| |
By Katya Mischenko-Mycyk, Ukrainian Genocide Famine Foundation
Chicago, Illinois, Monday, September 22, 2003
|
Chicago, Illinois - This year marks the 70th anniversary of Stalin's
deliberate starvation of as many as 10 million Ukrainians during the years
of 1932-33. The Chicago based Ukrainian Genocide Famine Foundation
organized a weekend's worth of programs to both remember those who
perished during the Holodomor and to educate the public about the tragic
events of 1932-33 which were hidden from the worlds eyes.
On Saturday, September 20th, the Foundation arranged an educational
program that attracted approximately 300 Ukrainian Saturday school
children from St. Volodymyr's Ukrainian School, Ridna Shkola at St.
Nicholas Cathedral, and Ridna Shkola at CYM Palatine.
|
Group of Famine Survivors
|
The program, which took place in the auditorium of St. Volodymyr and
Olga's Ukrainian Catholic Church, consisted of a lecture and screening
of the 1984 documentary film "Harvest of Despair".
Prior to the screening, Lida Tkachuk, Co-Secretary of the Ukrainian
Genocide Famine Foundation welcomed the Ukrainian school students to
the screening and introduced guest speakers Laryssa Tschaikowsky and
Mathew Marciniak. Ms. Tschaikowsky and Mr. Marciniak presented a
brief historic overview of the events that caused the Genocide Famine to
occur.
For many of the children in attendance, this was their first exposure to the
Genocide Famine. Andrea Sajewych, a seventh grader at Ridna Shkola at
St. Nicholas Cathedral, said that after watching the film "Harvest of
Despair" she believes that American schools should be required to teach
students about the Ukrainian Genocide Famine to make sure that it never
happens again.
Miss Sajewych said that the 10 million victims of the Genocide Famine
"never got a proper burial and they at least deserve some (type of)
remembrance" from the Ukrainian community.
|
Following the screening, students were taken to the Ukrainian National
Museum to view a new and permanent exhibit documenting the Genocide
Famine of 1932-1933. The exhibit includes recently declassified KGB
photographs and documents providing evidence that the Soviet leadership
in Moscow deliberately orchestrated the Genocide Famine as a means to
break the Ukrainian nation.
|
Monument Memorial Service
|
Official documents recording the number of deaths per village and cases of
cannibalism are also included in the exhibit. Documents were secured with
the help of Ukrainian Consulate General Borys Bazylevsky.
Roman Krutsyk of the Kyiv based Ukrainian "Memorial" Foundation
contributed many photographs and documents to the exhibit. In addition to
the archival display, the Ukrainian National Museum is displaying a rarely
seen Genocide Famine painting by Canadian artist Kurylak. The painting,
which depicts a scene of famine ravaged Kyiv, is now on permanent loan to
the Museum from the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art.
Nicholas Mishchenko
|
On Sunday, the 21st of September, an estimated 1,000 people congregated
at St. Andrew's Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Bloomingdale, Illinois for an
ecumenical memorial service for the millions of Ukrainians who perished
during the Genocide Famine of 1932-33. The memorial service was lead by
clergy from the Chicagoland Ukrainian churches.
A solemn procession made it's way from the church to the Genocide Famine
monument at the base of the St. Andrews cemetery where approximately 40
Genocide Famine survivors were seated. The CYM female youth choir group
"Vinok" beautifully sang both the Ukrainian and American national anthems.
|
Nicholas Mischenko, President of the Ukrainian Genocide Famine Foundation,
began the program expressing that he had planned to greet the Bishops of the
Ukrainian Orthodox and Catholic Churches. The Bishops did not attend the
ecumenical memorial service - they were "occupied". Mr. Mischenko thanked
all those in attendance for coming together as one unified community to
remember our Ukrainian brothers and sisters who perished in the Genocide
Famine.
Master of Ceremonies, Tamara Kuzyk-Story introduced Republican Illinois
State Representative Paul D. Froehlich. Representative Froehlich pledged to
work on behalf of the Ukrainian American community to see to it that
Illinois schools are required to teach students about the Ukrainian Genocide
Famine of 1932-33 just as they are required by law to teach about the Jewish
Holocaust. Chicago-based Ukrainian Consulate General Borys Bazylevsky
urged all those present to never forget the tragedy of the century.
Hollywood Trident Foundation co-founder Peter Borisow gave the keynote
address. Mr. Borisow's parents were the sole survivors from their
respective families of the Genocide Famine of 1932-33 and the purges that
followed.
Peter Borisow
|
Mr. Borisow's speech was well received by the crowd of Ukrainian
Americans that encompassed all social and religious groups - Catholics,
Orthodox, CYMivtsi, Plastuny, Odumivtsi, new immigrants, old immigrants,
and those who were born here in the United States.
Mr. Borisow stressed that it is imperative for the future of the Ukrainian
nation that the Ukrainian American community come together as a united
front - not Catholics versus Orthodox, Plast against CYM, new immigrants
versus old immigrants.
|
According to Mr. Borisow, the continual division of our Ukrainian
community by religion, social groups, and immigrant waves is only another
tactic to keep us squabbling and unable to focus on what is really going on.
To quote Mr. Borisow, "Russia's hope is that consumed in our little
squabbles, we won't even notice that Russia is taking over everything in
Ukraine and soon there will be nothing left to fight for. We see this every
day in our own communities as well as in Ukraine". Russia is slowly forcing
its yoke back onto the Ukrainian nation - economically, politically, and
socially.
The crowd cheered when Mr. Borisow said that the Ukrainian American
community must demand that President Bush tell Russian President Putin
"Ukrainians have suffered enough! Keep your hands off Ukraine! Ukraine
must remain free!"
St. Andrews Memorial
|
The speeches were concluded with the annual presentation of the memorial
ribbons. Each year, representatives of the numerous Chicagoland Ukrainian
organizations pay their respects to the 10 million victims of the Genocide
Famine by adorning two wreaths with black ribbons.
More than 70 organizations included all of the Chicagoland churches along
with their respective sisterhoods and brotherhoods, the local Ukrainian
schools, professional organizations and social groups, financial
institutions and non-profit organizations. Following the memorial services
a luncheon and theatrical presentation took place in the St. Andrews
auditorium.
|
Mrs. Marika Klimchuk, radio host on Chicago's "Ukrainian Wave" radio
program on AM 1240 presented a moving speech that drew on the
documented facts and witness accounts of the Ukrainian Genocide Famine.
Many of the audience members were moved to tears by the afternoon's
performance of "Tears of the Virgin Mary". Members of the Lviv Regional
Theater Group in the name of Yurij Drohobycha performed the powerful
drama.
The play portrays the plight and terror that engulfed a peasant family
during the Genocide Famine of 1932 to 1933. "Tears of the Virgin Mary"
is a Ukrainian adaptation of the novel "Mariya" by Ulas Samchuk.
Samchuk was born in 1905 in the Volynia region of Ukraine. He later
moved to Canada.
The Ukrainian Genocide Famine Foundation is a non-profit organization
established in December 2002. The mission of the Foundation is to
educate the American public about the Genocide Famine of 1932-33, to
support ongoing research of the Genocide Famine, and to bring to justice
the perpetrators of the Genocide Famine.
Information about becoming a member or supporter of the Ukrainian
Genocide Famine Foundation can be obtained by emailing Nicholas
Mischenko at nickm34@juno.com or calling (847) 699-9484.
Katya Mischenko-Mycyk, Chicago, IL
(312) 666-9511, katyammm@hotmail.com
|
|
back
