Soviet famine of 1932-1933
Encyclopedia
The Soviet famine of 1932–1933 killed many millions in the major grain
-producing areas of the Soviet Union
. These areas included Ukraine
, Northern Caucasus, Volga Region
and Kazakhstan
, the South Urals, and West Siberia
. Holodomor
, ‘hungry mass-death’, is the term used to describe the famine within the borders of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and other areas with significant Ukrainian population.
Unlike a 1921 famine
in the Russian SFSR, information about the famine of 1932–33 was suppressed by the Soviet authorities until perestroika
, the political and economic reforms which ended the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
s (collectivized farmers), and accused them of sabotage. The authorities wrongly expected that production would increase as a result of agricultural collectivization, because of plans for exporting agricultural products based on attempts to industrialize.
Central authorities maintained that the collapse was caused by peasants' hiding their grain crops, despite repeated requests from local authorities that their quota be decreased. As a consequence, local activists led searches for hidden stores of grain; this caused seizure of seed corn that should have been used for sowing the next year's crop and the loss of the stocks needed to feed peasant families.
- was enacted on August 7, 1932. Under the Decree, political police and party officials were allowed to confiscate unlimited amounts of grain from peasant households. Thus, taking food - even a handful of rotting grain or produce - was considered theft of "socialist property" and could be punished by death or a ten-year prison sentence. Even children could be shot for picking up leftover grain in the fields.
s, for currency, gold, silver, or other valuables. For example, two torgsins in the city of Kharkov accepted 374 kg of gold worth 294,000 rubles from January to February 1932. By January 1932 there were torgsins in eight Ukrainian cities, by May 1932 there were 26, and in autumn 1932, there were 50 in 36 cities. At the peak of the famine in 1933, the number of torgsins reached 263.
Internal passports (identity cards) were introduced on 27 December 1932 by Soviet authorities to deal with the mass exodus of peasants from the countryside. Individuals not having such a document could not leave their homes, on pain of administrative penalties, such as internment
in a Gulag
(Soviet work and reeducation camps). The rural population had no right to passports and thus could not leave their villages without approval. The power to issue passports rested with the head of the kolkhoz
, and identity documents were kept by the administration of the collective farms. This measure stayed in place until 1974.
The lack of passports could not completely stop peasants' leaving the countryside, but only a small percentage of those who illegally infiltrated into cities could improve their lot. Unable to find work or possibly buy or beg a little bread, farmers died in the streets of Kharkov, Kiev
, Dnipropetrovsk
, Poltava
, Vinnitsa, Humani
, and other major cities of Ukraine
.
in 1990-1991. For example, the results of the 1937 census were classified as they revealed the demographic aspect of the Great Famine.
The government used disinformation measures against Western journalists; many contemporary correspondents in the Soviet Union are now accused of deliberate concealment of facts, being referred to as "useful idiot
s." The most famous of the Great Famine negationists was Walter Duranty
, a British journalist whose articles downplayed the famine and its death toll. A similar position was taken by the French Prime Minister Edouard Herriot
, who toured the territory of Ukraine during his stay in the Soviet Union.
GRAIN
GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...
-producing areas of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. These areas included Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Northern Caucasus, Volga Region
Volga Region
Volga Region is a historical region of Russia that encompasses the territories adjacent to the flow of Volga River. According to the flow of the river, it is usually classified into the Middle Volga Region and Lower Volga Region...
and Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, the South Urals, and West Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. Holodomor
Holodomor
The Holodomor was a man-made famine in the Ukrainian SSR between 1932 and 1933. During the famine, which is also known as the "terror-famine in Ukraine" and "famine-genocide in Ukraine", millions of Ukrainians died of starvation in a peacetime catastrophe unprecedented in the history of...
, ‘hungry mass-death’, is the term used to describe the famine within the borders of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and other areas with significant Ukrainian population.
