[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 147 (Thursday, November 14, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2043-E2044]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      REMEMBERING UKRAINE'S FAMINE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. CURT WELDON

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 14, 2002

  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, this Saturday, Ukrainians 
around the world will honor the millions that died in the man-made 
famine created by Josef Stalin's Soviet government. In 1932-33, 
citizens of Ukraine, the northern Caucasus and the lower Volga River 
regions died as a result of Stalin's implementation of forced 
collectivization. The heaviest losses occurred in Ukraine, where an 
estimated 7 to 10 million people perished.
  This artificial famine was instituted to break the spirit of the 
Ukrainian farmer and force them into collectivization. Stalin was 
determined to crush Ukrainian nationalism and to do so required an 
ethnic cleansing of the most horrific nature. The task took the form of 
a man-made famine where the quota for grain from Ukraine was brutally 
increased. The extraordinarily high quota resulted in a severe grain 
shortage, effectively starving the Ukrainian people.
  Additionally, the peasants were threatened if they did not perform 
the work expected of them and the Soviet government issued a decree 
stating that anyone found hiding food products or produced materials 
would be shot.
  The end result was a demoralized and depleted Ukrainian ethnic 
population. Stalin covered up this genocide so effectively that little

[[Page E2044]]

was known of this horrific event. However, the Ukrainian Government has 
exposed Stalin's atrocities by issuing a decree stating that the fourth 
Saturday of November is designated as the national memorial day for the 
millions of victims of the 1932-33 famine. This day of observance 
reminds us that freedom does not come easy.
  I join those in mourning and aid their cause in expanding the world's 
acknowledgment of this horrific event in Ukraine's history. 
Furthermore, I support the Ukrainian community's action to erect a 
monument to the victims of the 1932-33 Ukrainian Famine-Genocide in 
Washington, D.C.
  This monument will serve as a reminder of the sacrifices the 
Ukrainian people endured for their freedom and the knowledge of this 
horrible crime will spread and stimulate the fight for freedom all over 
the world.

                          ____________________