Friday, November 25, 2022

Irish Senate recognizes Ukrainian genocide in the 1930s

The Upper House of the Irish Parliament on Thursday approved the recognition of the Holodomor as the Ukrainian extermination and genocide of millions of people during the 1930s in the era of former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

 Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky at the Holodomor commemoration in Ukraine. - Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images via ZU / DPA

"I thank the Irish Senate, Seanad Éireann, for recognizing the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as genocide of the Ukrainian people. Having survived the Great Famine in the past, Ireland knows the horror of famine and shares our pain. We will always remember this friendly move," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dimitro Kuleba reacted to the decision on his Twitter profile.

The Ukrainian Embassy in the country, for its part, has called the move "historic". "Ireland is one of our closest friends who is not afraid to call a spade a spade," it has indicated on the same social network.

With this decision, Ireland joins other countries, such as Romania, that have recognized the Holodomor, whose commemoration is celebrated next November 28, as a genocide of the Ukrainian people, a great famine between 1932 and 1933 that caused the death of several million people, as reported by the UNIAN news agency.




Nikolai Vavilov in the years of Stalin's ‘Revolution from Above’ (1929–1932)

Abstract
This paper examines new evidence from Russian archives to argue that Soviet geneticist and plant breeder, Nikolai I. Vavilov's fate was sealed during the ‘Cultural Revolution’ (‘Revolution from Above’) (1929–1932). This was several years before Trofim D. Lysenko, the Soviet agronomist and widely portrayed archenemy and destroyer of Vavilov, became a major force in Soviet science. During the ‘Cultural Revolution’ the Soviet leadership wanted to subordinate science and research to the task of socialist reconstruction. Vavilov, who was head of the Institute of Plant Breeding (VIR) and the All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VASKhNIL), came under attack from the younger generation of researchers who were keen to transform biology into a proletarian science. The new evidence shows that it was during this period that Vavilov lost his independence to determine research strategies and manage personnel within his own institute. These changes meant that Lysenko, who had won Stalin's support, was able to gain influence and eventually exert authority over Vavilov. Based on the new evidence, Vavilov's arrest in 1940 after he criticized Lysenko's conception of Non-Mendelian genetics was just the final challenge to his authority. He had already experienced years of harassment that began before Lysenko gained a position of influence. Vavilov died in prison in 1943.

 1986-1988

 Johnathon K. Vsetecka,
.Unpublished Master of Arts thesis,
 University of Northern Colorado, May 2014.

ABSTRACT
This thesis examines the famine of 1932-33 in Ukraine, now known as the Holodomor, from a survivor’s point of view. The Commission on the Ukraine Famine, beginning work in 1986, conducted an investigation of the famine and collected testimony from Holodomor survivors in the United States. This large collection of survivor testimonies sat quietly for many years, even though the Holodomor is now a recognized field of study in history, among other disciplines. A great deal of scholarship focuses on the political, genocidal, and ideological aspects of the famine, but few works explore the roles of everyday Ukrainian people. This thesis utilizes the testimonies to examine how everyday survivors construct memories based on their famine experiences. Survivors often share memories of themselves, but they also elaborate on the roles of others, which included Soviets, German villagers, and even other Ukrainians. These testimonies transcend the common victim and genocide narratives, showing that not all Ukrainians suffered equally. In fact, some survivors note that the famine did not disrupt their everyday lives at all. Collectively, these testimonies present a more complex narrative of everyday events in Ukraine and elucidate on the ways that survivors remember, interpret, and construct memories related to the Holodomor.



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