The Communist Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Bulgarian Settlements of the Northern Azov Region

Keywords: Holodomor of 1932-1933, communist genocide, Bulgarians of the Northern Azov region, eyewitness testimony, demographic losses

Abstract

The purpose of the research paper is to study the problem of general reasons and regional and national specificity of the consecution and consequences of the Holodomor in the Bulgarian villages of the Northern Azov (Northern Pryazovia) region.

The scientific novelty is in clarifying the features of the food policy of the Bilshovyks and the consecution of the Holodomor in the Bulgarian villages of the Azov region, as well as in the first attempt to calculate the demographic losses of the Taurica Bulgarians and the number of ‘blackboarded’ (chornodoskovi) artels.

Conclusions. The problem of the circumstances and consequences of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in the Bulgarian villages of the Northern Azov region (Ukraine) is studied in the paper. It is found out that scholars repeatedly addressed the study of the Bulgarian segment of the All-Ukrainian tragedy of the Holodomor, but mostly noted the ‘international’ nature of the communist genocide. That is, the Holodomor had the character of genocide of the Ukrainian political nation, part of which were Bulgarians and other ethnic groups who lived in a kind of reservation fenced off by special military units.

It is emphasized that the Holodomor was aimed as a preventive ‘devastating blow’ against Ukrainian separatism, the social base of which was the peasantry. It is confirmed that the famine in Bulgarian villages was caused by the confiscation of food, in-kind fines, non-payment for workdays, and the blockade of the ‘blackboarded villages’.

It is ascertained that every sixth-seventh Bulgarian village was enrolled on the ‘black boards’, which meant that people were deprived of their livelihoods. It is estimated that the mortality rate of Bulgarians from starvation was one of the highest both in that time Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, which included Kolarivka National Raion, and in the republic as a whole, and amounted to one-third of the local population – about 20.000 people.

It is confirmed that the scale of the Holodomor and repression of the Bulgarians in 1932-1933 was no less than in the surrounding Ukrainian, Greek, and other villages. It is noted that the Holodomor and the repression of the Bulgarians in 1937-1939 undermined the gene pool and cultural traditions of the Taurica Bulgarians, causing an anthropogenic catastrophe with long-lasting consequences.

It is emphasized that the problem of the Holodomor and other forms of communist genocide of the Bulgarians of the Northern Azov region remains relevant as a component of national memory and a historical lesson for the modern generation and requires further scientific studies.

References

Chentsov, V.V. (1999). Tragic fates. Political repressions against the German population of Ukraine in the 1920-1930s. Moskva: Gotika [in Russian].

Chyrko, B.V. (1995). National minorities in Ukraine (20-30s of the 20th century). Kyiv: Asotsiatsiya «Ukraina» [in Ukrainian].

Hryshchenko, Yu. (2018). Bulgarians in Ukraine in the 1920s – 1930s: between the national projects of power and the realities of life. Kyiv: Instytut istorii Ukrainy NAN Ukrainy [in Ukrainian].

Hryshchenko, Yu. (2018). Dynamics and socio-economic consequences of continuous collectivization and the Holodomor 1932-1933 in the Bulgarian villages of the USSR. Rehionalna istoriia Ukrainy, 12, 187-204 [in Ukrainian].

Hryshchenko, Yu. (2024). Complete collectivization and the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in the Bulgarian villages of Soviet Ukraine. Visnyk nauky ta osvity, 2 (20), 1449-1463. DOI: 10.52058/2786-6165-2024-2(20)-1446-1463 [in Ukrainian].

Hudz, V., Polyakova, L. & Krylova, A. (2023). Melitopol Reflections of the National Tragedy of Holodomor. Ukrainoznavchyi almanakh, 33, 195-204. DOI: 10.17721/2520-2626/2023.33.25 [in Ukrainian].

Hudz, V. (2008). Famine of 1932-1933 in the Melitopol district as a phenomenon of genocide. In Holodomor 1932-1933: zaporizkyi vymir. Zaporizhzhya: Prosvita, 80-96 [in Ukrainian].

Hudz, V. (2019). Historiography of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine. Melitopol: FOP Odnoroh T.V. [in Ukrainian].

Iriohlu, Yu. & Milchev, V. (2023). The Echo of the Peasant’s Catastrophe: Collectivization and the Holodomor in the Historical Memory of the Northern Azov Bulgarians]. Ukrainoznavchyi almanakh, 33, 205-215. DOI: 10.17721/2520-2626/2023.33.26 [in Ukrainian].

Kotlyar, Yu. (2009). Ethnic minorities of Southern Ukraine during the famine of 1932-1933. Suchasna ukrainska polityka. Polityky i politolohy pro neyi. Kyiv: IPED im. I.F. Kurasa NAN, рр. 71-78 [in Ukrainian].

