Regional variations of 1932–34 famine losses in Ukraine

Abstract

Yearly estimates of urban and rural direct losses (excess deaths) from the 1932-34 famine are presented for the oblasts of Soviet Ukraine. Contrary to expectations, the highest losses are not found in the grain-producing southern oblasts, but in the north-central Kyiv and Kharkiv oblasts. Several hypotheses are proposed and tested to explain this finding. No single hypothesis provides a comprehensive explanation. Losses in some oblasts are due to specific factors, while losses in other oblasts seem to be explained by a combination of economic and political factors. Quantitative analyses are presented of resistance and Soviet repressions in 1932, and effects of the food assistance program and historical-political factors on direct losses in 1933 are analyzed.Keywords: 1932-33 famine losses by oblast; Holodomor; regional Holodomor losses; Ukrainian famine; urban and rural Holodomor losses. RésuméDes estimations annuelles de pertes (décès excédentaires) directement attribuables à la famine de 1932-34 sont présentées pour les zones urbaines et rurales d'Ukraine sovietique. Contrairement aux attentes, les pertes les plus importantes n'étaient pas dans la région méridionale productrice de grain, mais plutôt dans la région du nord-centre, soit Kiev et Kharkiv. Plusieurs hypothèses sont proposées et mises à l'épreuve pour vérifier cette conclusion. Cependant, aucune hypothèse, à elle seule, ne fournit une explication complète. Dans certaines régions, les pertes sont causées par des facteurs précis, alors que dans d'autres, les pertes sont expliquées par une combinaison de facteurs économiques et politiques. Des analyses quantitatives sont présentées sur la résistance et les répressions sovietiques en 1932. L'effet du programme d'assistance alimentaire et les facteurs politico-historiques attribuables directement aux pertes en 1933 est également analysé.

Forest as Stronghold of Local Ecological Practice: Currently Used Wild Food Plants in Polesia, Northern Ukraine

“…At the same time, eastern Polesia was subjected to Holodomor, the artificial famine imposed in 1932-1933 by the Soviet regime across large areas, including all of eastern Polesia. Wolowyna et al (2016) estimated the total direct loss from Holodomor in the Chernihiv region among rural populations to be 254 thousand (slightly less than 1%), which is relatively low compared to other regions.…”

Mass Repression and Political Loyalty: Evidence from Stalin’s ‘Terror by Hunger’

“…We use data on rayon-level famine losses from the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute's Mapa: Digital Atlas of Ukraine (Plokhy, 2016;Wolowyna et al, 2016). 5 We merge these data with pre-famine covariates.…”

“…Farms and villages that failed to meet requisition targets had to make up their losses with increased quotas for the next harvest and were denied access to food purchases and credit. This was effectively “a death sentence… on the population of the given kolkhoz, village, or rayon” (Wolowyna et al 2016, 19). The state banned private farming, including gardening for household subsistence, and even fishing, and introduced internal passports and residency permits, preventing villagers from seeking food elsewhere.…”

Glucose Tolerance Testing and Anthropometric Comparisons Among Rural Residents of Kyiv Region: Investigating the Possible Effect of Childhood Starvation—A Community-Based Study

“…The scale and consequences of a 20th-century humanitarian catastrophe, known in Ukraine as Holodomor (meaning “killing by artificial famine”), have not yet been sufficiently investigated. 1,2 The possibility to conduct such studies is diminishing every year due to constant decrease in the number of famine’s survivors; therefore, any chance to perform such investigations must be used.…”