The City of West Hollywood recognizes the month of November as Holodomor Memorial Month. Holodomor is a Ukrainian term meaning “death by hunger.” In March 2024 the City Council of the City of West Hollywood adopted a Resolution declaring the month of November as Holodomor Memorial Month and the fourth Saturday of November, annually, as Holodomor Memorial Day.
Between 1932 and 1933, an estimated 3,500,000 to 7,000,000 Ukrainian people perished in a premeditated famine orchestrated by Joseph Stalin and the Soviet government to break Ukraine’s resistance to collectivization and communist occupation. The Soviet government confiscated grain harvests and starved millions of Ukrainian people through a policy of forced collectivization that sought to destroy the nationally conscious movement for independence.
According to Professor Andrea Graziosi of the University of Naples, grain was fundamental to Ukraine, which was then known as the “breadbasket of Europe.” The Soviet government required villages to meet grain quotas or be “blacklisted,” leading to travel and supply blockades. Stalin and the Soviet government ordered the borders of Ukraine to be sealed to prevent anyone from escaping the ensuing famine and to prevent international food aid that would provide relief from reaching the starving Ukrainian people. As a result of this blockade, nearly one-quarter of the rural population of Ukraine was eliminated and the entire nation suffered from the consequences.
The City of West Hollywood’s Resolution acknowledges the Holodomor atrocities of 1932 and 1933 and seeks to raise awareness and remember the victims of this tragedy. The Resolution, additionally, condemns systematic violations of human rights, including oppression faced by Ukrainians during the Soviet government’s rule. It encourages dissemination of factual, historical information regarding the Ukrainian famine, known as Holodomor, to expand the knowledge of this man-made tragedy. The City’s Community & Legislative Affairs Division will send the City’s Holodomor Memorial Month Resolution to federal, state, and local elected representatives.
In February 2024, the California State Legislature passed a similar Resolution (SCR 89) recognizing November as Holodomor Memorial Month.
More information about Holodomor Memorial Month and the City’s Resolution is available in the staff report on March 18, 2024 for the regular meeting of the West Hollywood City Council.
For more information, please contact Andi Lovano, City of West Hollywood Community & Legislative Affairs Manager, at (323) 848-6333 or at alovano@weho.org.
