Day will mark Ukrainian genocide (in Alberta)

From the Edmonton Journal:

EDMONTON – MLAs spoke eloquently, passionately and at times tearfully Thursday of the horror of genocide and the strength of the Ukrainian people as they passed a bill proclaiming a memorial day for the Ukrainian famine, or Holodomor.

In a speech heavily peppered with Ukrainian phrases and words, Stelmach described how millions were starved to death by Soviet policies that saw crops stripped from Europe’s traditional bread basket through the early 1930s.

The genocide, in 1932 and 1933, was Soviet leader Joseph Stalin’s attempt to subdue the Ukrainian people by systematically starving them and restricting travel beyond their villages. The exact number of victims remains unclear.

Bill 37 was introduced and passed unanimously in just over an hour Thursday afternoon, and proclaims every fourth Saturday in November “Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (Holodomor) Memorial Day.”

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