in the East, which has become the pride of our country .,{and) we have now raised the defense capabilities of the country to the desired levels.”14

In his report, No. 74/106 of May 31, 1933 entitled The Famine and the Ukrainian Question, the Italian consul in Kharkiv, Gradenigo, wrote that the famine was in-stituted with the intention “of teaching the (Ukrainian) peasants a lesson” .and, accord¬ing to one top official of the G.P.U., for the purpose of “changing the ethnographic materials”, because those existing in Ukraine could not be changed-over into “worthy communists”. Therefore, in some regions, including Ukraine, the government strived to ascertain that “Russians would constitute the majority of the population” and thus as¬sure that potential political difficulties would be removed. In other words, the Italian consul wrote, the government’s “goal was to liquidate the Ukrainian problem in the course of several months by sacrificing 10 or 15 million souls.”

In conclusion, the Italian consul wrote that”… the current disaster will accomplish the colonization of Ukraine, mostly Russian. And that (colonization) will change Uk¬raine’s ethnographic character. Perhaps, in the very near future, it will not be possible to speak about Ukraine, or about the Ukrainian nation, and particularly about a Uk¬rainian question, because Ukraine will become, in fact, a Russian colony.”

In reality, Soviet Russian rulers did not succeed in destroying rural Ukraine, nor in colonizing it completely. Between 1932-1933, that is, in a little over a year, about 5-6 million Ukrainians were destroyed (some estimates are much higher). During the period of 1928-1938 about 1 million Ukrainians were executed and 2 million were ex¬iled beyond Ukraine’s borders. In 1926, the population of the Ukrainian S.S.R, was 29.5 million, but in 1939, it comprised only 31.8 million despite a high natural growth rate and an influx of Russian colonists. In 1926, there were only 3 million Russians within the borders of Ukraine, but in 1939, there were already 5-6 million.

Although the famine had negative consequences and contributed to an increased fear of the Soviet government on the part of the population, nevertheless, it did not succeed in destroying the Ukrainian quest for freedom and for an independent Uk¬raine. Nor was this accomplished by latter-day persecution, exile into Siberia, and ex¬ecution. During World War II, Ukrainians massively supported the Ukrainian nation¬al resistance movement, joined the ranks of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (U.PA.), and struggled for Ukraine’s independence by fighting German occupation forces, as well as those of the Soviet government The armed struggle against the Soviet-Rus¬sian occupation lasted until 1952.

(translated by Myroslava Stefaniuk)

…………………….

14 J. Staline, Le marxisme et la question nationale. Paris (1953), pp. 84,87.
15 Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Serie Affari Politici (1931-1945). File Holder No. 8.