Ukrainian Canadian

From the Winnipeg Press:

A painting commemorating the Ukrainian Holodomor/Holocaust is now permanently on display in Manitoba’s Legislative Building.

The acrylic-on-canvas work by Winnipeg artist Orysia Sinitowich-Gorski was officially unveiled today by Premier Greg Selinger. A number of local survivors of the 1932-33 Holocaust attended the ceremony.

"This moving portrait represents the Holodomor  — the Ukrainian Holocaust  — a dark period in human history," the Premier said.

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This one was a long time coming! This legislation was first introduced last November and passed today which establishes the fourth Saturday in November of each year as ‘Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (Holodomor) Memorial Day’. You can view the bill here ( French version) and track its progress online.

Congratulations on all the hard work. Now we can add Quebec to the list of provinces that recognize the Holodomor as genocide – Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan – as well as federally. British Columbia we are looking at you next!

Quebec, Canada-June 3, 2010 Members of the Quebec’s National Assembly yesterday unanimously passed Bill 390 – An Act to proclaim Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (Holodomor) Memorial Day.

The Bill, which was introduced in November by MNA Louise Beaudoin and received unanimous approval at first reading, commemorates victims of the Holodomor (the engineered famine in Ukraine which murdered millions of Ukrainians in 1932-33).

 

The legislation recognizes the Holodomor as "the famine and genocide that occurred in Ukraine in 1932 and 1933 where millions of Ukrainians perished as victims of a famine deliberately induced by the Soviet regime under Joseph Stalin to quash the aspirations of the Ukrainian people for a free and independent Ukraine."

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I stumbled upon a few really good Holodomor testimonies that I thought I’d share with you. These interviews were conducted in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, and was conducted by the DNK Group and Mark Silberman.

Olga Kamnads’ka Holodomor Testimony

This is testimony of Holodomor survivor Olga Kamnads’ka. The Holodomor genocide occured in Ukraine in 1932-1933. Pani (Mrs.) Olga Kamnads’ka was born in 1926. She and her family left Ukraine at the time of the Holodomor in order to escape from hunger and repressions.

Mykola Antonovich Mykolaenko Holodomor Testimony

This is testimony of Holodomor survivor Mykola Antonovich Mykolaenko. The Holodomor genocide occured in Ukraine in 1932-1933. Pan (Mr.) Mykola Antonovich Mykolaenko was born in 1919. He is a writer and a poet, and is a member of the National Writers Union in Ukraine. He lived in Kryvy Rih at the time of the Holodomor.

Grygory Oleksiyovich Simak Holodomor Testimony

This is testimony of Holodomor survivor Grygory Oleksiyovich Simak. The Holodomor genocide occured in Ukraine in 1932-1933. Pan (Mr.) Grygory Oleksiyovich Simak was born in 1919. He is a member of the National Union of Journalists in Ukraine. He lived in the Spasske village (Dnipropetrovsk region) at the time of the Holodomor.

Raisa Pavlovna Radchenko Holodomor testimony This is testimony of Holodomor survivor Raisa Pavlovna Radchenko. The Holodomor genocide occured in Ukraine in 1932-1933. Pani (Mrs.) Raisa Pavlovna Radchenko was born in 1919. She was a sciescientist and a professor. She lived in the Sukhaya Balka village at the time of the Holodomor.

From the Toronto Sun:

Happy to report Nadine Demko of the ’Peg (Sisler High School) was awarded a TD Scholarship for Community Leadership in Ottawa on April 29 for her outstanding commitment to help others.

…

“Nadine is active in her Ukrainian community as a member of a dance ensemble and as the youth leader of her Ukrainian Scouting Group, Plast. She is also a children’s counsellor in Plast and is a Ukrainian dance instructor. She will be representing the Ukrainian Pavilion as a Youth Ambassador this year during Folklorama.

…

“As well, she volunteers at Holy Family Nursing Home and plans to pursue a career in medical sciences. She will be among other TD Scholarship for Community Leadership winners — both past and present — to take part in an exclusive conference in Toronto that focuses on finding solutions to educational barriers in Canada.”

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Congratulations!

While the fighting in Ukrainian parliament has taken the media’s attention, Yanukovych dropped a bombshell in France today  denying the Holodomor as genocide:

Yanukovych told the Council of Europe on Tuesday that he considered the famine “a shared tragedy” of all people who were all part of the Soviet Union, then led by Joseph Stalin.

Yanukovych’s stance is a complete shift from that of his predecessor, pro-Western president Viktor Yushchenko, who sought to have the famine recognized as genocide against Ukrainians.

Since being elected in February, Yanukovych has sought closer ties with  Russia.

Tomorrow PACE will  hear the issue of commemorating the victims of the Holodomor, but it does not look like it will go well due to Russia’s ever-growing sphere-of-influence:

Russia has said that it cannot accept a number of amendments to the PACE resolution, including a proposal to recognize the Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian people.

Russia says the famine cannot be considered an act that targeted Ukrainians, as millions of people from different ethnic groups also lost their lives in vast territories across the Soviet Union.

Ukrainian nationalists say Russia, as the legal successor of the Soviet Union, should bear responsibility for the famine in which more than 3 million people perished in Ukraine.

Under former president Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine was seeking international recognition of the famine as an act of genocide.

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Russia removed genocide recognition from a PACE report last November, using it’s clout as  a major energy supplier to Europe. It currently is constructing a gas pipeline directly to Germany, bypassing former Soviet countries that have shifted their support to the West in the past few years.

Update: Not surprisingly, PACE’s report this year again will not honour the Holodomor as genocide, vetoed from the Kremlin by the Russian-friendly Turkey delegate Mevlüt Çavusoglu (from a country that knows how to deny genocide). When will Europe conduct a real investigation into this terrible time in history like the United States did in the 80′s? History shouldn’t be mandated by politicans.

Interestingly enough, the Holodomor is considered genocide in Ukraine by law. Can Yanukovych be impeached for breaking it?