How Did Joseph Stalin's Forced Famine

Words: 1412
Pages: 6

There have been many acts of genocide committed in the twentieth century. There is one in particular that stood out. It was Stalin’s’ forced famine in Ukraine. The main reason it stuck out was the fact that it isn’t as well known as others even though it was just as horrible as the rest. Communist Josef Stalin intentionally starved approximately five million people in Ukraine and around two million others in other areas. Stalin also ordered the deaths of anyone who did not give up their livestock to what they called the collective farms. Thousands were killed for hiding grain, slaughtering livestock, and burning their houses and barns. Officers that protested the treatment and conditions of the starving peasants were killed. As a result of the forced famine thousands of peasants were so starved they resorted to cannibalism. They did not kill people to eat. Instead they harvested those that had already perished. Regardless of the starving condition of these peasants, they were arrested and executed for breaking the law by …show more content…
There were accounts of there being so much grain the granaries could not contain it all and the grain was stored in the open. The open grain was surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards that were instructed to shoot and kill anyone who attempted to steal the grain. Anyone who did not follow this order or aids the Kulaks in obtaining additional grains was executed. Canada, parts of Europe, and the United States heard reports of a famine in the Ukraine and attempted to take action. They sent aid to the Kulaks which included food but they were denied entry into the Ukraine by Soviet Officials. The Soviet Union was now denying allegations of famine in the Ukraine. It was against Soviet policy to admit or report famine because it would raise questions of why there was a famine if there was so much excess grain produced in