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Step 5 of 16 · December 1932

Blacklisted villages, the Kuban decree, seed seized

Named villages are sealed off with no trade at all. A secret decree blames "Ukrainization" for the shortfall and deports a whole Kuban stanitsa. Then seed grain is taken, and peasants are left out of the new passport system.

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  • Where the losses will fall
  • Deportation

Circles show each 1932 oblast's total losses for 1932–34 (HURI); no month-by-month split per oblast is published. Borders and the cordon are approximate.

Claims

FamineHigh confidence
1) Time range
1932-12-06 … 1932-12-15
2) Human profile
Stanisław Kosior and Vlas Chubar · First Secretary of the CP(b)U CC; Chairman of the RNK UkrSSR
3) Decisions
  1. Blacklisted named villages (first six: two each in Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Odesa oblasts)
  2. For blacklisted places: all goods and trade stopped, credits called in, food taken as "fines", village sealed by the OGPU
  3. 15 Dec: 82 raions denied industrial goods
Affected
37 of 392 raions and at least 400 kolkhozes, over half in Dnipropetrovsk oblast (228 kolkhozes)
Gap
Totals depend on the date and on oblast vs republic lists; the RU Wikipedia mentions black boards only in passing.

UK Wikipedia · Чорні дошкиHolodomor Museum

FamineHigh confidence
1) Time range
1932-12-14
2) Human profile
Joseph Stalin and Vyacheslav Molotov · Joint secret resolution of the VKP(b) CC and SNK USSR
3) Decisions
  1. Ordered Ukraine and the North Caucasus to finish procurement by the end of January 1933
  2. Blamed the failure on "non-Bolshevik Ukrainization" and ordered purges
  3. Switched newspapers, paperwork and schools in the Kuban's Ukrainized raions to Russian
  4. Deported the whole stanitsa of Poltavskaya to the north
Affected
Poltavskaya (about 12,000 people); 46,000–63,500 evicted across the Kuban by January 1933; Ukrainian-language institutions in the Kuban
Gap
The key document for the "national" reading (Martin, Graziosi, Applebaum); Davies and Wheatcroft read it as procurement-driven.

EN Wikipedia · Ukrainians in KubanEncyclopedia of Ukraine

FamineMedium confidence
1) Time range
1932-12-24 … 1932-12-29
2) Human profile
Lazar Kaganovich · CC Secretary, sent to Kharkiv; with Kosior and the CP(b)U Politburo
3) Decisions
  1. CP(b)U CC letter: all kolkhoz stocks, seed included, delivered within five days
  2. Made the Ukrainian leadership take kolkhoz seed funds for procurement
Affected
All Ukrainian kolkhozes, stripped of seed and food for spring 1933
Gap
Dated 24 or 29 Dec; how much seed was actually taken is unknown.

Werth, Sciences PoRU Wikipedia

FamineHigh confidence
1) Time range
1932-12-27
2) Group profile
TsIK and SNK of the USSR · Decree on a unified passport system and residence registration (Kalinin, Molotov, Yenukidze)Selector: USSR-wide
3) Decisions
  1. Introduced internal passports for city dwellers
  2. Gave none to kolkhoz peasants, tying them to their villages
Affected
The rural population of the USSR
Gap
Some historians (Shearer) see it as a general policing measure, not a famine measure.

EN WikipediaUK Wikipedia

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