Teachers' conference on the Great Famine held in Hartford (12/27/87)

Teachers' conference on the Great Famine held in Hartford

by Anisa Sawyckyj

HARTFORD, Conn. - The University of Hartford campus was the setting December 10 for a one-day teachers' conference on the Ukrainian famine of 1932-33. More than 120 persons, some 60 percent of them Connecticut teachers, attended the conference, which was designed to introduce the topic of the Ukrainian famine of 1932-33 to middle and high school teachers and to offer them a "cooperative teaching/learning" methodology for classroom study of the famine.

Participants in the conference, titled "The Ukrainian Terror-Famine: A Case Study in Stalinist Communism," were eligible to earn continuing education credit from the University of Hartford.

Open to the public, the gathering at the Konover Campus Center was also an opportunity for interested Ukrainian Americans from across Connecticut to learn more about the Ukrainian famine, and to observe how American teachers respond to a presentation on an important topic that for a time had appeared to be of interest only to Ukrainians.

A notable aspect of this teachers' conference was that it was sponsored by the Connecticut-Western Massachusetts Center for Human Relations of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, which had worked closely with Ukrainian community organizations and individuals in preparing the conference.

Co-sponsors of the event were the Hartford branch of Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine (AHRU), the Connecticut Council for the Social Studies and the Connecticut State Department of Education.

Cited for his special efforts on behalf of the conference was Ukrainian American Michael Mowchan, vice-president of the Connecticut Committee to Commemorate the Man-Made Famine in Ukraine, and a long-time community activist.

Conference program

The conference included a keynote address by Dr. James Mace, executive director of the U.S. Commission on the Ukraine Famine, a screening of the prize-winning film "Harvest of Despair," introduced by Robert Douglas, producer of public affairs for CPTV Channel 24 in Hartford, and a hands-on workshop session in which teachers made use of a curriculum package on the Ukrainian famine. This newly developed teaching module was designed for a five- to 10-day study unit in social studies or English classes at the middle and high school level.

Dr. Daniel Nussbaum, executive director of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, set the stage at the opening of the program: "We are here today to better understand the concerns and sensitivities of our Ukrainian American neighbors, many of whom are grandchildren and children of survivors of the terror-famine, or in some cases, survivors themselves...We are also here to lift up the Ukrainian terror-famine as an example to help all of us understand how genocide and other gross violations of human rights and of human life can occur."

Alluding to comparisons that are often made between the Jewish Holocaust and the holocausts of other nationalities, he added: "As you will see in the materials (of the curriculum package), we have consciously avoided a competitive mode. We have tried to avoid ... "suffering one-upmanship"... We are not here to compare one suffering to another except to learn."

Also speaking at the opening of the program was State Sen. Joseph H. Harper Jr., who lauded the organizers for preparing the conference on the Ukrainian famine and stated that, "To talk about the human rights issue and discuss it devoid of reference to this horrific and catastrophic event has been a serious flaw in our educational curriculum and process."

He traced the reluctance to deal with the issue of the Ukrainian famine in part to the foreign policy makers in the U.S. government who in a well-intentioned effort to deal with the Soviet Union "ignored issues which this country thought would be offensive to the Communist rulers of the Soviet Union."

At the conclusion of his remarks, State Sen. Harper presented legislative citations of recognition to three individuals for their continuing efforts to make public officials aware of human rights issues: Mr. Mowchan, Wasyl Gina of the Ukrainian Heritage Center in New Haven and Dr. Nussbaum.

As part of his remarks, State Sen. Harper read an official statement from Gov. William A. O'Neill of Connecticut which designates December 10, 1987, as Human Rights Day in Connecticut.

In his keynote address, Dr. Mace presented the basic similarities and differences between the Ukrainian famine and the Jewish Holocaust, which he suggested teachers could keep in mind as they watched the film "Harvest of Despair" and as they read further on the topic of the Ukrainian famine. These broad concepts include: the fate of both Ukrainians and Jews in the creation of modern nation-states in East Central Europe; the moral imperatives behind Nazi policies and those of Stalin; the concept of "denying genocide" employed by both governments; the perpetration of denial by collaborating governments and other parties; and the concept of human rights.

