The 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine was a tragic event. A lawsuit was filed based on numerous evidence that the famine could have been a crime. On January 13, the court case concluded in Kiev. Our correspondents in Kyiv have more on the story.
Nadejda Veter was only 10-years-old when famine hit Ukraine in 1932. She recalled the time when the authorities went into her village and took all of her food.
[Nadejda Veter, Famine Survivor]: (Female, Russian)
“My grandmother baked a fresh loaf of bread. They put it inside a bag. Then they opened the oven. There was a pot of soup in there. They took out the meat, ate it and threw the pot onto the ground, breaking it. Grandfather was starving, swelled up and died of hunger.”
According to historians, the 1932-1933 famine took the lives of approximately 10 million people in Ukraine. It wasn’t caused by a lack of harvest. Rather, it was caused by a complete confiscation of food from farmers. The harvest was shipped abroad, and any excess supply was just thrown away.
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In order to survive, Nadejda had to drink a concoction that was made of grass. Today, she has become one of the key witnesses to give a testimony on the horrible years of famine.
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The Security Service of Ukraine launched an investigation into the crimes of the famine, which later turned into a lawsuit. It relied on eyewitness accounts and uncovered documents.
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These documents were relayed to the Ukrainian prosecutor's office and later to court. On January 13th, Kyiv's appeal court decided that hunger is a form of genocide and named the parties who were guilty of this crime: Stalin, Molotov, Postishev, Kosior, and Hatayevich.
Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko gave a speech on January 14th proposing the creation of an international tribunal, with the purpose of deciding cases of communist crimes. He called on the leaders of Eastern Europe which suffered from the communist regime.
NTD News, Kyiv, Ukraine.