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President takes part in commemoration of Holodomor victims in Kyiv

President Victor Yushchenko together with his wife Kateryna Yushchenko took part in a ceremony of commemoration of Holodomor victims near the Monument ‘The Candle of Remembrance’ in Kyiv.

Among the guests at the event were President of Latvia Valdis Zatlers, President of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus, speakers of foreign countries’ parliaments, representatives of international organizations, foreign state officials, diplomats, etc.

Also many Ukrainian officials and country’s leadership came to honor memory of victims of the Great Famine.

After Metropolitan Volodymyr consecrated the monument President Yushchenko and those gathered placed candles near it.

President Yushchenko addressed Ukrainian nation with a speech and then a all-national moment of silence was announced.

In a Hall of Memory within the Memorial President light ‘Inextinguishable Candle’ thus opening this year’s all-Ukrainian act ‘Light up a candle!’. Other participants of the ceremony also left their light up candles near the memorial.

After that in the Hall of Memory President Yushchenko and those present watched a documentary about the Great Famine of 1932-1933.

Together with other countries’ leaders President Victor also planted snowball trees near the Memorial.

UOC-MP Orthodox Head Honors Ukraine President

22.11.2008, [21:59] // UOC-MP //

Kyiv—The head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) presented Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko with a jubilee order issued on the occasion of the 1020th anniversary of the baptism of Kyivan Rus. During a meeting at his residence, Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) thanked Yushchenko for fruitful cooperation between church and state in celebrating the anniversary. RISU’s Ukrainian-language site posted this story on 21 November 2008.

During the meeting, the head of the UOC-MP invited Ukraine’s president to become a member of the board of directors for the construction of the UOC-MP Cathedral of Christ’s Resurrection. Yushchenko accepted the proposal with gratitude and promised to keep the course of work under his personal control.

The president visited the caves of the Kyivan Monastery of the Caves to pray near the relics together with the metropolitan.

http://www.risu.org.ua/eng/news/article;26031/

Ukraine President Thanks UOC-MP Orthodox Head for Holodomor Address
22.11.2008, [22:04] // Church-state relations //

Kyiv—In his letter to the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko thanked Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) for the address of the Synod of the UOC-MP on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Holodomor (forced famine) tragedy. orthodox.org.ua posted the news on 20 November 2008.
As RISU reported earlier, the address calls the Holodomor genocide: “That genocide was an attempt to destroy the very soul of the nation, to lead it to complete spiritual slavery.”

Yushchenko requested that the head of UOC-MP “say prayers for the souls of the innocently killed.”
“Let your wisdom and selfless service to the Ukrainian nation continue to promote the strengthening of its spirituality and establishment of high Christian values,” reads Yushchenko’s letter in conclusion.

Winnipeg Free Press
Editorials Famine was genocide

Updated: November 22, 2008 at 08:10 AM CST
BASED on the numbers alone, body for body, victim for victim, murder for murder, the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933 may be the single greatest crime against humanity that has ever been committed.

No one will ever know for certain how many people were killed by the deliberate starvation of Ukraine ordered by Stalin in the 1930s, but estimates run as high as 20 million, which was the figure used by the scholar Robert Conquest, who did more than anyone to expose to the world the horrors of the Holodomor, as Ukrainians refer to the Famine.

In his book about the Famine, Koba the Dread, British author Martin Amis quotes from Mr. Conquest's Harvest of Sorrow to emphasize the magnitude of the slaughter: "We may perhaps put (the Famine) in perspective in the present case by saying that in the actions here recorded about 20 human lives were lost for, not every word, but every letter, in this book." Harvest of Sorrow is 411 pages long.

It has been said that the death of one person is a tragedy, the death of a million a statistic. And one can argue which 20th century legacy is the greater enormity, the Holocaust or the Holodomor, but while the individual horrors, the tragedies, that each accumulated can perhaps be counted, they can never be measured in any meaningful way.

