The Holodomor (Ukrainian: Голодомор, “to kill by starvation”), Great Famine. It was a man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 that killed millions of Ukrainians. The Holodomor was part of the larger Soviet famine of 1932–1933 that affected the country’s major grain-producing areas. While scholars universally agree that the famine was man-made, whether the Holodomor constitutes genocide remains controversial. Some historians conclude that the famine was planned and exacerbated by Joseph Stalin to suppress a Ukrainian independence movement. Others suggest that the famine arose due to rapid Soviet industrialization and the collectivization of agriculture. Ukraine was one of the USSR’s largest grain-producing states and was subject to unrealistic grain quotas. This meant that Ukraine was particularly hard hit by the famine. Initial estimates of the death toll by scholars and government officials vary widely. A joint declaration at the United Nations signed by 25 countries in 2003 stated that 7–10 million people died. The famine’s widespread impact on Ukraine would persist for another century. Since 2006, the Holodomor has been recognized by Ukraine, along with numerous other countries, as a genocide against the Ukrainian people committed by the Soviet regime.
