‘Death by Hunger’: Trudeau, Poilievre Mark Soviet Holodomor Anniversary

A woman lights a candle placed in a lantern in tribute to the victims of communism in the 1932–33 famine in Ukraine, at the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide in Kyiv on Nov. 23, 2024. Ukraine marked 91 years since the Holodomor famine inflicted by the Soviet regime under Stalin, which left millions dead. Photo by Roman Pilipey/AFP via Getty Images

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre on the occasion of Holodomor Memorial Day condemned the Soviet-imposed famine in Ukraine and denounced the horrors wrought by communist ideology.

“In 1932 and 1933, Joseph Stalin’s Soviet regime inflicted a deliberate famine across Ukraine. The Holodomor—‘death by hunger’—was a genocide that starved millions of innocent Ukrainians,” Trudeau wrote on the social media platform X on Nov. 23.

“In the face of these horrors, Ukrainians endured, protecting their language, their culture, and their identity.”

Poilievre also issued a statement condemning the man-made tragedy of 1932 and 1933, driven by “totalitarian communist ideology,” which resulted in the deaths of an estimated four million Ukrainians.

“Generations of Ukrainians honour the memories of grandparents and great-grandparents who were forcibly starved, shot, imprisoned, or sent to the gulags for violating communist laws. As one popular saying of the time put it: ‘Where the hammer and sickle are, there is death and hunger’—a tragedy for Ukraine and a warning to the world of what was to come,” Poilievre said.

“Common Sense Conservatives will always stand for freedom and oppose communism, fascism and all other forms of socialism wherever they rear their ugly head,” he said.

Canada recognized the Holodomor as “an act of genocide” in 2008, declaring the fourth Saturday in November every year as Ukrainian Famine and Genocide Memorial Day. More than 25 countries across the world have recognized Holodomor as a genocide, according to Heritage Canada.

In 2023, the Ontario government included the Soviet Holodomor in Grade 10 lessons, with then-Education Minister Stephen Lecce saying that understanding this history would help students guard against “communist extremism.”

“The rise of extremism, including Communism and Marxism, are direct threats to our democracy, social cohesion and values as Canadians,” he said at the time.

“This learning will help ensure students are never bystanders in the face of such horrors, understand the danger of totalitarianism and help safeguard fundamental Canadian values of freedom and democracy over communist extremism.”

(Left) The Chicago American’s front page depicting the Holodomor, a man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine in 1932 and 1933 that killed millions. (Top) Carts of grain are taken from a collective farm in the village of Oleksiyivka, Ukraine, in 1932, part of the Soviet regime’s policy of deliberately taking away food from the peasants. (Bottom) Emaciated children during the Holodomor. All Public Domain

Poilievre also pointed to the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war in his statement, noting, “Today, as another criminal regime in Moscow seeks to destroy Ukraine and its people, it is more important than ever to remember the innocent victims of this terrible crime.”

Also condemning the Soviet genocide was Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen, who highlighted how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated global food insecurity.

“On Holodomor Memorial Day, we remember the millions of Ukrainians who perished in the Soviet regime’s famine. Today, Russia is not only destroying Ukraine, but is deepening hunger around the world,” he wrote in a post on X on Nov. 23. “Canada stands firm with Ukraine, while supporting global food security.”

Ukraine, often described as the “breadbasket of Europe,” has long been a leading global grain and agricultural exporter. In the first year of Russia’s invasion, launched Feb. 24, 2022, damage and losses for Ukraine’s agriculture sector was estimated at US$40.2 billion, says a World Bank assessment published in March 2023.

The word Holodomor likely originates from the Ukrainian expression “moryty holodom,” which means “to inflict death by hunger,” according to the Holodomor Resource Library.