Harvest of Despair | Slavko Nowytski

"Harvest of Despair" (English) - a documentary film about Holodomor in Ukraine in 1932 - 1933.

It is known as the forgotten holocaust - a period when Stalin was flooding Western markets with millions of tons of wheat, while in Ukraine, men, women, and children were perishing from starvation at an astonishing rate of 25,000 a day, equivalent to 17 human lives extinguished every minute. The death toll reached a staggering seven to ten million people, not due to war or natural calamities, but because of a heartless decree.

To mark the 50th anniversary of this catastrophic event, the Ukrainian Famine Research Committee (now known as UCRDC) undertook the monumental task of gathering materials, locating eyewitnesses, and documenting this horrendous chapter in history. The result of their painstaking efforts is the powerful documentary, "Harvest of Despair." Delving into the tragic repercussions of Ukraine's fight for greater cultural and political autonomy during the 1920s and 1930s, the film utilizes rare archival footage to lay bare the devastating consequences of Stalin's deadly countermeasures. The harrowing details of this man-made famine are brought to light, raising questions about why it remains so little known to this day. The documentary reveals how world statesmen like Edouard Herriot, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, and acclaimed writers such as George Bernard Shaw, blinded by their radical left-wing ideals, unwittingly aided the regime's campaign of concealment.

Even the democratic governments of the depression-stricken West chose to maintain a deafening silence over Soviet Russia's atrocities to preserve their import and export trade relations. In 1932-33, approximately one-quarter of Ukraine's entire population succumbed to the ravages of brutal starvation. Through its stark and haunting imagery, "Harvest of Despair" gives voice to a lost generation that has been silenced for far too long, offering a poignant and powerful testimony to the unimaginable suffering endured by the Ukrainian people.

Director: Slavko Nowytski
Associate Director/Editor: Yurij Luhowy
Writer: Slavko Nowytski
Stars: Alexander Bykovets, Lubov Drashevska, Motria Dutka

Release Date: 1985

Since its original release, it has received many international awards (including an Academy Award nomination) and has been featured on William F. Buckley's Firing Line program on the PBS television network. A powerful film, "Harvest of Despair" provides rare insight into one of this century's least-known but most vicious genocides.