On November 25, 2017, local time, in Kiev, Ukraine, people held an event to commemorate the 84th anniversary of the Great Famine from 1932 to 1933, and mourned more than 5 million victims. President Poroshenko attended the commemoration ceremony. What attracted media attention was that at the commemoration ceremony, Ukrainian President Poroshenko and his wife knelt down on the bronze statue of a little girl.
In addition, what Poroshenko offered was not a bouquet, but a handful of full ears of wheat. Under the feet of the skinny little girl were apples and berries. For those in that era of famine, a full meal might be the dividing line between life and death.
△Poroshenko kneeled in front of the little girl, with a solemn expression
Great Famine of Ukraine
Great Famine of Ukraine was a great famine that occurred in the Soviet Union Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1932 to 1933. It is estimated that about 3.15 million to 7.18 million Ukrainians died in this incident.
During the period of promoting agricultural collectivization, members of the Soviet Communist Party encountered resistance in Ukraine, which eventually led to collective arrest and exile of the "rich peasants" class of Ukraine.
A large number of Ukrainian farmers who are good at farming are classified as "rich peasants", and their families are exiled to Siberia and Central Asia. Other farmers are unwilling to farm because they are worried about being classified as rich peasants, which leads to a plummeting Ukrainian grain production in 1932.
In order to solve the problem of food shortage, on August 7, 1932, the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union issued a new decree, stipulating that "theft of collective farm property" could be sentenced to death. The
is a decree that fundamentally prohibits farmers from taking any agricultural products for themselves.
On December 6, 1932, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union issued another secret order to take all means of production (agricultural tools, livestock, seeds) in Ukraine into public ownership, prohibit the transport of any grain and finished products into rural Ukraine, and prohibit the sale of commodities and agricultural products in other places in Ukraine.
In addition, a grain search team was sent to rural Ukraine to confiscate farmers' surplus, food and seed grain. Several months after these punitive measures were implemented, by the spring of 1933, extremely severe famine occurred throughout Ukraine.
The drought that occurred in western Russia and most parts of Ukraine in the spring of that year increased the degree of famine.
At the same time, the Soviet government prohibited the victims from flowing outward, and traffic between Ukraine and the Don River Basin and the outside world was interrupted, and travel to these areas was banned.
Any hungry people who attempt to leave Ukraine without permission were arrested as "class enemies".
Survivors of the Great Famine in Ukraine said that when the Great Famine reached its peak from 1932 to 1933, there were even incidents in rural Ukraine where people even ate humans and re-digging the bodies of buried cats, dogs, livestock and humans in winter before eating.
△Little girl represents more than 5 million great famines in Ukraine
Commemoration of the Great Famine
Most contemporary scholars believe that the Great Famine in Ukraine is a disaster that occurred in the context of the Stalinian agricultural collectivization movement. The causes of the famine are natural factors, but more importantly human factors.
In Ukraine, this famine is sometimes considered a deliberate action against the Ukrainian nation, so it is also called "famine ethnic cleansing".
Historists believe that the Soviet government played a role in fueling the famine, resulting in the consequences of the famine even more severe.
Some Ukrainians believe that the Soviet Union's responsibility for this great famine is equivalent to the massacre of Jews in Nazi Germany, and believe that the Soviet Union uses famine to purge Ukrainian nationalists, and its behavior constitutes legal genocide.
In 2002, the Ukrainian government declassified more than 1,000 secret documents about the Great Famine and designated November 22 as the "Famine Anniversary".
htmlOn November 25, 2004, then Ukrainian President Yushenko presided over the groundbreaking ceremony of the Great Famine Memorial Hall, and later commemorating the Great Famine of Ukraine became a routine.In fact, Ukraine is not the first case, the leader of a country kneels down in a major place. In many cases, the kneeling of national leaders will not only attract attention at the time, but many scenes will also become moments of history, and are the best footnotes of an era.
The editor has taken stock of some important leaders in history when they kneel.
