[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 149 (Tuesday, November 27, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1802]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


           79TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UKRAINIAN FAMINE-GENOCIDE

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                          HON. SANDER M. LEVIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 27, 2012

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, this year marks the 79th anniversary of the 
Ukrainian famine-genocide, a tragedy that claimed the lives of an 
estimated 7 to 10 million Ukrainians between 1932 and 1933. I rise 
today to commemorate the lives of those who perished at the hands of 
Josef Stalin's Soviet Union and to remember the suffering of the 
Ukrainian people.
  Using food as a weapon, Stalin's barbaric regime orchestrated a 
famine of genocidal proportions, attempting to suppress the Ukrainian 
nation by systematically starving its people. In 1932, the Soviet 
government confiscated Ukraine's grain crop as ``social property'' and 
executed anyone who resisted the seizure. Then, in an action that 
clearly reveals the murderous motivation behind the Soviet plan, the 
Red Army closed Ukraine's borders, sealing in the starving people who 
were trying to flee and shutting out any outside aid.
  Unfortunately, the Ukrainian famine, referred to as the Holodomor, 
remains one of the least known human tragedies, in part because of 
generations of denial by the Soviet Union. By claiming the famine was 
the result of drought, food shortages, or other natural causes, the 
Soviet government engaged in a pernicious type of behavior that 
Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel has called a ``double killing.'' The 
Soviet Union carried out a deliberate campaign between 1923 and 1933 to 
eliminate the Ukrainian nation, killing millions of victims, and in the 
subsequent years denied that it ever happened, attempted to kill the 
memories of the victims.
  There should be no doubt that the Holodomor was manmade and 
deliberate, a fact that has been confirmed by evidence gained through 
the opening of the Soviet archives over the last decade. This evidence 
will help ensure that the horrors of the Ukrainian famine-genocide are 
never repeated and the memories of the victims are never forgotten.
  Another way we are ensuring that the Holodomor remains in our 
collective consciousness is the creation of a memorial in our Nation's 
capital honoring the famine's victims. Set to open next fall, the 
Ukrainian Famine Memorial is the product of cooperation among the 
Congress, the Ukrainian Government, and the 1.5 million strong 
Ukrainian-American community. The memorial will provide a reminder to 
us all that tyranny must not go unchallenged and that victims of 
inhumanity must never be forgotten.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in remembering the victims of the 
Holodomor on its 79th anniversary.

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