Europe knew about Holodomor

The National Institute of Strategic Studies (NISS) has recently launched the book Holodomor v Ukraini 1932-1933 rokiv za dokumentamy politychnoho arkhivu Ministerstva zakordonnykh sprav FRN (The 1932-1933 Holodomor in Ukraine in the Documents of the Political Archive of Germany’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs). This publication is part of the series based on archival documents on the Holodomor from diplomatic archives and was preceded by the publications of Italian, British, and Polish documents. The following interview is with NISS director Yurii Ruban who dwells on the specifics of this book.

Mr. Ruban, what is the key idea of this book?

“This publication is part of a series that has recently appeared in print. It includes Andrea Graziosi’s well-known book Letters from Kharkiv in which he discusses the issue of whether the European diplomats and general public knew about what was happening in Ukraine at the time. Our latest publication relies on an archive of Germany’s foreign ministry and offers an answer to this question. We insist that the European diplomats knew about the Holodomor as the Soviet Union’s deliberate act against Ukraine-this is evidenced by German diplomatic dispatches dating from that period.

“On the other hand, these documents are proof that the European countries acknowledged the effectiveness of the USSR modernization plan worked out by the Stalinist regime. In other words, diplomats clearly say: yes, there was famine, millions died, but the USSR is becoming a world power — the Soviets are building new airfields, making machinery, increasing their military capacity, and so on. Europeans agreed that the backward Ukrainian countryside had to pay a big price for Soviet modernization. In addition, they were afraid to acknowledge the Holodomor, for this would mean aggravating relations with the Soviet Union. At the time, the USSR was once again attempting to regain its influence on Europe, so Europeans were trying to reach understanding with it at all costs. German documents also suggest that this is how Germany and the Soviet Union were preparing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.”

Would you say that present-day Europe sometimes acts in regard to Russia the way it did to the USSR?

“The issue of the 1932-33 Holodomor has aspects for the past, present, and future. Indeed, at the time the short-term objectives prevailed over the cost of millions of human lives. This is why the world community of nations, responding to Ukraine‘s appeal for recognizing the Holodomor as an act of genocide, is forming an answer to the question about Europe’s future development. The question is: Will the fundamental European values survive, or will they once again yield to current, short-term interests? After all, the 1975 Helsinki Final Act was a big event after much suffering caused by 20th-century tragedies in Europe. It says that European security is indivisible; that it is impossible to provide security for any part of Europe to the detriment of some other part; that the security of any one country cannot come at the cost of violating the rights of any of its citizens.

“It was then that the comprehensive, fundamental principles of European security were formulated. We are now witnessing Russia’s “return,” and this means a new challenge to these principles. I mean the format in which Russia is returning to Europe, the Russia-Georgia conflict, Russia’s right to veto a NATO expansion proposal, which is, essentially, the right of veto on European security. A question arises, will Europe meet this challenge adequately? For example, the French President declared in Nice that he supports Russia’s initiative in forming a new European security structure. What does this mean? Does this imply that the previous principles should be revised and support should be given to Russia’s claim that it is impossible to recognize Europe’s current administrative border as state borders? These are fundamental things that have a direct bearing on Ukraine at the moment.”

Judging from the German archival documents, how many people were died in the 1932-33 Holodomor in Ukraine?

“The German documents mention six million victims. German experts estimate that Ukraine lost 25 percent of its population.”

Do you plan to continue working using foreign archives?

“Any research projects gets off the ground with an idea. To this end, I would like to mention Prof. Andrii Kudriachenko, once a Ukrainian diplomat posted to Germany, who has spent a lot of effort to prepare the manuscript and facilitate its publication. We have plans involving archives in Germany and other countries.”