Map of Holodomor criminal cases created in Ukraine

Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, together with the Holodomor-Genocide Museum, has digitised 1,022 archival criminal cases of cannibalism and more than 1,000 cases of corpse-eating during the Holodomor of 1932-1933. Photocopies of the materials are available on a ditigal map.

Source: Ihor Klymenko, Head of Ministry of Internal Affairs

Details: The map shows the geography of cannibalism cases recorded by Soviet punitive authorities during the Holodomor of 1932-1933.

The page also contains information about the documents the Soviet authorities destroyed in 1956. Information about them was preserved in the so-called selective lists for destruction.

Quote from Ihor Klymenko: "These materials prove that the famine was a deliberate tool to conquer the Ukrainian people. We must remember this and never give up our freedom."

The Ministry of Internal Affairs noted that the electronic map shows that cases of cannibalism coincide with the geography of the oblasts affected by the Holodomor.

Quote from Ihor Klymenko: "This once again confirms the peculiarities of the genocidal policy of the Soviet empire towards Ukraine and disproves the Russian myth of the all-Union famine in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics."

More details: The Ministry of Internal Affairs noted that on the digital map, locations of some cases of cannibalism match locations of respective investigative units looking into these cases rather than locations of actual crime scenes. Such locations can be seen as clusters on the map.

The department's archive still needs to convert paper documents into a digital format. In addition, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has begun working to verify and add information about cannibalism cases from other sources, including archives, museums, and eyewitness accounts, to the map.

Ukrainians can address questions to the map's developers, make suggestions for changes or send additional information.

The map of the Holodomor Genocide was published to meet requirements of the law on access to the archives of the repressive authorities of the Communist regime.

For reference: Every year, on the fourth Saturday of November, Ukraine honours the memory of Ukrainians who died as a result of the famine organised by the Soviet authorities in 1932-1933. This year, the date fell on 23 November.

On this day, Ukrainians can traditionally join the All-Ukrainian honouring campaign "Let's Light a Candle". On 23 November, at 16:00, a candle should be placed by the window, and a national minute of silence should be held.

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