Research Grants 2025
The HREC Research Grants Competition is held annually to support academic research on the Holodomor, the publication of research results, the preservation of materials, and the organization of and participation in academic venues. Each year, a new thematic focus is established, though proposals for other topics are considered. The applications are reviewed by a committee of scholars and HREC associates.
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HREC Research Grants 2025-2026
The HREC Research Grants Competition aims to expand knowledge and understanding of the Holodomor by supporting academic research, publication of research results, preservation of materials, and organization of and participation in academic venues. This year, the grants competition is held with the support of Global Affairs Canada as part of the project Support to Ukraine’s National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide, carried out by Cowater International in partnership with the Canada Ukraine Foundation. A key component of the project is to support the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide in gathering high-quality research on the Holodomor.
Examples of research that grants could support include the policies of foreign governments during collectivization and the Holodomor; the Holodomor at the national and sub-national levels (eg, oblasts, raions, villages); and the Holodomor and its impact on various groups and communities, including women, children, minorities, and those with disabilities.
Most grants range from $1,500 CAD to $3,500 CAD to individuals and do not exceed $7,500. HREC also encourages proposals for larger collaborative projects that engage scholars and institutions from both inside and outside Ukraine.
A new feature of this year's competition will see successful applicants paired with scholars who will serve as research advisors. In addition, selected grantees will be invited to submit their research for publication to maximize its reach.
The deadline for submissions was November 17, 2025.
Application
Individual Projects 2025-26
Danylo Kravets
Department of the History of Museology and Cultural Heritage, Lviv Polytechnic National University
“Holodomor-Related Documents in Diaspora Archives of Ukraine”
This project examines documents related to the 1932–33 Holodomor preserved in Ukrainian diaspora archival collections held in Ukraine. Although the diaspora played a crucial role in documenting and commemorating the Holodomor during the period of Soviet censorship, many diaspora archives remain understudied and difficult to access. Focusing primarily on the Manuscript Department of the Vasyl Stefanyk National Scientific Library of Ukraine in Lviv, the project aims to identify, describe, and analyze relevant materials created by individuals and institutions in the diaspora. Through archival research in Lviv and Kyiv, the study will result in a scholarly research guide (selective catalogue) and a peer-reviewed article. By systematizing dispersed sources, the project contributes to Holodomor historiography, integration of archives in Ukraine, and broader studies of transnational memory and genocide documentation.
Denys Dyazhur
Bohdan Khmelnytskyi Cherkasy National University
“Documenting the Holodomor of 1932-33 in Ukraine: A Comparative Study of British Newspapers, 1932–34”
This project examines how the Holodomor was represented in British newspapers between 1932 and 1934, with particular attention to the Manchester Guardian as well as The Times, The Daily Express, and The Telegraph. It analyzes how information about the famine in Soviet Ukraine reached British audiences despite Soviet censorship and how different newspapers framed the events through factual reporting, editorial interpretation, and narratives influenced by Soviet propaganda. By applying comparative content and discourse analysis to articles, editorials, and letters, the study will identify key rhetorical patterns and shifts in coverage over time. The project will introduce into scholarly discussions a broad corpus of English-language materials and contribute to a deeper understanding of how British journalism shaped international awareness and historical memory of the Holodomor.
Grace Vanderkolk
University of Melbourne
“Origins of North American Ukrainian Diaspora Memory and Identity through the Harvard Interview Project on the Soviet Social System”
Presentation at the International Graduate Student Symposium in Ukrainian Studies, 2026 (University of Toronto)
This grant supports the presentation of research at the International Graduate Student Conference, March 19-21, 2026, at the Centre for European and Eurasian Studies (CEES), Munk School, University of Toronto. The presentation addresses how memories and narratives of the Holodomor were constructed and employed within Displaced Persons camps and post-war North American Ukrainian diaspora as means of survival and identity building.
John Amundson
University of Toronto
“What did Western Publics Know? A Systematic Analysis of Anglophone Press Coverage of the Holodomor, 1932-33”
The aim of this research project is to clarify what English-speaking publics could have known about the Holodomor as it was unfolding in 1932-33. Previous scholarship on news coverage of the famine has largely taken a microhistorical focus on influential foreign correspondents. By systematically employing content analysis across dozens of newspapers in Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia, this project addresses trends in the Anglophone press and answers the questions How was the Holodomor defined? Were explicit terms (e.g., famine) or euphemisms (e.g., food shortages) favored? Who was reported to be suffering from starvation? Finally, what factors (e.g., government policies, weather) were blamed for the famine?
