In-Depth Ukrainian News, Analysis and Commentary
Sports, Government, and Politics, in Ukraine and Around the World
PARTICIPATE IN INTERNATIONAL HOLODOMOR FORUM IN KYIV ON NOVEMBER 22
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, October 24, 2008
Compiled by Nadia TYSIACHNA, The Day Weekly Digest, Kyiv, Ukraine, Tue, Oct 21, 2008
12. EU PARLIAMENT SAYS UKRAINIAN 1930S FAMINE WAS SOVIET “CRIME”
Ukraine confronting its terrible past with Europe’s help
By Charles Tannock, Member, European Parliament, special to The Day,
The Day Weekly Digest in English, Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, October 28, 2008
European Parliament unanimously adopts resolution commemorating the Holodomor
By Mykola Siruk, The Day Weekly Digest in English, Kyiv, Ukraine, Tue, Oct 28, 2008
UkrInform – International Life, Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, October 27, 2008
18. HOLODOMOR ACTIONS MUST CONTINUE
By Alina Popkova, The Day Weekly Digest in English, Kyiv, Ukraine, Tue, Oct 21, 2008
International Holodomor Remembrance Flame Stopped with Scare Tactics
Ukrainian World Congress, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Monday, October 13, 2008
Protest Letter: Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations (AFUO)
16th Annual J.B. Rudnyckyj Distinguished Lecture by Dr. Roman Serbyn
Ukraine Remembers – The World Acknowledges! Nov 16 – 23, 2008
“Visualizing the Holodomor: The Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933 on Film”
Yuri Shevchuk, Ukrainian Film Club of Columbia University,
Columbia University, New York, NY, Wednesday, October 1, 2008
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1. PRESIDENTS OF BALTIC COUNTRIES, POLAND, GEORGIA & AZERBAIJAN WILL
PARTICIPATE IN INTERNATIONAL HOLODOMOR FORUM IN KYIV ON NOV 22 UkrInform – Ukraine News, Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, October 27, 2008
KYIV -The Presidents of the Baltic countries, Poland, Georgia and Azerbaijan have already confirmed their participation in the November 22 international
forum on the 75th anniversary of the 1932 – 1933 Great Famine (Holodomor) in Ukraine.
Mykhailo Skuratovskyi, director of the Ukrainian foreign ministry’s department for cultural and humanitarian cooperation, told a news briefing Monday that on the whole 20 or 30 delegations from many countries of the world are expected to come to the forum.
Asked by the press, Skuratovskyi noted that the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Ukraine had addressed to Russia the invitation to take part in the forum, but no answer has come yet.
The MFA source reminded that on October 23 the European Parliament passed a resolution on Holodomor, calling it a crime against humanity. “Mind that
despite the absence of the ‘genocide’ term, the genocide character of the famine was recognized. The resolution of the European Parliament demonstrates that the truth about the Holodomor was heard by the European community,” Skuratovskyi says.
He noted that Ukraine has no grudges against any country in the Holodomor context. “Our position is that the world should know about the tragedy,” he
said reminding that 15 countries of the world had recognized Holodomor as an act of genocide, while others condemned it as a crime.
Vasyl Boechko, head of the foreign ministry’s department for diaspora affairs, says the Everburning Candle international event that took place in 30 foreign countries started in Ukraine Sunday.
2. MONTENEGROS PRESIDENT TO ATTEND INTERNATIONAL
KYIV – Montenegros President Filip Vujanovic will visit Ukraine on November 22 to attend an international conference on the 1932-1933 famine. Foreign Affairs Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko announced this after a meeting with Montenegros Foreign Affairs Minister Milan Rocen.
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3. UN POSTPONES CONSIDERATION OF ISSUE ON HOLODOMOR IN UKRAINE
KYIV – A decision of the General Committee of the UN General Assembly to postpone adoption of a recommendation on including an issue about the Holodomor of 1932-33 in Ukraine into the agenda of the present UN General Assembly was taken during the days when the world community celebrates the 63rd Anniversary of the UN Foundation.
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
4. UKRAINE ACCUSES RUSSIA OF FORCING FAMINE ISSUE OUT OF UN AGENDA
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, October 24, 2008
KIEV – The Russian Federation, using “pressure and blackmail”, attempts to deny Ukraine its right to submit the issue of the 1932-33 famine in Ukraine [Holodomor] for consideration by the UN General Assembly.
“The Russian Federation, using its levers of influence as a permanent UN Security Council member, through direct pressure and blackmail, attempts to deny a country-member of the UN [Ukraine] of its right to put an important issue on the agenda of the UN, which is the most representative international organization. These actions contradict the very letter and spirit of the UN Charter and the procedure of the General Assembly,” the Foreign Ministry said.
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5. RUSSIA’S PERMANENT REP TO UN CHURKIN REGARDS UKRAINE’S POSITION
President Viktor Yuschenko declared 2008 as the year of commemoration of Holodomor of 1932-33 victims.
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6. USA TRYING TO SET UKRAINE, RUSSIA AGAINST EACH OTHER WITH
He said the United States was thus “resolving the hard task of pushing Ukraine into NATO while 80% of Ukrainian citizens objected to the Ukrainian
drawing into the North Atlantic alliance.”
The U.S. and British delegations were rude and kept interrupting the chair of the UN General Assembly’s General Committee, which was considering the Assembly agenda, Churkin said. The General Committee discussed the possible attachment of the Ukrainian draft resolution on the Great Famine to the agenda.
“The Great Famine and Ukrainian genocide claims create a certain background for another mainstream ideological action of the Ukrainian administration, i.e. glorification of Ukrainian accomplices of the Nazi,” he said. “The most illustrative example of this glorification is the Hero of Ukraine title posthumously awarded by the Ukrainian president to one of the most notorious leaders of Ukrainian Nazis, Shukevich, in 2007.”
“The Babiy Yar tragedy is the most vivid symbol of Holocaust,” Churkin said. “Plenty of those who killed Jews in Babiy Yar were Ukrainian accomplices of the Nazi.”
All that “is totally discordant with the United Nations Organization, which was established amid the victory of the anti-Hitler coalition, and principles of this organization,” he said.
