By Leviza Karashaysky
“Holodomor – ‘death by hunger’ – represents more than just famine,” explains Zera Mustafaieva, a scholar at Purdue University. “It was a deliberate campaign to destroy nations through the weaponization of food.” This manufactured famine under Stalin’s regime in 1932-33 claimed the lives of 4.5 million innocent Ukrainian men, women, and children.
The roots of this tragedy stretch deep into the soil of imperial Russia. Following the 1783 annexation of Crimea, the Russian Empire implemented a systematic campaign of discrimination against the peninsula’s indigenous Crimean Tatars. They were forbidden from living in cities, stripped of their properties and fertile lands, and forced into rural areas – a policy that would later prove devastating when famine was used as a weapon of mass destruction.
The first wave of this genocidal campaign (1921-1923) strategically targeted southern Ukraine, particularly the regions of the former Crimean Khanate, continuing the long-standing campaign to cleanse the Crimean peninsula of its indigenous people. This mass famine, which devastated Ukraine’s southern territories, was a deliberate continuation of the Russian Empire’s colonial policy. In Crimea alone, over 110,000 lives were lost, with indigenous Crimean Tatars, already confined to rural areas by imperial policies, constituting 76% of the victims. This disproportionate death toll was no accident – it followed decades of systematic oppression. “The Soviet regime deliberately targeted Crimean Tatars to cleanse the territory of its indigenous people, continuing the Russian Empire’s policy of systematic elimination of Crimea’s native population,” Vice President of the Crimean Tatar Foundation Zarema Mustafaieva explained at the gathering. “The famine was weaponized specifically against regions historically inhabited by Crimean Tatars, making it another calculated instrument in the long-running campaign of ethnic cleansing that began with the 1783 annexation of Crimea.”
Contemporary documents reveal the calculated nature of this genocide. Mirsaid Sultan-Galiev, Head of the People’s Commissariat for Nationalities, reported directly to Stalin in 1921 about the “economic bleeding” of Crimea. His report detailed how six Soviet armies stationed in the small peninsula systematically plundered its resources: “They all fed off Crimea, and each of them, when leaving, took with them a very large quantity of ‘trophy products’… Individual Red Army units engaged in looting, and no one could stop them.”
Through the Soviet policy of “prodrazvyorstka” – forced grain requisition – authorities systematically stripped communities of their ability to sustain themselves. Even when American aid arrived through the American Relief Administration (ARA), it was deliberately diverted away from indigenous populations. “Bread was given only to Soviet officials,” Sultan-Galiev noted, “while the rest of the population received absolutely nothing.”
Professor Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term “genocide,” identified this campaign as “the most extensive experiment in Russification – namely, the destruction of the Ukrainian nation.” The Holodomor is a classic example of Soviet genocide, the longest and most extensive experiment in Russification – specifically, the destruction of the Ukrainian nation” – a quote from an international law expert who defined the crimes of Stalin’s communist regime against Ukrainians as genocide and analyzed the genocide in Ukraine in the context of international law. The devastating success of the first initial “experiment” in Crimea led to its expanded implementation across Ukraine in 1932-33, claiming 4.5 million more lives, followed by a third wave in 1946-47 when the Soviet Union exported Ukrainian grain to Eastern Europe while its own people starved.
The timing of this commemoration carries particular weight as Ukraine enters its third year of resistance against Russian invasion. “The methods have evolved from hunger to intercontinental ballistic missile,” notes Zera Mustafaieva, “but the objective remains unchanged – the destruction of Ukrainian identity.”
For Davis Avera, a junior engineering student who joined the vigil, the revelation was shocking. “We study various genocides in history class, but somehow these devastating events aren’t widely taught,” he reflected.
The timing of the commemoration carries particular weight as Ukraine continues to face Russian aggression. Many participants drew direct parallels between historical and contemporary events, noting how food and hunger were weaponized then, just as essential infrastructure is targeted now.
The Crimean Tatar Foundation USA’s educational initiative across American universities represents more than historical commemoration. As Russia’s current war against Ukraine continues, these historical patterns resonate with renewed urgency. The candlelit ceremony at Purdue stands as a reminder that, as one participant observed, “History doesn’t just repeat itself – it reveals the continuity of imperial ambitions that threaten peace today.”
The Crimean Tatar Foundation USA plans to continue raising awareness about these interconnected tragedies across American universities. “Understanding the full scope of Soviet genocidal policies against both Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars is crucial for preventing future atrocities,” said president of the Crimean tatar Foundation USA, Zera Mustafaieva. “These weren’t isolated incidents, but part of a broader campaign of destruction that continues to echo in today’s conflicts.”
This action at Purdue University represents a growing awareness among American academic institutions about the complex layers of genocide in Ukraine’s history, marking an important step in recognizing historical injustices that continue to resonate in contemporary global conflicts.
