February 12, 2016

At the U.N.: honoring victims of genocide

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Students of Self-Reliance Ukrainian School in New York.

NEW YORK – The United Nations was honoring all genocide victims of the world during the week of December 7, 2015.

On Wednesday, December 9, I was among a group of students from the Self-Reliance Ukrainian School of New York City who were invited to honor and remember victims of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933, the Holodomor, at the U.N.

Students from Grades 3, 4, 6 and 12 presented a solemn prayer and poem. We held candles, and two sixth grade students held a cross and sheaf of wheat. Our prayer and poem reminded the audience attending how more than 7 million Ukrainians died during a forced starvation planned by the Communist ruler Joseph Stalin.

I was very sad and could not believe that Ukraine suffered so much. It is a very fertile land, where everything grows, yet such horror occurred. On purpose, a government forced a death of starvation and destruction.

I learned about this in Ukrainian School and was fortunate to visit the United Nations and honor our Ukrainian people. It was sorrowful that many other countries have also suffered and died due to genocide, and I am glad that the United Nations takes time to remember these horrible events.

We must never forget what happened in Ukraine, as this is our history. We must not let it happen again.

Ruslana Makar, 9, attends Sacred Heart School in Hartsdale, N.Y., and is a student at Self-Reliance Ukrainian School.

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