Unlike a 1921 famine
Russian famine of 1921
The Russian famine of 1921, also known as Povolzhye famine, which began in the early spring of that year, and lasted through 1922, was a severe famine that occurred in Bolshevik Russia...
in the Russian SFSR, information about the famine of 1932–33 was suppressed by the Soviet authorities until perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
, the political and economic reforms which ended the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
Process
The government's forced collectivization of agriculture is considered a main reason for the famine, as it caused chaos in the countryside. This included the destruction of peasant activists' possessions, the selling and killing of horses for fear they would be seized, and farmers' refraining from field work. Authorities blamed the agitation on the kulaks (rich peasants) and kolkhozKolkhoz
A kolkhoz , plural kolkhozy, was a form of collective farming in the Soviet Union that existed along with state farms . The word is a contraction of коллекти́вное хозя́йство, or "collective farm", while sovkhoz is a contraction of советское хозяйство...
s (collectivized farmers), and accused them of sabotage. The authorities wrongly expected that production would increase as a result of agricultural collectivization, because of plans for exporting agricultural products based on attempts to industrialize.
Central authorities maintained that the collapse was caused by peasants' hiding their grain crops, despite repeated requests from local authorities that their quota be decreased. As a consequence, local activists led searches for hidden stores of grain; this caused seizure of seed corn that should have been used for sowing the next year's crop and the loss of the stocks needed to feed peasant families.
The Law of Spikelets
For those who stayed in the countryside, often the only place where any food could be found was on collective farms, but the peasants were forbidden to eat their own crops. The "Decree About the Protection of Socialist Property" - nicknamed by the farmers the Law of SpikeletsLaw of Spikelets
Law of Spikelets or Law of Three Spikelets was a common name of the Soviet law to protect state property of kolkhozes. The common name came into use because the law was used to prosecute not only property thieves but also anyone who collected as little as a handful of grain or "spikelets" left...
- was enacted on August 7, 1932. Under the Decree, political police and party officials were allowed to confiscate unlimited amounts of grain from peasant households. Thus, taking food - even a handful of rotting grain or produce - was considered theft of "socialist property" and could be punished by death or a ten-year prison sentence. Even children could be shot for picking up leftover grain in the fields.
Torgsins
Farmers were dying or fleeing to the cities, where food could be bought in special state-run hard-currency stores, called torgsinTorgsin
Torgsin were state-run hard-currency stores that operated in the USSR between 1931 and 1936. Their name was an acronym of torgovlia s inostrantsami , "trade with foreigners." Unlike the later Beryozka stores, Torgsin stores were open to Soviet citizens, provided they had access to hard currency,...
s, for currency, gold, silver, or other valuables. For example, two torgsins in the city of Kharkov accepted 374 kg of gold worth 294,000 rubles from January to February 1932. By January 1932 there were torgsins in eight Ukrainian cities, by May 1932 there were 26, and in autumn 1932, there were 50 in 36 cities. At the peak of the famine in 1933, the number of torgsins reached 263.
Passports
There was a wave of migration due to starvation, although authorities responded by introducing a requirement that passports be used to go between republics, and banning travel by rail.Internal passports (identity cards) were introduced on 27 December 1932 by Soviet authorities to deal with the mass exodus of peasants from the countryside. Individuals not having such a document could not leave their homes, on pain of administrative penalties, such as internment
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
in a Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
(Soviet work and reeducation camps). The rural population had no right to passports and thus could not leave their villages without approval. The power to issue passports rested with the head of the kolkhoz
Kolkhoz
A kolkhoz , plural kolkhozy, was a form of collective farming in the Soviet Union that existed along with state farms . The word is a contraction of коллекти́вное хозя́йство, or "collective farm", while sovkhoz is a contraction of советское хозяйство...
, and identity documents were kept by the administration of the collective farms. This measure stayed in place until 1974.
The lack of passports could not completely stop peasants' leaving the countryside, but only a small percentage of those who illegally infiltrated into cities could improve their lot. Unable to find work or possibly buy or beg a little bread, farmers died in the streets of Kharkov, Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, Dnipropetrovsk
Dnipropetrovsk
Dnipropetrovsk or Dnepropetrovsk formerly Yekaterinoslav is Ukraine's third largest city with one million inhabitants. It is located southeast of Ukraine's capital Kiev on the Dnieper River, in the south-central region of the country...