Natalia Kuzovova
Department of History, Archeology and Teaching Methods, Kherson State University
“The Famine of 1932-33 in Ukraine in the Politics of Poland and Germany”
The project focuses on preparation of a monograph titled “The Famine of 1932–1933 in Ukraine in the Politics of Poland and Germany.” The scope includes stories of starving women and children whose suffering was reported by consulates as well as public and religious organizations, and the role of these institutions in spreading information about the Famine.
Nataliia Suprun
Department of Economic History, Institute for Economics and Forecasting, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
“Assessing the Holodomor in the Context of Soviet Economic Policy: Evidence from British Diplomatic, Analytical, and Government Documents of the 1930s”
The project is devoted to the study of interpretations of the Holodomor in the context of assessments of Soviet economic policy recorded in British diplomatic, analytical, and government documents of the 1930s. The main goal is to reconstruct an external independent assessment of the causes of the Holodomor, as well as to critically rethink ideas about the "economic efficiency" of Stalinist collectivization and industrialization. The project also aims to expand analytical approaches and the source base for international research on the Holodomor.
Oleksandr Sukhomlyn
University of Customs and Finance (Dnipro)
“Torgsin in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, 1931-36: The Holodomor at the Local Level”
The study examines the activities of the Torgsin network in the Dnipropetrovsk region as an element of everyday life during the Holodomor era, and in particular, in the food supply of the population, the authorities’ implementation of famine-inducing policies, and the population’s strategies for survival. Research will focus on archival documents and oral history to investigate the deployment of the Torgsin system in the Dnipropetrovsk region, its evolution, and features of its functioning. The project will also shed light on the food supply of both the urban and rural populations of Dnipropetrovsk in areas where the Torgsin network operated.
Olga Ryabchenko
H. S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University
“Artists in the Propaganda Campaigns of the Authorities in the Villages during the Holodomor”
The paper analyses the involvement of artists in Soviet government campaigns in the Ukrainian countryside during collectivization and the Holodomor. It examines the mechanisms of their mobilization, the tasks imposed on them by the state, the interactions of the artists with peasants, as well as strategies of adaptation and resistance under the Communist Party. Drawing on a wide range of archival and personal sources, the study demonstrates that artists were primarily used as agitators and propagandists in attempts to shape the attitudes of peasants and secure their loyalty to Soviet power. The research also examines the ways that participation in these campaigns influenced later artistic production, contributing to the ideological glorification of the “socialist transformation of the countryside” and to the distortion of historical memory of the Holodomor.
The grant supports presentation of the paper as part of the panel “Memory, Narratives, and Information Warfare: Sociocultural and Historical Dimensions of the Holodomor" at the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies Convention, Washington, DC, November 2025.
Sara Nesteruk
School of Digital Arts (SODA), Manchester Metropolitan University
“Embodied Archives: Animated Testimonies from Ukraine in the Holodomor”
This study will inform the creation of 100 stories from the Holodomor using drawing and animation and incorporating approaches from Digital Humanities, archival research, and novel approaches to archiving, drawing, and film. Archival sources include “Jerry Berman’s Letters” at the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide; “The Maniak Collection” online at the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium (HREC); and survivor testimony collections at the Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Centre (UCRDC) in Toronto. The final result will be a feature-length animated documentary. The aim for this pilot project is to create nine film ‘chapters' (short animations hosted on a website).
Serhiy Vodotyka
Kherson State University
“The Tradition of Commemorating the Holodomor, 2014-24: Performance and Narrative”
The project examines traditions in commemorating the Holodomor from 2014 to 2024, focusing on changes in performance (how the tragedy is commemorated) and narrative (how it is told and linked to the present) amid the Russian-Ukrainian war; it argues that Holodomor memory has become a crucial marker of Ukrainian identity and a mobilizing catalyst against Russian aggression. The project will map the horizontal and vertical structures of remembrance (state, regional, local, educational and cultural institutions, and diaspora activities), analyze the forms, materials, scale, and social composition of events, and assess the scholarly soundness of prevailing narratives. Using interdisciplinary methods (historical, political, sociological, cultural, anthropological and content analysis), the study aims to quantify and qualify commemorative practices as means of national self-identification and resistance to attempts to repeat genocide.
