Criminal Investigation of Artificially Created Famine in Ukraine in 1932-1933

On May 22, 2009 the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU-SBU) opened a criminal investigation case based on the act of genocide being committed in Ukraine in 1932 through 1933, which is a criminal offence stipulated in Part 1, Article 442 “Genocide” of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The case was initiated stemming from an address by Verkhovna Rada deputies Hryhoriy Omelchenko and Olex Chornovolenko, NGO representatives as well as on the basis of documents received after the issues were examined by the SSU.

The pre-trial investigation has found that: in the peace time for the period 1928-1931, the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Josef Stalin, and other Soviet leaders perpetrated systematic and large-scale acts of repression and persecution of the Ukrainian intelligentsia, clergy, and peasantry. These were carried out by Bolshevik authorities by way of legal persecution, executions, deportations beyond the boundaries of Ukraine, and by the confiscation of property. The years 1932-1933 were the climax of the mass extermination of millions of Ukrainians by the totalitarian regime which resulted in an artificially created famine.

The Security Service of Ukraine has gathered irrefutable evidence that proves that the highest leadership of the Soviet Union committed crimes against humanity with the use of the following mechanisms:

– Isolation of the territory of Ukraine by specially armed detachments, military and police units;

– Approval of decisions to put districts and populated areas on “black boards”, block them with military forces, bar the populace from leaving these territories, confiscate nourishment produce, and ban trade;

– Limit free movement of peasantry out of Ukraine to look for food;

– Instalment of fines paid in kind, and;

– Execution of constant searches with the confiscation of belongings, food and seed stores.

The act of committing genocide in 1932-1933 is testified by:

– 3456 discovered and declassified documents of the Communist Party and other executive authority bodies, including those signed by Josef Stalin;

– 3186 folios of registered deaths for 1932-1933, that prove mass population deaths through artificially organized starvation;

– Testimonial evidence of 1730 witnesses and victims of criminal acts committed by the totalitarian regime;

– 857 mass burials of genocide victims;

– 735 settlements, kolkhozes (collective farms), rural villages and areas of Ukraine, where authorities with executive powers imposed a regime based on so called “black boards”, according to which armed regiments and troops blocked these settlements, trade was forbidden, and foodstuffs, clothes and property were confiscated. In fact, these acts were directed at the extermination of the civil population by starvation;

– 400 discovered and declassified documents of the State Institutional Archive of the SSU-SBU which prove that starvation had been artificially organized by authorities with executive powers;

– Archive documents of diplomatic missions of foreign countries;

– Archive documents that prove the mass resettling of ethnic Russians in Ukraine, and;

– Documentary photos revealing the tragic events of Holodomor of 1932-1933.

The results of the investigation prove that the Genocide in 1932-1933 caused the most damage to the central and eastern territories of Ukraine and was introduced by the Bolshevik regime.

Forensic medical, as well as historic-demographical examinations are underway to reveal the cause of deaths and body count figures for the years 1932-1933.

The comprehensive juridical and historical examination of the preconditions which led to the mass extermination of the Ukrainian people is in its final stages.

The Security Service of Ukraine in its investigation applies provisions of international law with the aim of collecting from other countries evidence of the Genocide against the Ukrainian people. In this respect, the SSU has forwarded petitions of juridical assistance to law-enforcement bodies of Austria, Belarus, United Kingdom, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Italy, USA, Russia, Germany, and Poland.

The results of the criminal investigation case will enable the responsible authorities to adopt appropriate juridical decisions regarding the perpetrators of the Genocide in Ukraine 1932-1933.