, Poltava
Poltava
Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....
, Vinnitsa, Humani
Humani
-Law:*Hostis humani generis is a legal term of art, originating from the admiralty law, and referring to the peculiar status, before the public international law, of maritime pirates, since time immemorial, and slavers, since the 18th century.-Organizations:...
, and other major cities of Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
.
Reactions
The famine of 1932-1933 was officially negated, so any discourse on this issue was classified as criminal "anti-Soviet propaganda" until the dissolution of the Soviet UnionDissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
in 1990-1991. For example, the results of the 1937 census were classified as they revealed the demographic aspect of the Great Famine.
The government used disinformation measures against Western journalists; many contemporary correspondents in the Soviet Union are now accused of deliberate concealment of facts, being referred to as "useful idiot
Useful idiot
In political jargon, the term useful idiot was used to describe Soviet sympathizers in Western countries. The implication is that though the people in question naïvely thought themselves an ally of the Soviet Union, they were actually held in contempt and were being cynically used...
s." The most famous of the Great Famine negationists was Walter Duranty
Walter Duranty
Walter Duranty was a Liverpool-born British journalist who served as the Moscow bureau chief of the New York Times from 1922 through 1936. Duranty won a Pulitzer Prize in 1932 for a set of stories written in 1931 on the Soviet Union...
, a British journalist whose articles downplayed the famine and its death toll. A similar position was taken by the French Prime Minister Edouard Herriot
Édouard Herriot
Édouard Marie Herriot was a French Radical politician of the Third Republic who served three times as Prime Minister and for many years as President of the Chamber of Deputies....
, who toured the territory of Ukraine during his stay in the Soviet Union.
Estimation of the loss of life
The famine destroyed a significant part of the local populations, especially in Ukraine. Many villages were destroyed.- The 2004 book The Years of Hunger: Soviet Agriculture, 1931–33 by R.W. Davies and S.G. Wheatcroft, gives an estimate of 5.5 to 6.5 million deaths.
- The Black Book of CommunismThe Black Book of CommunismThe Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression is a book authored by several European academics and edited by Stéphane Courtois, which describes a history of repressions, both political and civilian, by Communist states, including genocides, extrajudicial executions, deportations, and...
estimates 6 million deaths in 1932–33. - Encyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia BritannicaThe Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
estimates that 6 to 8 million people died from hunger in the Soviet Union during this period, of whom 4 to 5 million were Ukrainians. - Robert ConquestRobert ConquestGeorge Robert Ackworth Conquest CMG is a British historian who became a well-known writer and researcher on the Soviet Union with the publication in 1968 of The Great Terror, an account of Stalin's purges of the 1930s...
estimated at least 7 million peasants' deaths from hunger in the European part of the Soviet Union in 1932–33 (5 million in Ukraine, 1 million in the North Caucasus, and 1 million elsewhere), and an additional 1 million of deaths from hunger as a result of collectivization in KazakhstanKazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
. - Another study by Michael EllmanMichael EllmanMichael Ellman has been a professor of economics at the University of Amsterdam since 1978. He has written extensively on the economics of the Soviet Union, transition economics, Russia and comparative economic systems.- Prizes and honours :* Foreign member of the Russian Academy of Economic...
using data given by Davies and Wheatcroft estimates "‘about eight and a half million’ victims of famine and repression", combined, in the period 1930–33. - In his 2010 book Stalin's Genocides, Norman NaimarkNorman NaimarkNorman M. Naimark is an American historian, and author who specializes in modern Eastern European history, and genocide and ethnic cleansing in the region....
estimates that 3 to 5 million Ukrainians died in the famine.
See also
- HolodomorHolodomorThe Holodomor was a man-made famine in the Ukrainian SSR between 1932 and 1933. During the famine, which is also known as the "terror-famine in Ukraine" and "famine-genocide in Ukraine", millions of Ukrainians died of starvation in a peacetime catastrophe unprecedented in the history of...
, Ukraine portion of the 1932-1933 famine - Droughts and famines in Russia and the Soviet Union
- Great Chinese Famine, collectivization famine in China between 1958 and 1961.