Russians purge libraries in occupied Crimea of books referencing Holodomor and Crimean Tatars

Stock photo: Getty Images
Stock photo: Getty Images

The Russians are conducting a new wave of purges of libraries in temporarily occupied Crimea, where books containing information about the Holodomor or images of the trident have been banned. [The Holodomor was a man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine which lasted from 1932 to 1933 and claimed the lives of millions of Ukrainians – ed.]

Source: Ukraine’s National Resistance Center (NRC)

Details: The NRC noted that the instructions for the "purges" were sent out by Sofia Rybak, the "leading methodologist" at the so-called Crimean Republican Universal Scientific Library named after Ivan Franko.

She has ordered that any books containing references to the Holodomor, the Ukrainian people’s struggle for liberation, and any activities by Crimean Tatars on the peninsula should be removed from the library.

Rybak also mentioned the "list of Nazi organisations and symbols" approved in Russia, which includes the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists.

The greeting "Glory to Ukraine", the response "Glory to the Heroes", and even the trident have also been dubbed Nazi symbols.

"All books containing depictions of the trident must be removed from the collections," Rybak stated.

The occupation authorities are threatening to punish library staff if they disobey.

Background: The Russians have introduced propaganda dictionaries for teachers to use in schools in occupied Luhansk Oblast.

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