Ask Dr. Mace

The strong interest of teachers in the subject was reflected in the number and depth of questions posed to Dr. Mace after his address, as well as after the showing of the film, and during the afternoon workshop sessions at which he was also present.

The questions of the teachers revealed both their eagerness to learn about the specific case of the Ukrainian famine as well as to fit this information into the framework of genocides of other nationality groups and of human rights issues in general.

Dr. Mace was asked such questions as: Has Gorbachev's policy of glasnost allowed for more open discussion of the Ukrainian famine issue in the Soviet Union? How much information did the Roosevelt administration have about the Ukrainian famine, and what could the U.S. government have done about it? To what extent was the famine a byproduct of collectivization? How many non-Ukrainians died in the famine?

Questions were also raised about the genocide of the Cambodian people by the Cambodian government, the Nazi extermination of the Jews, the Brazilian government's policies toward indigenous Indian tribes in the Amazon River basin, and the relationship of the apartheid policy of the South African government to genocide.

Another issue raised during the question and answer period was the authenticity of the film footage in the "Harvest of Despair" film. A number of teachers who were very impressed with the film and planned to use it in their classes, nevertheless said they would feel compelled to advise their students that due to a dearth of visual documentation from the 1932-33 period, part of the historical film footage shown in the film derives from the Ukrainian famine of 1921.

AHRU's information table

Carrying out the human rights theme that pervaded this conference, an information table in the conference hall prepared by the Hartford branch of Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine revealed that human rights of Ukrainians in the Soviet Union are being violated to this day. Teachers viewed the exhibit which included not only books on the Ukrainian famine, but also pamphlets about the outlawed Ukrainian Helsinki Group, fliers about individual Ukrainian prisoners of conscience, and a display of exquisite embroideries produced by women political prisoners in the Soviet gulag.

The committee of AHRU members who prepared the exhibit and who worked with Dr. Nussbaum in helping to organize the conference included Sonia Melnyk, Lana Babij, Alicia Kerel and AHRU branch president Julie Nesteruk.

State human rights guide

Following a buffet luncheon, the program resumed with remarks by Daniel W. Gregg, social studies consultant for the Connecticut State Department of Education, which co-sponsored the conference. Mr. Gregg's remarks were of special interest, since it was to him that Ukrainian American individuals and organizations had expressed their concern and dismay last spring over the absence of material on the Ukrainian famine in Connecticut's recently released human rights resource guide titled "Human Rights: The Struggle for Freedom, Dignity and Equality" (1987). The study of human rights is optional in Connecticut's schools.

At a public meeting called by the Hartford branch of Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine (AHRU) last April, Mr. Gregg had committed the Connecticut State Department of Education to the inclusion of a Ukrainian famine study unit in the next edition of the state's human rights guide, to be revised in 1992.

As a short-range measure, he had offered then to distribute any existing Ukrainian famine curriculum materials to high school social studies departments across Connecticut which had received the human rights guide. A group from AHRU had subsequently met with Mr. Gregg, proposing and providing copies of Dr. Myron Kuropas's curriculum package for distribution. That package had originally been developed for a teacher's institute on the Ukrainian famine held in Chicago in 1986.

At the Hartford conference, Mr. Gregg reaffirmed the commitment of the Department of Education to the Ukrainian famine issue, and spoke of the state's human rights guide as "an unfinished document," continually evolving as more groups bring their concerns to the department's attention.

Following Mr. Gregg's remarks, a lively hands-on workshop session ensued, in which a newly developed Ukrainian famine study unit was utilized. As had been pointed out earlier by Dr. Nussbaum, this study unit is a supplement to the Ukrainian famine curriculum developed by Dr. Kuropas in Chicago, and the New York State Education Department's resource guide on the Ukrainian famine, both of which were relied upon in preparing the new study unit.

