Ukrainians place candles in memory of the victims of the Holodomor famine during a ceremony at the Holodomor memorial in Kiev on November 22, 2014. Ukraine marked 81 years since the Stalin-era Holodomor famine, one of the darkest pages in its entire history that left millions dead and which is regarded by many as a genocide. The 1932-33 famine took place as harvests dwindled and Soviet leader Josef Stalin's police enforced the brutal policy of collectivising agriculture by requisitioning grain and other foodstuffs. AFP PHOTO/ SERGEI SUPINSKY        (Photo credit should read SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

Holodomor Victims Memorial

Kyiv


At the far end of Vichnoy Slavy Park, which is centred around a Soviet-era war memorial, you will find a shrine from an entirely different epoch. Former President Viktor Yushchenko's pet project, this monument and museum is dedicated to almost four million victims of the famine artificially induced by Stalin's policy of collectivisation in 1932–33. Inside, touch screens take you through this dark period of Ukrainian history, and massive bound books contain some of the names of those who died.

Placards parrot bloodthirsty quotes from Bolshevik leaders, such as Lenin's 'We should resolve the Cossack issue by the means of their full extermination; all assets and property to be confiscated.'