EDITORIALS (10/16/83)

EDITORIALS

Famine follow-up

The 18,000 or so Ukrainians who took part in the October 2 famine commemorations in Washington probably went home with the feeling of a job well done, satisfied that they did their part in helping to publicize Ukraine's unknown holocaust. The event did get fairly broad local media coverage, and although the crowd could have been larger, the turn-out did manage to convey the community's determination to both inform the public about this wanton atrocity and its 7 million victims, and to honor their memory.

But lest any sense of complacency creep in, we must remember that the job is far from over. The end of the 50th anniversary of the famine should not mark the end of our efforts. We should be oriented toward the future, not just the past.

This year had its share of successes. Scores of newspapers across the country carried stories on the famine, most focusing on local observances. The Wall Street Journal, one of the nation's most influential newspapers, printed a feature article on the op-ed page. Perhaps more importantly, mention of the famine began cropping up in various articles as an example of Soviet behavior, something that certainly would not have happened before the anniversary campaign got under way.

But there is more to be done. Local activists should now work to get the history of the famine included in school curricula. Seminars and public observances should be organized. Community support is doubtlessly needed for the several famine film projects now in progress. A coordinated strategy for the broadest possible distribution of these documentaries should also eventually be mapped out. Local committees set up to commemorate the anniversary, rather than simply disband, should maintain a structure for continued activities.

The Great Famine was our national tragedy. The 50th anniversary was an important milestone, but the wantonness of the crime is eternal. We should continue striving to ensure that it becomes fixed in the consciences of our fellow Americans and the future generations that will make up our community.

Walesa's prize

The Nobel committee's decision to award this year's peace prize to Lech Walesa is both timely and commendable. First, the decision was not as tendentious as may first appear. Mr. Walesa clearly deserved the award. If we accept Andrei Sakharov's premise that genuine peace is impossible without respect for human rights and human dignity, then Mr. Walesa's efforts on behalf of Polish workers - indeed, the Polish nation - made him a logical choice. The Solidarity movement, thanks largely to Mr. Walesa's insistence, never advocated violence. Those that died or were wounded in demonstrations were attacked by government thugs in battle gear wielding truncheons and backed by water cannon.

Giving the prize to Mr. Walesa does have a political dimension, however. It helped put Mr. Walesa back on center stage, while boldly countering recent attempts by the Polish regime to discredit his character. The latest try was a T.V. program that presented a conversation allegedly held between Mr. Walesa and his brother in which a voice said to belong to the union leader casually boasted of amassing great wealth from awards given to him in the West.

Although most Poles weren't buying the government's latest hatchet job, it is clear that the Jaruzelski regime still considers Mr. Walesa a force to be reckoned with. Winning the Nobel Peace Prize can only serve to further bolster his stature among Poles who already consider him a folk hero, and make subsequent government efforts to blacken his character seem ridiculous and puny.

Ukrainian Book Month

The month of October has traditionally been set aside as Ukrainian Book Month. Never heard of it, you say? Well, as the name implies, the month is dedicated to the promotion of Ukrainian literature and, more specifically, Ukrainian-language books.

If, as the old saw goes, "a book is the only immortality," then Ukrainian literature is the storehouse of our national legacy. Books contain our dreams, our aspirations, our humor, our outlook. For those of us born here, they provide glimpses of the cultural and spiritual raw material that form part of our being. They also teach us and our children.

But they do all this only if we open them. If we do not, they die. And if they die, a literary language and tradition will pass with them, and that would truly be a tragedy. Those of us who can read Ukrainian should buy Ukrainian-language books, read them and pass them on. Those who do not can learn the language, because among our books are books to teach the language in which other wonderful books are written.

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