BOOKS ABOUT THE SOVIET MASS FAMINES
Title: Holodomors in Ukraine: Odesa Region, 1921–1923, 1932–1933, 1946–1947. Research, Memoirs, Documents.
Place of publication: Ukraine, Odesa
Year: 2007
Language: Ukrainian
ISBN 978-966-318-816-4
1921-1923
1932-1933
Title: Holodomor: Suffering Caused by Political Technology
Author: Naidyonova L. A.
Place of publication: Ukraine, Kyiv
Year: 2009
Language: Ukrainian
ББК 66.07+88.8
1921-1923
1932-1933
Title: Holodomors in the Language of Documents and Testimonies. 2nd ed.
Author: Sokur, V. V., Sokur, Yu. V.
Place of publication: Ukraine, Kyiv
Year: 2018
Language: Ukrainian
ISBN 978-617-7625-578-9
Abstract: This scholarly popular publication is dedicated to the Holodomors of 1932–1933 and 1947 in Ukraine. It is the result of many years of archival research and historical investigation conducted by the authors.
The volume brings together and systematizes a series of articles on the Holodomor previously published by the authors in the press, presenting them in the form of a single book. Extensive use of documentary sources, including Communist Party records and materials from the Sectoral State Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, provides a solid evidentiary basis for the authors' interpretations and conclusions.
In particular, readers encounter, for the first time, documentary evidence of widespread cannibalism in Ukraine during the famine years derived not from eyewitness recollections, but from criminal case files preserved in archival collections.
Written in an academically rigorous yet accessible style, the book will be valuable to university lecturers and students, school teachers and pupils, as well as to all readers interested in the history of Ukraine and concerned with its future.
1932-1933
Title: Criminal cases about cannibalism as a source of information about the Holodomor (on the example of Kharkiv region)
Author: Baikenich D.
Place of publication: Ukraine, Kyiv
Year: 2022
Language: Ukrainian
УДК [94:341.485](477)”1932/1933”:378.147
М 58
Abstract: The article deals with criminal cases against cannibals as a source for studying the peculiarities of the course and the consequences of the Holodomor at the regional level. It determines the number of cannibalism cases in the districts of the Kharkiv region, indicating the places of their accumulation and the dynamics of detection. The article analyzes the ratio of group and individual cases of cannibalism. It calculates the number of defendants in criminal cases and outlines the types of sentences handed down to them.
1932-1933
Title: The Holodomor of 1932–1933: Genocide of the Ukrainian People. A Collection of Documents and Materials
Author: I. P. Yashchuk, A. P. Zahorulko, V. M. Shcherbatiuk, Ye. S. Durnov, O. V. Shkuratenko, D. I. Kuras, Yu. V. Sokur, N. O. Doroshchuk, V. Z. Prus, M. A. Dziuba, et al.; edited by V. M. Shcherbatiuk and D. I. Kuras.
Place of publication: Ukraine, Kyiv
Year: 2025
Language: Ukrainian
ISBN 978-966-136-981-7
Abstract: This collection brings together scholarly studies on the Holodomor of 1932–1933, in which the contributors argue that famine was deliberately employed by the Bolshevik regime as an instrument for implementing its economic policies in the Ukrainian countryside, subjugating the peasantry, and consolidating Soviet power in Ukraine. The volume further supports the conclusion that the artificially induced famine constituted genocide against the Ukrainian people.
The publication also presents the implementation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine's project to digitize archival records from the Holodomor period, with particular emphasis on Collection No. 32 of the Sectoral State Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Criminal Case Files of Judicial and Extrajudicial Bodies. It explains how to use the accompanying interactive map, which provides access to digital copies of these archival criminal case files.
The volume includes materials based on eyewitness testimonies of the Holodomor, as well as papers presented at conferences and scholarly readings organized by the National Academy of Internal Affairs between 2008 and 2023.
The final section contains selected excerpts from archival documents that support the conclusions presented in the analytical report prepared on the basis of the archival files from the above-mentioned collection.
This publication is intended for researchers, university lecturers, students, and all readers interested in the history of the Ukrainian people.
