Daria Mattingly: Culpability of Rank-and-File Perpetrators in the Holodomor

Описание: In this episode of Not to Forgive, but to Understand, we are joined by Daria Mattingly, a historian whose work focuses on perpetrator studies and the social and cultural history of the Soviet Union, with particular emphasis on Ukraine. The conversation centers on the Holodomor, examining how famine policies were enforced at the village level by rank-and-file actors and perpetrators rather than solely by state elites.

Drawing on archival research, memoirs, literature, and oral history, Daria discusses how ordinary people became involved in famine enforcement, the role of youth and women among perpetrators, the use of euphemistic language to obscure violence, and the moral pressures produced by hunger and scarcity. The episode also explores how these perpetrators have been remembered, silenced, or contested in cultural memory within Ukraine and across the diaspora, based on her dissertation “‘Idle, Drunk and Good-for-Nothing’: The Rank-and-File Perpetrators of the 1932–1933 Famine in Ukraine and Their Representation in Cultural Memory” and her forthcoming book Stalin’s Activists.

00:00 – Introduction & Guest Background

02:35 – Studying Rank-and-File Perpetrators of the Holodomor

08:45 – Famine Policies and Legal Enforcement

18:34 – Beyond Top Leaders: Grassroots Perpetration

26:10 – Youth, Cadres, and Rank-and-File Violence

30:11 – Euphemisms, Obedience, and Moral Justifications

35:10 – Women Perpetrators and Gendered Representation

40:47 – Empathy, Hunger, and Moral Collapse

46:05 – Literature, Memoir, and Cultural Evidence

49:41 – Memory, Diaspora, and Competing Narratives

Not to Forgive, but to Understand is a podcast series discussing topics in genocide studies with scholars and individuals deeply involved in understanding the complexities of genocide and its perpetrators. Presented by writer, and scholar of Genocide Studies Sabah Carrim, along with co-host Luis Gonzalez-Aponte. Tune in to this podcast series for insightful discussions on pressing topics in the field.