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Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk, Director of Research
Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA)
Toronto/Calgary/Vancouver, Canada, 21 November 2003
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Responding to the announcement made today by the Pulitzer Prize
Committee, which decided not to revoke the award won by Walter Duranty of
The New York Times for what is now widely recognized as his mendacious
reporting about events in the Soviet Union during the early 1930s, Dr
Lubomyr Luciuk, of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association, said:
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Dr Lubomyr Luciuk
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"Walter Duranty knowingly covered up the Great Famine of 1932-1933 in
Soviet Ukraine. Many millions were murdered during this politically
engineered famine, arguably one of the greatest acts of genocide in 20th
century Europe. It is a documented fact that Duranty was Stalin's apologist,
a shill for the Soviets before, during and after 1932-1933.
For the Pulitzer Prize Committee to render this tartuffish decision and
announce it on the eve of the fourth Saturday in November, a day officially
set aside in Ukraine for national mourning, is base. All who hold a Pulitzer
Prize should think about whether what was once the most prestigious
distinction in journalism still is. Duranty's Prize soils all Pulitzer
Prizes.
We have done what we could to hallow the memory of the many millions
whom Stalin and his minions starved. We have tried to expose the greatest of
the famine deniers, whom a contemporary, the journalist Malcolm Muggeridge,
described as 'the greatest liar of any journalist I have ever met.' Our
objectives were achieved, internationally.
We also prayed the Pulitzer Prize Committee would do the decent thing
and revoke Duranty's ill-got award on the 70th anniversary of the
Terror-Famine. They were granted a unique chance to champion truth. Instead
they have rallied around a liar and by so doing have further slighted the
sufferings of millions of innocents. They will be remembered by history for
what they have done today. As for Duranty, he will no doubt be pleased to be
in their company."
The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association initiated the
international campaign to have Walter Duranty's Pulitzer Prize revoked or
returned. UCCLA still expects that The New York Times will return Duranty's
Pulitzer.
For More Information please go to the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties
Association, www.uccla.ca or contact UCCLA's director of research, Dr
Lubomyr Luciuk, at (613) 546-8364
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