Today we honour the memory of those who died of artificial starvation organized by the totalitarian Soviet government in 1932-33. According to various estimates, several million Ukrainians, from 4.5 to 10, have fallen victim to the regime. This is, the largest of the three mass famines that took place during the Soviet era, recognized as genocide - the targeted mass extermination of the Ukrainian people.
Ukrainians in that period suffered many disasters: the Holodomor was preceded by repressions on the Ukrainian intelligentsia, forced collectivization, dekulakization, a grain procurement campaign, and mass terror in the countryside. In Soviet times, this was silenced.
However, we have no right to forget the most tragic and horrible page in the history of the Ukrainian people. On this day, Kyiv Polytechnics mourn the dead with a moment of silence and prayer. After an all-Ukrainian minute of silence, a candle of Remembrance is lit: a candle is placed in the window of the house, symbolizing grief for those from whom life was so cruelly and senselessly taken.