Tributes to Dr. James E. Mace from Ukraine and Canada
Below are additional tributes to the late Dr. James E. Mace, researcher of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide, who died in Kyiv on May 3.
Today there are few people whose hand Ukrainians would openly kiss, his is one of them. It was a great honor to work with James Mace. He was a very special man, a great scholar and true Ukrainian - in many ways more Ukrainian than those who hold Ukrainian citizenship.
He was a person of strong moral character and convictions. I can say that James truly felt for Ukraine. He came to truly understand the people after he recorded the stories of the grandmothers and grandfathers who even then continued to be afraid to identify their names 40 years after they fled the tragedy they had lived through. James felt for them and understood them.
He was a close colleague. He was brave and dedicated. Unfortunately we have few such journalists here. Last year when we fought to have the Pulitzer Prize taken from Walter Duranty - given to Duranty for lies and deceit - we tried to recruit local journalists to write letters to the Pulitzer Committee. We got little support from them, even though many average people did send letters.
James understood why, he understood that we are a "post-genocidal society" - a term he coined. I realize we need to put more effort into overcoming this. He worked to make it happen. This is one of his other enduring legacies.
- Larysa Ivshyna: editor-in-chief, Den newspaper, Kyiv.
I do not want James' accomplishments limited to his revelations on the Great Famine. He did much more. He was very interested in contemporary Ukraine as a scholar and as a person living here.
He didn't simply think in terms of his work, he truly wanted Ukraine to become known in the world and not remain on the periphery.
He was objective, honest and competent. When he began to write about corruption in Ukraine, people didn't want to read that, to acknowledge that it existed in Ukraine.
- Volodymyr Polokhalo, editor-in-chief, Politychna Dumka, Kyiv.
It was with deep sadness and sorrow that I heard the tragic news of the death of the renowned Ukrainian national activist, Professor James Mace.
It is impossible to understand to the fullest extent what this loss means to our country. In the person of James Mace, Ukraine had found not only a superb scholar of its history, but also a true son, who, in taking to heart the sufferings of Ukrainians, had become part of the Ukrainian nation.
We Ukrainian diplomats bow our heads before the memory of this person, who made a priceless contribution in disseminating throughout the world the truth about the tragedy of the Great Famine in Ukraine. Now it is up to us to fairly and respectfully evaluate the colossal mission that James Mace took upon himself. Like the herald of a greater truth, he awakened the world so as to at last awaken our nation. From today for eternity the name of James Mace will be carved on the stone tablets of Ukrainian history.
- Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs Kostiantyn Gryshchenko (in a letter read at the memorial service in Kyiv by press attaché Markian Lubkivsky).
To honor the late Prof. James Mace, the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association has dedicated the forthcoming book, "Not Worthy: Walter Duranty's Pulitzer Prize and The New York Times" (Kashtan Press, 2004) to his memory.
We trust this gesture, admittedly modest, will nevertheless serve to underscore how much Ukrainians around the world came to admire the dedication and passion with which Jim, one of contemporary Ukraine's best friends, strove to help a post-genocidal society recover its self-respect and national identity.
- Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk, director of research, Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, May 23, 2004, No. 21, Vol. LXXII
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