“European nations regularly abstain in the vote on the draft Russian resolution that condemns glorification of the Nazi. Maybe, the United States, which has taken up history and has become hyperactive in the Great Famine issue, will finally support the resolution. So far, only two states the U.S. and the Marshall Islands voted against our resolution last year for reasons I would call inexplicable,” Churkin said.
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
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7. MP BORYS TARASIUK PREDICTS ENDORSEMENT OF UN RESOLUTION
KYIV – Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense Bloc MP Borys Tarasiuk, the former foreign minister, has predicted that the United Nations will endorse a resolution to recognize the Ukrainian Holodomor famine of 1932-1933 as an act of genocide. Ukrainian News learned this from a statement by the press service of the People’s Rukh of Ukraine.
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NOTE: Send in a letter-to-the-editor today. Let us hear from you.
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8. WARSAW MELODY: NEW BOOK OF HOLODOMOR DOCUMENTS
Every day we worked with our colleagues at the Polish Institute of National Remembrance, primarily with the historian, Dr. Jerzy Bednarek, the head of the IPN’s department of archival studies and sources, and Marcin Majewski of the Bureau of Provision and Archivization of Documents.
The Polish consul accredited to Kyiv writes on May 11, 1932: “I am reporting that with every passing day I am receiving increasingly more news about the famine in Right-Bank Ukraine, which is felt particularly acutely in the province. According to the latest information, cases of people who are fainting from weakness and exhaustion being collected from the streets are being recorded in such cities as Vinnytsia and Uman. The situation is supposed to be worse in the countryside, where, according to information from a reliable source, banditry and murders resulting from the famine occur every day.”
On TV we watched the official tribute to Lech Walesa, which was held at the Royal Castle in the oldest part of Warsaw, marking his 65th birthday and the 25th anniversary of his receipt of the Nobel Prize. Walesa, as people commonly say, is a remarkable figure, so I will briefly recap his biography.
Solidarity provided support to strikes and protest actions until December 1981, when its activities were banned, and Walesa and other opposition activists were arrested. It was during this stormy period that Walesa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
9. MONUMENTS TO FAMINE VICTIMS ERECTED IN LUHANSK, UKRAINE REGION
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[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
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10. KYIV SCHOOLCHILDREN TO PRODUCE DRAWINGS OF THE HOLODOMOR
In November, a Holodomor drawing contest for children in grades 6 through 11 gets underway. The initiator of the contest is the Main Administration for Education and Science at the Kyiv City State Administration (KMDA).
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
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Compiled by Nadia TYSIACHNA, The Day Weekly Digest, Kyiv, Ukraine, Tue, Oct 21, 2008
The Ukrainian version of James Mace’s book “Vashi mertvi vybraly mene… (Your Dead Chose Me)”, the latest addition to The Day’s Library Series, was
published only a few months ago, but many people have already become familiar with Mace’s ideas. The book Day and Eternity of James Mace, published in 2005, sparked reader interest in “Your Dead Chose Me” at the Lviv book fair. A substantial number of copies sold out in a few days.
The Day’s editorial office continues to receive orders for more copies of this book from various oblast and raion administrations, municipal and raion
educational and cultural departments as well as from school libraries. Below, a number of Ukrainian writers, civic activists, educators, and other
public figures reflect on what James Mace means to them.
Anatolii DIMAROV, writer:
In our country we often love the dead but do not love the living, especially when the latter are prophets, because they prevent us from enjoying a peaceful life. By publishing James Mace’s second book, The Day has accomplished a feat. I lived through the 1932-33 famine and ate pancakes made from acacia blossoms.
Now the Institute of Literature, the Institute of Ukrainian History, and other institutions and civic organizations must help promote Mace’s book all over Ukraine, including in the remotest areas. This publication is like a church bell tolling for the dead, raising the alarm, and rousing people’s conscience.
Yevhen SVERSTIUK, human rights champion and civic activist:
As far as I’m concerned, James Mace was an unbiased scholar. In other words, he was one of those scholars for whom research and exposing the truth was
standard practice. I first heard him speak in 1990, when he addressed a conference in Kyiv, where he insisted that the famine of 1932-33 was an act of genocide.
At the time, we, members of the Sixtiers movement, knew little about this concept, but we always said that the famine was a deliberately engineered act, and because we said this we all served prison terms.
James Mace and Robert Conquest were researchers swimming against the current because the political situation at the time was anything but favorable to
revealing the truth. Mace paid for this courage with his career.
of scholarly appropriateness as it was a matter of the heart. Working with the testimonies of eyewitnesses to this tragedy – the living source of history – he became a passionate defender of our truth.
His book is valuable; of that there is no doubt. I think that our society is much traumatized. It has been observed that, for the most part, the people who are most concerned about the Holodomor are those who never experienced it. I am one of them because I grew up in Volyn, which was part of Poland in the 1930s.
It is usually those people who realize the importance of memory. Other people, who were traumatized, follow the wisdom of not stirring up past troubles, which means that their families starved to death, they buried their dead, and they hope to God that nothing like this will ever happen again. But this is a primitive stand because, without understanding the truth of the past and the duty to speak about that past, there is no honorable future.
Petro KRALIUK, deputy rector for education and research, Ostroh Academy National University:
James Mace was not destined to live a long life. He could have lived a few years more. But what he accomplished during his lifetime deserves not the
Order of Yaroslav the Wise, which was conferred on him posthumously, but the Order of Hero of Ukraine at the very least.
We, Ukrainians – above all, the Ukrainian government – failed to appreciate his role during his lifetime, and we failed to do so after his death. I hope our descendants will do this. The book “James Mace: Your Dead Chose Me” is not only a tribute to this man.
This collection includes not only research on the Holodomor but also articles, notes, and reflections on contemporary Ukraine. These fluidly written
Alina PLIACHENKO, head of the civic organization Ukrainian Women’s League, Odesa:
I sent in my order for a copy of James Mace’s book by mail. I am the hostess of the program on Odesa Radio called “Shanuimo bortsiv za ukrainsku
derzhavnist” (Let’s Honor the Fighters for Ukrainian Statehood). My recent broadcasts were dedicated to Hetman Ivan Mazepa.
In November, when Ukraine marks the 75th anniversary of the Holodomor, there will be a special broadcast dedicated to Mace, who helped create a new
Ukrainian society of free individuals. Revealing the truth about the tragedy of 1932-33 to Ukrainians and the international community is like laying the
cornerstone of a new society. Mace’s voice was so strong that he will dominate Ukrainian intellectual thought for many years to come.
