VR: The Famine started in 1932. In 1932, groups came to the villages. These groups were headed by non-Ukrainians, but Ukrainians, from fear or for other reasons, joined the groups as well. These groups took everything that the villagers had, including pickled cabbage and pickled cucumbers – they cleaned out everything. They came back again and again, and with special steel rods, searched around the house and in the barn. If they found any food they took it.

It was horrible. In 1932, people began to swell up and by February the Famine was severe. The climax of the Famine was in 1933. We all swelled up. The only reason we survived was because mother was a teacher and, instead of teaching went to milk cows. There were very few cows left, because they had been taken to meat processing plants. It’s hard for you to understand that they took everything. The horses, cows and pigs all died. No animals could survive because there was nothing with which to feed them. There were no dogs or cats left in the villages. There used to be turtles in the pond, but they were eaten too. Not a single mushroom was left. People caught birds and anything else they could get their hands on. They ate weeds, grass, and anything else. Almost half the village perished.

Viktor Royenko

Date of birth: 18 March 1919

Place of birth: Antonivka village, Kyiv oblast (now Cherkassy oblast)

Witnessed Famine in: Antonivka village, Kyiv oblast (now Cherkassy oblast)

Arrived in Canada:

Current residence: Hamilton, Ontario

Date and place of interview:  1 August 2008, Hamilton

Excerpt From Full Interview