Historical Photographs of the Holodomor
Historically accurate images taken during the Holodomor within what was then the borders of Ukraine are few, as travel to Ukraine and the Famine regions was not permitted, making it difficult to document the tragedy that was unfolding. Nearly all photographs showing starvation during the Holodomor were taken secretly by foreigners and smuggled out of Ukraine.
Below is a selection of over 30 photographs depicting the conditions in Ukraine during the early 1930’s, with brief commentaries. Many are officially approved government photos that depict Soviet policies of indoctrination, eviction and removal of stored food, along with positive imagery from collective farming life for propaganda purposes.
Photos of hunger victims and graves in Kharkiv and environs were taken in 1933 and smuggled out by Austrian technician Alexander Wienerberger. They are labelled here as “Innitzer Collection” because they are from the Cardinal Theodor Innitzer Collection. 25 photographs of the Holodomor were included in an album presented by Wienerberger to Cardinal Innitzer in Vienna, out of respect for the Cardinal’s efforts to organize international aid for the starving.
For more information about some of these photos please visit the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide in Kyiv, Ukraine web pages. These photos may be viewed on their gallery pages. We cannot grant permission to use any of these photographs, they are not ours.
For information on whether photographs you wish to use have been authenticated by researchers as Holodomor photos from 1932-1933, please reference the HREC Holodomor Photo Directory: https://holodomor.ca/resources/hrec-photo-directory/. The Holodomor Photo Directory features more than 100 high quality, digital copies of original prints wherever possible, which are accompanied by in-depth descriptions and details on sources.
Vinnytsia - staged kolhosp
Taken in Vinnytsia in 1932-33, this photograph shows a staged representation of women on a collective farm, which is what Stalin wanted visitors of the USSR to see in Ukraine. Eleven women are sitting in a circle in a field wearing their embroidered shirts, which would never have been done because embroidered shirts were saved to be worn for very special occasions and traditions, not for sitting in a field.
Kyiv – grain being taken away
Taken in Kyiv in 1932-33, this photograph shows two men loading a single huge sack of grain onto a pile of similar grain sacks to be taken away via wagon.
Kyiv – loading of grain
Taken in Kyiv in 1932-33, this photograph shows two separate large carts being loaded full of grain ready to be taken away by an ox.
Kyiv – village home
Taken in Kyiv in 1932-33, this photograph shows a typical thatched roof village house with a woman standing nearby her garden.
Kyiv – blacklists
Taken in Kyiv in 1932-33, this is a staged photograph of what was literally called a “black board” or what we call being blacklisted. Because hiding food or supplies was a crime, the names of villagers who had been found with hidden grain or other food were listed on a black board. If officials found any food on an individual farm after the official grain collection had taken place, and if the quota was not met, the villager would be deemed an enemy of the state and the whole village punished.
Kyiv – villagers guarding granary
Taken in Kyiv in 1932-33, this staged photograph shows a group of villagers with three men in front holding rifles and stalks of grain. Standing beside them seem to be other villagers and a few children. The group is standing in front of a large set of open barn doors leading to a granary, where grain is stored.
Kharkiv – dead child
Taken in Kharkiv in 1933, this photograph is from the Innitzer Collection. It shows a female child who died of hunger lying on the steps of a street in Kharkiv.
See HREC Holodomor Photo Directory
Kharkiv
Taken in Kharkiv in 1932-33, this photograph is from the Innitzer Collection. It shows an abandoned house that has clearly had most of its worth stripped from it, probably by the secret police because the family were either arrested, deported, or had died of hunger in it.
Kharkiv - starving horse
Taken in Kharkiv in 1933, this photograph is from the Innitzer Collection. It shows a starving horse attached to a cart loaded with hay for it to pull. Horses were kept alive for manual labor in the fields and to remove dead bodies in the villages. They were fed and kept by the secret police or other official authorities.
See HREC Holodomor Photo Directory
Kharkiv – a worker guarding grain
Taken in Kharkiv in 1932-33, this photograph shows a worker guarding stores of grain collected from the villagers. He holds a rifle at the ready to deter hungry villagers from approaching or trying to steal the grain.
Kharkiv – anti-religious indoctrination
Taken in Kharkiv in 1932-33, this staged photograph shows children in a classroom being indoctrinated. On the chalkboard, a child is writing “Religion is a drug. Down with priests. Down with…” They are being taught that religious faith is unacceptable.
Kharkiv – villagers leaving the village in search of food
Taken in Kharkiv in 1933, this photograph is from the Innitzer Collection. It shows villagers leaving their home village in search of food in the next town or city. Many people, including children, died of starvation on the road like this, moving from one location to another looking for food.
See HREC Holodomor Photo Directory
Kharkiv - Torgsyn
Taken in Kharkiv in 1933, this photograph is from the Innitzer Collection. It shows what was known as a Torgsyn – state-run stores erected by the Soviet regime that functioned essentially like pawn shops. Ukrainians lined up at the torgsyn to trade what was left of their valuables (gold, foreign currency, anything else that had not previously been collected) in exchange for bread and other foodstuffs.
See HREC Holodomor Photo Directory
Kharkiv – victims
Taken in Kharkiv in 1933, this photograph is from the Innitzer Collection. It shows three starving women who are lying in their yard dying of hunger.