Valerii KOPIIKA, archpriest of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and
When I think about James Mace, I am reminded of the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus addressed all the people, declaring, ‘Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted, Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled, Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.’
To this day these commandments strike many people as abstract statements. However, during Mace’s life they turned out to be vital and active, which is why he was of service to the Ukrainian people and persecuted for this. When he spoke in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, he was greeted with catcalls, like ‘Yankee, go home!’
He also overcame his physical infirmities and illnesses in order to establish the truth of his cause. He thirsted for truth! In our difficult times, of globalization and consumer mentality, Mace was able to nurture and manifest in himself the undying values of love, forgiveness, and mercy. Clearly, he was governed not by scholarly interests alone. “Your dead chose me,” he writes. That is why his journalistic works are like medicine for our society, which
Les SANIN, film director:
I read Mace’s book with great interest because I already knew a lot about this scholar. What was most interesting to me was the world view of this caliber of individual. A film director is always looking for real heroes. To a certain extent, this collection of his works gave me another clue to understanding the horrific 1930s because the events in the film that I’m working on take place during this time.
Mace did a great deal for Ukrainians. Clearly, it’s high time we do something for him. This book, like the earlier one, “Day and Eternity of James Mace,” is a tribute to this distinguished individual.
I met James Mace in 1993. I had heard a lot about him, but I had no idea of the scope of his personality. I am ashamed to admit that he opened my eyes to the truth about the Holodomor in Ukraine, although I first encountered this subject when I was visiting Vinnytsia oblast in 1989, during the festivities to commemorate Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky’s 100th anniversary. We were driving through Sharhorod raion and talking with collective farmers.
That was when I noticed that people were very reluctant to talk about the famine of 1932-33 that had taken place in their region. Some simply refused to talk about it. I think that Ukrainians are simply obliged to publish Mace’s works. These collections of articles are a living monument to him.
He did more for Ukraine than anyone beyond its borders. I recommend everyone to read “Your Dead Chose Me.” In this book one can find answers to various topical questions and much food for thought.
Serhii ARKHYPCHUK, stage director:
To me it is very important to know that James Mace was a Native American because his people are still oppressed. Within Ukraine and outside it are
What happened during the Holodomor was truthfully assessed by an Italian diplomat, who saw the statistics on the destruction of the Ukrainian people
and arrived at the conclusion that Ukraine will be Russified and cease to exist as a state.
Volodymyr Vernadsky said that Ukraine had struggled throughout its history for a very small number of points that were important to the life of the people and the assertion of the state, namely: education, book printing, the church, and language. This was precisely what the Russian empire and the Polish and Romanian conquerors sought to deny Ukrainians. The Soviet government machine did such a thorough job of altering people’s psychology that we still see the “Soviet man” almost everywhere.
Therefore, the publication of Mace’s book is an important event in Ukraine because there are still many people who lie and refuse to recognize the
Holodomor of 1932-33 as an act of genocide even though their own families suffered.
I have reliable information that one member of the Party of Regions called his relatives, asking about the Holodomor. He wanted to know which of his
relatives had starved to death. But a few hours later he voted against the truth. So the importance of this book is difficult to overestimate.
Dr. Volodymyr PANCHENKO, professor of National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy:
I am absolutely convinced that the title of this book, “Your Dead Chose Me,” best conveys its content. These words are impossible to forget. This is both a scholarly and a moral clue to everything that James Mace accomplished. Of course The Day’s readers know that Mace was among the first – perhaps the
first – to tell the world a large part of the truth about the Holodomor of 1932-33 in Ukraine.
This newest book shows that Mace was a person for whom the concepts of truth and justice were extremely important. Some people viewed him as an eccentric or a Don Quixote. He was a Don Quixote who knew what he had to do, what his mission was all about because our dead were calling him.
I remember when the 70th anniversary of the Holodomor was being marked. Mace took part in a televised broadcast, and one of his opponents was the
communist Valerii Mishura, who yelled at Mace, “Yankee, go home!” I think that this situation is significant. Ukraine still has not fully revised its
understanding of its history when such people shout “Yankee, go home!” at Mace.
Probably the knowledge of what happened to us in 1932-33 is not profound and widespread enough for our country’s political and public life to become
normalized. In this sense, The Day is doing a very important job. Starting from the time that Mace joined the paper and throughout the years since his
death, it has been systematizing and popularizing Mace’s scholarly heritage.
It is extremely important for Ukrainians to be able to hear what Mace had to say. He did his utmost to get through to the enigmatic Ukrainian soul and tell us the bitter, purifying truth, without which we do not have a chance to understand ourselves.
Mykhailo SLABOSHPYTSKY, writer:
The publication of James Mace’s work marks the beginning of the triumph of justice. I believe that we – our state, civic organizations, and the people who knew James personally – are indebted to him, in the sense that his books are not being published. The importance of both Mace books is difficult to overestimate. We are under the illusion that everyone knows the truth about the famine and that everyone has matured enough to perceive this truth. Wrong!
Mace’s works must be treated like handbooks by the establishment because they can straighten out the thinking of many people. These publications
contain arguments for our discussions, when, for example, we are trying to decide whether we will be a nation like the Jews. The Jewish nation rallied
around the idea of withstanding and surviving the challenge of the Holocaust.
Our unifying idea is also tragic: it is our knowledge about the Holodomor as an act of genocide, but it will allow us to remain a nation. I say without
exaggeration that Mace gave us the code for our nation.
Every nation has dark pages in its history that are tragic stages in the process of self-assertion. Ukraine’s independence, its uniqueness and self-sufficiency were achieved painfully through the horrific sufferings of its people. The Holodomor of 1932-33 was not only an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people but also a phenomenon of lasting and purposeful cruelty against mankind, humanity.
The book “Your Dead Chose Me” is not just a collection of James Mace’s works that were part of his scholarly research. Each article is the result of his
personal experiences, part of his life, which he dedicated to analyzing contemporary events, striving to imbue himself with the Ukrainian national mentality.
readers to study and perceive the Ho-lo-domor as a tragedy of a worldwide scope.
