Kyiv Post | 24Nov2010 | David Marples
http://www.kyivpost.com/news/opinion/op_ed/detail/91065/
http://www.kyivpost.com/news/opinion/op_ed/detail/91065/20/page/1/#comment-95580

Documenting a Tragedy

This week, Ukrainians worldwide are commemorating the 78th anniversary of the Great Famine of 1932-33, known as the Holodomor (Death by Hunger).

In the period 2005-2009, when Viktor Yushchenko was president of Ukraine, several archival collections on the Famine-Holodomor of 1932-33 were made available to researchers, which supplemented earlier information gathered mainly from eyewitness reports. Perhaps the most important of these were reports from the Soviet secret police files (then called the OGPU, from 1934, the NKVD).

With the demise of the Yushchenko government in the 2010 presidential elections, the authorities have done a U-turn on the Famine question. The Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU, has custody of the OGPU records. Under the new leadership of Valeriy Khoroshkovsky, files are no longer freely disseminated, and the new president Viktor Yanukovych has denied that the Famine was an act of Genocide. On the contrary, Yanukovych appears to adhere to the Russian perspective that famines were a general phenomenon across the Soviet grain growing regions in 1932, including the Volga region, Ukraine, the North Caucasus, and even Belarus.

It is true that Famine was widespread in the spring and summer of 1932, but many events that took place later in the year, and in the brutal year of 1933 were unique to Ukraine and the North Caucasus, particularly the Kuban region, which was composed of about 60% Ukrainians. And this is evident from the OGPU documents released over the past two decades.

It is well known that the great upheaval of collectivization and the removal of richer (“kulak”) families had a devastating impact on Soviet farms. The subsequent imposition of grain quotas by Stalin’s regime was to ensure that deliveries were transported to the towns or the Far East before the families could feed themselves.

A widespread drought in 1931 exacerbated the situation, but it did not lead directly to Famine. In theory farms can feed themselves. But they were not allowed to. Not only grain was confiscated from Ukrainian villages, but also seed grain, and subsequently meat, potatoes, and other crops as a penalty for failing to meet grain deliveries.

Kaganovich devised the idea of a “blackboard” for those villages in North Caucasus that failed to meet quotas. They were then isolated, trading ended, and no one was allowed to enter or leave. The “blackboard” was soon extended to the Ukrainian SSR.

Stalin, together with his associates [Vyacheslav] Molotov and [Lazar] Kaganovich, railed against Ukrainian party and government leaders (Stanislav Kosior and Vlas Chubar) for their weakness and failure to take more ruthless measures. Though Ukraine’s grain quota was twice reduced, it was still well beyond farmers’ capacity to meet. Therefore the Soviet leadership took several measures calculated to transform a severe situation into a catastrophe.

First, Ukrainian leaders were bypassed. Instead, in November 1932, Molotov led a Commission to Ukraine and Kaganovich to the North Caucasus to impose order. In January 1933, Stalin sent a personal emissary, Pavel Postyshev with full authority in Ukraine as well as Vsevolod Balytsky, who took over the republican OGPU. While Postyshev used the army and local activists to take “hidden” supplies from the villages, cordoning off and starving villages that failed to meet quotas, Balytsky instituted mass repressions from early 1933 onward on the grounds that a mass uprising of Ukrainian nationalists had been planned for the spring of 1933 with the aid of outside forces from Poland.

The consequences were not merely mass starvation, but wholesale arrests, deportations, and executions that did not occur elsewhere in the USSR.

In January 933, the OGPU reported 436 “terrorist acts” in Ukraine during the grain procurement campaign. About 38,000 arrests had been made, and 391 “anti-Soviet, kulak, counter-revolutionary groups” had been uncovered. Over 6,600 arrests had been made on collective farms, mostly comprised of the farms’ leadership. By January, over 8,000 had been dispatched to concentration camps.

By mid-February 1933, the situation had escalated. The OGPU set up a “shock-operational group” in 200 districts of Ukraine and at railways stations and border crossings. It sent word to Stalin that “we are clashing with a single, carefully elaborated plan for an organized armed uprising in Ukraine by the spring of 1933, with the goal of removing Soviet power” and setting up an independent, capitalist, Ukrainian state. Needless to say, these groups had to be eradicated and thousands were subsequently deported.

No serious evidence of a planned uprising has ever emerged. Stalin was afraid of “losing Ukraine” as he wrote to Kaganovich and saw plots and plotters everywhere. Balytsky chose to feed his fertile imagination.