They can, however, be remembered and those who refuse to remember them, or even acknowledge them, become accomplices in the original crime. The Holocaust that Nazi Germany waged against the Jews is well-documented and well-remembered. It is ingrained in the conscience and the consciousness of the world, or at least of the Western world, to the point that Holocaust denial is a crime in many countries. Deniers are regarded as accomplices. The world is a better and safer place for that memory.

It is a worse and more dangerous place, however, because of the continuing refusal of many people, many governments even, to acknowledge that the Ukrainian Famine occurred and that it was a deliberate act of genocide committed by Stalin and the Soviet government against the Ukrainian people.

Only in recent years has the Holodomor come to gain some acceptance in mainstream Western thought. Previous to that, Western intellectuals, leftists, writers, journalists and general public opinion subscribed to the Soviet propaganda that it was a natural famine of far smaller proportions.

So confused have these lies left the world that estimates of the victims of this genocide range from an absurdly low 2.5 million to Mr. Conquest's credible 20 million and far beyond, with the most accepted figure being a compromise of a still staggering 10 million victims.

There is, and never was, any rational reason for accepting the Stalin line on the Ukrainian Famine, yet the West eagerly bought into it, and many people still do. The time has past, however, when honest denial of the Holodomor is possible, just as honest denial of the Holocaust is no longer possible. The Famine, too, should be engrained in our conscience and our consciousness lest we remain its accomplices.