Mace wanted to convey to the international and Ukrainian communities the facts attesting to the immense, artificially engineered famine in Ukraine, about whose existence people knew but for a long time were afraid even to think about it owing to the historical circumstances that had developed. Ukraine lost much, but it can gain a great deal by studying Mace’s works, because those who do not remember their past have no future.
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
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12. EU PARLIAMENT SAYS UKRAINIAN 1930S FAMINE WAS SOVIET “CRIME”
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
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13. THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR USING THE WRONG APPROACH ON THE UKRAINIAN
The European Parliament has recognised the Ukrainian famine of 1930s as crime against humanity, according to the EP official web-site.
In a resolution on the commemoration of the Holodomor, the artificial famine in Ukraine in 1932-1933, MEPs describe it as “an appalling crime against the Ukrainian people, and against humanity”.
According to the resolution, the Holodomor famine of 1932-1933, which caused the deaths of millions of Ukrainians, “was cynically and cruelly planned by Stalin`s regime in order to force through the Soviet Union`s policy of collectivisation of agriculture against the will of the rural population in Ukraine”.
[WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! LEMKIN HAD THE RIGHT REASON: “… The Soviet plan was aimed at the farmers, the large mass of independent peasants who are the repository of the tradition, folklore and music, the national language and literature, the national spirit of Ukraine”.
& the Communist activist Prokopenko was exact when he admitted: “Starvation in Ukraine was brought about in order to reduce the number of Ukrainians, resettle in their place people from another par of the USSR, and in this way kill all thought of independence.” Roman Serbyn]
MEPs believe that “recalling crimes against humanity in European history should help to prevent similar crimes in the future” and they stress that “European integration has been based on a readiness to come to terms with the 20th century`s tragic history and that this reconciliation with a difficult history does not denote any sense of collective guilt, but forms a stable basis for the construction of a common European future founded on common values”.
The resolution therefore makes a “declaration to the people of Ukraine and in particular to the remaining survivors of the Holodomor and the families and relatives of the victims”.
It “recognises the Holodomor (the artificial famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine) as an appalling crime against the Ukrainian people, and against humanity”.
The text then “strongly condemns these acts, directed against the Ukrainian peasantry, and marked by mass annihilation and violations of human rights and freedoms”.
It also “expresses its sympathy with the Ukrainian people, which suffered this tragedy, and pays its respects to those who died as a consequence of the artificial famine of 1932-1933”.
Lastly, the resolution “calls on the countries which emerged following the break-up of the Soviet Union to open up their archives on the Holodomor in Ukraine of 1932-1933 to comprehensive scrutiny so that all the causes and consequences can be revealed and fully investigated”.
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
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14. BELATED TRIUMPH OF HOLODOMOR VICTIMS
Ukraine confronting its terrible past with Europe’s help By Charles Tannock, Member, European Parliament, special to The Day,
The Day Weekly Digest in English, Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The European Union is founded on reconciliation, the belief that we can create a better future by acknowledging our past in all its brutality. Germany has justly acknowledged and is trying to atone for the indescribable atrocities of the Nazi era and the Holocaust. Greece, Spain, and Portugal peacefully turned their back on their right-wing dictatorial regimes and met their future as democratic countries within the EU.
The newer EU member states are seeking their own paths to truth and reconciliation through a sincere and uncompromising analysis of their totalitarian pasts.
However, some countries are still trying to hide from their own histories. Despite its status as an EU candidate state, Turkey still denies the Armenian genocide that was committed under cover of the First World War. Russia has also failed to come to terms with the brutality of Stalin’s communist dictatorial regime.
Since gaining its independence in 1991, Ukraine has constantly striven to inform the world community about the famine of 1932-1933, which was
intentionally planned by Stalin and is known to us by the Ukrainian word Holodomor.
The European Parliament has now recognized the Holodomor as an immense tragedy in the history of humankind. As an old friend of Ukraine and the
co-author of the European Parliament’s resolution, I sincerely rejoice over this important and deeply symbolic event.
The goal of our resolution is to express our indignation concerning the Holodomor. The resolution reflects our determination to honor the memory of the millions of victims of the Holodomor, some of whom are still alive and can share their stories. Their testimonies are extremely important because these people will soon pass into history. It is only by reminding ourselves about such heinous crimes against humanity that we can ensure they will never happen again.
This resolution does not contain the word ‘genocide’ because other political groups – mostly communists – think that the strict definition of this term should not be applied to the Holodomor. They claim that genocide as a term was defined in international legislation only after the Second World War.
However, I suspect that their real reason is a desire to pacify modern-day Russia, which fears that compensation claims may be lodged against it.
After all, the argument over genocide is not worth risking the resolution in general. It is much more important to have serious support from all political groups. But no one should attempt to belittle the unimaginable sufferings that were inflicted upon Ukraine.
No word or words can properly describe the atrocity of the Holodomor. What is important is not so much the text we use but the sentiments we express –
solidarity with Ukraine on the 75th anniversary of the cruelties that were perpetrated against its people.
The lesson that we should learn from history is the importance of having solid international legislation and judicial structures if we want the perpetrators of such crimes to be punished. This process was launched in Nuremberg. The tribunal on the former Yugoslavia, which will soon consider Radovan Karadzic’s case, shows that these principles are more important than ever.
This week the European Parliament declared its resolute support for trying Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army of Uganda, in the
International Criminal Court. Tyrants who resort to mass killings and destruction should have no place to hide.
The Orange Revolution led by President Viktor Yushchenko embodied Ukraine’s struggle for liberation from Russia’s influence, and it propelled Ukraine on its independent way of development based on shared European values. This resolution is the belated triumph of the Holodomor victims whose voices were
lost on the paths of history.
This is also a victory for President Yushchenko. In my opinion, many of the political misunderstandings in Ukraine can be explained by the scale of
suffering that this nation has gone through. This bloody event had an impact on Ukraine’s confidence in itself and on stability in this country, which
has been making its way in the post-Soviet world.
President Yushchenko is absolutely right in saying that Ukraine must acknowledge its past in order to build a better, stabler, and more prosperous future. By acknowledging the Holodomor, the European Parliament supports the position advocated by President Yushchenko.
