Ukraine's man-made famine remembered

Published: 9 December 2008 y., Tuesday

Penzos srityje grupė sektantų užsibarikadavo urve nuo 2007 metų lapkričio mėnesio ir laukia pasaulio pabaigos (Rusija)
Ukraine, once the bread basket of the Soviet Union was reduced to famine on a biblical scale in 1932-33 by Stalin's collectivization policy. Millions died in the disaster. Last month a parliamentary resolution condemned it as a “crime against humanity”. On 22 November the 75th anniversary was marked in Kyiv. Polish MEP and EP Vice-president Adam Bielan was there to represent the European Parliament and send its sympathies. Here he shares some thoughts on the tragedy.

Mr Bielan, MEPs recently passed a resolution on the famine, why is this important now, 75 years later?
 
AB: The European Parliament has recognized the “Holodomor” (the official name given to the disaster) the artificial famine in Ukraine which reached its height from 1932 to 1933, as an “appalling crime against the Ukrainian people, and against humanity.”
 
Members of the European Parliament underlined in this document that the famine was “cruelly planned” by Stalin’s regime and that it led to the mass annihilation of the Ukrainian people as well as other nations of the Soviet Union.
 
During the memorial events, President Yushchenko appealed to all nations of the world, and especially the Russian Federation, to join Ukraine and condemn the crimes of Stalinism and the Soviet Union.
 
Not everyone was aware that the famine was somehow “man made” by the Soviet authorities...
 
AB: The NKVD (the Soviet forerunner of the KGB) documents that have been released clearly indicate that the Great Famine was the result of deliberate and planned-out policies which were meant to annihilate the Ukrainians' national aspirations and which the regime considered would undermine the unity of the Soviet Union.
 
It is for this reason that the European Parliament's resolution “calls on the countries which emerged following the break-up of the Soviet Union to open up their archives on the Holodomor in Ukraine...”
 
Have MEPs been active on this issue before?
 
AB: An exhibition was organized in the Parliament in March of 2007 which commemorated the victims of Holodomor. Ukrainian Prime Minister Victor Yanukovych took part in this important exhibition. An information campaign about the true nature of this crime was also organized and pamphlets were prepared in both English and French so that everyone could become familiar with their content.
 
In recognising such dreadful events took place in Europe, how can it help further human rights?
 
AB: Many nations of the European Union have directly experienced Stalinist persecution. By increasing awareness of this horrendous crime, we unite with the victims and their families who for decades could not mention the word “Holodomor.”
 
At the ceremony the Ukrainian President reminded that it was only following Ukraine's independence that the Great Famine could be openly discussed; during Communism, one could be imprisoned for speaking about it. President Yushchenko also paid tribute to victims from other nations who suffered Communist repression.
 
Among the places where the victims rest, he mentioned Katyń, Kurapaty, and Bykivnia. I would like to add that finally today, Ukraine and all of Europe can freely say the words “Holodomor”, “Katyń”, “Gułag”, and this is tremendously important to many nations of Europe.   
 
 

Šaltinis: europarl.euopa.eu
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

The most popular articles

2010: European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion

Approximately 80 million people in the EU have such limited resources that they cannot afford the basics and face unpredictable long-term consequences of the 2008 international economic and financial crisis. more »

Uganda Launches Second Northern Uganda Social Action Project

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on February 8 launched the Second Northern Social Action Fund (NUSAF II), aimed at improving access for beneficiary households and communities in Northern Uganda to income earning opportunities and improved basic socio-economic services. more »

IMF Statement on Greece

Caroline Atkinson, Director of External Relations at the International Monetary Fund, issued the following statement in Washington today. more »

Statement following the meeting of the Heads of State and Government on 11 February 2010

Following the meeting of the Heads of State and Government on 11 February 2010 in Brussels, Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), made the following statement. more »

Parliament marks twentieth anniversary of liberation of Nelson Mandela

EP Vice President Libor Rouček told MEPs that Thursday was the twentieth anniversary of Nelson Mandela's release from prison, recalling his role in the dismantling of apartheid and that he was the first winner of Parliament's Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought. He then gave the floor to Michael Cashman, chair of the European Parliament delegation for relations with South Africa, who paid a tribute on behalf of Parliament to that country's former President. more »

Human rights: Venezuela, Madagascar, Burma

Three human rights resolutions, on the media in Venezuela, the political crisis in Madagascar and the situation in Burma, were approved by Parliament on Thursday. more »

Climate change: call for "new climate diplomacy"

The EU should create a "new climate diplomacy", and its future budget must provide enough funding to protect against, and adapt to, climate change, say MEPs in a resolution approved on Wednesday more »

Germany: 2010 Article IV Consultation Concluding Statement of the IMF Mission

After a sharp fall in the first half of 2009, the government’s globally-coordinated policy measures were crucial to the resumption of growth in the second half. more »

EBRD boosts energy security in south-eastern Europe

The EBRD Board of Directors has approved a €150 million sovereign loan to Serbijagas, a state-owned Serbian company responsible for the transmission, storage, distribution and trade of natural gas, to finance the upgrade of the country’s gas transmission network and the construction of a new gas storage facility. more »

Commissioner Hahn attends the Baltic Sea Action Summit in Helsinki

Johannes Hahn, the new European Commissioner for Regional Policy, will today address the Baltic Sea Action Summit in Helsinki. more »