Canadians mark 75th anniversary of famine genocide with National Holodomor Awareness Week
November 16 - 23, 2008
People were dying everywhere, even on our doorstep. If anyone was caught picking leftover grain, even if they were children, they were shot.
-- Natalia Talanchuk, Edmonton
Survivors of the Holodomor are sharing their horrific experiences with Canadians as the international community prepares to mark the 75th anniversary of the Holodomor Famine-Genocide in Ukraine of 1932-33.
Holodomor one of the most heinous crimes in the history of mankind, was the result of a deliberate political strategy masterminded by Stalin and his totalitarian communist regime.
In 2006, Ukraine acknowledged its history by officially recognizing the Holodomor as genocide. In 2008, Canada followed suit taking the lead among western nations. As a result, survivors, who for so many years shared the truth with no one - fearing reprisals, now speak freely of the terror which reigned in Ukraine in the thirties.
National Holodomor Awareness Week will annually unite all Canadians in remembering the victims and raising awareness of this tragedy.
On November 22, International Holodomor Memorial Day, Canadians will pause for a moment of reflection at 9:00 a.m. and light a candle of remembrance in their homes. On November 23, memorial services will be held in all Ukrainian churches throughout the country and church bells will toll 10 times symbolizing the 10 million victims.
We hope that you will participate with your constituents in the many programs being held across Canada which are listed below. Additionally, for historical information contact Prof. Yuri Darewych at Darewych@... or 416-736-2100 and The Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Centre at info@... or 416-966-1819.
Ukraine Remembers - The World Acknowledges
Holodomor Awarness Week
Events commemorating the75th anniversary of the Holodomor Famine Genocide in Ukraine 1932-33
National Event
November 19-20, 33-hour Famine Coordinated by the Ukrainian Canadian Students Union (SUSK) on university and college campuses across the country as well as Holodomor exhibit. Contact Tamara Mischena, president@...
November 23, A requiem service in all Ukrainian Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox Churches across Canada with solemn ringing of bells: 10 rings in memory of 10 million dead. Contact Irka Mycak, irkam@...
Calgary, Alberta
November 17-24, Exhibit: St.Vladimirs Cultural Centre. Sponsored by Ukrainian Youth Association, Calgary Branch
November 20, 7:00 p.m. Be Well and Prosper, My Beloved Ukraine. A presentation of songs and writings by Father Edward Evanko, St. Stephens Ukrainian Catholic Church, 4903-45th Street SW. Sponsored by Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Calgary Branch
November 21, 8:00 p.m. Candlelight vigil. Holodomor monument, Edmonton Trail and Memorial Drive. Sponsored by Ukrainian Youth Association, Calgary Branch
November 22, 11 a.m. Commemorative Service. St. Vladimirs Ukrainian Cultural Centre, 411 Meredith Road NE. Sponsored by Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Calgary Branch
November 22-23, 9:00 a.m. 24-hour Famine, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Parish. Sponsored by the Ukrainian Youth Association, Plast?www.calgaryucc.org
Contact for all Calgary Events: Michael Ilnycky, michael.ilnycky@...
Edmonton, Alberta
November 20, 4:30 p.m. Panel Discussion: Holodomor Denial Student Union Building Stage at University of Alberta (87 Ave 114 St parking access, Edmonton) Host: Ukrainian Students Society (Pres. Marco Jacuta); Holodomor Awareness Week on campus. Participants: Natalia Talanchuk (Holodomor survivor), Andriy Semotiuk (Holodomor as genocide), Mark Tymchak (University student on youth perspective), Dr. William Zuzak (moderator).
November 22, 12:30 p.m. Memorial Service, Edmonton City Hall, 104 Ave 100 St. Keynote Speaker: Andriy Semotiuk, legal expert, will speak about Holodomor as a genocide. Lighting of candles at Holodomor Monument in front of City Hall. Holodomor display (for one week) in rotunda. Contact Luba Feduschak, lfeduschak@...
Hamilton, Ontario
November 16, 4:00 p.m. Memorial Service and Program. Premier of the winning composition of the Holodomor Composer Competition. Mausoleum, Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Plains Road, Burlington. Sponsored by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Hamilton Branch.
November 30, Official Opening of the Holodomor Museum in the Metropolitan Wasyly Learning Centre. Presented by St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral.
Contact Luba Petlura, lubapet1@... or 905-643-0585
Montreal, Quebec
November 22, 3:00 pm, Divine Liturgy with Requiem (Panakhyda) at St. Sophia Cathedral rue St. Michel, followed by program including film Holodomor 33 in church hall
November 23, Book Exhibit at the Youth Centre 3260 rue Beaubien sponsored by the Ukrainian Quebec School Board
Contact Bohdanna Hawryliuk, 514-259-7162, marikaputko@...
Oshawa, Ontario
November 23, 1:00-5:00 pm Exhibit and commemorative academia at 2 pm Ukrainian Cultural Centre Dnipro, 681 Dnipro Blvd
Contact Steve Ostafijchuk, steve@...
Ottawa, Ontario
November 16, 2:00 p.m. Exhibit: Holodomor: Genocide by Famine; Embassy of Ukraine, 310 Somerset St. W.
Oles Yanchuk's film Famine-33 will be shown.
RSVP by Nov 15 613-230-2961 ext 105 or press@...
Contact Julia Woychyshyn, woychyshyn@...