German Chancellor Kneels down and atones for sins
Warsaw Kneels can be said to be the most famous "kneeling" incident of the leader of the country. It took place on December 7, 1970, referring to West German Prime Minister Waili Brandt kneeling in front of the monument to the uprising in the Jewish Quarantine in Warsaw.
At that time, East Germany and West Germany were not unified, the Berlin Wall was still there, and Brandt's position was the Chancellor of the Federal German Republic. At that time, Brandt was actively and further implementing his "repair with Eastern Europe" New Eastern Europe policy.
In August 1970, Brandt first signed the Moscow Treaty on the Elimination of Border Force with the Soviet Union, and then went to Poland in December to sign the Warsaw Treaty with Poland.
Brand came to the Warsaw Jewish Quarantine Uprising Monument to lay a wreath. Brandt slowly walked up the stone steps, and in front of him was a huge bluestone monument with statues in the middle.
The heavy stones and dark human figures seem to represent the millions of innocent victims to pay silence to this place. This was once the site of the Warsaw Jewish segregation area.
Brand suddenly and spontaneously kneeled down and observed silently for the victims who were killed during the Nazi German invasion.
△Federal German Chancellor Brandt kneeled in front of the monument to the Jewish Martyrs in Warsaw, the capital of Poland
Brand presented the wreath in front of the monument. He stood upright, his expression was solemn, standing in front of the silent stone statue. At the moment when he lowered his head and greeted him, his knees bent down and he knelt on the cold stone steps!
This 57-year-old anti-fascist veteran stood in front of the monument. The Polish officials and people around were deeply shocked by this sudden behavior.
Prince Brandt wrote an extremely important chapter in Germany's post-war history. "Kneeling in Warsaw" has also become an important milestone in the federal government's journey to reconcile with Eastern Europe, and paved the way for Federal Germany to join the United Nations in September 1973.
△Kor, who died this year, is called Germany's "United Prime Minister"
However, Germany's apology to the Jews has not ended. In 1995, Koor, known as the "United Prime Minister", knelt on his knees in front of the Memorial for Jewish Victims in Israel, once again kneeling on his knees on behalf of Germany, reiterating Germany's apology.
During World War II, Germany massacred millions of Jews. After kneeling twice, it was forgiven by Europe and the world, and Germany also became a normal country respected by countries around the world.
Putin kneeled down to send his old friend's last journey
On April 7, 2010, at the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Katin tragedy, Putin, then Russian Prime Minister, held a blue glass jar in his hand, with burning white candles inside. Putin knelt on his right knee, leaned down and placed the glass jar lightly under the steps.
△Kneeling due to the Katyn tragedy did not damage Putin's tough guy image
During World War II, the former Soviet army killed about 22,000 Polish officers and other elites in the Katyn Forest, but lied that it was done by Nazi Germany.
In 1992, then President Yeltsin sent a special envoy to Poland to submit a top-secret copy of the matter. On November 26, 2010, a statement of principle issued by the Russian State Duma stated that during World War II, former Soviet leader Stalin personally ordered the massacre of tens of thousands of Poles, creating the Katin incident.
After Putin's move, the relationship between the two sides gradually became clear.
Just last year, Putin, as president, made a special trip to Uzbekistan to see off President Karimov, who died of a sudden cerebral hemorrhage.
At that time, Putin knelt on one knee and presented flowers to Karimov's tomb, and was silent for a moment before getting up. Putin once publicly told the media that the two had a good relationship and Karimov always called his name directly.
△Putin kneeled in front of Karimov's mausoleum and remained silent
U.S. President Carter kneeled
Former US President Carter had facilitated Egypt and Israel to sign the "Bet David Agreement" and promoted the Middle East peace process.
In 1978, Carter invited then Egyptian President Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Begin to meet at Camp David.
Sadat and Begin quarreled for 3 days in a row, and the negotiations naturally fell into a deadlock.
So, Sadat decided to pack his luggage and return home, and the plane was ready.
