Professional Ethics, Medical Experts and the Famine of 1932-1933 in Soviet Ukraine

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article studies the state-induced famine of 1932-1933 in Soviet Ukraine as a public health crisis and explores the interplay between medical ethics and medical practices. As state employees and agents of the state, medical professionals participated in organization of the healthcare system and construction of a new, Soviet society. Among other spheres, the revolutionary change concerned medical ethics. Officially, pre-Soviet principles of professional ethics were rejected, and new ethical concepts were determined by class interest and class consciousness. The rapid industrialization, forced collectivization and food requisitions and seizure of the late 1920 and early 1930s resulted in the catastrophic famine and deaths of millions of Soviet citizens. Ukraine was one of the most affected regions, and the explosive spread of epidemic diseases followed mass starvation. In their efforts to cope with this crisis and stop the spread of epidemics from the countryside to urban centres, the authorities imposed disciplinary public health orders that resulted in the intensification of state violence, and hundreds of thousands of rural and urban dwellers were treated by medical professionals. The article examines the role of Soviet medical professionals and their entanglement with ethical discourse and medical practice during the famine of 1932–1933.