Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Stalin And The Ukraine Famine

A starving family in a courtyard, featured in Anne Applebaum's new book Red Famine

Daily Mail: The forgotten Holocaust: How Stalin starved four million to death in a grotesque Marxist experiment - which many in Russia STILL deny

Four million Ukrainians were starved to death by Stalin across 1932 and 1933
Some left-leaning figures past and present have sympathised with his regime
But a new book by Anne Applebaum leaves no doubt about his responsibility

One day in the summer of 1933, in a village in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, a little boy woke on top of the family stove. He was starving — not just hungry but genuinely starving.

‘Dad, I want to eat! Dad!’ he cried. But the house was cold and from his father there came no answer.

The boy went over to his father, who was apparently still asleep. There was ‘foam under his nose’, he remembered. ‘I touched his head. Cold.’

Read more ....

WNU Editor: My father grew up in Ukraine during the famine (he was 12) .... and the memories from that experienced haunted him throughout his life. I know that if he was alive today he would be critical of this Daily Mail article. The author's focus is that Russians are in denial that the famine occurred  .... I do not now what she is talking about .... no one I know in Russia is in denial on what happened. And if my father was alive today .... he would remind everyone that during the Ukraine famine the Communists did not care on who died .... and that many Russian-Ukrainians also perished. A point that appears to be absent in this book.

3 comments:

James said...

WNU,
Slightly in her defense. She seems of that generation that grew up on the outside and only heard what was considered prevailing wisdom of the time. While those that were there tell a very different story. That being said, since she is a "professional" in this field she should have known better, but she and unfortunately most of her ilk do not.

fred said...

THE VICTORY OF UKRAINE
Here this author reviews 3 books on the topic...a good read

War News Updates Editor said...

Thank you for the link Fred. I just read it, and it just confirms my opinion of the author (i.e. she sees Ukraine as Ukraine, and Russian-Ukrainians are a small and insignificant group). Her remarks on the hunger and starvation that was witnessed in Kharkiv during the famine ... and quoted by the reviewer .... is telling. Kharliv is the second largest city in Ukraine, and one of my aunts live there. Kharkic is also a city where the majority of the population has/is Russian. The famine did hit Kharkiv hard .... as she notes .... but no mention that it was the Russian population in the city .... along with the Ukrainians .... who suffered. I am not surprised .... no. It conflicts with her narrative that it was the Ukrainians who were the only ones who suffered, and it is fault of Russia.