Carter later recalled: "I knelt down and prayed." Afterwards, he found Sadat, "so close that he could touch the other party's nose", and said a "harsh word": "If we leave, our friendship will be completed forever, and the US-Egypt relations will be damaged."
In the end, Sadat stayed to continue negotiations and signed the historic "Bet David Agreement", including the "Outline on the Realization of Peace in the Middle East" and the "Outline on the Signing of a Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel."
△Sadat (the former) and Begin hugged after the talks at Camp David. Carter applauded on the side
Koizumi was accused of kneeling down and worshiping Bush Jr.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who visited the Yasukuni Shrine many times during his tenure and was severely criticized by China, is said to have kneeled down and worshipped Bush Jr. at an international summit.
At the 2002 Canadian G8 Summit, leaders of various countries chatted together. Then French President Chirac talked about Japanese etiquette, saying that the Japanese would bow differently according to the other party's status.
After hearing this joke, Koizumi walked directly to Bush and said, "If the other party is you, then you probably have to do this." Then he knelt down at Bush's feet.
In 2007, the well-known French photographer Rostein published the book "Exclusive News", which recorded a kneeling prayer by Junichiro Koizumi.
The photographer believes that considering that this photo will have an impact on Japanese public opinion, he decided not to make it public. Therefore, outsiders have yet to know whether this matter is a matter of one's own opinion or whether it is true.
△Bush Jr., Chirac and Koizumi chatted at the meeting
Yingluck frequently kneeling and worshiping
Speaking of former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck, he once attracted the attention of the media for his frequent worshiping.
When she served as prime minister and after leaving office, she expressed her respect by kneeling down many times.
For example, in 2011, Yingluck became a businessman and a prime minister.
On August 8, she accepted the order of King Bhumibol Adulyud of Thailand and served as the 28th Prime Minister. During the inauguration, she knelt down to the portrait of the Thai king.
△When Yingluck took office, she knelt down to the portrait of the king
At the party celebrating the 84th birthday of King Bhumibol Adued, Yingluck also bowed and expressed her respect to Princess Sirindhorn.
△ Yingluck expressed his respect to Princess Sirindhorn
Former Japanese Prime Minister kneels in South Korea
Our neighbor South Korea has also had the incident of leaders kneeling. Among them, the most popular one is former President Lee Myung-bak kneeling on an inappropriate occasion, which has been questioned by the Korean people.
In 2011, Lee Myung-bak, who was still president at the time, attended a breakfast party. At the breakfast meeting, the host suggested that everyone kneel down and pray.
Lee Myung-bak felt a little hesitant when he heard the proposal, but when he saw his wife Kim Runyu kneeling down, the others on the stage also knelt down, and finally chose to kneel down.
△The kneeling of Lee Myung-bo and his wife caused dissatisfaction among the Blue House and the Korean people
Although the host of the breakfast meeting was very happy to welcome the president to kneel down for the first time, the Presidential Office was very dissatisfied with this and believed that the host's approach was very extraordinary.
In addition, former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who stepped down because of a scandal of her best friend's interference in politics, also half-kneeled to wash voters' feet while participating in the election of presidential election.
△Park Geun-hye half-kneelle when she ran for president, washed her feet for voters
Also in South Korea, former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama also knelt down. On August 12, 2015, Yukio Hatoyama, who was visiting South Korea, was kneeling in front of the memorial monument and praying while visiting the Seodaemun Prison Office Museum.
△Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama kneeled down in South Korea
During the Japanese colonial period, many anti-Japanese heroes were killed bravely here. Unexpectedly, Hatoyama's move caused dissatisfaction in Japan and was full of curses.
In general, some leaders of various countries kneel down to face history and apologize for the country; some are to remember the past and commemorate their compatriots in distress; some are to say goodbye to old friends with the highest affection. These are accepted and recognized by the people.
However, there are also examples of state leaders kneeling down on inappropriate occasions. Such behavior not only attracted public criticism, but also greatly damaged the international image.
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