Light a candle in memory of the victims of the Holodomor

November 23, 2024 is the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holodomor in Ukraine, established in accordance with the Decree of the President of Ukraine L. Kuchma No. 1310/98 of November 26, 1998.

In 1932–1933, the communist totalitarian regime committed the enormous crime of the Holodomor – the genocide of the Ukrainian people. As a result of this Holodomor, as well as the mass artificial holodomors of 1921–1923 and 1946–1947, Ukraine lost millions of human lives. According to demographers, the total number of victims in the country was 3–7 million.

The goal of this crime was the destruction of the Ukrainian people as a nation.

The communist regime, through the forcible seizure of food, the blockade of villages and entire districts, the ban on people leaving the famine-stricken country, the curtailment of trade by peasants, and repressions against all dissenters, created conditions for Ukrainians that were incompatible with normal life. This was a mass planned murder of the population by artificial starvation, which was hushed up by the Soviet authorities, it was forbidden to even mention. Meanwhile, the Soviet authorities had grain reserves and exported it abroad during the Holodomor, while they themselves refused to accept aid for the starving from foreign countries.

This year, for the third time, we commemorate the victims of communist genocide in the conditions of a terrible war. The tragic events that we are experiencing testify: those who today commit crimes against humanity must be condemned by the international community, and the victims must be duly honored.

Today, the Russians are once again using genocidal methods against Ukrainians to destroy our identity, culture, and national heritage. Both Stalin in the 20th century and Putin in the 21st century resorted to genocide because other methods of subjugating the Ukrainian people do not work. Stalin organized a total confiscation of food, a blockade, and increased terror. Putin is a full-scale invasion, with atrocities, violations of international laws and customs of warfare, terror, mass murder, deliberate attacks on shelters and humanitarian corridors, and bombing of residential areas.

And therefore, our memory of the Holodomor in the context of the current Russian aggression is a factor in the social unity of Ukrainians and the world community against the aggressor.

This year, the commemoration of the victims of the Holodomor is held under the slogan “Light a candle in memory of the victims of the Holodomor. Fight for Ukraine and support the soldiers.”

On November 23 at 4 p.m., a nationwide minute of silence will be held for the millions of human lives that Ukraine lost due to the Holodomor and mass artificial famines. And with the onset of darkness, Ukrainians will light candles of remembrance — on the windowsills of their homes or at work, in offices. After all, every light in the window is an expression of our grief and memory.

And also for this event, the library of Odesa National Medical University offers you to view a digital photo exhibition and an updated virtual book exhibition dedicated to the events of the merciless, hungry, cruel 30s, 40s of the last century…