The repression of Ukraine’s villages led to a mass exodus of men-folk while those remaining behind simply starved. In February 1933 alone, about 85,000 peasants had fled the Ukrainian countryside. The vast majority were detained at the border and returned to their villages, or else arrested and sent to labor camps. Border crossings from North Caucasus to Ukraine, and from Ukraine into Belarus and Russia were closed. The OGPU noted that these had been escape routes in 1932 and were not about to make the same mistake again. It urged the rooting out of those peasants who had managed to get laboring jobs in the cities.

The OGPU documented the starvation in turgid accounts that nonetheless allow the reader some insights into the situation. Though some reports attribute starvation to failure to work sufficient hours or poor collective farm construction, others acknowledge that even those who had worked hard were starving.

One report from Kyiv region in late February 1933 -- based on 40% of the districts -- noted that over 210,000 people were starving and an additional 12,800 had already died. In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, the regional authorities proposed on February 28 to set up nurseries to feed 70,000 children, 50,000 pre-school-age children, and 300,000 adults.

The scale of the tragedy, in what had been the most productive grain-growing republic of both the Russian Empire and the 1920s USSR, is hard to fathom. The Italian Consul in Kharkiv (which remained Ukraine’s capital until 1934) reported that some 40-50 percent of peasants had died and estimated the death toll at around 9 million.

But we do not know the death toll. No one was counting the bodies, many of which lay for days unburied or were dumped into mass graves.

Starvation and repressions achieved one of Stalin’s expressed goals: to bring the errant Ukrainian republic into the Soviet fold. The policy of developing Ukrainian culture and language -- initiated in the 1920s -- was ended and its chief proponent, Mykola Skrypnyk, committed suicide in July 1933.

The Purges of the 1930s later removed practically all the perpetrators of the Famine at the republican level. Postyshev, Stalin’s local plenipotentiary, was executed in February 1939. The entire leadership of the Ukrainian Communist Party was eliminated. Depopulated villages were refilled with families from other regions. The Famine was then systematically concealed from the public and the outside world for the next 54 years.

The late James E. Mace called Ukraine a “post-genocidal society.” This is a pertinent epithet for “Eastern Ukraine,” or Soviet Ukraine as it existed in 1932-33, which never fully recovered and where present-day residents still have problems coming to terms with the crimes committed in 1932-33 because essentially this heartland of Ukraine was systematically “denationalized” and eradicated by the Soviet regime.

David R. Marples is author of Heroes and Villains: Creating National History in Contemporary Ukraine (Budapest and New York: Central European University Press, 2008).

COMMENTS:
Serhiy Kostyuk, 2010.11.27 -- 00:40

Since my February 2010 editorial "Ukraine Expert", Eh? Marples Owes Ukrainians and Ukrainian Canadians an Apology" in Ukrainian News (re-printed by Kyiv Post, which is available under Periodicals section from: http://serhiykostyuk.com/index.php?i=portfolio), Dr.Marples has changed his written style about Ukrainian history.

However, there is no author’s voice as a historian and a scholar on the Holodomor, one would expect to be in the Kyiv Post’s Opinion Section. There are careless mistakes, and, most importantly, there is no clear understanding that Holodomor was an act of genocide against Ukrainians.

First of all, a more precise definition of Holodomor is “Killing by Hunger”, based on two Ukrainian words: holod - “hunger, starvation, famine”, and moryty -- “to induce suffering, to kill”. “Death by Hunger” (as described by Marples) and “Killing by Hunger” are two different things; and they ultimately lead to different context of Holodomor -- either tragedy (Act of God) or genocide (Act of a Man -- and even those who describe Holodomor as tragedy, know the name of this man -- Josef Stalin).

Second, the Holodomor fully conforms to the definition of genocide according to the 1948 UN Convention of Genocide. The goal was to destroy the Ukrainian nation. The Communist regime targeted the Ukrainians, in the sense of a civic nation, in Soviet Ukraine, and as an ethnic group in Soviet Russia, especially in the predominantly Ukrainian Kuban region of the Northern Caucasus.

Article 2 of the 1948 UN Convention says that “…genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a)killing members of the group; (b)causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c)deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its psychical destruction in whole or in part; (d)imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e)forcibly transferring children of the group to another group”.

