UKRAiNIAN Genocide 1932

Pre-Genocide Days

Under Lenin – there was a loose grip on the Ukrainian economy

This breath of independence started a revival among Kulaks

-folk music, customs, language, orthodox religion

Stalin abruptly put an end to this movement in order to reinforce a strong Soviet influence

Who are the Kulaks

Wealthy Owned 24 acres of land or more Employed farm workers

Kulaks previously held political power and this posed a threat to Stalin

Goals of the Famine break the spirit of the Ukrainian

farmer/peasant force them into collectivization. to break the renaissance of Ukrainian culture

that was occurring under approval of the communist government in Ukraine.

Causes

a. Kulaks had 80% of a population controlling the Ukraine

b. Kulaks were in the way of rapid industrialization

c. A high grain quota was implicated by Moscow resulting in genocide.

Starvation as a Tool

1932- Soviets raise the quota by 44%

This quota resulted in the inability of Ukrainians to feed themselves

Soviet Police took stored up food, left farmers without anything.

Starvation Ukrainian Communist asked Moscow for:1. a reduction in grain quota2. Emergency food aid

Under Soviet law no person could eat until quota was met A merciless war of attrition against peasants who refused to

give up their grain. Execution for theft of grain Those who did not appear to be starving were often suspected

of hoarding grain. Peasants were prevented from leaving their villages by the police and a system of internal passports.

Ukraine looks for help

Deaths 17 per minute1,000 an hour

25,000 per day

The West Looks The Other Way

West adopted a passive attitude toward the famine,

Franklin D. Roosevelt, even chose to formally recognized Stalin's Communist government

negotiated a sweeping new trade agreement. admission of the Soviet Union into the

League of Nations.

The End Result

By the end of 1933, nearly 25 percent of the population of the Ukraine, including three million children, had perished. The Kulaks as a class were destroyed and an entire nation of village farmers had been laid low. With his immediate objectives now achieved, Stalin allowed food distribution to resume inside the Ukraine and the famine subsided