In 1989, under the influence of “glasnost”, two devoted intellectuals in Ukraine, the late Volodymyr Maniak¹ and the late Lidia Kovalenko² a husband and wife team, dedicated themselves to collecting witness accounts about the Famine  in Ukraine. They established, in Kyiv, an association called “Memorial” dedicated to this aim. By the early 1990’s they were able to collect about 6,000 such testimonies.” ³

On September 30, 1990 they presented their findings at the UCRDC conference “Holodomor in Ukraine 1932-1933 New Research Findings” at the University of Toronto. 

“Maniak points out that the Soviet cover-up of the Famine was Tantamount  to stealing  from the people their history.” ⁴

“Kovalenko draws our attention to the far –reaching consequences of the Famine experience on the spiritual state of the people.” ⁵

A selection of testimonies (some abridged), was published in 1991 under the title “33 Holod Narodna Knyga Memorial.” ⁶

In November of 1990, UCRDC archivist Iroida Wynnyckyj met with Volodymyr Maniak in Kyiv and obtained 133 copies of the original documents which are presently housed in the UCRDC Archives.

This site provides a list of the 133 names of Holodomor witnesses, a  sample selection of 20 letters with envelopes and their transcripts and 11 letters translated into English.

Of particular interest is the information contained in the following letter:

Ivzhenko, Ivan Avksentiǐovych recollects his time as a soldier in the Red army, in 1945 in the city of Danzig:

“I became acquainted with a native Prussiаn - German who was a captain on one of the boats in the port of Danzig before the war. When he found out that I was Ukrainian, he said to me with great astonishment that You Ukrainians were so persecuted and yet you fight so well for the Soviet government.

He described how during those years [1932, 1933] the harbor in Danzig was full of international ships carrying food aid for the starving people of Ukraine, - all waiting for clearance to enter the Soviet Union. 

Permission was never given, they were all told that there was no need for food and that there was no hunger in Ukraine. The ships were forced to unload their cargo at the docks in Danzig or dump it right into the sea.

So, it was obvious that Europe, North America and other continents knew about the Holodomor in Ukraine but because of Soviet government directives, the aid never made it into Ukraine.”

Maniak Collection #4036, Ivazhenko Ivan Avksentijovych, Neshcheriv village, Obukhivs′kyj rajon, Kyivs′ka oblаst.

This transcription and translation was possible thanks to the work of UCRDC volunteers: Marta Waschuk, Helen Junyk and Bohdan Figol . Technical support was provided by Bozhena Gembatiuk and Valerij Gorchynsky.

More information can be found on HREC ManiakCollection : 
https://holodomor.ca/maniak-collection/

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¹ VolodymyrManiak *Nov.6,1934 +June 15,1992

² Lidia Kovalenko *May 5,1936 +Jan.25,1993

³ Famine-Genocide in Ukraine 1932-1933, ed. Wsevolod W. Isajiw, Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Centre,2003.

⁴ Ibid, pg.10

⁵ Ibid, pg.10

⁶ 33 Гoлод,  Народна Книга Меморіял, Л.Б.Коваленко, В.А.Маняк, Радянський письменник, Київ 1991р.