June 30, 2017

Plokhii briefs “Facing History” staff on Holodomor history, political background

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BROOKLINE, Mass. – The associates and staff of the national teacher resource site “Facing History and Ourselves,” which is headquartered in Brookline, Mass., were briefed on the history and political background of the Holodomor by the notable historian Serhii Plokhii, the director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute.

Dr. Plokhii’s presentation on May 15 included interactive maps of Ukraine and outlined the areas of the country affected by the famine. Using these maps, Dr. Plokhii disproved the position of the Russian government that the Holodomor was part of a natural area-wide famine.

Dr. Plokhii also outlined the political and cultural motivations of the Stalin regime in seeking to dampen the Ukrainian movement toward national identity.

“Facing History and Ourselves” is a premier teacher resource site on the topics of the Holocaust and genocide studies; it has nine branches in the United States and Canada. Up to now, however, it has not included any information about the Holodomor.

Arrangements for the briefing were made by Paul Thomas Rabchenuk, an attorney who chairs the Greater Boston Committee for the Remembrance of the Ukrainian Famine Genocide of 1932-1933, the Holodomor and Adam Strom, director of scholarship and innovation, and senior writer for Facing History and Ourselves.

Following the presentation, retired University of Connecticut librarian Lana Babij presented the organization with copies of “The Holodomor Reader” by Bohdan Klid and Alexander Motyl for its library, along with selections from Valentina Kuryliw’s “Holodomor in Ukraine: The Genocidal Famine, 1932-1933: Learning Materials for Teachers and Students,” which will be forthcoming from the CIUS Press later this year.

Also present in addition to Mr. Rabchenuk and Ms. Babij was Boston Holodomor Committee member Maria Walzer, the committee’s education coordinator. Ms. Walzer circulated petitions in favor of Massachusetts House Bill 314, “An Act Relative to Genocide Education,” which calls for the study of the Holodomor in the secondary schools of Massachusetts.

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