So I'm expected to help out a high schooler with her social studies PowerPoint presentation which just so happens to be on the Hoaxodomor. Can't believe how big of a deal they make out of the Hoaxodomor in high school here, I guess it's because we have a lot of people of Ukrainian ancestry living here or something. I digress.
I'm known by my family to have been an honors student and they know I really like history, so I think that might give me an advantage, she'll be more likely to take me seriously. However no one in real life at all knows that I'm a communist. I really don't know how to go about breaking the news to her that the Hoaxodomor was fake. I think I can make a good argument as to why it's bullshit, the problem is how I just casually bring it up to her without her thinking I'm a lunatic.
Should I just forget about it and not mention it's a lie at all?
Do that “impartial” shit you have to do. Don’t go “it was a genocide” or “it never happened.” Go along the lines of “it was a by-product of Soviet mismanagement in agriculture made more intense by X” (X = kulaks but don’t outright say it)
Carter Gomez
Make sure to point out the coiner of the term was a literal kulak nazi-collaborator in exile.
Hudson Kelly
I might probably say that the Ukrainians (i.e. kulaks) burned their own crops in protest of the Soviet collectivization policies, partially causing themselves to starve. Too far or nah?
Brayden Jenkins
a little too far, when we got taught about the Great Soviet Famine (30s), the Holdomor was mentioned as part of it and it wasn’t a genocide but rather also part of the famine. In essence, they said it didn’t exist because it wasn’t an intention to kill Ukrainians and literally just part of the ongoing famine
Leo Fisher
When I was in high school the Great Soviet Famine was never mentioned at all, but the Holodomor was described as an intentional famine genocide.
Ryder Brown
Just go impartial. Make it appear as a tragic accident, Not an intention. Blah blah blah, Soviet mismanagement, blah blah don’t let your niece fail and get isolated from people. Baby steps, not giant leaps.
Jose Lewis
Why do people do this? Literally no evidence exists of the famine being a premeditated genocide.
Tyler Allen
take a guess
Lucas Rivera
Drop some sick redpills and give official soviet accounts of deaths from the famine and the import export of the grain within the territory along with the context in order to understand the nature of the situation. like the soviets were forced to trade grain instead of gold because of embargo, the recent civil war and the previous famines in the region beforehand. Also Stalin's initial and then sincere reactions to the crisis. Don't worry because you have primary documents on your hand and they have propaganda.
Dominic Ward
Please cite your sources and please make it from someplace that is not marxists.org or libcom even if they host it just find another archive site.
Cameron Richardson
You don't even have to say that you are a communist to whatever you are helping. You are just there to help her provide unbiased reports of the historical event.
Christopher Collins
Mention that the famine was not limited to the Ukraine.
Things like the "Holodomor" will always piss me off as an ancom. People brand me as a stalinist for pointing out how Seriously, fuck people who lie about the soviet union.
Alexander Garcia
I'm also a ancom. You and me both.
Oliver Morales
You could go full ☭TANKIE☭ and rightfully point out the following. The Holodomor was ABSOLUTELY intentional. Several fascists, and even a famous Nazi (Goebbells) spent years forcing the propoganda of the Holodomor. The actual famines however, were actually sort of intentional. Which is a nice segway into my second point, Kulaks. I don't believe Kulaks truly intentionally caused the famine, but they killed animals, destroyed grain, wrecked machinery, etc… all so no one else could have it. More or less intentional if you ask me. But let's not leave out Lenin, as it was arguably a little his fault. Going for the "little bit of Capitalism" approach allowed the Kulaks to speculate with the food, which definitely helped lead to famine. Luckily, he told Stalin that it was absolutely necessary to implement colectivization. which he did with success. Notice how famines didn't really happen after 1933. There were issues with the collectivization, however, which is why the famine wasn't "solved" immediately. They were actually too soft at first. It wasn't until they actually took a hard line approach against the Kulaks that all the mismanagement, property destruction and abandonment, etc… mysteriously stopped. Another issue was that the Soviets couldn't predict a freak weather event, where there was three times as much rain per usual (in either 1931 or 1932 I believe), which destroyed crops due to rust and other diseases. Seriously, the Holodomor, if anyone's plot, was a combination of the environment, Kulaks, and issues with industrialization. But this isn't your battle, you should just let your niece or whoever make a shitty presentation, using as little work as possible, for the highest grade available. Sources if interested. docs.google.com/document/d/1Gxwhh-vdeB--47HM-20cEVRC9eAMhrapbNf0Sk8VSOs/mobilebasic#h.dnms6s6k5n3b
Evan Butler
high five comrade
Gavin Ward
The famine would've been negligible if collectivization had happened earlier and Stalin had taken on kulaks even harder.
Josiah Price
This is true, but it was Lenin who let the Kulaks keep private property. I'm not hating on Lenin, I just see it as a mistake he made that Stalin probably learned a lot from. Never, ever, ever trust Capitalism. Not even a little bit.
Hunter Smith
You're right, it was honestly a bit of a miracle that stalin managed to go beyond the NEP instead of losing the USSR to right-deviationism in the 30s already. Aeroflot used to be a joint-stock company.
Eli Hernandez
Is she qt?
Landon Ortiz
maybe throw in a few words about how modern ukranian neonazis use it to justify what they're doing
Henry Allen
just be that one liberal that encourages self research. teach her what will get her to pass but dont forget to bring up that school can be wrong on certain things. shes a high schooler she knows this already. that way you can try to make a comrade out of her while all at the same time never actually stating your personal beliefs
Jordan Walker
user, yuck.
This. OP, she's still a kid, and the holodomor is something you're not expected to contest and it will result in her getting in trouble.
Jason Richardson
Kotkin's Stalin bios go into this. It was not intentional but there was a famine created in part by Stalin's collectivization policies.
Gabriel Martinez
Cold War propaganda.
The thing is, rejecting the idea of the Holodomor is not a crank position. I'm talking about Ivy League level historians who say there is no evidence it was intentional – and they say that because they have access to Soviet archives now.
Gavin White
Yeah, just like you can find tons of PhDs who'll sell you on abiotic oil. It's garbage, son.