See HREC Holodomor Photo Directory
Worker's daughter in Kharkiv
This photograph from 1933 is by Alexander Wienerberger and is from the Innitzer Collection. In Wienerberger's memoir, the caption that appears with the photo states that this young girl is the daughter of the gatekeeper at the factory where he is a managing consultant. He wrote that she lifts her skirt above her knees to show her thin legs and that the goat ambling by behind her may belong to a worker's family, which is thus fortunate to have a supply of milk.
See HREC Holodomor Photo Directory
Kharkiv – victims of the Holodomor
Taken in Kharkiv in 1933, this photograph is from the Innitzer Collection. It shows three adults laying on the side of the street in various stages of starvation and death. One is sitting against the fence, all of them are emaciated and in rags. Two pedestrians walk by on the street in this photograph seemingly oblivious to the dying individuals.
See HREC Holodomor Photo Directory
Kharkiv – starving orphan children
Taken in Kharkiv in 1933, this photograph is from the Innitzer Collection. It shows four starving orphan children sitting on a pile of rubble at the side of a road in rags.
See HREC Holodomor Photo Directory
Kharkiv – victim of the Holodomor
Taken in Kharkiv in 1933, this photograph is from the Innitzer Collection. It shows a man, who is near death, lying on the ground next to the street curb on the side of a busy street in the city. A small crowd has gathered to look at the body but do not seem to be helping him.
See HREC Holodomor Photo Directory
Kharkiv – mass grave
Taken in Kharkiv in 1932-33, this photograph is from the Innitzer Collection. It shows one of the mass grave sites used to bury the dead filled with victims of the Holodomor.
Kharkiv – mass grave
Taken in Kharkiv in 1932-33, this photograph is from the Innitzer Collection. It shows one of the mass grave sites used to bury the dead filled with victims of the Holodomor.
Kharkiv – burials forbidden here
Taken in Kharkiv in 1932-33, this photograph is from the Innitzer Collection. It shows a sign in Russian that reads, “The burying of people is strictly prohibited here.” The Holodomor claimed so many lives that the interment of the victims became an issue.
Donetsk – digging for frozen potatoes
Taken in Donetsk in 1933, this Soviet staged photograph shows young children instructed to dig for any remaining potatoes from the frozen ground using their bare hands. These were collected by officials and taken away. It shows even children were expected to help to find food. Photo by Marko Zhelizniak.
Donetsk – dekulakization/dekurkulization
Taken in Donetsk in 1930-32, this photograph shows officials selling the property of a dispossessed villager at the "red bazaar." Officials confiscated everything that village leaders (so-called "kulaks") possessed – food, furs, grain, horses and wagons. Photo by Marko Zhelizniak.
Donetsk – delivery of confiscated grain
Taken in Donetsk in 1932-33, this photograph shows some men and women in front of some storage buildings in the village during collectivization. There are three wagons in the photo full of grain sacks ready to be delivered elsewhere.
Donetsk – searching for hidden grain
Taken in Donetsk in 1932-33, this photograph shows several men looking on while standing around a sack that is being filled with the hidden grain by one man. In the background are some more men engaged in the same activity. All are wearing jackets and hats against the cold.
Donetsk – confiscating hidden grain
Taken in Donetsk in 1932-33, this Soviet staged photograph shows seven men standing behind sacks of grain which were hidden and are being confiscated. This grain will presumably be sent out of Ukraine to Russia or used for export. Sitting on a sack of grain in the foreground is the farmer with her head lowered gazing into her hands on her lap, awaiting punishment.
Donetsk – dekulakization/dekurkulization
Taken in Donetsk in 1932-33, this photograph shows men dispossessing a kulak’s home and removing its contents, packing them onto wagon carts. These possessions would be sold at an auction. Snow patches in the background show that it's still cold. Photo by Marko Zhelizniak.
Donetsk – collectivization
Taken in Donetsk in 1932-33, this photograph shows a cow being taken away by four men from a village farmer. A woman stands next to her cow talking to it, and presumably pleading with the men taking it away. All are focused on hooking up the cow to the wagon. This photograph is an example of how collectivization was carried out, taking away animals and equipment needed for the collective farms.
Donetsk – confiscated grain
Taken in Donetsk in 1932-33, this Soviet staged photograph shows a brigade of ten men sent to a villager’s home to confiscate any hidden grain. Standing around an open wagon which is filled with the last stalks of grain from a villager’s home, they all pose proudly for the photograph. Photo by Marko Zhelizniak.
Donetsk – evicted kulak family
Taken in Donetsk in 1932-33, this photograph shows a “kulak” woman and her small child being evicted from their home in winter, dispossessed of everything but a small wagonload of their belongings pulled by hand behind them. Photo by Marko Zhelizniak. For other photos by Zhelizniak, see National Museum of the Holodomor Genocide, Kyiv. Ukrainian language version.
Officials standing on a villager's property
Taken in 1932-33, this photograph shows officials standing outside the house on a villager’s property searching for hidden food stored in the ground. Using the long thin rods with a sharp end that two of the men are holding in the photograph, they would stick the rods into the ground where it seemed softer. If the rod pushed into the ground easily but was suddenly obstructed by anything hard, they would stop and dig in that area to find what had obstructed the rod. In this photograph, two barrels were found using this method and are being confiscated.