November 01, 2026
WHEREAS, 93 years ago, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and his totalitarian regime committed an act of genocide through the implementation of an engineered famine, confiscating all foodstuffs from the Ukrainian people, resulting in the deaths of 7 - 10 million innocent men, women, and children; and,
WHEREAS, Michigan state is home to over 46,000 people of Ukrainian heritage; and,
WHEREAS, this genocide, Holodomor, meaning “murder by starvation,” was specifically designed by the soviet regime to punish independent-minded Ukrainians for their resistance to Stalin’s political, economic, cultural, and social subjugation; and,
WHEREAS, even as the Soviets continued to export Ukraine’s grain to the rest of the world, Ukrainian farmers who tended to the farms in the breadbasket of Europe were purposefully starved in a slow and painful death; and,
WHEREAS, hundreds of archival KGB documents provide ample evidence of an intentional genocide created to destroy Ukrainian national identity by deporting and executing its religious, intellectual, and cultural leaders; and,
WHEREAS, through a recently released major motion film entitled “Mr. Jones,” depicting Welsh journalist Gareth Jones, who witnessed and reported on the Holodomor, the world is afforded an opportunity to understand the realities of soviet crime, and,
WHEREAS, the official recognition of the Holodomor as a genocide by the government of Ukraine represents a significant step in adjudicating Soviet crimes and in reestablishing Ukraine’s national identity and the advancement of efforts to establish a democratic and free Ukraine that is fully integrated into the Western community of nations; and,
WHEREAS, the current war in Ukraine has been referred to as a genocide and is yet another example of relentless Russian aggression attempting to suppress a freedom-loving nation and its social, cultural, historical, economic, and national development and,
WHEREAS, in relating the historical context of the 1932-1933 Holodomor and the current war in Ukraine, the poignant theme of the 93d anniversary commemoration of the Holodomor remains profound and significant: “Holodomor Then, Genocide Now, Justice When?”; and,
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan on behalf of its citizens, do hereby proclaim the month of November 2026 as “Ukrainian Genocide Remembrance Month” in Michigan and urge all individuals, groups, organizations, and institutions to remember the Holodomor with appropriate activities designed to honor its victims and educate the world about this tragic episode in the world’s history. Throughout this 93d anniversary year, let us recommit ourselves to reflect upon the historical truth of the heinous crimes of totalitarian regimes so that we may one day eliminate tyranny from our world.
