In the 1930s, Stalin killed 5 million, 10 million or as many 20 million.

The Holodomor, as the Ukrainians called it, in pure numbers rivals the Holocaust–the Hitler genocide of six million Jews.

Not many America’s are aware of the Holodomor, the man-made famine engineered by USSR tyrant Joseph Stalin the killed millions of Ukranaines by starvation or forced dislocation in the 1930s

Exactly how many died is a matter of scholarly debate, but the devastation of the Holodomor is not in doubt. Estimates range from 5 million to 20 million fatalities.

Brittanica describes it this way:

Holodomor, man-made famine that convulsed the Soviet republic of Ukraine from 1932 to 1933, peaking in the late spring of 1933. It was part of a broader Soviet famine (1931–34) that also caused mass starvation in the grain-growing regions of Soviet Russiaand Kazakhstan. The Ukrainian famine, however, was made deadlier by a series of political decrees and decisions that were aimed mostly or only at Ukraine. In acknowledgement of its scale, the famine of 1932–33 is often called the Holodomor, a term derived from the Ukrainian words for hunger (holod) and extermination (mor).

Causes of the famine

The origins of the famine lay in the decision by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin to collectivize agriculture in 1929. Teams of Communist Party agitators forced peasants to relinquish their land, personal property, and sometimes housing to collective farms, and they deported so-called kulaks—wealthier peasants—as well as any peasants who resisted collectivization altogether. Collectivization led to a drop in production, the disorganization of the rural economy, and food shortages. It also sparked a series of peasant rebellions, including armed uprisings, in some parts of Ukraine.

The comparison of the Holodomor with Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine is arguable. But consider: Putin justifies the invasion by arguing that Ukraine doesn’t exist, and by extension, its people. Putin ignores the different cultural, language and other characteristics of Russians and Ukrainians as if they weren’t real.

As genocides go, Putin’s determination to exterminate Ukraine is both similar to and different from history’s previous genocides. But one thing they all have in common is the human suffering. For that, Putin deserves a place in the Pantheon of the world greatest criminals.

Photograph gallery of Holodomor: