.
Although everything possible was done to cover up the true horror of the famine in Ukraine, there are many eyewitness accounts, from journalists and others, which describe, often in harrowing terms, the widespread misery of starvation and death in a land of plenty.
Relatively few photographs of the period are available, but there is a body of authenticated photographs, taken by an Austrian, Otto Wienerberger, who stayed in Kharkiv during the summer of 1933 and by Dr Fritz Dittloff, former Director of the German Government’s Agricultural Concession ‘Drusag’ in the North Caucasus, which the Soviet government shut down in 1933. Most of their photographs, many of which are reproduced here were originally published in books in 1935 and 1936 by Dr Ewald Ammende, a Baltic German politician who, amongst other things, was Secretary-General of the European Nationalities Congress.
In the last few years, international bodies, faith leaders and countries around the world have begun to acknowledge the full horror of the Holodomor. Ukraine passed legislation in 2006 declaring the Holodomor an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people, and President Yushchenko has made international recognition of the Holodomor a personal campaign, as well as calling on Ukrainians all over the world to work towards raising awareness of the Holodomor in this 75th anniversary year.
The call to action has been taken up in every country where Ukrainians and those of Ukrainian descent live, through commemorative events and awareness-raising initiatives. The Ukrainian community in Great Britain is also playing its part with a range of events to raise awareness, including participation in the International Torch of Remembrance rally and a major national commemoration in Westminster Central Hall on 22 November. Our ultimate aim is to persuade the UK government to follow the lead of Australia, Canada, the USA and others, and acknowledge the Holodomor as genocide. This is not about politics, reparations or blame, but about basic human morality and respect for life.
We urge everyone to join the campaign for recognition to honour the memory of the millions who died so needlessly and to prevent such atrocities from ever happening again.
The holodomor campaign in great britain
Here in Britain, the Association of Ukrainians, the leading representative body of Ukrainians in the UK, is spearheading a campaign to commemorate the victims of Holodomor, while the enforced famine is still in living memory. A Holodomor Commemoration Committee has been established which will take responsibility for national events, co-ordinate local events and liaise with the Embassy of Ukraine, the International Coordinating Committee of the Ukrainian World Congress and other organisations to spread the message about the historical and moral significance of Holodomor.
Campaign
objectives
Our
ultimate objective is to encourage and persuade the UK Government to
follow the lead of those countries around the world which have already
recognised Holodomor as genocide against the Ukrainian people,
including Canada, the USA and Australia. This will not be
achieved
easily or quickly, but there are many steps that can be taken towards
that goal. In the next year, our aims are:
- To ensure that Ukrainians in Britain play their part in spreading awareness of Holodomor amongst Members of Parliament, local and national media, academics and opinion-formers;
- To ensure that Holodomor is made a part of the mainstream narrative of 20th century history;
- To ensure that the innocent victims of the atrocity are honoured and commemorated with the respect they deserve;
- To organise a series of national commemorative and awareness-raising events;
- To facilitate local events and help realise ideas from groups and individuals;
- To ensure that as many young people as possible become actively involved in the campaign.
Work programme
and events
The
Committee has established a core programme of work and events for the
year, which were presented at a community briefing session at Tarasivka
(the Ukrainian Youth Association’s Centre in Derbyshire) on 6 April,
which was attended by over 100 people from around the country.
The plan for the year includes:
- Awareness-raising campaign amongst Members of Parliament
- Awareness-raising amongst national media
- Gathering video, audio and written survivor testimonies
- Torch of Remembrance – 26 June to 4 July in cities and towns around England, Wales and Scotland. Places, times and dates to be confirmed
- NUS Student campaign
- National Commemorative Service and Rally – 22 November in central London, venue to be confirmed.