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The Holodomor (Ukrainian: Голодомор, derived from Ukrainian: морити голодом, romanized: moryty holodom, lit. 'to kill by starvation') was a 1932–33 man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine and adjacent Ukrainian-inhabited territories that killed millions of Ukrainians.[1][2] Opinions and beliefs about the Holodomor vary widely among nations. It is considered a genocide by Ukraine, and Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has lobbied for the famine to be considered a genocide internationally.[3] By 2022, the Holodomor was recognized as a genocide by the parliaments of 23 countries[4] and the European Parliament,[5] and it is recognized as a part of the Soviet famine of 1932–1933 by Russia. As of June 2023, 35 countries recognise the Holodomor as a genocide (last being Switzerland on September 24, 2024).
Holodomor – the Ukrainian "famine-extermination" of 1932–1933 at the hands of Stalin's Soviet regime (Chapter 5); "a compound word combining the root holod 'hunger' with the verbal root mor 'extinguish', 'exterminate' (Lubomyr Hajda, Harvard University).
The Great Famine (Holodomor) of 1932–33—a man-made demographic catastrophe unprecedented in peacetime. Of the estimated six to eight million people who died in the Soviet Union, about four to five million were Ukrainians... Its deliberate nature is underscored by the fact that no physical basis for famine existed in Ukraine... Soviet authorities set requisition quotas for Ukraine at an impossibly high level. Brigades of special agents were dispatched to Ukraine to assist in procurement, and homes were routinely searched and foodstuffs confiscated... The rural population was left with insufficient food to feed itself.
On 28 November 2006, the Parliament of Ukraine, with the president's support and in consultation with the National Academy of Sciences, voted to recognize the Ukrainian Famine of 1932–33 as a deliberate act of genocide against the Ukrainian people ("Zakon Ukrainy pro Holodomor"). A vigorous international campaign to have the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and other governments do the same was subsequently initiated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.