Kotlyar, Yu.V. & Mironova, I.S. (2008). Holodomors of 1921-1923 and 1932-1933 in Southern Ukraine: ethnic and international aspects. Kyiv-Mykolaiv: Vyd-vo MDHU im. Petra Mohyly [in Ukrainian].

Kozytskyi, A.M. (2012). Genocide and the policy of mass extermination of the civilian population in the 20th century (causes, features, consequences): educ. manual. Lviv: Litopys [in Ukrainian].

Kulchytskyi, S.V. (1990). Tragic statistics of hunger. In Holod 1932-1933 rokiv na Ukraini: Prychyny ta naslidky. Kyiv: Naukova dumka, 66-84 [in Ukrainian].

Marochko, V. (2014). Holodomor territory in 1932-1933. Kyiv [in Ukrainian].

Milchev, V.I. & Iriohlu, Yu.O. (2008). ‘Oral histories’ of the Tauri Bulgarians as a source of research on the famines of 1932-1933 and 1946-1947. In Holodomor 1932-1933: zaporizkyi vymir. Zaporizhzhya: Prosvita, 208-230 [in Ukrainian].

Milchev, V. (2018). Review of the monograph: Hryshchenko Y. Bulgarians in Ukraine in the 1920s – 1930s: between national government projects and the realities of life. Kyiv: Institute of History of Ukraine, NAS of Ukraine, 2018. 269 p. Ukrainskyi istorychnyi zhurnal, 5, 192-197 [in Ukrainian].

Mitkov, V.V. (2009). Golgotha of the Bulgarians of Tavria: anatomy of repression (1920s – 1940s). Zaporozhye: Tandem-U [in Russian].

Movchan, O. & Hudz, V. (2012). Everyday life at enterprises and new buildings. Ukrainian Soviet society in the 1930s. In Narysy povsyakdennoho zhyttia. Kyiv: Instytut istorii Ukrainy NAN Ukrainy, 144-353 [in Ukrainian].

Pachev, S.I. (2007). The emergence of Bulgarian villages in the Northern Azov region. Melitopol [in Russian].

Pacheva, M. & Milchev, V. (2023). Dynamics of the population of the Bulgarian ethnic minority of Northern Azov region in 1921-1991. Drynovskyi zbirnyk, 16. URL: https://periodicals.karazin.ua/drinov/article/view/23165/21162 [in Ukrainian].

Papakin, H. (2010, November 27). “Black boards” of the Holodomor - an economic method of extermination of citizens of the Ukrainian SSR (List). Istorychna pravda. Retrieved from https://www.istpravda.com.ua/research/4cf147b447cf7/ [in Ukrainian].

Smolii, V.A. (Ed.) (2003). Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine: causes and consequences. Kyiv: Naukova dumka [in Ukrainian].

Snaider, T. (2011). Bloody lands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin. Kyiv: Hrani-T [in Ukrainian].

Turchenko, F.H. (2008). Find out the truth… In Holodomor 1932-1933: zaporizkyi vymir. Zaporizhzhia: Prosvita, 6-22 [in Ukrainian]

Turchenko, F.H. (Ed.) (2008). National Book of Memory of Holodomor Victims in Ukraine. Zaporizhzhia region. Zaporizhzhia: Dyke pole [in Ukrainian].

Volovyna, O. (2013). Monthly distribution of demographic losses. In Proceedings of the Conference: Holod v Ukrayini u pershiy polovyni ХХ stolittya: prychyny ta naslidky (1921-1923, 1932-1933, 1946-1947). Kyiv, рр. 233-248 [in Ukrainian].

Volovyna, O., Plokhiy, S.M., Levchuk, N.M. & et al. (2017). Regional differences in losses from the famine of 1932-1934 in Ukraine. Ukrayinskyi istorychnyi zhurnal, 2, 76-116 [in Ukrainian].

Vovchuk, L. & Kornovenko, S. (2019). The Holodomor of 1932-1933 through the Eyes of Foreign Diplomats. Eminak, 4, 71-82. DOI: 10.33782/eminak2019.4(28).343 [in Ukrainian].

Yakubova, L. (2004). Entire collectivization in the villages of ethnic minorities. 1930-1935. Problemy istorii Ukrainy: fakty, sudzhennia, poshuky, 11, 370-412 [in Ukrainian].

Yakubova, L.D. (2007). Ethnic minorities of the USSR and the government: the dynamics of socio-economic, political and cultural transformations (1921-1935). (Doctor’s thesis). Kyiv [in Ukrainian].

Yefimenko, H.H. (2001). The national and cultural policy of the Communist Party of Ukraine (b) in relation to Soviet Ukraine (1928-1938). Kyiv: Instytut istorii Ukrainy, рр. 20-26 [in Ukrainian].

Published
15.10.2024
How to Cite
Hudz, V., & Krasko, N. (2024). The Communist Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Bulgarian Settlements of the Northern Azov Region. Eminak: Scientific Quarterly Journal, (3(47), 313-328. https://doi.org/10.33782/eminak2024.3(47).742
Section
Modern History