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
November 22, 2:00 pm The public is invited to meet at the University of Saskatchewan memorial gates (on College Avenue, in front of the University Hospital). From there a procession will proceed to St. Thomas More College where an interdenominational panakhyda prayer service will take place in the chapel. At 3:00 pm, a program will be held in the St. Thomas More Auditorium. The commemorative event is open to all.
Contact Al Kachkowski at akachkowski@... or 306-374-7675
St. Catharines, Ontario
November 22, 8:45 a.m."Remember the Holodomor - Light a Candle," On the Niagara Street Bridge & QEW (park at Sts. Cyril & Methodius Church parking lot); Sponsored by Ukrainian Canadian Congress, St. Catharines Branch
Contact Marika Diakow, pdiakow@...
Surrey, BC
November 15, 7:00 pm Reflections on the Holodomor, Ukrainian Orthodox Center 13512 - 108th Ave
Contact: Kathy Miske 778-292-0239 or 604-581-0313
Toronto, Ontario
November 9-23 Exhibit Holodomor: Genocide by Famine, North York Civic Centre
November 13, 7:00 p.m. Sharing the Story: Presentation of survivor documentation project; Canadian Ukrainian Art Foundation, 2118 Bloor Street West. Presented by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Centre
November 16, 3:00 p.m."Memorial Program" Trident Banquet Hall, 145 Evans Avenue. Sponsored by the Ukrainian National Federation and the Organization of Ukrainian Women in Canada, Toronto and Toronto West branches
November 16-30 -- Art Exhibit: Olexander Vlasenko and Poster Exhibit: Morgan Williams; Canadian Ukrainian Art Foundation, 2118 Bloor Street West
November 17-20, the exhibit Holodomor: Genocide by Famine, films (in Ukrainian and 2 films in Englsh Holodomor:Technology of Genocide and Harvest of Despair), lectures, art work?Ukrainian Cultural Centre, 83 Christie Street?Daily 10 a.m. 9 p.m.?Opening ceremonies November 17- 7:00 pm. Sponsored by the League of Ukrainian Canadians and League of Ukrainian Canadian Women Contact www.lucorg.com [lucorg.com] or 416-516-8223
November 21,10:30 am Youth program at Queens Park with the participation of students from area Ukrainian Catholic Bilingual Schools?Sponsored by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Toronto Branch
Contact Lydia Falcomer, lydia52@...
November 22, Human Chain and candlelight vigil along Bloor St. West from Kennedy Ave. to Jane Street. 4:45pm assembly; 5:00pm Lighting of candles; Procession from the Ukrainian Consulate (2118 Bloor St. W) along Bloor St.W. to St. Olaves Church at 360 Windermere Ave for a requiem service at 6:00pm
Contact Mary Szkambara at marybar@... or 416-323-4772
Vancouver, British Columbia
November 23, 3:00 p.m. Holodomor Commemoration: Ecumenical Panachyda, an Audio-visual presentation, a presentation by Father Edward Danylo Evanko, and choral singing. Ukrainian Catholic Center, 550 West 14th Ave.?Sponsored by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Vancouver Branch
Contact Mirko Petriw, mirkopetriw@...
Windsor, Ontario
November 23, 1:00 p.m. Memorial Service and Commemorative Program at the Holodomor monument and St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Parish Hall.
Contact Peter Mycak, 519-256-8778
Winnipeg, Manitoba
November 7, 6:00 p.m. 16th Annual J.B. Rudnyckyj Disinguished Lecture?Guest speaker: Dr. Roman Serbyn, Professor Emeritus, Universite du Quebec - Montreal; 330 Elizabeth Dafoe Library, Fort Garry Campus, University of Manitoba. Sponsored by The University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections and the Department of German & Slavic Studies
November 8, 9:00 a.m."Symposium: Famine Genocide 1932-33" 184 Alexander Avenue East. Sponsored by Oseredok Cultural and Educational Centre and?The Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies, University of Manitoba
November 16, 2:00 p.m.-- Opening Ceremony at the Legislative Building
November 18, 7:00 p.m. -- Film Presentation - Harvest of Despair; Maples Collegiate
November 19, 7:00 p.m. -- Film Presentation Holod 1932-33
November 21-22 -- 18 hour Famine; University of Winnipeg
November 22, 2:00 p.m.-City Hall Ceremony -- Sponsored by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress-- Manitoba Provincial Council
Contact Lesia Szwaluk, . 204-944-9128
EXHIBIT OPENING
Through the Eyes of a Child:
The Famine Remembered
Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art
2320 W Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL
Opening reception:
Sunday November 23rd, 12:00noon - 4:00pm
(Children's program of music, readings and poetry to begin at 2:00pm)
Presenting a deeply moving and important exhibit of drawings by students of elementary schools in Ukraine and the United States produced as part of a year-long educational project organized by the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art. In their drawings and sketches, the participating children reflect on the tragic events of 1932-1933, when the Soviet regime staged a forced famine in Ukraine, causing the death of millions of Ukrainians. The exhibition commemorates the 75th anniversary of the tragedy.
The exhibition opens with a panel discussion and poetry reading Sunday, November 23, 1-2 pm, followed by a reception from 2 to 4 pm
Exhibit runs November 23-January 18, 2009
http://www.uima-chicago.org
773-227-5522
Canada to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Famine in Ukraine ^