Tetiana Perga
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
“Taste of Survival: Unconventional Food in Holodomor Oral Histories”
Survival under conditions of famine or food crises is invariably accompanied by profound psychological trauma. This study considers how in order to survive the Holodomor, the Ukrainian population was forced to resort to forms of nourishment that lay beyond accepted cultural, moral, social, and religious norms. This project analyzes oral testimonies and their descriptions of consumption of unconventional food resources during the Holodomor, focusing on three main categories: resources derived from flora and fauna, food and industrial waste, and extreme forms of food behavior: necrophagy and, in rare cases, anthropophagy. The concept landscapes of survival is proposed as an analytical framework within environmental history to explain how the natural and spatial configuration of the environment shaped human possibilities for survival under conditions of systemic famine. The concept landscapes of desperation is introduced to analyze situations in which survival required the transgression of multiple taboos and the consumption of food associated with death.
Vedran Obućina
University of Regensburg; Centre for Interreligious Dialogue (Rijeka, Croatia)
“Religious Minorities and the Holodomor: Jews, Mennonites, and Old Believers in Soviet Ukraine, 1932-33”
This project examines the experiences of religious minority communities—Jewish agricultural settlers, German Mennonites, and Old Believers—during the Holodomor famine in Soviet Ukraine (1932–33). By foregrounding religion as a crucial factor shaping vulnerability, survival strategies, and interpretations of suffering, the study explores how Soviet policies of collectivization, grain requisitioning, and repression affected faith-defined communities in distinct ways. Drawing on archival research, diaspora sources, oral histories, and comparative case studies, the project reconstructs minority perspectives. The project outcomes—scholarly publication, educational materials, and public dissemination—will further integrate underrepresented religious voices into public memory and education.
Vitaly Chernoivanenko
Judaica Department, Institute of Manuscripts, Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine
“The Representation of the Holodomor in Ukrainian State and Non-State Philately”
The Holodomor is studied as it is reflected in ideology, the politics of memory, as well as culture and art. An interesting and unexplored aspect is how the Holodomor has been represented on Ukrainian non-state and state stamps. Non-state (non-postage) stamps have been issued by diverse Ukrainian diaspora centers in various countries (Germany, France, Great Britain, Belgium, Canada, USA, Argentina, Australia, etc.). State postage stamps, with the exception of the statehood of 1917–20, have been issued by independent Ukraine starting in 1992. The Holodomor theme has been actively reflected in the philatelic activities of the Ukrainian diaspora (primarily in the 1950s–80s) and in Ukraine since independence. This research is the first attempt to demonstrate how the Holodomor has been represented in Ukrainian philatelic materials, and includes historical, ideological, artistic, and other aspects of the inclusion of the Holodomor theme on postage and non-postage stamps, envelopes, and postcards.
Yurij Luhovy
Filmmaker, producer, director, editor
“Restoration of Interviews with Eyewitnesses Filmed in 1985”
The aim of the project is to restore, digitize, safeguard, and make available online original Holodomor eyewitness interviews and testimonies that were videotaped in Toronto in 1985. These invaluable recordings, which constitute some of the very first survivor stories filmed in Canada, are in a fragile state, filmed more than 40 years ago, and in need of immediate attention to prevent further deterioration. Oral history is a critical component of documentarian and Holodomor study. The project will ensure that each eyewitness account is online and accessible to future researchers, educators, and the general public.
Collaborative Projects 2025-26
Andrii Fesenko
Ilya Lukovenko
Andrii Fesenko
Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Sociology and Law, National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”
Ilya Lukovenko
Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of History, Theory, Composition, and International Students, National Music Academy of Ukraine
“Repression, Church, and Famine: Orthodox Communities of the Donbas and Left-Bank Ukraine during the Three Famines (1921–47)”
This project is a comprehensive study of Soviet anti-religious policy and the famines of 1921–47 as a mechanism for the spiritual, social, and physical subjugation of the Ukrainian population. The research introduces an innovative framework, conceptualizing the Holodomor as "spiritual genocide," where physical annihilation was intrinsically linked to the destruction of the moral foundations and religious identity of society. The study employs a comparative regional analysis, examining the Donbas as a testing ground for repressive models that were subsequently implemented in the central regions most severely affected by the famines, including Poltava, Kyiv, and Cherkasy. By utilizing a microhistory approach and analyzing declassified GPU-NKVD archives, the project aims to reconstruct instances of religious resistance, solidarity, and mutual aid among believers. The project will result in scholarly publications and the development of a foundation for a "Church and the Holodomor" open-access digital archive in cooperation with HREC and the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide.
