IN THE EARLY 1930s, in the veryheart of Europe – in a regionconsidered to be the SovietUnion’s breadbasket – Stalin’sCommunist regime committed ahorrendous act of genocide againstmillions of Ukrainians. Anancient nation of agriculturistswas subjected to starvation, oneof the most ruthless forms of torture and death. The governmentimposed exorbitant grainquotas, in some cases confiscatingsupplies down to the lastseed. The territory of Soviet Ukraineand the predominantlyUkrainian-populated Kuban regionof Soviet Russia (NorthernCaucasus) were isolated by armedunits, so that people could notgo in search of food to neighbouringSoviet regions where itwas more readily available. Theresult was the Ukrainian genocideof 1932–33, known in Ukrainianas the Holodomor, or exterminationby famine.