November 20, 2008
OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) - Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney will travel today to Kyiv, to mark the 75th anniversary of the Holodomor, the 1932-33 famine-genocide in Ukraine in which millions died.
This year, the Government of Canada formally recognized the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33 as an act of genocide and Parliament passed legislation to establish Ukrainian Famine Genocide Memorial Day. November 22 will mark the first such commemorative day in Canada.
"Our government is committed to remembering the victims and heightening international awareness of genocide, and we are proud to be one of the first governments to recognize the Holodomor as a genocide," said Minister Kenney. "We take such actions to help ensure that similar atrocities never happen again."
The Minister will participate in an international forum entitled "Holodomor: The 75th Anniversary of Memory," and attend commemorative ceremonies and religious services in Kyiv. He will address members of the Ukrainian-Canadian business and cultural communities and hold a teleconference with Ukrainian-Canadian media.
During his visit, Minister Kenney will take the opportunity to meet with officials of the Ukrainian government and visit Bykivnia Memorial and Babyn Yar Holocaust sites. He will be accompanied by Canadian Senator Reynall Andreychuk, who was instrumental in passing legislation to formally recognize the Ukrainian Famine.
Canada Participates as Ukraine Remembers the Holodomor ^

November 21, 2008
Kyiv, Ukraine
A delegation lead by Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney is taking part in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Holodomor, the 1932-33 famine-genocide in Ukraine in which millions perished.

Joining Minister Kenney in Kyiv is Senator Raynell Andreychuk, the Honourary Chair of the Holodomor Committee of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Paul Grod, President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, and Eugene Czolij, President of the Ukrainian World Congress.

"This past year communities around the world participated in events commemorating the memory of the victims of this genocidal act. The Ukrainian Canadian community is grateful to the Parliament of Canada for formally recognizing the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33 as an act of genocide, " said Paul Grod, UCC National President. "Parliament passed legislation to establish Ukrainian Famine Genocide Memorial Day and November 22, 2008 will mark the first such official commemorative day in Canada."

"Our government is committed to remembering the victims of communism and heightening international awareness of genocide, and we are proud that our Conservative government recognized the Holodomor as a genocide, " said Minister Kenney. "We take such actions to help ensure that similar atrocities never happen again."

The Minister and members of the delegation will participate in an international forum entitled "Ukraine Remembers, the World Recognizes." The Memorial Week also includes the presentation of the National Memory Book, the opening of a documentary and art exhibit at Ukrainskyj Dim, documentary and film presentations, the premier performance of the Mourning Mother Oratorio, the unveiling of a new memorial to famine victims on Ivan Mazepa Street, a visit to the memorial sign in Mykhailivska Square, a liturgy at St. Sofia Cathedral and a candle light vigil across Ukraine and in countries around the world.

During their visits in Ukraine, Minister Kenney and Paul Grod will visit the Bykivnia Memorial, Babyn Yar and the Taras Shevchenko monument in Kyiv. They will also attend a liturgy dedicated to the Holodomor at the Ukrainian Catholic Church of St. Vasyliya.
Massive famine solemnly marked weeklong series of emotional events ^

[...] The tribute launched a weeklong series of events that wraps up next Saturday with a service at the Holodomor Monument at Winnipeg City Hall.
History records that Ukraine's nationalistic spirit made the country a political target. Stalin's regime retaliated by imposing soaring grain quotas to starve the population.
[...] That daughter's eyes watered in sympathy Sunday as she listened to her mother recount one of her harshest memories in detail.
"She saw with her own eyes in the city's train station: There were bodies laid out on benches and floors. These were people who were lying in the train station, not moving. The Russian police would gather the bodies up and take them away," daughter Lilia Sorokowska said, translating her mother's Ukrainian.
"They were starving to death in front of her, as they waited for trains to board to go to Moscow to get bread," the daughter continued.
People were trying to catch trains because there was bread in Moscow. The strongest made it, the mother said.
The weak watched the trains go and died, to be carried away later by police. "That is what I saw with my own eyes," the elderly woman then said in English.
Complete article:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/story/4250611p-4894230c.html

Address of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I on the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the Holodomor in Ukraine to the Entire Pious Ukrainian Nation

Beloved children of the Church, dear Ukrainians!

