December 13, 2019

Holodomor exhibit and lecture a huge success in Naples, Florida

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Christine Czajkowsky

In Naples, Fla., for a lecture about the Holodomor (from left) are: Susan Suarez (CEO and director, Holocaust Museum), Halyna Traversa (committee chair, Ukrainian National Women’s League of America Branch 136), Prof. Timothy Snyder of Yale University, Natalka Santarsiero (UNWLA Branch 136 president), Steve Frome (chair of the Board of Directors, Holocaust Museum) and Natalia Pawlenko (member, UNWLA Executive Committee).

History has been made in Naples, Florida, as a Holodomor exhibit opened at the Holocaust Museum and Cohen Educational Center of Southwest Florida in early September to run through December 17. The exhibit – the first ever Holodomor exhibit at a Holocaust museum in the Western Hemisphere – was curated in partnership with Naples Branch 136 of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America (UNWLA).

When we discovered that the mission of the Holocaust Museum in Naples was to educate not only about the Holocaust but also other genocides, we reached out to the museum curator. We were delighted to receive very positive feedback.

Plans for this endeavor began in the spring of 2018 with the formation of a committee consisting of Natalie Santarsiero (our branch president), Marie Shandor, Luba Drahosz, Daria Hirniak, Valentina Dmitri and Halyna Traversa, chair of the committee. We worked closely with the museum curator, Cody Rademacher, to develop the exhibit, which consists of a total of 22 panels, including introductory panels providing background information about the history of Ukraine leading up to the famine, as well as about the famine itself; a map of Ukraine showing where the famine occurred and including an inset showing Ukraine on a map of Europe. Sixteen panels detailed the story of the Holodomor. There was a panel on Raphael Lemkin and his statement about the genocide in Ukraine, as well as a panel titled “What the World Knew”; and a panel with a photo of the Holodomor Memorial in Washington, which also mentions congressional resolutions on the genocide.

In addition, there were two display cases, one containing books on the Holodomor in English and the other containing information about the Congres­sional Commission on the Ukraine Famine and its findings, the printed reports of the commission, and copies of the two resolutions on the Holodomor passed last year by both houses of the U.S. Congress, as well as an iPad on a stand where visitors could play interviews with survivors.

The film “Stalin’s Secret Genocide” played in a continuous loop during museum hours in an adjacent room. Also displayed in that room was a large painting commemorating the Holodomor by our branch’s vice-president, Ms. Drahosz.

Prof. Timothy Snyder of Yale University.

In conjunction with the exhibit, on October 20 our branch, in partnership with the museum, presented a lecture on the Holodomor, which was delivered by Prof. Timothy Snyder of Yale University, who is a world-renowned authority on 20th century Eastern Europe, and especially on the Holocaust and on Ukraine.

The event, which was followed by a reception, was held at Venue Naples, a mere two-minute walk from the museum. Thus, participants were able to first visit the museum and our exhibit before attending the lecture. The lecture, advertised on the museum’s website with tickets to be purchased in advance, sold out to capacity. We were very pleased that about half of the almost 200 participants present were non-Ukrainians.

We welcomed special guests, specifically Natalia Pawlenko representing the UNWLA’s Executive Committee; Michael Sawkiw, chair of the U.S. Committee for Ukrainian Holodomor Genocide Aware­ness; and Roman Czajkowsky, chair of its Florida chapter. In addition, there were out-of-towners from Chicago, Cleveland, Miami, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Pennsylvania and a large contingent from North Port, Fla.

To help promote the exhibit and lecture, we were interviewed at the museum by a reporter from the Naples Daily News, which published an extensive article about the Holodomor in general, the exhibit and the lecture on the Friday before the event. In addition, we were fortunate to have Ms. Traversa, chair of our committee, be interviewed on talk show “Gulf Coast Live” on our local NPR station. The article and interview undoubtedly contributed in raising awareness of the Holodomor and interest in attending the exhibit and the lecture.

We are grateful to Marta Baziuk, executive director of the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium, a project of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies of the University of Alberta, for her invaluable help in our initial planning of the exhibit. We are also grateful to the League of Ukrainian Canadians, the Canadian Holodomor National Awareness Tour and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress for use of their many materials.

As is always the case with projects of this nature, there were substantial financial costs involved. While the museum shared some of those costs, we are also grateful to the UNWLA Executive Committee, UNWLA Branch 56 of North Port, the Florida chapter of the U.S. Committee for Ukrainian Holodomor Genocide Awareness, the Chicago Heritage Foundation, the Iwasyszyn-Evans family whose mother, Maria, was a Holodomor survivor, and others too numerous to mention. We sincerely thank all donors for their generous financial support that enabled us to mount this wonderful exhibit and present the lecture by Prof. Snyder.

Upon the close of the exhibit, our branch is willing to lend our panels for display in appropriate venues. Readers should feel free to contact Halyna Traversa at [email protected].

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