How Long Is “Famine '33”?

In the early 1930s, the unchallenged ruler of the U.S.S.R. was extremely paranoid Joseph Stalin. He conceived a plan for sweeping social reorganization in the Ukraine which had the advantage (for him) of suppressing the population entirely. The resulting agricultural reorganization forced the relocation of most of the population onto farming collectives. In the chaos that followed, farm production virtually ceased, and something like seven million Ukrainians died of famine -- not to mention those farmers who were summarily executed as "enemies of the state." This epic historical drama, based on the novel The Yellow Prince, seeks to convey both the scope of that disaster and its human dimension by following the fortunes of a family of five. In addition to famine caused by simple loss of crops, farmers were accused of hoarding grain which they owed to the government, and the few remaining foodstuffs they had on hand were forcibly taken away from them by bands of soldiers. In most cases, they were not allowed to retain anything to eat: it should not have surprised anyone that they then starved to death. This disgraceful story was not openly acknowledged by authorities until almost fifty years after it took place.