Cannibalism in the Donetsk region during the Holodomor
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31558/3083-5771.2024.2.8Keywords:
Holodomor, Donetsk region, cannibalism, corpse-eating, children, criminal casesAbstract
The purpose of the article is to conduct a comprehensive study of cannibalism in the Donetsk region during the Holodomor; the geography of distribution and scale are outlined; determining the regularities and features of the phenomenon; analysis of the actions of the communist regime in cases of cannibalism. The research methodology uses problemchronological, retrospective, specific-search, systemic-structural, statistical, and other research methods.
Cannibalism arose as a result of mass starvation. The first case of cannibalism in the Donetsk region was officially recorded in February 1933. Since then, an upward trend has peaked in late spring. The last known case occurred in the fall of 1933. The epicenter of the phenomenon was the northern agricultural regions, which suffered the most from the famine. The largest number of cases was recorded in 5 districts: Novopskovskiy – 23, Pokrovsky – 15, Markivsky – 11, Bilovodskyy – 9, and Bilolutsky – 8.
Various sources have identified 100 cases or mentions of cannibalism in 21 districts of the region. Cannibals were predominantly loners, but about a third of cases involved group activity. There was a clear disproportion between women and men, with the former significantly dominating. The main group of victims were mostly their children aged 6 to 10. One in eighth known victims was an adult. «Family» cannibalism with the preliminary killing of the victim was prevalent. Corpse eating occurred in every seventh case.
The communist regime’s delay in solving the problem of cannibalism is evidence of the conscious consequences of its spread. To cover up the policy of extermination by starvation, cases of cannibalism were officially called «kulak raids». The fight against the phenomenon was carried out under the leadership of the state political administration. A significant number of cannibals were convicted, some died before arrest, and some escaped punishment.
The study uses materials from the Sectoral State Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine for the first time, and their addition of eyewitness testimonies gives a more representative picture. The information we have collected is an important component of the consequences of genocide. It helps to rethink and understand the scale of mental suffering, hopelessness, and the deadlock in which the starving people found themselves in 1933. The materials on a hundred cases or mentions of cannibalism in the Donetsk region during the Holodomor are not exhaustive and require further research.
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