WHY HOLODOMOR IS RECOGNIZED AS THE GENOCIDE AGAINST UKRAINIANS: REFLECTIONS ON THE THEME

Abstract

The paper examines the general context of Soviet genocide against Ukrainians known as Holodomor 1932- 1933 (Ukrainian Famine). Being one of the major tragedies in Ukrainian and world history, Holodomor is still relatively unknown. Analyzing the literature on the Holodomor dominantly consists of compilations of documents and survivors testimonies, descriptions of the starvations, estimates of the demographic losses, and research on the famine’s political origins, the author interprets these documents in the broader context of the Soviet genocide in Ukraine in the first part of 1930th. The article deals with the elements of the crime of genocide established under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the elements of crimes adopted as a subsidiary source to the Rome Statute. Analyzing the Soviet documents, author proves the existence of the special intent required for the crime of genocide: Ukrainian peasants were prohibited from leaving Ukraine; Soviet leaders at all levels who disagreed with the expressive grain procurements plans were systematically and ruthlessly repressed; at that time Ukrainian food products were being exported while millions of Ukrainians were starving to death; Stalin’s regime denied the existence of a famine in Ukraine and refused to accept the aid from International nongovernmental organization. In 2006 Now Holodomor was officially confirmed as genocide in Ukraine, and now it is time for wider international recognition of the genocidal nature of the Holodomor, in order to establish a general understanding that such crimes cannot go unrecognized, uncondemned, and unpunished.

Keywords: Holodomor, genocide, Ukrainian Social Soviet Republic, crime, famine, terror by hunger, Soviet leaders, USSR