Classification: Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, always hated the fact that Ukrainians were nationalistic and felt that loyalty to their country was more important than loyalty to the union, he called them "bourgeois nationalists" and nothing more than oppressors of the working class.
Symbolization: Soviet Union officials called wealthy, landowning farmers who resisted collectivization "Kulaks" or tight fisted. They were associated with people who would hold on to their grain and land and not give it to the people.
Dehumanization: Kulaks were generally portrayed as people who would refuse help to even the neediest of people, they had no sympathy or pity and were portrayed as cold, inhuman people who didn't deserve to be influential. Kulaks were famously called "plunderers of the people" by founder of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Lenin.
Organization: "Shock Brigades" were formed with the intent to forcibly take the property of Kulaks whether they like it or not. They often were met with resistance and spared no relief in killing those who stood in the way. In order to form these brigades, they selected the "twenty-five thousanders." They were twenty-five thousand of the most trusted party members, who could be trusted to remain quiet and confidential.
Polarization: "Dekulakization" begins. It was a state-run mass deportations, arrests, and executions. It was in the words of Joseph Stalin, "The Liquidation of the Kulaks as a class." It ended with the deaths of 14.5 million farmers between 1930-1937. It is considered by historians the direct cause of the Holodomor.
Identification: Soviet propaganda speaks regularly of speak of Russian superiority over Ukrainians. Kulaks and by extension, Ukrainians are second-class citizens in their own country. Kulak property is taken and they are deported to work camps and separated from society
Extermination: Any village, usually with many Kulaks, found to be under performing would have its inhabitants killed or deported to Siberia. Anyone of considerable wealth would be deported to labor camps or the remote wilderness in Siberia and left to die or worked to death.
Denial: During the Holodomor, the government denied that a famine was taking place and refused any kind of aid. After the mass starvation, they still continued to deny it and banned any foreign journalist from entering Ukraine. The Soviet Union continued to deny it up until the 1980's. After that they could speak of it, but couldn't say that the government caused it, Russia today still denies it caused the famine and blames "western propagandists."
Symbolization: Soviet Union officials called wealthy, landowning farmers who resisted collectivization "Kulaks" or tight fisted. They were associated with people who would hold on to their grain and land and not give it to the people.
Dehumanization: Kulaks were generally portrayed as people who would refuse help to even the neediest of people, they had no sympathy or pity and were portrayed as cold, inhuman people who didn't deserve to be influential. Kulaks were famously called "plunderers of the people" by founder of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Lenin.
Organization: "Shock Brigades" were formed with the intent to forcibly take the property of Kulaks whether they like it or not. They often were met with resistance and spared no relief in killing those who stood in the way. In order to form these brigades, they selected the "twenty-five thousanders." They were twenty-five thousand of the most trusted party members, who could be trusted to remain quiet and confidential.
Polarization: "Dekulakization" begins. It was a state-run mass deportations, arrests, and executions. It was in the words of Joseph Stalin, "The Liquidation of the Kulaks as a class." It ended with the deaths of 14.5 million farmers between 1930-1937. It is considered by historians the direct cause of the Holodomor.
Identification: Soviet propaganda speaks regularly of speak of Russian superiority over Ukrainians. Kulaks and by extension, Ukrainians are second-class citizens in their own country. Kulak property is taken and they are deported to work camps and separated from society
Extermination: Any village, usually with many Kulaks, found to be under performing would have its inhabitants killed or deported to Siberia. Anyone of considerable wealth would be deported to labor camps or the remote wilderness in Siberia and left to die or worked to death.
Denial: During the Holodomor, the government denied that a famine was taking place and refused any kind of aid. After the mass starvation, they still continued to deny it and banned any foreign journalist from entering Ukraine. The Soviet Union continued to deny it up until the 1980's. After that they could speak of it, but couldn't say that the government caused it, Russia today still denies it caused the famine and blames "western propagandists."