Consequently, even from the selected facts a title is essential: "Documenting a GENOCIDE”. Entitling this piece as "Documenting a Tragedy" is with lines of current Ukraine’s President, its Administration and Government. For example, on Nov. 22, 2010 Foreign Minister of Ukraine K.Gryshchenko in his "Address to Ukrainians Abroad on the Occasion of the 77th Holodomor Anniversary" disseminated by the Embassy of Ukraine in Canada did not dare to call Holodomor 1932-33 as an act of Genocide. Minister called it tragedy, like President Yanukovych, of course (who appointed him), like Putin...you name them.

PM of Canada called it genocide, both in Canada and while in Ukraine, the Parliament of Canada and five legislatures across the country called it genocide, Parliament of Ukraine called it genocide, and 14 countries in the world called it genocide... Often biased towards Ukrainian history Edmonton Journal newspaper on Nov. 21, 2010 published an article titled "Edmontonians Commemorate Ukrainian Genocide".

Are those who call the Ukrainian Holodomor 1932-33 as Genocide wrong? Or does what you see depend how you look at it?

Third, quoting Mace in the last paragraph is not seeing the forest for the trees. Here is another quote from the world renowned Holodomor scholar James Mace: “I remain convinced that for Stalin to have complete centralized power in his hands, he found it necessary to physically destroy the second-largest Soviet republic, meaning the annihilation of the Ukrainian peasantry, Ukrainian intelligentsia, Ukrainian language, and history as understood by the people; to do away with Ukraine and things Ukrainian as such. The calculation was very simple, very primitive: no people, therefore, no separate country, and thus no problem. Such a policy is Genocide in the classic sense of the word”.

Finally, Ukrainians worldwide are commemorating the 77th anniversary..., NOT "78th" as written by Marples in the first sentence.

Serhiy Kostyuk

Guest, 2010.11.26 -- 18:57

But what about the Ukrainian government? Nothing! There still is not a single official announcement of the events which will be held (or there won’t be, for that matter). There is only a statement made by Hanna Herman to the effect that the anniversary of the Holodomor will be celebrated on the highest level. And that’s all there is to it… Although, not quite. As it turned out, the Ministry of Education and Science failed to carry out its own decision to honor the memory of Holodomor victims. This was mentioned in the communique made by the Center for Liberation Movement Research. In particular, according to the center’s data, the ministry has not held the annual Ukraine-wide action “The Ear of Memory.” Nor has it circulated methodological recommendations for “The Lesson of Memory,” as it has done in previous years.

We can only hope that teachers themselves will hold such lessons at their schools, without any orders from above, simply listening to the call of their memory and conscience.
http://www.day.kiev.ua/317990/

Guest, 2010.11.24 -- 22:29

Well done Mr.Marples, it is good to know that many of those involved in this crime ended up in being shot.

Marco Levytsky, Editor, Ukrainian News, 2010.11.24 -- 18:48

Congratulations David. I must admit this caught me by surprise, but I must commend you for an excellent analysis.

Guest, 2010.11.14 -- 18:42

I hope and pray the victims of this vile crime are at peace in heaven.

With Stalin and his Russian hench men burning in hell


bkrevel, 2010.11.24 -- 17:55

I , too, would like to congratulate you on a well written article.

It is a shame and a disgrace that President Yanukovych 'chooses' to ignore and/or honor the memory of the millions that starved to death under a man made famine.

I , as a Canadian, was proud to see Prime Minister Harper visit the Holodomor Memorial, by himself, ,,,,an obvious 'snub' to Yanukovych.
Bravo, Mr Harper

Although, I would have liked to see Mr Harper 'scold' Yanuk more on his crackdown of media freedoms,and complete disregard for democracy and what it means.

BLESS UKRAINE!!!

elmer, 2010.11.24 -- 16:50

Thank you, Mr. Marples, for an excellent article.

Does anyone know whether Yanukonvikt is commemorating the Holodomor, or is he too busy bowing and scraping and kowtowing to Kirill?

 sly slippery liar, 2010.11.24 -- 21:45

don't be so quick to be fooled...he's still on record as a Holodomor genocide denier ...just read his previous junk and double talk on the subject

Ask him if he still promotes the lie that the Holodomor=Genocide equation is an invention of Western Ukraine Nationalists.

