Start date 1921 | ||
Similar Russian famine of 1921–22, Soviet famine of 1932–33, Russian famine of 1601–03, Holodomor | ||
The 1921–1922 famine in Tatarstan was a result of war communism policy, realized in Tatar ASSR as well as elsewhere in the USSR. It started in autumn 1921. More than 2 million peasants starved, particularly in Arsk, Sviyazhsk, Mamadysh, Menzelinsk, Spassk, Tetyushi and Chelny kantons.
At the end of 1921, the special committee Tatpomgol was established to cope with the famine. Right up to August 1922, Tatpomgol imported 8 million pood (Russian pounds) of food, including 2 million pounds of seed, with a loan. From the affected regions, 210,000 people, mostly children, were evacuated to Central Asia, Belarus and Siberia.
Emergency feeding points were established throughout the republic. The Soviet government invited international organizations, such as Workers International Relief and American Relief Administration, to improve the situation. On July 1, 1922, more than 1.6 million were fed at those emergency points. The number of the victims is estimated at 400,000 to 600,000. Of the total number of farms, 86,000 disappeared (16.2% of total). After the famine, the leadership of the republic was dismissed.
Demographics
The famine deaths of 2 million Tatars in Tatar ASSR and in Idel-Ural region in 1921-1922 was catastrophic as half of Volga Tatars population in the USSR died. This famine is also known as "terror-famine" and "famine-genocide" in Tatarstan. The Soviets settled ethnic Russians after the famine in the Tatar ASSR and in Idel-Ural region causing the Tatars' share of the population to decline to less than 50%. The All-Russian Tatar Social Center (VTOTs) has asked the United Nations to condemn the 1921 Tatarstan famine as genocide of Muslim Tatars.