Proclamation 6222—National Week to Commemorate the Victims of the Famine in Ukraine, 1932-1933

During the brutal famine that struck the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1932 to 1933, more than seven million men, women, and children died of starvation. Tragically -- and to the horror of all those who cherish the blessings of life and liberty -- this deadly famine was not caused by drought or by failed harvests. Rather, it resulted from a cruel and deliberate effort to destroy the spirit and the will of the Ukrainian people.

Between 1932 and 1933 the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, under the leadership of Joseph Stalin, willfully permitted and even encouraged mass starvation in Ukraine. In an effort to enforce the collectivization of agriculture and to eliminate resistance to Moscow's rule by terror, Soviet authorities not only seized Ukrainian farmers' 1932 crop but also prevented desperately needed aid from reaching impoverished villages.

The United States Commission on the Ukraine Famine, mandated by the Congress to study this terrible tragedy and to expand public knowledge of it, has substantiated the belief that the famine was indeed the result of deliberate policies of the Soviet Government of that time. After months of hearings, eyewitness testimony, and the careful consideration of other documentation, the Commission concluded: "There is no doubt that large numbers of inhabitants of the Ukrainian SSR and the North Caucasus Territory starved to death in a man-made famine in 1932-1933, caused by the seizure of the 1932 crop by Soviet authorities."

This year the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Communist Party acknowledged that the famine was caused and sustained by Stalin and his associates. The current Soviet Government, led by President Gorbachev, has begun to confront the terrible legacy of Stalin and his era. It has begun to take important initial steps toward filling in the "blank pages" of Soviet history and ensuring the respect for human rights and human dignity that is essential to prevent such events from ever happening again. These steps are important, and they are encouraging.

As the United States Commission on the Ukraine Famine asserted, it is hoped that the lessons learned through this terrible tragedy, including "the concealment of criminal policies by those who perpetrate them," might provide insights which can be of use in confronting the challenges of similar events. This week, in commemorating the Ukraine famine, we reaffirm our determination to do just that.

The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 329, has designated the week of November 3 through November 10, 1990, as "National Week to Commemorate the Victims of the Famine in Ukraine, 1932-1933." The Congress has also requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this week.

Now, Therefore, I, George Bush, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week of November 3 through November 10, 1990, as National Week to Commemorate the Victims of the Famine in Ukraine, 1932-1933. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this week with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that express our continued determination to uphold the God-given and inalienable rights and dignity of all human beings.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this third day of November, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifteenth.

GEORGE BUSH