 Serhiy Kostyuk, 2010.11.27 -- 01:04

“Ukraine expert”, eh?
Marples owes Ukrainians and Ukrainian Canadians an apology
/tp/ukrnews/UkrNews20100218Kostyuk.html
By Serhiy Kostyuk

At first it was difficult to believe that David Marples, Ph.D., a distinguished professor at the
University of Alberta could write such a misleading and offensive article (“Hero of Ukraine
links to Jewish killings”) and the Edmonton Journal would actually print it, as they did on Feb.
7, 2010, the day the people of Ukraine peacefully elected a new President of Ukraine.
The “scholarly” component of Marples’ article has been very aptly addressed by Stepan
Bandera’s grandson Stephen, Ukrainian News Editor Marco Levytsky, CIUS Director Dr.
Zenon Kohut and Lubomyr Markevych. And the distress this has created in our community was
noted in the Letter to the Editor of The Journal by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress – Alberta
Provincial Council, which “is receiving calls from respected individuals in Alberta society who
are being harassed at work as a result of an inaccurate, inappropriate and sensational headline
and column.”

Who is Marples and why he is throwing around comments that nurture Ukrainophobia?

I’ve looked up two Jan 28, 2010, Voice of America (VoA) reports by Andre de Nesnera “Tymoshenko
Faces Yanukovich in Feb. 7 Ukrainian Presidential Runoff ” and “Yanukovich Seen as Front-
Runner in Ukraine Presidential Election”, both basically the same story under different
headlines, in which Marples was quoted and referred to as a “Ukraine expert”. Some expert.
Marples says that Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko “earned a doctorate in
economics”. Not true. In actual fact, Tymoshenko only defended her Candidate of Economic
Sciences degree in 1999, and never started working on her doctorate after that. (In Ukraine a
doctorate takes another 4-6 years of study following a Candidate degree).

While noting that Yanukovych was convicted of assault and manslaughter (the second not
true) as a youth, Marples adds that “Tymoshenko also spent time in prison — but for so-called
‘white collar’ crimes. So both the presidential candidates of Ukraine have been in jail”. Again
not true. Yanukovych was convicted twice and served sentences for each of these offenses, but
Tymoshenko was never convicted of either “white collar” or “street” crimes. She spent six
weeks in a detention centre, but in March 2001 Pechersk District Court of Kyiv revoked the
arrest warrant issued by Prosecutor-General’s Office and dismissed the charges against her).
Marples is also careless with his dates. He says that Yanukovych “was arrested in 1968”.
Not true. Yanukovych was sentenced a year earlier, on December 15, 1967 (according to
Article 141, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR).

But what lessons do we take from the Marples article that was published in The Edmonton
Journal?

First, can you imagine that the Canadian Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre for
Holocaust Studies or someone in a similar position would publish Nazi propaganda? Yet what
is Marples, who is the Director of the Stasiuk Program for the Study of Contemporary Ukraine
at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the U of A, doing when he makes the totally
unsubstantiated claim that “members of the OUN-B spearheaded pogroms in L’viv in the summer
of 1941 when about 4,000 Jews were killed”? He is spreading Soviet disinformation.

Second, historical research on the Ukrainian nationalist movement during the Second
World War, Stalinism, repressions, Holodomor-Genocide 1932-33, Famine 1946-47, and
dissident movement in Ukraine should be based on the unclassified archived documents and
memoirs, which are now available in printed and electronic formats. Researchers should stop
unquestioningly using material from Soviet sources on the history of the USSR and Ukraine,
which serves only to spread stereotypes of Ukrainians. They should distinguish between the
Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, the Galicia Division
(later renamed First Division of the National Army of Ukraine) and the Roland and Nachtigall
Battalions of the Wehrmacht. The English author Samuel Johnson once said “It is more from
carelessness about truth than from intentionally lying that there is so much falsehood in the
world.”

Third, Ukrainian Canadians should respect not only others, but also themselves. We should
defend our human rights and continue to battle discrimination. We should think twice before
inviting Marples to deliver a lecture, giving him research and travel grants, allowing him to
manage Ukrainian projects or rewarding him in other ways. It is unfortunate that he was
awarded the Shevchenko Medal in 1999 by the “Ukrainian Canadian Committee (national)”, as
he says on his web site. Apparently he’s unaware the title Ukrainian Canadian Committee was
replaced with Ukrainian Canadian Congress 10 years before his award, back in 1989.
Finally, Marples should be held responsible for his statements and apologize to Ukrainians
for the disinformation he is spreading. In 2009 Ignatieff apologized for and condemned
statements he had posed in the form of a rhetorical exercise in his 1992 book “Blood and
Belonging”. In 2008 Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall apologized for speaking in an
exaggerated Ukrainian accent and mocking then-NDP leader Roy Romanow, who went on to
become premier in the 1991. Similarly Wildrose Alliance chief of staff Stephen Carter
apologized for poking fun at Premier Ed Stelmach’s Ukrainian accent in 2009.
Ukrainian Canadians welcomed the belated or quick, but unequivocal apologies from
Ignatieff, Wall, Carter and others, and considered those matters closed. Does Marples have the
courage to apologize for a rehash of misinformation?