Ukraine has borne much grief throughout its history. I hope that the next stage in that history involves a sovereign and independent Ukraine rightly taking its place in the not-too-distant future as a full member of the EU. After the Georgia crisis there can be no doubts that many Russian nationalists would like to redraw the borderlines that were established after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
However, EU membership will help Ukraine protect itself against any interference with its domestic affairs on the part of its big neighbor. Russia simply needs to get accustomed to a sovereign and independent Ukraine that can independently decide on its future in the European family of nations.
FOOTNOTE: Dr. Charles Tannock (b. 1957) is a British psychiatrist. He has been a member of the European Parliament since 1999 and is the vice-president of the EU-Ukraine PCC delegation and a member of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. Tannock is the co-author of the resolution commemorating the Holodomor, the 1932-1933 man-made famine in Ukraine, and a member of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats. He is the author of numerous publications on psychiatry. Tannock was a Councilor in his local Earls Court ward in 1999-2000.
[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
European Parliament unanimously adopts resolution commemorating the Holodomor
By Mykola Siruk, The Day Weekly Digest in English, Kyiv, Ukraine, Tue, Oct 28, 2008
With its vote this authoritative legislative body, comprising 785 parliamentarians from 27 EU member states, has joined the circle of countries and international organizations that have already recognized the 1932-1933 Holodomor in Ukraine. The joint resolution was agreed upon by members of the European People’s Party, a group of liberals, the Greens, the Union for Europe of the Nations, and the socialists.
[1] The first point of the resolution recognizes the Holodomor as an “appalling crime against the Ukrainian people, and against humanity” and “strongly
condemns these acts, directed against the Ukrainian peasantry, and marked by mass annihilation and violations of human rights and freedoms.” It also
“expresses its sympathy with the Ukrainian people, which suffered this tragedy, and pays its respects to those who died as a consequence of the artificial famine of 1932-1933.”
Finally, the resolution “calls on the countries which emerged following the break-up of the Soviet Union to open up their archives on the Holodomor in
Ukraine of 1932-1933 to comprehensive scrutiny.”
[2] The second point of the resolution proposes that the President of the European Parliament send the text of the document to the Council of Europe, the European Commission, the government and parliament of Ukraine, as well as to the UN General Secretary, the OSCE General Secretary, and the General
Secretary of the Council of Europe.
On July 3, 2008, despite protests from Russia and Kazakhstan, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly adopted a resolution on the Holodomor in Ukraine, which “strongly encourages all parliaments to adopt acts regarding recognition of the Holodomor.”
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly also “supports the initiative of Ukraine to reveal the full truth of this tragedy of Ukrainian people, in particular,
through raising public awareness of the Holodomor at international and national levels.”
On Sept. 23, 2008, the US House of Representatives condemned Stalin’s 1932-1933 Holodomor in Ukraine and commemorated its victims in connection
with the 75th anniversary of the tragedy. “In 1932 and 1933, an estimated seven to 10 million Ukrainian people perished at the will of the totalitarian Stalinist government of the former Soviet Union, which perpetrated a premeditated famine in Ukraine in an effort to break the nation’s resistance to collectivization and communist occupation,” says the document.
So far, Ukraine’s attempts to get the UN to recognize the Holodomor have not been successful. On July 11, 2008, the plenary session of the UN General
Assembly refused to put the Holodomor issue on the current session’s agenda, thereby denying the request of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to
recognize the events of the 1930s as genocide against the Ukrainian people.
The great importance of the European Parliament’s resolution is discussed in an article by one of its authors, MEP Charles Tannock. [article 14 above in the AUR]
COMMENTS: Confirming we are right
Andrii VESELOVSKY, Ukraine’s representative to the EU:
“Above all, the resolution is important for Europeans in general because Europe is our region and our Motherland. We are telling the truth about what
happened in the past, and on this foundation we can build our future. This is what our children will be raised on. If our parents, or even we, do not
agree with all this, our children need to be taught this. And these children will be totally different; they will be children with a truly European mentality.
“When things like this happen, when something that our society had a hard time dealing with is recognized in Europe and the entire world, this helps our society realize that the step we took at a certain point in time was difficult but the right one to take. It is a confirmation that we are right, and this helps us make the transition from a complex and obscure past to a normal and open future.
“As for the reports in the mass media that the Holodomor has not been acknowledged as genocide, I think this is a completely misguided message. For us, Ukrainians, this was genocide in the sense that we were destroyed. If, say, the Kazakh people feel that this phenomenon had the same forms and proportions and affected their nation in a similar way, let them talk about it and promote their cause. For us, this is genocide, as stated in the Verkhovna Rada ruling, and that is the main thing.
“The European resolution comes close to ours because it contains references to the Convention, which mentions genocide. However, we should not twist
these words to suit our interests. Each tragedy has its own dimension and specific features. The Holocaust was an act of genocide against the Jewish
people, and it is called the Holocaust. The Holodomor was effectively an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people, and its name is the Holodomor.
“All talk of whether we were given the word ‘genocide’ is a violation of memory and in the conditions of current political life – petty politicking. In five years from now no one will be talking about this. Everyone will have forgotten these inconsequential details. The important thing is that this black page in our history has been recognized and respect has been paid to the memory of our victims. And we are confirming that to which we are entitled.”
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16. HOLODOMOR 1932-1933 EVERBURNING CANDLE
KYIV – Within events devoted to the 75th anniversary of commemorating the victims of Holodomor 1932-1933 in Ukraine, a ceremony of giving the Everburning Candle of memory from Russia to Armenia as well as the meeting-requiem were held in the Yerevan philharmonic. The action was initiated by the Federation of Ukrainians of Armenia under the auspices of the Ukrainian Embassy in Armenia.
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17. UKRAINE HOSTING FINAL STAGE OF HOLODOMOR
UkrInform – International Life, Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, October 27, 2008
KYIV – A final stage of the Everburning Candle International Campaign started in Ukraine. Solemnities began in the village of Ivankiv, Boryspil district of Kyiv region with a divine service and ignition of the Everburning Candle with a torch which was passed like the baton by 32 world countries, a symbolic Candle in the memory of Holodomor, UKRINFORM correspondent reported.
The candle-torch was delivered to Ukraine by a delegation led by Ukrainian Ambassador to Georgia Mykola Spys. The international baton in Georgia was
running from Tbilisi to Batumi, Poti and other cities with divine services, exhibitions, conferences, memorable meetings.
