The Holodomor Was A Repugnant Genocide - 953 Words

The Holodomor was a repugnant genocide that took place in Ukraine eighty years ago. Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, led the genocide that killed tens of millions of people. From 1932-1933, Ukraine went under Stalin’s dictatorship. In the time, Stalin had not only put up labor camps, but had also taken away mostly all Ukraine’s food. The Holodomor genocide was one of the worst genocides in Ukraine’s history. The term Holodomor means death by hunger in Ukrainian. Ukraine has not been the same since this tragic time. (Holodomor: Memories of Ukraine s Silent Massacre, 2013). It started in 1920 when Ukraine tried to break away from the Soviet Union, but it was unsuccessful because Stalin wouldn’t let them. Stalin then at the end of the 1920s, wanted to shut down Ukraine’s autonomy. He does so by having individuals arrested, sent to prison, and even executed (Sebag, 2008). Ukraine used to be the bread basket of Russia. That was until Stalin and his crew took over and held over  ¾ of Ukraine hostage. While he was having people imprisoned and executed, he also ordered the collectivization of agriculture. Most of Ukraine were peasants and farmers. The majority of these people owned a good amount of land, and some even owned livestock. There were people who were against collectivization. These people were called Kulaks, which are rich peasants. Thousands of people were thrown out of their homes and even deported. (Bohdan, 2013) When 1932 came around, things got terribly