In 1932-33, millions of Ukrainians had their food and means of survival taken from them in an organised effort to starve people to death under Russian governance, which implemented high-grain procurement quotas and implemented a decree called "Five Stalks of Grain" which meant anyone, including children, who took grain from fields could be shot or imprisoned for stealing.
Ukrainian expatriate and event organiser Olha Viazenko handed out sourdough bread pieces as a representation of what was withheld from Ukrainians during the genocide.
She said her great-great-grandmother lost two of her three children during the famine, leaving her grandfather as the sole survivor of Holodomor, she said.
"She sold her house to get a single bag of grain and it was half-full of rubbish, so the other children starved," she said.
Ms Viazenko said it was important to remember what happened in the past and remember those who had lost their lives to inform what was happening today to the Ukrainian people.
She said Ukrainians today were dying from another genocide, where the war was causing "kholodomor" — death by cold — due to targeted air strikes against key infrastructure.
She said this was leaving the civilian population without heating and other essential services during the winter season.
"This places tens of millions of lives in jeopardy," she said.