By God's Providence, we have another occasion for a paternal address to you. The Mother Church, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, hereby again addresses you to share with you not only joy, but also the grief caused by the Holodomor.

The few sons and daughters of the Ukrainian nation whom the Lord helped to survive at the time of the Ukrainian tragedy, the Holodomor of 1932-1933, increasingly often are leaving forever their homes, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Therefore, our address is first of all to young people representing the future of the Ukrainian state.

Together with you, we seek to comprehend not only the number of
Ukrainians killed by the famine, but, above all, the causes which led to the tragedy. Let us leave the study of the political and social causes to secular scholars. We will try to look at the Holodomor from the Church's viewpoint. Why did Ukraine, which from ancient times supplied bread to countries which lacked it, begin at a peaceful time to starve more severely than any European nation did in times of war?

The power of the newly-established state on the territory of the collapsed empire replaced the star of Bethlehem with one of human blood, and in place of Christ's purple, which absorbed the holy blood of the Savior of the world and which has been its holy banner, leading to eternal life and always followed by believing people, the red flag began flying, which made the innocent blood of the best sons and daughters of your nation invisible.

As soon as an oppressor comes to power, he does not care about the good of the governed native nation or respect its spiritual, cultural and material values. He knows well that sooner or later the people will begin to see and get rid of the yoke. Therefore, to ensure a long rule, it is necessary to terrorize the titular nation. The preserved historic documents of the Soviet Union are rich in information about the nationality of the repressed. The overwhelming majority of the destroyed, imprisoned or exiled people were Ukrainians who were nationally conscious or good managers. The inspirers, organizers, managers and chief executors of the extermination of the Ukrainians were people who can be described with
the words of Jesus Christ: "You belong to your father, the devil...He was a murderer from the beginning..." (Jn. 8:44)

Three holodomors, repressions, and war should have become for you, the Ukrainian nation, a stimulus to spiritual purification, moral improvement, return to your forefathers' Christian tradition with its own Church and internal Christian spirituality and not an imported external, formal Christianity verging on the worship of ritual. And our visit to Kyiv for the celebration of the 1020th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus-Ukraine showed us the real sons and daughters of
the Ukrainian Church, who pray to God and not to man, even if he holds a high post. We saw that even the terrors of the 20th century did not break the backbone of the nation, did not make the Ukrainian a slave and obedient executer of other people's intentions.

We call all to turn their faces to Kyiv, to Ukrainian spiritual
shrines, religious and cultural, to the Ukrainian nation: all people born in Ukraine have one and the same mother, Ukraine, which should be served by everyone, without exception, both those vested with power and "small" citizens. Remember the Savior's words: "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand." (Matt. 12:25)

Dear Ukrainians! Your past, whether joyful and victorious or sad and tragic, especially the Holodomor, will always remain with you, even when you try to forget, diminish or distort it to please your neighbors. The following words of the Apostle Paul apply to you: "Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to." (1st Cor. 7:24) Your calling is to be good Christians within the ancient Ukrainian Church tradition and citizens of Ukraine, as well as to witness unanimously to the tragedies of the Ukrainian nation in the 20th century, especially the Great Holodomor of 1932-1933, to the world. It is your duty to the
memory of your great grandparents, grandparents and parents, for there was no tragedy in human history when more representatives of a single nation were destroyed in one peaceful year than during the several years of a war. And no matter what anyone says or if they try to belittle the evil, this is the clear sign of genocide.

Children of Christ's Church, dear Ukrainians! In the days of
remembrance of the victims of the Great Holodomor of 1932-1933,
especially on its 75th anniversary, your Mother-Church, the
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, grieves together with you and expresses its deep and sincere sympathies to all of you and Ukraine's President, Viktor Yushchenko, who represents Ukraine before the world and through whose persistent efforts the world learns increasingly more information about the terrible tragedy of Ukrainians in the 20th century. We bring our prayers to our Lord Jesus Christ and ask the Most Gracious Savior to give rest in holy
dwellings to the souls of all those killed by the Famine and admit them to the assembly of His Martyrs as those innocently killed. May their memory live forever and may the heavenly blessing of the Most High be on you who are alive!

