What question did this study set out to answer?

To analyze the documentation of Holodomor survivors' stories in the early Cold War period.

March 12, 2026Open Access

Bearing Witness to the Holodomor: Eyewitness and Survivor Collections of the Early Cold War Period (1947–55)

Key Points

To analyze the documentation of Holodomor survivors' stories in the early Cold War period.
Explored four specific collections of first-hand accounts: Oseredok, Harvard Project, US Senate Hearings, and House Committee Hearings.
Focused on the period from 1947 to 1955 in Canada and the US.
Utilized historical analysis to assess the impact of the Cold War on survivor testimonies.
Survivors found public spaces to share their experiences after WWII.
Collections documented significant accounts from Ukrainian refugees.
The Cold War context fostered receptivity to their stories, allowing broader acknowledgment of their suffering.

Abstract

In the decade after World War II, Holodomor survivors and eyewitnesses in the West were able to tell their story in a variety of settings. This article examines the creation of four collections of first-hand accounts in Canada and the US—the Oseredok collection (1947–48), the Harvard Project on the Soviet Social System (1949–52), the Genocide Hearings in the US Senate (1950), and the Hearings of the House Select Committee on Communist Aggression (1954). The early Cold War, it is argued, empowered Soviet Ukrainian refugees to talk about the Holodomor. For a brief historical moment, it also provided them with a public space and a receptive audience willing to acknowledge their suffering.

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