In order to weaken the “kulaks” – wealthy large Ukrainian farmers – the Soviet Union forced them to pay higher taxes in 1932. This led to a massive hunger crisis that killed up to seven million people: the Holodomor. This “Soviet starvation of the Ukrainian population in the early 1930s was a terrible crime that must never be repeated,” ÖVP human rights spokeswoman Gudrun Kugler told KURIER.
Kugler emphasizes that it is important to remember the Holodomor, especially against the background of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The ÖVP, SPÖ, Neos and Greens have therefore submitted a motion for a resolution that emphasizes “that hunger and shortages must not be used as weapons against the civilian population,” says Kugler. “Currently, that also means helping the Ukrainian civilian population to survive the winter.” The FPÖ should also agree to the application.
Ukraine has been trying since 1991 to have the Holodomor recognized as a genocide. Like the European Parliament, the Austrian government speaks of a “terrible crime”. There are different opinions among historians. For example, it is argued that the Holodomor was not a genocide, since it was primarily about breaking the resistance of the peasants.