At the Fanar, 20 November 2008

Bartholomew Archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch
http://www.president.gov.ua/en/content/adr_bart_75.html

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstar...?id=1c2ecdf1-286d-4af8-9377-b606749737d4
Holodomor remembered: Local Ukrainians mark 75th anniversary of deadly famine

Luke Simcoe, The StarPhoenix
Published: Monday, November 24, 2008

When Rose Kinal was just nine years old, Soviet agents came to the small Ukrainian town where she lived and took away the life she had known.

"They took everything," she said. "Land, animals, food . . . everything."

Kinal, now 85, is a survivor of the Holodomor, a devastating famine perpetrated on the Ukrainian people between 1932 and 1933.

Members of Saskatoon's Ukrainian community march down College Drive from the Memorial Gates to St. Thomas More College;Saturday afternoon to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the famine that killed seven to 10 million people in the Ukraine in 1932-33
Under the direction of Josef Stalin, the Soviet regime imposed excessive grain quotas on the Ukraine, a region regarded as the agricultural heartland of the former Soviet Union.

Staunchly nationalist, many Ukrainians resisted collective farming. Those that did were blacklisted -- their towns and villages were cordoned off by soldiers and their food supplies confiscated.

Kinal remembers soldiers tapping on walls and floors to make sure they weren't missing any hidden stockpiles of food.

Death toll estimates vary widely for the famine, but according to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, seven million to 10 million Ukrainians, one-third of them children, died during the Holodomor.

At its peak, starvation was claiming the lives of 25,000 Ukrainians every day.

Those who survived did so under a veil of silence and terror. Informers were everywhere and many who opposed Stalin's policies were arrested or went missing.

Vasil Szalasznyi, Kinal's friend and the son of a Holodomor survivor, recalls the story of a widow who disappeared from his parents' town after refusing to hand over her cow to the Soviets.

"That story kind of stuck with me as a little kid," Szalasznyi said. "How could you do that to an old lady?"

Kinal's father -- a vocal Ukrainian nationalist -- was among those arrested by the Communists. Like so many others, he never returned.

"I don't know where my father is buried," Kinal said.

After her father's disappearance, Kinal and her siblings were put in the care of her grandfather but he soon succumbed to the famine. Left to fend for themselves, the children subsisted on whatever they could catch from a nearby river.

Beaten by Soviet soldiers if they were caught fishing, Kinal says her brothers set up nets in the river in the middle of the night, and supplemented their meager catches by foraging for crayfish.

Sadly, the Holodomor was only the beginning of a series of hardships for Kinal. When war broke out a few years later, she was captured by the Nazis and put to work in Germany.

"When the Germans came, we thought they would rescue us from communism," Kinal said. "But they stole just as much as the Soviets."

She says the Nazis even dug up Ukraine's fertile topsoil and shipped it back home for use on German farms.

After the Second World War ended, Kinal immigrated to Canada in 1950 with her husband and two young children. Her husband died in the 1960s, leaving her to raise her three children -- her youngest son was born in Canada -- by herself.

Just like during the famine, Kinal found ways to make ends meet. She became a teacher and taught at a Ukrainian school in Oshawa, Ont., before moving to Saskatchewan in 1993.

Through it all, Kinal has endured. Deeply religious, she credits much of her survival to her faith and, aside from a passing hostility towards some of Canada's more left-leaning politicians, she seems to have weathered the storms of her life fairly well. A spry and quick-witted 85, she brags about the accomplishments of her grandchildren, enjoys tending to her backyard garden and is happy to share a batch of freshly baked Ukrainian buns with a visiting reporter.

I will be attending as a guest of the Ukrainian ambassador the opening of the Holodomor exhibit at the United Nations this evening. A very large number of delegations will be attending - far more than we expected. The Russian Federation has declined to attend.

I.F.