These are NOT photographs from the Holodomor!

These 13 photos were selected from among photographs most commonly used today to represent the Holodomor, that were in fact originally taken to portray other famines.  12 were taken during the 1921- 1923 famine in Russia and Ukraine; 1 during the 19th c. famine in Madras, India.

Each photograph here is accompanied by confirmed information about its origins, along with the source of the photograph shown on this page.  More information about some of the original sources follows this section.

You might also want to read:  “Eight reasons we see photos from other famines misrepresenting the Holodomor”  

For a list of sources of authentic Holodomor photos please visit Authentic Holodomor photographs and other visual resources.

1920s Non-Holodomor photos. Ukrainian

1. Photographer unknown.  Taken in Berdyansk, Ukraine, 1922.

Caption: “Діти опухлі з голоду в Бердянську.” [ Children swollen from starvation in Berdyansk]

Herasymovych: p. 143  https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.32000004088656;view=1up;seq=149

2. Photographer unknown.  Taken in Kherson, Ukraine, 1922.

Caption: “Трупи зібрані на вулицях Херсону в дорозі на цвинтар.” [Corpses gathered on the streets of Kherson are taken by cart to the cemetery.]

Herasymovych: p. 96  https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.32000004088656;view=1up;seq=102

Quisling: p.21

3. Photographer unknown.  Taken in Hulai Pole, Ukraine, 1922.

[ no caption] Emaciated children, several with swelling, at a medical facility in Hulai Pole.

Serbyn, photo 14. from postmarked photos held at the Cantonal archives of Geneva, Switzerland.

4. Photographer unknown.  Taken in Zaporizhia, Ukraine, 1922.

Caption: “Cannibal de Zaporoshie: il a mange sa  soeur.” [a cannibal from Zaporizhia: he had eaten his (dead) sister.]

Quisling: p.17

Non-Holodomor photos. Russia and elsewhere

5. Photo probably by G.H. Mewes; also attributed to Fridtjof Nansen, taken 1921-1922 in Saratov Province, Russia.

Original photo was a still shot from a film by G.H. Mewes in Saratov, Russia, for the Save the Children Fund, 1922. Frequently used in newsletters and fundraising postcards.

This photo on a fundraising postcard:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fridtjof_Nansen,_Les_deux_%C3%A9tapes_de_la_faim_(1922).jpg

6. Photo by Liberman, taken 1921-1922 in Samara Province, Russia, posed to show famine related swelling.

This fundraising postcard can be seen here: http://img.kolector.ro/2011/07/Famine-in-Russia-IX-carte-postala-ilustrata-pentru-strangere-de-fonduri.jpg

An original can be viewed in the National Library of Norway’s online collection: http://nabo.nb.no/trip?_t=0&_b=NANSEN_ENG&_s=E&_n=0&_q=10&_l=www_eng_l&_r=P1071

7. Photo by Liberman, taken 1921-1922 in Samara Province, Russia of the same child as in photo #6, with family members.

Reproduced here: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Malnourished-Russian-children-during-the-Russian-famine-1921-1923-Russia-1922-C_fig20_271665017

8. Photo by Liberman, taken 1921-1922 in Samara Province, Russia of a group of famished Russian children

An original can be viewed in the National Library of Norway’s online collection:  http://nabo.nb.no/trip?_t=0&_b=NANSEN_ENG&_s=E&_n=0&_q=10&_l=www_eng_l&_r=M1078

9. Photo by Liberman, taken 1921-1922 in Samara Province, Russia of a subgroup of famished Russian children shown in photo #8.

Original prints are held at the Library & Archives of the Hoover Institution, Stanford Univ., CA.  

Reproduced here: https://blog.newspapers.library.in.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Russian-famine-1921.jpg

10. Photo by Fridtjof Nansen, taken 1921 in Saratov Province, Russia

Various views of this cemetery in winter, with a large pile of bodies waiting for burial in a common grave were published 1921-1922. One version published in 1922 here:  : Russland Und Die Welt   https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.32000014437950;view=1up;seq=44

This photo on a fundraising postcard:  https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Victims_of_the_1921_famine_in_Russia_-_Nansen.jpg

11. Photo by Liberman, taken 1921-1922 in a relief agency hospital, Samara Province, Russia

Original album by the photographer available online via Earlham College: http://replica.palni.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/ecplow/id/22713  , screen 30 of 53

Copy of original album available on Ukraine’s Institute of History website: http://history.org.ua/LiberUA/LibAlbGolPov_1921/LibAlbGolPov_1921.pdf  , p. 28 of 48

12. Photo by Liberman, taken 1921-1922 in a relief agency hospital in Samara Province, Russia

Original album by the photographer available online via Earlham College: http://replica.palni.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/ecplow/id/22713  screen 26 of 63

Copy of original album available on Ukraine’s Institute of History website: http://history.org.ua/LiberUA/LibAlbGolPov_1921/LibAlbGolPov_1921.pdf  , p. 24 of 48

13. Pre-20th c; India. Photo by Willoughby Wallace Hooper, taken in 1876-1879 in Madras Province, India. One of a series of several photos taken to show the effects of British genocidal policy in parts of India.

Reproduced here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1876_1877_1878_1879_Famine_Genocide_in_India_Madras_under_British_colonial_rule_2.jpg

Works cited with the photographs

Herasymovych, Ivan.  Holod na Ukraini.  Berlin:  Ukr. Slovo.  1922. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.32000004088656;view=1up;seq=1

Mewes, G. H. Famine – the Russian Famine of 1921. 32 mins (9 mins + 23 mins) Black and white; mute. 35mm.  1922. Unofficial version available on YouTube as: Volga Famine of the 1920’s, by Ted Gerk.  2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=hIJirOk7O6w

Nansen, Fridtjof, Gerhart Hauptmann, and Maksim Gorky. Russland Und Die Welt. Berlin: Verlag für Politik und Wirtschaft, 1922. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.32000014437950;view=1up;seq=4

Quisling, Vidkun. La Famine en Ukraine, rapport. Genève: Imp. de H. Vollet).  1922.

http://diasporiana.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/books/16481/file.pdf

Serbyn, Roman.  List of photos and descriptions in English is at end of article:  http://www.ukrlife.org/main/evshan/famine.htm