Ukraine Commemorates Holodomor: Silent Remembrance in Time of War

Amid the war, Ukraine commemorated the Holodomor famine 90 years ago. Triggered by Soviet dictator Stalin, millions of people died back then. Germany could soon recognize the crime as a genocide.

Amid more than nine months of Russian war of aggression, Ukraine commemorated the devastating Holodomor (“Murder by Hunger”) famine 90 years ago. “Once they wanted to destroy us through hunger, now through darkness and cold,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in his Telegram channel, referring to Russia’s attacks on his country’s energy infrastructure.

In 1932/33, the then Soviet dictator Josef Stalin had deliberately brought about a famine in the Ukraine, the Holodomor. Many Ukrainians were deported. Up to four million people lost their lives within two years. At that time, there were also deaths in other parts of the Soviet Union, such as Kazakhstan and southern Russia.

Zelenskyy emphasized that the Ukrainians are just as little willing to be broken by the Russians today as they were then. “We will conquer death again.” The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, wrote: “Russians will pay for all victims of the Holodomor and will be held accountable for today’s crimes.”

“Silent Remembrance of This Dark Chapter”

ARD-Correspondent Robert Kempe, who is currently in Kyiv, reported that people will lay flowers and light candles at the memorial for the victims. However, due to martial law, large gatherings of people are prohibited. “It will be more of a silent reminder of this dark chapter in Ukrainian history,” said Kempe. When it gets dark, it is traditional to place candles in the window to commemorate the victims of the famine.

Regarding the significance of the Holodomor in Ukrainian history today, Kempe explained: “For the people here, it is the genocide of the Ukrainian people.” In the days of the Soviet Union, this chapter was still hushed up, only after independence and in recent years has it come back to people’s consciousness. “After nine months of aggressive war, this is a day when you really pause,” said Kempe.

Scholz commemorates victims of the famine

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) also recalled the victims of the Holodomor. “Today we agree that hunger must never again be used as a weapon,” Scholz said on the occasion of a new initiative called “Grain from Ukraine”. “That’s why we cannot accept what we are experiencing right now: The worst global food crisis in years with devastating consequences for millions of people – from Afghanistan to Madagascar, from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa.”

Russia has exacerbated this situation by targeting Ukraine’s agricultural infrastructure and blockading Black Sea ports for months. Germany, in cooperation with the World Food Program, is providing another ten million euros to promote grain deliveries from Ukraine, explained Scholz.

In July, the United Nations and Turkey got Russia to lift the naval blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports specifically for grain exports. However, Moscow temporarily suspended the agreement. Ukraine is an important supplier for the global food supply.

Germany could recognize Holodomor as a genocide

Several countries have already classified and condemned the Holodomor as genocide against the Ukrainian people, including Ireland, the Republic of Moldova and Romania recently against the background of the Russian war of aggression. Germany could follow.

A draft resolution is to be discussed and approved in the Bundestag on Wednesday. “The whole of Ukraine was affected by hunger and repression, not just its grain-producing regions,” the paper says. “From today’s perspective, a historical-political classification as genocide suggests itself. The German Bundestag shares such a classification.”