The Ukrainian Genocide known as Holodomor means death by starvation. This was Stalin’s way to repress the peasants of Ukraine for resisting his collectivization--the Soviet system of land management. Ukraine had an average grain harvest 146.6 million centers in 1932 with no dangers of famine. However, due to the forced grain requisition imposed on the rural Soviet Ukraine population, the peasants were already experiencing hunger by spring of 1932. He directly enforced collectivization. The grain collections were brutally carried out by 112,000 special Bolshevik agents sent to Ukraine to extract grain by using terror against both collectivized and independent farmers.
The Ukrainians, in turn, responded through a series of rebellions. The estimated number of deaths range from 3 million to 10 million, but the exact number of deaths is difficult to determine due to a lack of records. Their mortality rate was above 20 percent. This was a silent genocide because the Soviet government insured that it was concealed from the mass public. Foreign journalists were prohibited from writing about the famine and undermined the Ukrainian situation. An example of these writers is Pulitzer Prize winning reporter of the New York Times, Walter Duranty, who sent one report stating "...all talk of famine now is ridiculous,” and “you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs."
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As result of his actions, Stalin greatly impacted the lives in modern Ukraine. He left the country in devastation and corruption. The land once called the "bread basket of Europe", famous for its abundant wheat fields, was transformed into a basket case. On November 28, 2006, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) passed a law that recognized the Holodomor as a deliberate Act of Genocide. It made public denial of the Ukrainian Genocide illegal. The Holodomor Memorial Day Act, which calls for the fourth Saturday in November to be a day of remembrance, is displayed through numerous symbols that can be seen in the memorial, itself. There are two angels at the entrance called Angels of Sorrow to represent the individuals who died from starvation. The emaciated girl with the wheat is called the Sad Memory of Childhood to demonstrate the helpless children who suffered. The black pavement represents the black soil of Ukraine. The candle-shaped monument is called the Candle of Memory, establishing that the atrocious genocide will never be forgotten. |