1932-1933
Title: Violation of food taboos by peasant women of Kyiv region and political use of accusations of anthropophagy: the case of Hanna Bilorus
Author: Bernadska, A.
Place of publication: Ukraine, Kyiv
Year: 2023
Language: Ukrainian
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18523/2617-3417.2023.6.45-52
Abstract: The article analyzes the emergence of psychopathological changes in peasant women resulting from long-term deprivation, using the examples of the archival and criminal case of Hanna Bilorus, oral historical testimonies, and official sources. These changes affected the deformation of women’s behavior and led to the spread of its extreme manifestations — violations of food taboos, an increase in cases of anthropophagy and necrophagy since the beginning of 1933. However, they were perceived by the peasants in different ways: from a sympathetic attitude to condemnation and lynchings. We discovered the long-term impact of the consequences of cannibalism on rural communities and the psyche of eyewitnesses to the tragedy. Additionally, it investigates the representation of cannibalism cases by the authorities, which often carry political undertones. Anthropophages were represented in official sources as marginal non-working elements (“ledar”), representatives of hostile social groups (“kurkuli”, “odnoosibnyky”), and spies. Using the archive-criminal case of Hanna Bilorus, the article demonstrates the correlation between accusations of espionage for Poland and the suspicion of cannibalism with the broader political context of 1932–1933. This context emphasized the “Polish threat” and the alleged dismantling of the DPU «counter-revolutionary network» associated with the Polish General Staff.
1932-1933
Title: ARCHIVE DOCUMENTS AS A SOURCE OF THE RESEARCH ON THE HOLODOMOR OF 1932–1933 (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF THE FUND 32 "CRIMINAL CASES BY JUDICIAL AND EXTRAJUDICIAL BODIES" OF THE SECTORAL STATE ARCHIVES OF THE MIA OF UKRAINE)
Author: Shcherbatyuk V., Zagorulko A., Durnov E., Sokur Y., Oryshchenko Y.
Place of publication: Ukraine, Kyiv
Year: 2023
Language: Ukrainian
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/2520-2626/2023.33.21
Abstract: The study traces the coverage of the Holodomor of 1932–1933, events and processes related to it, in the files of fund 32 "Criminal cases of judicial and extrajudicial bodies" of the Branch State Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
In particular, the documents show the Holodomor as a genocide against Ukrainians. It is indicated that the famine spread in Ukraine in 1932-1933 was artificially imposed, had economic and political reasons, contributed to the weakening of the national movement. The persuasiveness of the case documents is emphasized, that the apogee of the tragedy fell on March–June 1933, when entire families, especially those with many children, died, and people driven to despair resorted to necrophagy (eating corpses) and anthropophagy (cannibalism), which was dictated by their doom. In this context, the cases are pointed out telling that very often the victims of violence were children, and among them, as shown, mostly orphaned children who wandered around the villages in search of food suffered.
The authors assure that all the cases of the fund are characterized by falsification, because the real causes of the famine are concealed. The documents of the cases from the fund convince us that the Bolshevik regime treated the famine as a non-existent phenomenon, because in no case is the famine as planned or organized by the authorities mentioned. The article claims that all the investigative cases had political background. The authors accent that this fact must be taken into account when studying the documents and researching the specified problem. The researchers emphasize that this falsification was as well a consequence of the personal motives of the officials.
The importance of archival documents, in particular, the cases of the fund as an important source base in the study of the Holodomor of 1932–1933, is revealed. At the same time, the authors propose to consider this tragedy not only in the historical and political aspect, but also taking into account the evaluation criteria of other sciences.
1932-1933
Title: RESISTANCE TO THE GENOCIDAL POLICY OF THE COMMUNIST TOTALITARIAN REGIME IN 1932-1933. BASED ON THE DOCUMENTS OF THE FUNDS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE HOLODOMOR-GENOCIDE
Author: Petrenko I.
