“No German Must Starve”: The Germans and the Soviet Famines of 1931–1933

This article centers on the German perception of the Great Soviet Famines of 1931–1933, with a focus on Soviet Ukraine in particular. The first part explores the channels through which information from the Soviet Union detailing the Famine reached the Germans and the attempts by different Reich institutions to control the spread of knowledge in German society about this human tragedy. Against this framework the article details the policy enacted by different organizations to provide relief to the starving Germans, both ethnic Germans and German citizens, who were living in the USSR. In the second part, the article deals with the patterns of perception that shaped the German view of the Famine. The author thus provides invaluable insight into the Reich’s policy towards Soviet Ukraine, and more broadly into the perception of the Famine among well-informed Germans of the 1930s.