According to the diplomat “the goal which was set by initiators of the Everburning Candle is achieved and the action became a milestone in recognizing this horrible crime by the international community”. Mykola Spys said a potential of recognizing Holodomor crimes will help prevent future possible encroachments on human main values – life, rights and freedom.
“We hope that like Holocaust, genocide of Ukrainian people – Holodomor 1932-1933 – will be recognized all over the world. This is our genetic memory. We have to remember the terrible tragedy of the Ukrainian nation and we hope that all people of the world will share this historic memory with us,” Vasyl Boyechko, Ukraine’s MFA official, said.
The Everburning Candle International Campaign has been running during 2008 with a slogan “Ukraine Remembers – World Recognizes” with the symbolic
candle-torch travelling around the world. In October-November the candle-torch along with the Candle in the memory of Holodomor will attend Ukraine’s 25 regions.
The action will end November 22 in Kyiv when the Memorial to Holodomor Victims 1932-1933 will be unveiled. Then the Candle will be delivered to the Holodomor Museum to be opened within the Memorial near Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.
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18. HOLODOMOR ACTIONS MUST CONTINUE
By Alina Popkova, The Day Weekly Digest in English, Kyiv, Ukraine, Tue, Oct 21, 2008
The Embassy of Ukraine in the Russian Federation recently welcomed the International Holodomor Remembrance Flame, which is traveling throughout the world in commemoration of the victims of the 1932-1933 Holodomor.
“This event was held at our embassy; in other words, on the territory of Ukraine. Among those present were the embassy staff and representatives of the Ukrainian community in Moscow. There were quite a few people. Comparing this event to the way it was held in the United States (Washington, New York, Philadelphia) I must say that everything looked different in the US.
“The Ukrainian Embassy in Russia hosted the Moscow stage of the International Holodomor Remembrance Flame, a global action that has taken place in dozens of countries. We invited representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora in Moscow and various cultural associations.
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19. RUSSIA’S BLATANT ABUSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS CONDEMNED
International Holodomor Remembrance Flame Stopped with Scare Tactics
Prior to the arrival of the International Remembrance Flame in Russia, the Ukrainian Embassy received notice on October 6 from Russia’s Foreign Ministry that commemorative events must fall in line with the Russian position on the famine or be cancelled. Russia continues to claim that the Holodomor was not a genocide and that Ukraine’s effort to secure such recognition is “a political matter that is aimed against Russian interests.”
It has been confirmed that Ukrainian community activists in Orenburg, Tumen, Ufa, St. Petersburg and Krasnodar have been subjected to undue pressure and scare tactics by government officials in the region resulting in the cancellation of planned events.
Russia was the next scheduled stop on the itinerary of the International Remembrance Flame – a symbol which has traveled through 29 countries since April of this year. Events in conjunction with the arrival of the Flame honour the millions of victims of Stalin’s deliberate attempt to eradicate the Ukrainian nation through starvation. The Flame will be received in Ukraine in November for nation-wide commemorations.
The international Ukrainian community is appalled by Russia’s continuing disregard for basic human rights, among them freedom of speech and expression. Ukrainians in Russia, as in every other country of the world, have every right to maintain their national identity with respect for history, culture and traditions.
The Congress urges every citizen of every democratic country to join the Ukrainian community in this protest. Contact the Russian Embassy in your country. Let them know that human rights abuses in 2008 will not be tolerated. Let them know that, this time, the world is paying attention.
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20. CURTAILING HUMAN RIGHTS OF UKRAINIAN COMMUNITIES IN RUSSIA
Representing 22 Peak Ukrainian Organisations in Australia ‐Member of Ukrainian World Congress
PO Box 251, Essendon, Victoria 3040
Tel: 03 9375 1781 Fax: 03 9326 1065
Email: afuo@ozeukes.com Website: www.ozeukes.com
Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Australia
78, Canberra Avenue,
Griffith, ACT 2603
CHAIRMAN
Minister for Foreign Affairs
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21. THE HOLODOMOR: REFLECTIONS ON THE UKRAINIAN GENOCIDE
16th Annual J.B. Rudnyckyj Distinguished Lecture by Dr. Roman Serbyn
WINNIPEG – Dr. Roman Serbyn will give the 16th Annual J. B. Rudnyckyj Distinguished Lecture in Winnipeg on Friday, November 7, 2008. The topic of the lecture will be “The Holodomor: Reflections on the Ukrainian Genocide.”
Dr. Serbyn’s lecture will focus on the Holodomor, and the devastation that it brought to the Ukrainian nation. He will use the United Nations Convention on Genocide’s definition of genocide, to argue the case for the recognition of the Holodomor as genocide. The lecture will commemorate the 75th anniversary of this tragic event.
Date & Time of Lecture: Friday, November 7, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Admission: Free, with reception to follow.
Location: Archives & Special Collections, 330 Elizabeth Dafoe Library, Fort Garry Campus, University of Manitoba.
Sponsored by: The University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections; the Slavic Collection, Elizabeth Dafoe Library – University of Manitoba; and The Department of German & Slavic Studies, University of Manitoba. For further information, please contact the U of M Archives & Special Collections @ 474-9681.
This year’s Rudnyckyj lecture is being held in conjunction with the Famine -Genocide (Holodomor) in Ukraine (1932-33) Symposium at the Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Centre, Oseredok (184 Alexander Avenue East, Winnipeg) on Saturday, November 8, 2008, sponsored by Oseredok and the Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies, University of Manitoba.
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22. “OUR DAILY BREAD” HOLODOMOR EXHIBITION IN CHICAGO OPEN UNTIL NOVEMBER 30
This year, 2008, marks the 75th anniversary of the Holodomor, and the government of Ukraine as well as Ukrainians around the world have been organizing events in an effort to expose and publicize this crime against humanity while there are still survivors young enough to recall its horrors.
In Chicago, the latest event commemorating the Holodomor is an exhibition at the Ukrainian National Museum which opened Friday, October 24th. “Our Daily Bread” and features 38 artworks that are part of the “Holodomor: Through The Eyes of Ukrainian Artists” collection.
It was a devastating chapter of Stalin’s reign of terror that wiped out one quarter of the peasantry – and later included the intelligentsia and other leaders of Ukrainian society who were shot and exiled by the hundreds of thousands in an attempt to destroy the Ukrainian nation. And it was carried out at a time when Ukraine, then officially the Ukrainian SSR, had one of the richest farmlands in the world – “the breadbasket of Europe.”
