Remembering the victims of genocide in Ukraine

From The Province:

In the 2006 census, more than 129,000 Saskatchewan residents (13.6 per cent) reported Ukrainian ancestry, the sixth-largest ethnic group in the province.

Though now firmly rooted in Saskatchewan, Ukrainian Canadians have never forgotten their homeland, in particular the terrible famine of 1932-33, in which as many as 10 million Ukrainians — a quarter of the population — starved to death.

…

Though long overshadowed by the Nazi Holocaust, in which as many as six million Jews were systematically murdered between 1939-45, the Holodomor has gained international recognition in recent years as a comparable crime against humanity.

Among those spreading the word is Saskatchewan’s deputy premier Ken Krawetz, who last year introduced legislation that remembers the victims of the Holodomor on the fourth Saturday of each November. Saskatchewan was the first province to pass such a law. The Canadian Parliament passed similar legislation in 2008.

Krawetz’s efforts have been recognized by the Ukrainian government, which will next month award him the highest honour that a non-citizen of Ukraine can receive. And at the weekend, Krawetz received an "Award of Excellence" from the Ukrainian Self-Reliance League of Canada for spreading the word about the Holodomor.

Of Ukrainian descent himself, Krawetz makes the point that "the world doesn’t know" about the Holodomor — and it should.

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