1998: THE YEAR IN REVIEW: Our community recalls 1932-1933 (12/27/98)

1998: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Our community recalls 1932-1933

The year 1998 marked the 65th anniversary of the Great Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine, and Ukrainians around the globe recalled this genocide, which killed between 7 million and 10 million of their brothers and sisters. The Famine was not a natural disaster, but a man-made atrocity, a heinous use of food as a weapon - in this case used by Stalin and his henchmen to destroy a nation.

Many communities took advantage of the anniversary to increase public awareness about the Famine and its ramifications.

Montreal led the way with a series of commemorative events in the spring. On May 9, over 500 people attended a Montreal march in memory of the millions who died during the artificially created Famine. Other events in Montreal inluded a lecture at McGill University by Prof. Roman Serbyn and a screeing of Slavko Nowytski's "Harvest of Despair," as part of the second annual conference on 20th century genocides organized by Armenian students; segments about the Famine on the Ukrainian radio program in Montreal, special classes in the city's Ukrainian schools; and an exhibit at the Université du Québèc à Montreal.

In the Canadian capital the Ukrainian community held a memorial manifestation, plus a memorial service on June 14. A week earlier, about 200 people had gathered at the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Ottawa to remember Famine victims through prayers, poetry and speeches.

The Ottawa community took a pragmatic approach to the solemnities. A scholarship fund was launched to support research into the politics of famine and a "soup kitchen" fund was established to feed the hungry in Ukraine today. As well, community members are pushing for a section on the Great Famine in Ukraine to be included in the federal government's plans for a Holocaust or genocide museum in the National Capital Region.

In Toronto, on October 4, more than 2,500 gathered at the Ontario Provincial Parliament buildings at Queen's Park, then marched to Nathan Philips Square at Toronto's City Hall. The keynote speaker at the event was Dr. James Mace, an adjunct professor of history at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, former director of the U.S. Commission on the Ukraine Famine and former research associate of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard. The commemorations had been unofficially launched with an educational program hosted by the Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Center (UCRDC), at its headquarters in the St. Vladimir Institute near the university, which presented materials to elementary school children from various local schools on the afternoon of September 26.

An exhibit, "The Famine-Genocide, Ukraine, 1933," prepared by the UCRDC and sponsored by Media Watch Ukraine and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Toronto branch, was on view in the Rotunda of City Hall from September 30 until October 9. The exhibit featured documents implicating senior Soviet officials in issuing lethal procurement orders, coverage of the Famine that appeared in the Ukrainian and international press at the time, statements read out earlier in the year in Canada's House of Commons in commemoration of the Famine, and a continuous screening of the video "Harvest of Despair."

As part of the agenda of the opening day of its 19th triennial conclave held in Winnipeg on October 9-12, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress commemorated the victims of the Famine with a wreath-laying ceremony at Winnipeg's monument to the Famine. Ukrainian Ambassador to Canada Volodymyr Furkalo and UCC President Oleh Romaniw performed the honors.

Similar events were held in the U.S., with major commemorations held in New York, Washington and Chicago.

Ukrainian Americans of metropolitan New York commemorated the 65th anniversary of the Great Famine at St. Patrick's Cathedral on November 8 - designated as "Ukrainian Famine Days of Remembrance" throughout the United States - with a "panakhyda" (memorial service) for the Famine victims concelebrated by Bishop Robert Brucato, auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York; Bishop Basil Losten, eparch of the Ukrainian Catholic Diocese of Stamford; and the Rev. Andrei Kulyk from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A.

In his greeting to the participants, President Bill Clinton wrote, "... the Famine still evokes strong feelings of grief and anger. We have a solemn obligation to keep alive the memory of the innocent victims who suffered and died because of Stalin's attempt to crush Ukraine."

Messages from New York Gov. George Pataki and New York Mayor Rudy Guilliani, as well as the text of the Congressional Resolution that had been approved by both houses of the U.S. Congress, were read at the commemoration. Addresses were delivered by Ambassador William Green Miller, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, and by Ukraine's permanent representative to the U.N., Volodymyr Yelchenko.

The cathedral, which seats 4,500, was filled to capacity.

In Washington on November 8, the Ukrainian community gathered at the Church of the Pilgrims (opposite the Taras Shevchenko monument). Executive proclamations from the states of Maryland and Virginia were read, as was a proclamation issued by Washington Mayor Marion Barry. Speakers for the early evening commemorative observance included Carlos Pascual, director of the National Security Council's bureau for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia; Dr. Yuri Shcherbak, Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S.; and Volodymyr Zviglyanich, adjunct professor at George Washington University.

At the conclusion of the program, Famine survivors proceeded to the altar of the church, where the clergy assisted them in lighting the "Candle of Freedom." A candlelight procession from the Church of the Pilgrims to the Taras Shevchenko monument followed.

In the Chicago area on September 20, nearly 1,000 Ukrainians gathered at St. Andrew's Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Addison, Ill., for a moleben offered by Orthodox and Catholic clergy, a procession around the church, a wreath-laying ceremony at the foot of the monument to victims of the Great Famine, and a formal program in the church auditorium

Other commemorations of the Great Famine's 65th anniversary were held in Parma/Cleveland (June 28 and November 8), Warren/Detroit (October 27), San Diego (November 7), Newark, N.J. (November 13), Philadelphia (November 21) as well as in many other communities.

In Ukraine, President Leonid Kuchma issued a presidential decree proclaiming the fourth Saturday of each November as National Day of Remembrance of Famine Victims, and Ukraine officially commemorated the 65th anniversary of the Great Famine of 1932-1933 on November 28. A program at the Kyiv National Philharmonic Hall recalling the millions who perished featured a program by Ukraine's National Symphony, preceded by an address by Vice Prime Minister Valerii Smolii.

"That the Famine was artificially induced is a historical fact," said Mr. Smolii. He called the Famine part of the "deliberate criminal policies of the Communist regime."

World governments ignored reports and the world knew little about the forced starvation and genocide of millions of Ukrainians engineered by Soviet leaders to force the peasantry onto collective farms and under Soviet servitude, even as reporters such as Malcolm Muggeridge of the Manchester Guardian attempted to focus attention on the man-made tragedy. But, as Mr. Smolii explained, others did not forget what happened - especially the Ukrainian diaspora, whom he thanked for keeping the memory alive.

"Ukrainians abroad consistently rang the bell," said Mr. Smolii. "Even those who traveled across the ocean from the territories of western Ukraine, which were under Polish rule and did not experience the Famine, felt it a matter of honor and national dignity to let the world community know the truth about the unparalleled Stalinist crime. They put together titanic efforts so that all would realize: the Ukrainian Famine of 1933 stands on the level of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and the Jewish Holocaust."

President Kuchma attended another official commemoration held earlier in the day during which he, along with Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko and Second Vice-Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Viktor Medvedchuk, laid flowers at the monument to the victims of the Great Famine, located on Mykhailivskyi Square, at the foot of the belltower of the newly rebuilt St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery.

Also participating in that ceremony was the Rukh Party, which had attempted for over a year to have November 7 - still celebrated either officially or unofficially in most former Communist countries as October Revolution Day - transformed into a national day of mourning for victims of Communist terror, including those of the Great Famine.

For our part, as a public service on the occasion of the solemn anniversary, we at The Ukrainian Weekly created a special section on our official website (http://www.ukrweekly.com) featuring information about the Great Famine. The Ukrainian Weekly Archive is home to the Internet's largest collection of materials about the Famine. (See "At The Weekly, life goes on ...")

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