Someone said there’s no good way to die. Maybe so, but some are much worse than others.
Starvation is one of them.
Within days of having nothing to eat, the body begins feeding on itself. Metabolism slows, the body cannot regulate its temperature, kidney function is impaired, and the immune system weakens.
Vital organs no longer get necessary nutrients. The heart and lungs shrink. Body temperature drops, and people feel chilled.
Eventually, nothing is left for the body to scavenge except muscle, including the heart.
In late stages of starvation, people can experience hallucinations, convulsions, and disruptions in heart rhythm, not to mention pain. Eventually the heart stops.
How long can this process take? Up to 40 days.
Last month marked the 87th anniversary of how starvation can be used to deny the Personhood of an entire population.
Killing by starvation
In 1932-33, Soviet Communist dictator Joseph Stalin intentionally starved at least four million Ukrainians to death. Known as “Holodomor,” the Ukrainian term for killing by starvation, it stands as one of the most horrendous examples of genocide in the 20th century.
Targeting mainly farmers in the land known for centuries as the “breadbasket of Europe,” Stalin aimed to annihilate those parts of the Ukrainian population that were resisting Soviet repressive policies.
In 1929, as part of his plan to rapidly create a totally communist economy, Stalin imposed “collectivization,” which replaced individually owned and operated farms with big state-run collectives.
The plan did not go well. By the fall of 1932, it became apparent that Ukraine’s grain harvest was going to miss Soviet planners’ target by 60 percent. While there might have been enough remaining food for Ukrainian peasants to get by, Stalin ordered what little they had be confiscated as punishment for not meeting quotas.
As the famine worsened, many tried to flee in search of places with more food. Some died by the roadside, while others were captured by the secret police.
Eventually, people resorted to desperate methods. They ate pets, flowers, leaves, tree bark and roots.
By the summer of 1933, some of the collective farms had only a third of their households left, while prisons and labor camps were filled to capacity.
While the people starved, the country’s grain was gathered and sold to the West, fueling the Soviet industrial machine.
Media Censorship
Not surprisingly, Stalin’s regime launched a propaganda campaign to convince the world that there was no famine—even before it ended.
Even though reports of the situation leaked out, the West could not—or would not—believe a food shortage could exist amid such abundance.
Journalists, such as the now infamous Pulitzer Prize winner Walter Duranty of The New York Times told the world: “There is no famine or actual starvation, nor is there likely to be.”
Holodomor may have been mostly denied and forgotten, but sadly it’s not unique. History is replete with examples of people losing their lives simply because of who they were or what they believed.
The shadow of Holodomor still hangs over the world today. In many countries, including the United States, Personhood is disregarded, and many elderly and infirm persons are literally starved to death in the name of saving resources.
Please pray that God will open the eyes of those in places of authority, so they see the horror of evils such as Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking (VSED) and demand that it ends.
Sources: nationalreview.com; ukrainianinstitute.org; history.com; wamu.org.
By Wayne DuBois
Georgia Right to Life
Media Relations Advisor