https://en.gariwo.net/righteous/holodomor/

The Righteous in Holodomor

The Holodomor, literally "death by hunger", is a genocide perpetrated between 1932 and 1933 by the Soviet Regime, in which over 6 million Ukrainians lost their lives. In order to eliminate the "Ukraine issue", Stalin exploited and exasperated the famine caused by the collectivization of land. He thus exterminated both the peasants and the cultural, religious, and intellectual elites, which were considered enemies of socialism.

To the general indifference to the carnage that was taking place in the villages, not only in Ukraine but also near Moscow, a Welsh journalist, Gareth Jones, decided that it was the time for the world to know what was happening.

He was the only independent witness of the atrocities of the Holodomor, which neither the Soviet Union nor Russia ever officially recognized.

Like Gareth Jones, we think that other Righteous have spoken out against this genocide, which is still too often denied. We do not know their names, but we believe that greater awareness and interest in the subject can help bring to light new exemplary stories.

Gariwo's insight on the Holodomor

Filter by:

Gareth Jones

1905 - 1935

Welsh journalist who revealed the Holodomor

On the same topic

Hitler, Stalin, and Mr Jones – the story of a true Welsh hero

Welsh magazine Nation.Cymru writes about Gareth Jones being honoured in Milan's Garden

There are many unsung heroes throughout Welsh history. People who have fought for human rights, struggled against oppression and repression, challenged those in power, and championed the underdog. Importantly, there are also those who exposed corruption and told the truth. The erudite and courageous investigative Welsh journalist Gareth Jones, who was tragically murdered so young for telling the truth, certainly falls into the hero category. Today in Milan, a plaque was unveiled by the Gardens of the Righteous Worldwide (Gariwo) to honour Jones as a defender of human rights and for his role in uncovering the horrors of the Great Soviet famine of 1933. By Christopher Evans for Nation.Cymru

"Gareth revealed that millions were dying across the Soviet Union"

by Philip Colley

Gareth’s aim was to reveal that millions were dying across the Soviet Union, not just Ukrainians but Kazakhs, Cossacks, German colonists and yes Russians, too. They were all, as precious individuals, victims of Stalin’s disastrous policies, not least collectivization. They all deserve to be remembered and given a voice. And, thanks partly to Gareth as a brilliant journalist and a true humanitarian, Stalin’s crime against humanity was revealed to the world as it was taking place. He gave them that voice.

Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights - Day of the Righteous

a message for the Righteous and for the recognition of the Holodomor

The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, sent to Gariwo Foundation a message of support for the Day of the Righteous - 6 March - in which we honors those who defend life and human dignity all over the world. The Day of the Righteous was established by the European Parliament in 2012 and in 2017 by the Italian Parliament. In this message Dmytro Lubinets also spoke out in favor of the recognition by all states of the Holodomor - the extermination by starvation perpetrated by the Soviet regime against the Ukrainian population - as genocide.

More than a Grain of Truth

by Dr Margaret Siriol Colley

In 1935, Gareth Jones, a young Welsh journalist and Foreign Affairs adviser to Lloyd George, died in mysterious circumstances in Inner Mongolia, having been captured and held for ransom by bandits. It was the eve of his 30th birthday. Two years previously he became the first journalist to expose the famine then raging across the Soviet Union. In telling the truth, instead of being feted, he was denigrated by other Moscow correspondents, debarred by the British establishment and blacklisted by the Soviet secret police.