The exhibition also includes a room depicting what life was like in Ukraine prior to enforced collectivization—as well as an evocative walk-through installation depicting the horrors of the Holodomor.
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CAMBRIDGE, MA – The year 2008 marks the 75th anniversary of the Great Famine of 1932-1933, now often referred to by its Ukrainian name Holodomor (extermination by hunger). This man-made affliction ravaged, most devastatingly, Soviet Ukraine and the areas primarily settled by Ukrainians in the North Caucasus (the Kuban region) at the height of forced collectivization in the USSR.
CONCERT: Premiere Performance of Selections from the Opera Red Earth (Hunger) by Virko Baley. Monday, November 17 at 8:00 p.m. at Swedenborg Chapel, 50 Quincy St., Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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Ukraine Remembers – The World Acknowledges! Nov 16 – 23, 2008
International Holodomor Awareness Week; November 16 – 23, 2008
Ukraine Remembers – The World Acknowledges !
On the 75th anniversary of the famine genocide in Ukraine 1932-33:
Seventy five years have passed since famine raged through Ukraine eradicating the lives of millions of children, women and men from one of the world’s most bountiful lands.
Holodomor – one of the most heinous crimes in the history of mankind, was the result of a deliberate political strategy masterminded by Stalin and his totalitarian communist regime. By sheer magnitude, losses during the Holodomor surpassed those of the Ukrainian nation during the Second World War. Ukrainians worldwide continue to suffer the consequences of this merciless act.
The International Holodomor Coordinating Committee, Ukrainian World Congress is launching the first International Holodomor Awareness Week on November 16-23. The goal is to annually unite Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians alike in remembering the victims and raising awareness of this tragedy.
In cooperation with the secretariat of the President of Ukraine, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, the International Holodomor Coordinating Committee developed initiatives dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Holodomor of 1932-33 guided by the motto “Ukraine remembers – the World Acknowledges.”
Throughout the year Ukrainians successfully engaged politicians, researchers, journalists and citizens in a discussion of this often forgotten genocide. The International Remembrance Flame successfully toured 34 countries ending its journey in Ukraine beginning November 1. The Holodomor was recognized as an act of genocide by 13 countries.
There is, however, a great deal of work still to be done. We must continue working with our ministries of education to ensure that all students learn about the Holodomor.
Let us remember together –
(1) On Saturday, November 22,(or in days around this date) in solidarity with Ukraine, honour the memory of the victims with a moment of silence and light a candle of remembrance in your home.
(2) Participate in memorial services which will take place in your local churches
(3) Participate in events organized by your local community
Let’s reveal the truth about the Holodomor to the world!
On behalf of the IHCC UWC
Chairman
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25. HOLODOMOR COMMEMORATION AT PENN STATE UNIVERSITY
At 3PM there will be brief keynote addresses by Alex and Helen Woskob, who established the Penn State Endowment in Ukrainian studies.
Those in attendance will have the opportunity to speak with the Metropolitan Archbishop and the guest speaker at a reception following the event. The event is open to the general public as well as the university community.
CONTACT: Dr. Michael M. Naydan, Woskob Family Professor in Ukrainian Studies and Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures
Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures
404 Burrowes Bldg., The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
E-mail: mmn3@psu.edu
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26. COLUMBIA UNIV CONFERENCE TO COMMEMORATE THE HOLODOMOR-GENOCIDE
“Visualizing the Holodomor: The Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933 on Film”
Yuri Shevchuk, Ukrainian Film Club of Columbia University
Columbia University, New York, NY, Wednesday, October 1, 2008
NEW YORK – On Tuesday, December 2, 2008 the international conference “Visualizing the Holodomor: the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933 on Film” will be held at Columbia University in New York. This event is organized by the Ukrainian Studies Program of Columbia and co-sponsored by the Harriman Institute and the Department of Slavic Languages.
Held in a string of other academic forums around the USA and Canada to mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Great Famine in Ukraine, the Columbia
conference will offer a novel approach to raising awareness worldwide of this largely unknown human calamity; it will focus on film, and filmmaking
as a means to understand the consequences of this tragedy for Ukraine and the world.
Meant to appeal to the widest possible audience of scholars, students and the general public, the conference will bring together academics and filmmakers and investigate analytical and theoretic, as well as empirical, perspectives on the Holodomor.
This uniquely Columbia format became possible thanks to the fact that over the last four years, with generous community and Ukrainian Studies Fund
support, the Ukrainian Studies Program has gained international recognition as the leading center of Ukrainian film studies in North America.
The conference will consist of three panels.
(1) PANEL ONE: “What Happened in 1932-1933. Facts of the Tragedy” will feature opening remarks by Dr. Yuri Shevchuk (Department of Slavic
Languages, Columbia University), who will speak on the role of Ukrainian film in visualizing the Holodomor within Ukraine, and a presentation by Dr.
Roman Serbyn (Professor of History, Emeritus, University of Quebec at Montreal), a leading expert on the Holodomor in North America, who will
recreate the historical context and provide facts of the man-made famine.
The panel will start at 1:30 PM and will take place in Room 1512, International Affairs Building, 420 W 118th Street, New York, NY.
(1) PANEL TWO: “Unearthing the Great Famine by Filming It” will feature a short documentary Kolky by Natasha Mikhalchuk, a film student from Parson School of Design of the New School for Social Research.
Natasha, who was born and lived till her early teens in Odesa, Ukraine set out on a journey to trace the history of her father’s family. She visited his native village of Kolky in the Podillia region, south-western Ukraine.
Meeting and talking on camera with the locals, she unearthed the memories of a continuous chain of disasters visited upon Ukrainian peasants by foreign
invaders: the earliest being the Holodomor of 1932-33 and concomitant collectivization, followed by World War Two, Nazi occupation and slave work
in the Reich, and another famine after the war.
Kolky is a moving story of discovery of the Holodomor as well as other dramatic aspects of recent Ukrainian history that remain largely outside the
collective consciousness of Ukrainian society?even though their eye-witnesses are still alive.
Ms. Mikhalchuk’s deeply personal experience assumes larger dimensions of a moral imperative to make the recording and investigation of oral history of
the Great Famine and other historic events that took place in Ukraine a first priority for historians and society at large.
