Prompt Cast
The Holodomor: A Deliberately Engineered Famine in Ukraine
TLDR The Holodomor was a deliberately engineered famine in Ukraine, resulting in the death of millions of people. Despite being ignored by the Western press and denied by the Soviet government, evidence of the tragedy eventually spread worldwide, leaving a lasting impact on Ukraine's history and identity.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Millions of people died in the Holodomor, a deliberately engineered famine in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which was ignored by the Western press and not officially acknowledged by the Soviet government until the 1980s.
02:00
Lenin's New Economic Program allowed for some free market reforms, including the removal of forced grain seizures and the implementation of a grain tax, but Stalin's rise to power in 1928 marked a shift towards collectivization and the harsh enforcement of reforms, particularly in Ukraine.
03:47
Stalin's policies resulted in the death of a significant portion of the Ukrainian intelligentsia, increased pressure on Ukraine to produce grain for the government, and the confiscation of grain from farms and collective farms, leading to a collapse in agricultural production.
05:28
During the Holodomor, Ukrainians were systematically starved and prevented from obtaining food, with an estimated 25,000 people dying of hunger every day and cannibalism becoming rampant.
07:15
During the Holodomor, Stalin controlled the flow of information and the official Soviet line was that there was no famine in Ukraine, but whispers of the tragedy spread worldwide, and a British reporter named Gareth Jones managed to observe and report on the famine, which was later picked up by newspapers around the world.
08:57
Despite the denial of a Communist and the public denial by Duranty, subsequent research has confirmed that Duranty knew about the famine in Ukraine, with estimates of up to 10 million people dying, and yet he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Soviet Union.
10:44
The legacy of the Holodomor, including the denial of its occurrence and the repopulation of Ukraine with ethnic Russians, still has an impact today, with some people denying its existence and others debating whether it should be classified as a genocide.
