International Holodomor Memorial Day is on November 28, but the entire month of November is considered to be a time to remember the millions of our kinsmen deliberately killed in the genocidal famine of 1932-1933 by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and his henchmen.
A major commemoration of the Holodomor, or more precisely, the fifth anniversary of the unveiling of the Holodomor Memorial in Washington, was already held on November 7. Featured were remarks by Ukrainian and U.S. officials, and diplomats from Latvia, Poland, Lithuania and Hungary; information about the Holodomor and the striking memorial in Washington designed by architect Larysa Kurylas; as well as photos from the unveiling itself back in 2015, which was attended by thousands from across the United States. There were also comments by diaspora leaders, including Ukrainian World Congress President Paul Grod, Ukrainian Congress Committee of America President Andriy Futey, and Michael Sawkiw Jr., chairman of the U.S. Holodomor Committee. You can view the moving 32-minute-long video on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIeT44EL1Rk&feature=youtu.be).
There are many other events dedicated to the Ukrainian genocide that will be held online, ranging from the Toronto Annual Ukrainian Famine Lecture (being held on the day we write these words, November 19, under the sponsorship of Holodomor Research and Education Consortium, the Petro Jacyk Program for the Study of Ukraine, the Canadian Foundation for Ukrainian Studies and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Toronto Branch) and commemorations featuring testimony from the children of survivors (November 22, organized by the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center in partnership with the Kyiv Mohyla Foundation of America) to countless local events throughout North America and the world.
Mindful of COVID-19 restrictions and the welfare of our community, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America has informed the public that the annual service from St. Patrick Cathedral in New York will be livestreamed in an abbreviated format. The UCCA advised community members not to travel to New York and instead to watch from the safety of their homes. The panakhyda will be led by Metropolitan Antony of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. and Bishop Paul Chomnycky of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford, Conn. Organizers are sure to make the service available for viewing later, so be sure to watch for announcements.
The UOC-U.S.A. has scheduled an outdoor commemoration for Saturday, November 28, at 5 p.m. in South Bound Brook, N.J., near the iconic St. Andrew Memorial Church (consecrated in 1965), which is the world’s first memorial to the victims of the Holodomor. “Let’s Honor Together the Memory of the Innocent Victims of the Artificially Created Genocidal Famine – Holodomor in Ukraine,” the UOC-U.S.A. exhorts on its website (uocofusa.org).
From all the foregoing, readers can see that this year’s remembrances of the Holodomor will be different, as few of us will be able to attend and thus to personally bear witness to the genocide of our nation. It is a duty that we have willingly assumed, year after year, in order to speak for the millions lost.
Next year, however, we hope to be able to pray and remember in person during the annual Holodomor memorial service that is already scheduled for November 20, 2021, at St. Patrick Cathedral.