It is the tragic logic of human suffering that one orchestrated mass murder appears in unexpected ways connected with another. In this case the Ukrainian Holodomor which, alongside ethnic Ukrainians, also effected Jews, Germans, Russians, and other ethnicities who inhabited the Ukrainian countryside at the time, became connected with the Jewish Holocaust. This little known fact is witnessed by hundreds of those who survived both tragedies and lived to testify of them on camera.
Dr. Crispin Brooks, archivist of the Shoah Foundation Institution, University of South California in San Diego, discovered a considerable corpus of eye-witness accounts of the Holodomor in the massive documentary holdings of Jewish Holocaust survivors at his institution.
The video documents of the Visual History Archive were gathered by the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, an organization
established by film director Steven Spielberg in 1994 to preserve on videotape the accounts of surviving victims and witnesses of the Holocaust.
By 2001, the Foundation had recorded close to 52,000 testimonies in 56 countries and 32 languages. In Ukraine alone, the Shoah Foundation conducted
around 3,400 interviews over a four year period, 1995-1999, in 273 locations all over the country.
Dr. Brooks will give an overview of the archival holdings with reference to the Holodomor and bring to light new perspectives drawn from the
testimonies. His presentation will be accompanied by video footage of these eye-witness testimonies.
(3) PANEL THREE: The last conference panel will feature a new film, the feature documentary The Living (Zhyvi) by Serhiy Bukovsky from Kyiv. Mr. Bukovsky is internationally recognized as one of the best documentary filmmakers in Ukraine today. He was awarded the Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine for his nine-part TV documentary series “War.
A Ukrainian Account” (Viina. Ukrainskyi rakhunok), 2002. In it, he makes an earnest attempt to examine what happened in Ukraine during World War II. The film deeply resonated with the Ukrainian public as it discussed, in an impartial manner, the Ukrainian national resistance, and, in particular, the
Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).
In 2005, Bukovsky’s name was again in the press as the teacher and mentor of Mr. Ihor Strembytsky, the first Ukrainian filmmaker ever to win the
prestigious Palm d’Or du cour metrage for his short documentary Wayfarers (Podorozhni) at the Cannes International Film Festival.
Over his 25 year film career, Mr. Bukovsky has demonstrated time and again a readiness to take up the most difficult, at times unpopular, subject and
treat it in a way that brings a new light to what seemed exhausted and well known.
He also has shown civic engagement and a sense of responsibility that often put him on a collision course with the powers-that-be. His documentary
Tomorrow Was a Holiday (Zavtra bulo sviato), 1987 , a film openly critical of the Soviet system, is a celebrated classic of the perestroika era.
It was a sign of recognition that Mr. Bukovsky was invited by the Ukrainian oligarch-turned-Carnegie Viktor Pinchuk to direct Spell Your Name, (Nazvy
svoie im’ia) a feature documentary about the Holocaust in Ukraine and, in particular, the Babyn Yar tragedy.
The film was produced by Steven Spielberg, who traveled to Ukraine to attend its premier in Kyiv in October, 2006. In it, Serhiy Bukovsky tells another
largely unknown story?the story of how, during the Nazi occupation, many Ukrainians risked their lives to save their Jewish neighbors, acquaintances,
as well as strangers from sure death.
Shortly afterwards, Mr. Bukovsky was approached by the International Charitable Fund Ukraine-3000 run by Kateryna Yushchenko, Ukraine’s first
lady, to direct a feature documentary on the Holodomor for its 75th anniversary.
Mr. Bukovsky put together a crew of people which include film writer, critic and historian Serhiy Trymbach, cinematographer Volodomyr Kukorenchuk, a slew of history consultants, in particular Yuri Shapoval, Ivan Dziuba, and Myroslav Popovych (Kyiv), Viktor Listov (Moscow), Oksana Pakhliovska (Rome), Andrea Graziosi (Naples) and others to produce The Living.
This new film will be presented in person by the director, Serhiy Bukovsky, and by Victoria Bondar, his wife producer, and co-author of the script, at
the Rosenthal Auditorium, Schemerhorn Hall at 7:30 PM, one of the best film screening auditoriums on Columbia’s campus.
The film authors describe their effort:
“It is equally important to stress that our film about the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33 aims at finding a new approach to some very painful and sensitive
historical material. It is about not just remembering the facts but also understanding the causes and effects of the tragedy and evoking an emotional
response in the audience.
“First and foremost, it is about THE PRICE OF LIBERTY. Ukraine is an unloved but obstinate child of History. For centuries, her people fought a desperate struggle for something that other nations obtained in a much easier way: the right to be themselves, speak their own language, and be called Ukrainians.
“This conception defines our approach to selecting material for the film. Compositionally, the film will have a nonlinear structure. The events of 1932-33 serve as the basis of the plot. They are its hub – the central station where all “trains” of the plot arrive and from which they depart. It is necessary to understand (and show) the train of events that caused the tragedy of the Holodomor and its consequences.
“Tentatively, we are talking about a period spanning the year 1917 (the February Revolution in Russia, the patriotic awakening of Ukrainian
frontline units, and further events in Ukraine till 1921) and the outbreak of World War II in 1939. These events weave into the fabric of the film. The
basic intonation of the film will be free of newspaper rhetoric and TV patter. Ours is a story told in a soft, quiet voice.”
Conference attendees will have a unique opportunity not only to be the first on this side of the Atlantic to see The Living (its Ukrainian premier in
Kyiv is slated for November 22) but also to discuss the film with its makers and with history and film experts participating in the conference.
A few weeks prior to the international conference, the Ukrainian Studies Program will mount a photo exhibit of works by Volodymyr Kukorenchuk, the
cinematographer of The Living. Some forty beautiful photographs taken by him in the course of shooting in the villages where tragedy unfolded 75 years
ago will be shown in the Lehman Library of the International Affairs Building at Columbia University.
The pictures are a celebration of the beauty, poetry, and vitality of Ukraine, all of which come through with a quiet and captivating force in portraits of farmers who lived to tell about their experience of the Great Famine.
For further information about the International Conference “Visualizing the Holodomor: the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933 on Film”, call the
Ukrainian Studies Program office at 212-854-4697. ADMISSION IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
For more information please contact Yuri Shevchuk; sy2165@columbia.edu.
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