Serhiy Kostyuk
Candidate of Political Sciences
Ukrainian News, Edmonton, February 18, 2010
http://www.serhiykostyuk.com

 David Marples, 2010.11.24 -- 22:15

Thanks all for comments. As for 'sly slippery liar' you are well named. Perhaps you can provide a citation as to where exactly I ever wrote that? No? Didn't think so. I think you are confusing me with Douglas Tottle.

 WRONG ANTECEDENT?, 2010.11.24 -- 22:58

When "sly slippery liar" says "he", his antecedent is more likely "Yanukonvikt" in the comment above, rather than "Mr. Marples".

Kyiv Post | 24Nov2010 | David Marples
http://www.kyivpost.com/ua/news/opinion/op_ed/detail/91252/

Доказательства трагедии

На этой неделе украинцы по всему миру отмечают 78-ю годовщину Голодомора 1932-1933 года.

В период с 2005 по 2009 год, когда президентом Украины был Виктор Ющенко, исследователям дали доступ к нескольким собраниям архивных материалов, которые подтверждали информацию, ранее полученную преимущественно из воспоминаний очевидцев. Пожалуй, важнейшими из них были отчеты ОГПУ (органа госбезопасности, на смену которому в 1934 году пришел НКВД).

После поражения Ющенко на выборах президента в 2010 году, власти кардинально изменили позицию по вопросу голодомора. Отчеты ОГПУ находятся в ведении СБУ. С приходом к руководству Валерия Хорошковского к этим материалам исчез свободный доступ, а новый президент Виктор Янукович отрицает, что голодомор был актом геноцида. Напротив, Янукович придерживается российской точки зрения, по которой в 1932 году голод был общим явлением для советских житниц, в частности Поволжья, Украины, Северного Кавказа и даже Беларуси.

Весной и летом 1932 года голод действительно свирепствовал повсеместно, однако многие события, которые в дальнейшем произошли в этом и следующем году, характерны лишь для Украины и Северного Кавказа, особенно Кубани, население которой на 60% состояло из украинцев. Это явно следует из документов ОГПУ, обнародованных за последние двадцать лет.

Хорошо известно, что коллективизация и раскулачивание оказали разрушительное действие на советские хозяйства. А после введения сталинским режимом планов хлебозаготовки урожай уходил в города или на Дальний Восток прежде, чем люди могли обеспечить себе пропитание.

В 1931 году обширная засуха усугубила ситуацию, но не привела непосредственно к голоду. Теоретически, хозяйства могли сами себя прокормить. Однако, их лишили такой возможности. Когда украинские крестьяне не смогли выполнить план хлебозаготовок, в наказание у них стали конфисковывать посевной материал, мясо, картофель и другие культуры.

Каганович ввел практику занесения станиц Северного Кавказа, не выполнявших план хлебозаготовок, на «черные доски». Это означало изоляцию, прекращение торговли и запрещение въезда или выезда. Вскоре «черные доски» стали применяться и в Украинской ССР.

Сталин вместе со своими сподвижниками [Вячеславом] Молотовым и [Лазарем] Кагановичем ругал руководителей партии и правительства Украины за мягкотелость и неспособность пойти на более жесткие меры. Хотя план хлебозаготовок в стране был снижен вдвое, крестьяне все еще не могли его выполнить. И тогда советское руководство приняло меры, рассчитанные на то, чтобы превратить тяжелую ситуацию в катастрофу.

Во-первых, руководство стало вестись через голову украинских властей. В ноябре 1932 года, чтобы навести порядок, на Украине и Северном Кавказе были созданы чрезвычайные комиссии, которые возглавили, соответственно, Молотов и Каганович. В январе 1933 года Сталин послал на Украину своего уполномоченного представителя Павла Постышева, а во главе республиканского ОГПУ поставил Всеволода Балицкого. Постышев с помощью армии и местных активистов искал «спрятанные» запасы, оцепляя и моря голодом деревни, которые не смогли выполнить план, а Балицкий с начала 1933 года ввел массовые репрессии на том основании, что с весны 1933 года украинскими националистами готовится массовое восстание с внешней поддержкой из Польши. Все это привело не только к масштабному голодомору, но и к повальным арестам, высылкам и расправам, которых не было больше нигде в СССР.