Oksana Krupenko
Yevheniia Strashko
Oleksandr Kryvobok
Oksana Krupenko
Department of History of Ukraine at Mykola Gogol Nizhyn State University
Yevheniia Strashko
Department of History of Ukraine at Mykola Gogol Nizhyn State University
Oleksandr Kryvobok
Department of History of Ukraine at Mykola Gogol Nizhyn State University
“Resistance to the Holodomor in the Chernihiv Region”
Through a study of the biographies of individuals who carried out acts of sabotage against the orders and instructions of the authorities, this project examines sabotage as a form of resistance to the policy of famine in the periods 1932–33 and 1946–47. Focusing on what today are the Nizhyn and Pryluky districts of Chernihiv oblast (with the possible inclusion of neighboring localities), researchers will collect materials, in particular oral testimonies, family histories, and recollections about collective farm heads, brigade leaders, party activists, and other individuals involved in the organization of agricultural production. The project will result in publications, both for scholarly and general audiences. Collected testimonies and related materials will be archived at the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide in Kyiv.
Oleh Lushchak
Marinus H. van IJzendoorn
Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg
Oleh Lushchak
Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Carpathian National University
Marinus H. van IJzendoorn
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University
Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg
San Sebastián University
“Epigenetics of the Holodomor in the Next Generations”
This pilot study will investigate whether the biological consequences of the Holodomor are detectable across generations through epigenetic mechanisms. Building on evidence from the Holodomor itself and famines such as the Dutch Hunger Winter that link prenatal famine exposure to long-term metabolic disease and persistent DNA methylation changes, the study will examine genome-wide methylation patterns in female participants from second, third, and fourth generations of families exposed to varying famine severity. Using blood-based molecular analyses alongside basic health measures and brief psychosocial questionnaires, the project aims to identify preliminary epigenetic signatures associated with ancestral famine and trauma. Expected outcomes include testing recruitment feasibility, generating initial molecular data, and establishing protocols for future large-scale studies, ultimately contributing to understanding how extreme historical trauma becomes biologically embedded and influences health and resilience in living generations.
Viktoriia Sukhenko
Liliia Kharchuk
Viktoriia Sukhenko
Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics
Liliia Kharchuk
Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Lviv Polytechnic National University
“The Holodomor in Sumy region in the light of published sources and archival materials: a dialogue of generations”
The project will produce a comprehensive study of the Holodomor in the Sumy region, based on published sources, archival materials, and oral testimonies from eyewitnesses and their descendants. The aim is to construct a regional picture of the tragedy, introduce little-known documents and testimonies into scholarly circulation, and analyze the mechanisms for preserving historical memory and intergenerational dialogue. The project methodology combines historical-comparative and content analysis of archival and printed sources with oral history approaches, making it possible to trace the social, demographic, and cultural consequences of the Holodomor at the local level. Anticipated results include expanding scholarly knowledge of the Holodomor in its regional dimension, preparation of academic publications, presentation of results at professional conferences, and making the collected materials available for use in educational and museum contexts in order to preserve historical memory and foster civic consciousness.
Yurii Rybak
Lina Dobrianska
Larysa Lukashenko
Victoria Yarmola
Yurii Rybak
Department of Musical Folklore Research, Scientific-Research Laboratory of Musical at the Mykola Lysenko Lviv National Music Academy; Center for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (Kyiv)
Lina Dobrianska
Department of Musical Folklore Research, Scientific-Research Laboratory of Musical at the Mykola Lysenko Lviv National Music Academy
Larysa Lukashenko
Department of Musical Folklore Research, Scientific-Research Laboratory of Musical at the Mykola Lysenko Lviv National Music Academy
Victoria Yarmola
Department of Musical Folklore Research, Scientific-Research Laboratory of Musical at the Mykola Lysenko Lviv National Music Academy
“Irrepressible Ukrainian Identity: Narratives and Songs of Holodomor Witnesses from the Folklore Collection of Stepan Myshanych”
The distinguished scholar Stepan Myshanych (1936–2013), during his time at Donetsk National University, between 1991 and 2010, created a large and unique collection of folklore recordings drawn primarily from the Donetsk region. The collection consists of materials gathered by students using a specially developed methodology, under the close supervision of an experienced researcher, and catalogued in accordance with established scholarly standards. The collection comprises more than 1,500 cassette tapes containing folk songs and numerous oral narratives on topics related to history, ethnology, and cultural studies. Particular attention was devoted to narratives concerning the Holodomor and collectivization. These materials constitute documentary evidence of the terror and repression exercised by the Soviet authorities in the Donetsk and adjacent regions for more than a century, aimed at the destruction of Ukrainian identity and of Ukrainians themselves. The Myshanych collection is currently housed at the Laboratory of Musical Ethnology of the Mykola Lysenko Lviv National Music Academy. The staff of the Laboratory, headed by Director Yurii Rybak, will process the narratives on the Holodomor and collectivization, as well as unique authentic folk songs. The results will be presented at international academic conferences and appear in specialized scholarly publications.