Place of publication: Ukraine, Kyiv
Year: 2023
Language: Ukrainian
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/2520-2626/2023.33.18
Abstract: The turn of the 1920s and 1930s, and above all, the period of the Holodomor genocide, was, for the Ukrainian nation, at times, perhaps the most difficult experience in its history. Stalin and his entourage's efforts to establish the communist system through radical social and economic transformations and permanent state terror (perpetrated by the Stalinist repressive machine) directly threatened the traditional way of life of Ukrainian farmers owners. The foundations of their centuries-old existence were undermined, putting millions of hard-working, wealthy owners on the verge of survival. There were these processes both in Soviet Ukraine and in the compact resettlement areas of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians in other regions of the USSR. In response, the Ukrainian peasantry tried to resist communist domination by all means, actively participating in protest actions that had different forms of manifestation and specificity (often turning into an openly armed insurgent struggle).
The presented study, based on the materials of archival and investigative cases transferred to the funds of the National Museum of the Holodomor-genocide from the Sectoral State Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, highlights the individual, most common types and methods of Ukrainians' resistance to the genocidal policies of the communist totalitarian regime in 1932–1933. On the examples of tragic life stories of specific individuals, the figures of the specified archival and investigative documents, their reactions to the communist experiments implemented by the regime, behavioural survival strategies, etc., are considered.
Attention is focused on highlighting the aspirations of the accused, their vision and their assessment of the rapid social and economic changes at the local level. Simultaneously, it shows the results of the activity of the then- Soviet punitive and repressive system, particularly the judicial system, based on interrogation protocols, relevant resolutions and sentences.
1932-1933
Title: Cannibalism in the Donetsk region during the Holodomor
Author: Baikenich D.
Place of publication: Ukraine, Kyiv
Year: 2024
Language: Ukrainian
DOI: 10.31558/3083-5771.2024.2.8
Abstract: The purpose of the article is to conduct a comprehensive study of cannibalism in the Donetsk region during the Holodomor; the geography of distribution and scale are outlined; determining the regularities and features of the phenomenon; analysis of the actions of the communist regime in cases of cannibalism. The research methodology uses problem- chronological, retrospective, specific-search, systemic-structural, statistical, and other research methods.
Cannibalism arose as a result of mass starvation. The first case of cannibalism in the Donetsk region was officially recorded in February 1933. Since then, an upward trend has peaked in late spring. The last known case occurred in the fall of 1933. The epicenter of the phenomenon was the northern agricultural regions, which suffered the most from the famine. The largest number of cases was recorded in 5 districts: Novopskovskiy – 23, Pokrovsky –15, Markivsky – 11, Bilovodskyy – 9, and Bilolutsky – 8.
Various sources have identified 100 cases or mentions of cannibalism in 21 districts of the region. Cannibals were predominantly loners, but about a third of cases involved group activity. There was a clear disproportion between women and men, with the former signifi- cantly dominating. The main group of victims were mostly their children aged 6 to 10. One in eighth known victims was an adult. «Family» cannibalism with the preliminary killing of the victim was prevalent. Corpse eating occurred in every seventh case.
The communist regime’s delay in solving the problem of cannibalism is evidence of the conscious consequences of its spread. To cover up the policy of extermination by starvation, cases of cannibalism were officially called «kulak raids». The fight against the phenomenon was carried out under the leadership of the state political administration. A significant num- ber of cannibals were convicted, some died before arrest, and some escaped punishment.
The study uses materials from the Sectoral State Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine for the first time, and their addition of eyewitness testimonies gives a more representative picture. The information we have collected is an important component of the consequences of genocide. It helps to rethink and understand the scale of mental suffering, hopelessness, and the deadlock in which the starving people found themselves in 1933. The materials on a hundred cases or mentions of cannibalism in the Donetsk region during the Holodomor are not exhaustive and require further research.
1932-1933
Title: CANNIBALISM IN DNIPROPETROVSK OBLAST DURING THE HOLODOMOR OF 1932–1933
(BASED ON CRIMINAL CASE FILES FROM THE SECTORAL STATE ARCHIVE OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF UKRAINE)
Author: Baikenich D.
