| Abstract [eng] |
The goal of the research is to reveal and to study oral testimonies of the famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine, made public on a trial, initiated by former Soviet official, engineer, non-returnee Victor Kravchenko, that took place in 1949 in Paris. The research uses the method of prosopography – creation of collective portrait of people, united with a common feature – famine eyewitnesses who ended up abroad after the end of the Second World War. In the conditions of direct military invasion of Russian troops on the territory of sovereign Ukraine, expanding of hybrid war, purposeful distortion of historical facts, in particular, denial of genocide of Ukrainians in 1932–1933, the questions of fight of Ukrainians against the Communist regime and their desperate urge to tell the world undeniable facts of Bolshevism crimes become especially actual. The result of the research is revealing of historical context of accumulation and dissemination of oral testimonies of the famine survivors outside the borders of the USSR – in postwar Europe. The article analyzes circumstances tied to the need to recall traumatic experience of living in the USSR, transferred abroad during the Second World War, as well as those who had reasonable reasons not to return to the country of origin. The author evaluates civic courage of those who agreed to testify during the trial, and, despite possible threats to their life, openly gave testimonies. The research shows peculiarities of traumatic recalling about the events of 1932-1933 outside the USSR, on territory of postwar Europe, in the world, free from totalitarian ideology. Those who agreed to testify in defense of Kravchenko, attempted to tell the world the truth, to break informational blockade about the fact of deliberate liquidation of Ukrainians by the Soviet authorities, to get certain moral compensation in at least in the sentence of French court. Analysis of materials of preparation to Kravchenko trial and the trial itself, allows to conclude that five oral testimonies about the famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine, that were publicly given to the trial in Paris under oath. |
