Ukraine's man-made famine remembered

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.