Place of publication: Ukraine, Kyiv
Year: 2024
Language: Ukrainian
DOI: УДК 343:392.89:[94(477.63)]“1932/1933”
Abstract: The article examines cases of cannibalism in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast during the Holodomor of 1932–1933 through the analysis of 72 criminal cases from the Sectoral State Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. It establishes that the western districts of the region were the areas with the highest concentration of documented cases of cannibalism. The phenomenon identified by the authorities affected half of the oblast’s districts. The study reconstructs the dynamics of cannibalism, demonstrating a significant increase in cases that coincided with the escalation and intensification of the famine in the spring and summer of 1933. It is argued that cannibalism emerged as a consequence of psychological breakdown and became one of the maladaptive ways of coping with the stress caused by prolonged starvation.
The study establishes that the main group of victims were children, accounting for 61 cases. The largest proportion of killings committed for the purpose of cannibalism involved the perpetrators’ own children, with 53 victims. The calculations show that women resorted to cannibalism more frequently than men. Among those detained for this crime in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, there were 64 women and 29 men. An analysis of the ratio between group and individual cases of cannibalism demonstrates the predominance of the latter, with 16 group cases compared with 56 individual cases.
The article also highlights the aggressive reaction of the local population to cases of cannibalism, including calls for and acts of violence against those accused of cannibalism. The Communists skilfully shifted the blame for driving people to cannibalism onto the “socially hostile element.” Manifestations of cannibalism at the local level were used to further polarize rural communities, intensify anti-kulak rhetoric, reinforce the ideological foundations of communism, and advance agricultural policies.
The processing of criminal cases involving cannibalism and necrophagy took place at the regional, oblast, and republican levels. The first 17 people accused of cannibalism in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast were sentenced to death by shooting. Subsequently, the overwhelming majority of those convicted were sentenced to ten years in forced-labor camps. Other types of sentences were also imposed. The study demonstrates that not all cases of cannibalism were officially registered and, consequently, some perpetrators escaped punishment.
1932-1933
Title: Serving sentences in the GUTAB correctional labor camps of the NKVD of the USSR by those convicted in 1933 for corpse eating and cannibalism (based on materials from the archival criminal cases of the State Administrative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs)
Author: Zagorulko A.
Place of publication: Ukraine, Kyiv
Year: 2024
Language: Ukrainian
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/vuchk2024.02.053
1932-1933
Title: Humanity in an Inhuman Time
Place of publication: Ukraine, Lviv
Year: 2013
Language: Ukrainian
ISBN 978-966-2720-005-1
Abstract: This book is dedicated to the individuals who, during the Holodomor of 1932–1933, helped those suffering from famine to survive.
The publication presents information on more than 140 Righteous People of the Holodomor, whose names have been identified through archival documents and oral testimonies. Their stories bear witness to acts of compassion, solidarity, and moral courage in the face of one of the greatest humanitarian catastrophes of the twentieth century.
1932-1933
Title: Humanity in an Inhuman Time. 2nd ed.
Place of publication: Ukraine, Kyiv
Year: 2018
Language: Ukrainian
ISBN 978-617-7173-397-6
Abstract: This book is dedicated to the individuals who, during the Holodomor of 1932–1933, helped those suffering from famine to survive.
The second edition presents information on more than 180 Righteous People of the Holodomor, whose names have been established on the basis of archival documents and oral testimonies. Their stories document acts of compassion, solidarity, and moral courage during one of the greatest humanitarian catastrophes of the twentieth century.
1932-1933
Title: The Hungry Steppe
Famine, Violence, and the Making of Soviet Kazakhstan
Author: Sarah Cameron
Place of publication: USA, New York
Year: 2018
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1501730436
ISBN-13: 978-1501730436
Abstract: The Hungry Steppe examines one of the most heinous crimes of the Stalinist regime, the Kazakh famine of 1930–33. More than 1.5 million people perished in this famine, a quarter of Kazakhstan's population, and the crisis transformed a territory the size of continental Europe. Yet the story of this famine has remained mostly hidden from view. Drawing upon state and Communist party documents, as well as oral history and memoir accounts in Russian and in Kazakh, Sarah Cameron reveals this brutal story and its devastating consequences for Kazakh society.
1932-1933