В январе ОГПУ сообщило о 436 «террористических актах» во время кампании по сбору зерна на Украине. Было произведено около 38000 арестов и раскрыта 391 «антисоветская, кулацкая контрреволюционная группа». Более 6600 арестов было проведено в колхозах, в основном, среди руководства. К январю более 8000 человек были сосланы в концлагеря.

К середине февраля ситуация обострилась. ОГПУ учредило в 200 районах Украины, а также на железнодорожных станциях и пограничных переходах, «ударно-оперативные группы». Сталину органы госбезопасности докладывали: «Мы столкнулись с единым, тщательно разработанным планом организации вооруженного восстания на Украине к весне 1933 года с целью свержения советской власти» и установления независимой капиталистической Украинской республики. Как и следовало ожидать, заговорщиков необходимо было ликвидировать, и тысячи людей оказались в ссылке.

Ни одного серьезного доказательства спланированного восстания так и не было найдено. Сталин боялся, как он сам писал в письме Кагановичу, «потерять Украину» и везде видел заговоры и заговорщиков. Балицкий решил подпитывать его богатое воображение.

Репрессии украинских крестьян привели к массовой миграции, а те, кто остался, просто умирали от голода. Только в феврале 1933 года сельские регионы Украины покинуло около 85000 крестьян. Большинство из них задержали на кордонах и отослали обратно или арестовали и отослали в исправительно-трудовые лагеря. Пограничные переходы из Северного Кавказа в Украину и из Украины в Беларусь и Россию были закрыты. В ОГПУ заметили, что в 1932 году они служили маршрутами для побегов, и не собирались повторять свою ошибку. Также организация настаивала на том, чтобы выгнать из городов крестьян, которым удалось найти там работу.

ОГПУ сообщает о голодоморе в напыщенных и многословных отчетах, которые, тем не менее, позволяют получить представление о ситуации. В одних отчетах голод объясняется недостаточным количеством времени, потраченным на работу, или плохим устройством колхозов, но в других признается, что голодают даже те, кто работал не покладая рук.

В одном из отчетов по Киевской области за конец февраля 1933 года — охватывающем 40% районов — указывается, что от голода страдало 210 000 человек, а 12 800 уже погибло. 28 февраля в Днепропетровской области местные власти предложили учредить специальные центры, чтобы кормить 70 000 детей, 50 000 детей дошкольного возраста и 300 000 взрослых.

Размах трагедии, постигшей лучшую житницу Российской империи и СССР в 1920-х годах, трудно оценить. По словам итальянского консула, в Харькове (остававшемся столицей Украины до 1934 года), погибло около 40-50% крестьян и общее число жертв составило примерно 9 млн.

Однако точное число погибших неизвестно. Никто не считал трупы, многие из которых по несколько дней лежали не погребенными или были брошены в массовые захоронения.

Голодомор и репрессии помогли Сталину достичь одной из его заявленных целей: вернуть заблудшую Украинскую республику в советское лоно. Курс на развитие украинского языка и культуры — взятый в 1920-х годах — был свернут, а его основной поборник Николай Скрыпник в 1933 году совершил самоубийство.

Чистки 1930-х годов ликвидировали практически всех виновных в голодоморе на республиканском уровне. В феврале 1939 года был казнен Постышев, местный уполномоченный Сталина. Уничтожено было все руководство Коммунистической партии Украины. Обезлюдевшие деревни были заселены семьями из других регионов. После этого голодомор организованно скрывали от общественности и внешнего мира на протяжении 54 лет.

Покойный Джеймс Мейс называл Украину «постгеноцидным обществом». Больше всего эти слова подходят к Восточной Украине, которая так до конца и не оправилась от трагедии и где сегодня у людей все еще нет однозначного взгляда на преступления 1932-1933 года, так как советский режим вел в этом сердце страны систематическую «денационализацию» и чистки.

Дэвид Марплз — автор книги «Герои и злодеи: Как создается национальная история современной Украины» (Будапешт и Нью-Йорк, издательство CentralEuropeanUniversityPress, 2008 год).