A review by jennifer_vars
Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine, 1921-1933, by Anne Applebaum
challenging
informative
sad
slow-paced
5.0
"The archival record backs up the testimony of the survivors. Neither crop failure nor bad weather caused the famine in Ukraine. Although the chaos of collectivization helped create the conditions that led to famine, the high numbers of deaths in Ukraine between 1932 and 1934, and especially the spike in the spring of 1933, were not caused directly by collectivization either. Starvation was the result, rather, of the forcible removal of food from people’s homes; the roadblocks that prevented peasants from seeking work or food; the harsh rules of the blacklists imposed on farms and villages; the restrictions on barter and trade; and the vicious propaganda campaign designed to persuade Ukrainians to watch, unmoved, as their neighbours died of hunger."
This is an intense book that took some time to get through. People always say they can't imagine how people sat by while atrocities occurred. This book shows exactly how such things can happen through propaganda, isolationism and fear. The book also illustrates that there are deep wounds still left open in the collective memory of Ukrainians, this knowledge helped me better understand the current crisis.
It also shows just how complicated history is. Applebaum writes that when the Germans first entered the country, Ukrainians were naive and hopeful. Girls even presented troops with flowers. Can you imagine? So eager they were to escape Stalin's terror and then found themselves in the midst of another.
Estimates range that anywhere between 3-10 million people died during Stalin's famine known as "Holodomor". Ukrainian culture and language was meticulously eviscerated as well during this time and even before all of this, the land has a long history of occupation and conflict. And yet amazingly, Ukraine still exists on the map and continues its fight for independence. Ще не вмерла України і слава, і воля (The glory and freedom of Ukraine has not yet perished)
This is an intense book that took some time to get through. People always say they can't imagine how people sat by while atrocities occurred. This book shows exactly how such things can happen through propaganda, isolationism and fear. The book also illustrates that there are deep wounds still left open in the collective memory of Ukrainians, this knowledge helped me better understand the current crisis.
It also shows just how complicated history is. Applebaum writes that when the Germans first entered the country, Ukrainians were naive and hopeful. Girls even presented troops with flowers. Can you imagine? So eager they were to escape Stalin's terror and then found themselves in the midst of another.
Estimates range that anywhere between 3-10 million people died during Stalin's famine known as "Holodomor". Ukrainian culture and language was meticulously eviscerated as well during this time and even before all of this, the land has a long history of occupation and conflict. And yet amazingly, Ukraine still exists on the map and continues its fight for independence. Ще не вмерла України і слава, і воля (The glory and freedom of Ukraine has not yet perished)
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Violence