Ukrainian Canadian

From the Mark News:

Between 1914 and 1920, thousands of Canadians of Ukrainian and Eastern European descent were imprisoned in internment camps across Canada, simply on the basis of their origins. For decades, their stories were buried under fear and shame. The Canadian government has finally recognized the internment operations, and yet it remains an unknown chapter in our nation’s history.

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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.

Just came across this video, thought I’d share. Vera Farmiga is an Ukrainian-American award winning actress who’s recently starred in such films as Up in the Air, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Departed. These movie clips are from Touching Evil (2004).

This quick excerpt is from the pilot of the hit series Breaking Bad.  Thegroup toasts the lead character Walt for his birthday with a hearty ‘Na Zdrovya’ (to your health)!:

Breaking Bad follows protagonist Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a chemistry teacher who lives in New Mexico with his wife (Anna Gunn) and teenage son (RJ Mitte) who has cerebral palsy. White is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of two years left to live. With a new sense of fearlessness based on his medical prognosis, and a desire to secure his family’s financial security, White chooses to enter a dangerous world of drugs and crime and ascends to power in this world. The series explores how a fatal diagnosis such as White’s releases a typical man from the daily concerns and constraints of normal society and follows his transformation from mild family man to a kingpin of the drug trade.

Not really sure why this was written into the episode, they’re three seasons in and it hasn’t come up again since.

A very interesting video from Stratfor about how the Russian sphere of influence can extend Eastern Europe to Poland since losing their leaders last week:

This analysis was noted from the Star on Sunday:

Kaczynski, 60, who was elected president in 2005, forged close relationships with Ukraine and Georgia, and pushed for their inclusion in NATO, arguing passionately that a stronger NATO would keep Russia from reasserting its influence over Eastern Europe.

And he was a major supporter of the American antiballistic missile defence system to be based in Poland, infuriating Russia.

Read the rest of the article

And with Obama de-weaponizing Ukraine under Yanukovych this week, can Eastern Europe survive the new Russian sphere of influence?