Wheat – the symbol of life, prosperity, spiritual wealth. It is the grain which, for centuries, has been associated with our nation’s livelihood. During the 1932-33 Holodomor, however, it became a weapon of the genocide orchestrated to destroy the very fabric of that nation.
On August 7, 1932, Joseph Stalin authored a law with a sentence of death or 10 years’ imprisonment for the misappropriation of collective farm property. This law led to mass arrests and executions. Even children caught picking handfuls of grain from fields were convicted. It became known as the law of “Five ears of grain.”
The logo selected for the 80th commemorative year, designed by Ukrainian Canadian artist Oleh Lesiuk, depicts five stalks of wheat delicately bound with a black ribbon. While serving as a reminder of the devastation characterized by the law, the wheat symbolizes the Ukrainian nation’s determination to live and prosper; the nation’s future.