Poll: Almost two-thirds of Ukrainians believe famine of 1932-1933 was organized by Stalinist regime
The Holodomor famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine was the result of actions committed by the Soviet authorities, along with Soviet Dictator Joseph Stalin, and was the result of human actions, according to 64.1% of Ukrainians (33.7% fully agreed with this statement and 30.4% rather agreed with it).
According to a survey conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Ukrainian Sociology Service in October 2013, 22.9% of respondents could not answer this question, 7.6% rather disagreed with the statement about the artificial nature of the famine, and 5.4% completely disagreed with it.
At the same time, 22.9% of those polled fully or partially agreed with the view that the famine was caused by natural circumstances, 50.5% disagreed with that, and 26.7% were undecided.
Some 45.4% of respondents believe that the Holodomor of 1923-1933 was a deliberate attempt to destroy the Ukrainian nation, 26.2% rather or completely disagreed with this, and 28.5% were undecided.
At the same time, 53.4% agreed that the purpose of the Holodomor was the struggle with peasants and forcing them to join collective farms, 17.1% disagreed with this, and 29.5% failed to answer.
Some 26.1% of Ukrainians assessed their level of awareness about these tragic events as good, 52.9% said they knew about them in general terms, and 19% "had heard something about the Holodomor."
The main sources of knowledge about the famine for respondents are the media - 59.6%, relatives - 48.1%, educational institutions - 23.5%, friends - 16.9%, and history and art books - 13.2%.
Some 38.7% of those polled said their families had people affected by the famine, 39.2% said they did not have such relatives, and 22.1% said they did not know.
Some 26.6% believe that the problem of the Holodomor unites Ukraine, 16.1% think it divides the country, and 57.3% said that the issue does not influence the union or separation of Ukraine.
Almost 61% of Ukrainians support the commemoration of the Holodomor victims at the national level, 12.8% do not support this, and 26.3% were undecided.
The survey was conducted from October 5 to October 16. A total of 2,000 respondents were interviewed. The poll's margin of error is 2.3%.
Holodomor Remembrance Day is marked in Ukraine annually on the fourth Saturday of November.
