Verbitskyi, M.

[Holodomor] Naibil'shyi zlochyn Kremlia: zaplianovanyi shtuchnyi holod v Ukraini 1932-1933 rokiv [The Kremlin's Greatest Crime: the Planned Artificial Famine in Ukraine in 1932-1933]

London: DOBRUS, 1952. Publisher's wrappers. Item #876

Book measures: 20.5 x 14.5 cm. 111 [1] pages. Text in Ukrainian. Published by ‘DOBRUS’, an acronym for the Democratic Organization of Ukrainians Formerly Persecuted by the Soviet Regime. A good copy with lightly worn wrappers.

An early and comprehensive exploration of the Holodomor. The striking book cover, featuring a skeleton wielding a scythe over a deceased woman and a mourner, symbolizes the death and despair wrought by the famine. Comprising survivor stories categorized by region, the book asserts through its introduction that these accounts are mutually reinforcing, offering undeniable proof that the atrocities were orchestrated across Ukraine under a singular, sinister strategy. The narratives within, as expected, are profoundly disturbing.

The early literature on the famine uses the term 'holod' for famine, predating the widespread adoption of 'Holodomor' to describe the event. The latter term, combining 'holod' with 'mor' (indicating death or plague), underscores the deliberate lethality of the famine.

The Holodomor remains a deeply political and emotive topic. The enduring interest in and recognition of the Holodomor's significance highlight the importance of such early accounts as Verbyts'kyi's in preserving the memory of this catastrophic period in Ukrainian history.

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