At the close of the day's session, teachers were able to pick up the Chicago curriculum package, which Dr. Kuropas had authorized for distribution, and copies of which had been provided courtesy of the Ukrainian National Association.

Hands-on workshop

The study unit used at the conference was prepared by Eve Soumerai, a human rights consultant and teacher at Conard High School in West Hartford. It was edited by a Ukrainian American educator, Dr. Joan Kerelejza, who is director of staff and curriculum development at the West Hartford Public Schools, and who, as Dr. Nussbaum described it, "put her heart and soul into it."

Ms. Soumerai, a survivor of the Jewish Holocaust in which her entire family perished, was the principal author of the Connecticut's current teachers' resource guide on human rights.

When asked by this writer about her motivation for becoming interested in the Ukrainian famine issue, Ms. Soumerai responded: "I can imagine being Ukrainian and not having my story told. I think it would be a very frustrating thing... Six million people died. Even though you can learn from other genocides, it is an experience that needs to be told."

Human rights literacy

In a thoughtful introduction to the afternoon workshop, Lorraine Waido, supervisor of the English Department at the Windsor School District, stressed that "human rights literacy" should not be considered an "add-on" to an already overburdened teaching program, but a "basic." She also called for a fresh teaching methodology as represented by the "cooperative teaching/learning program," which tries to counter the passivity, emotional neutrality and "teacher talk" that characterizes a great deal of the American educational system.

Ms. Soumerai took the floor to present the Ukrainian famine study unit. The goal, she said, is not simply to convey the historical content, but to personalize the Ukrainian famine information for each student, enabling the student to empathize with the experience of victims, and helping students to raise philosophical and moral questions about genocide.

Ms. Soumerai asked for a demonstration of the teaching method from Ruth Cion, a teacher at Conard High School who was utilizing the study unit in her class that week. Ms. Cion proceeded to lead the teachers through classroom exercises that would assist them in bringing the momentousness of a topic such as a famine to a class of mostly happy-go-lucky, well-fed American youngsters.

It was also announced that Dr. Mace would be at Conard High School the next day and be videotaped interacting with students using the study unit. The video would than become part of the study unit on the famine.

Teachers' response

The teachers participating in the conference said they were enthusiastic about the material presented and many planned to incorporate it into their classes.

Herbert J. Kreitner, chairman of the social studies department at New Britain High School called it "an excellent seminar, and a welcome addition to information on genocides of different nationality groups, many of which have been ignored to date, and some which are still being ignored."

Diana Green, who teaches ninth grade Russian history and government at the Norwich Free Academy, felt that the conference had enriched her knowledge of an important period of history. "I had taught my students about collectivization and dekulakization in the 1930s, but it's only now that I understand how the Ukrainian nationality issue fits into the topic, and how that issue continues to this day." She plans to incorporate some of the curriculum package materials and the film "Harvest of Despair" into her lesson plans in the future.

Ken Crawford, who has taught Russian and East European history for 35 years, said "this was the first conference I ever attended that had a passion to it, where people cared, and wore their heart and feelings on their sleeve."

He was referring to Ukrainian American teachers and non-teachers in the audience, including several clergymen of both denominations, who had asked questions, made points or shared personal experiences of the famine during the discussion periods.

Mr. Crawford teaches at a private school - the Hopkins Grammar Day School (grades 7 to 12) in Prospect Hill, New Haven. "I'm sorry there aren't more private school teachers here today," he commented.

The Ukrainian perspective

Out of all the teachers present, only a handful were Ukrainian Americans. They, too, had a positive response to the conference. Borys Krupa, a history teacher at Avon High School near Hartford. felt that "this curriculum places the Ukrainian famine in the overall framework of genocide. It allows you to teach the famine in many contexts, not only as a part of European history, but as a part of contemporary issues such as human rights."

Mr. Krupa also feels that the fact that the Ukrainian famine issue is presented by non-Ukrainians, such as Dr. Robert Conquest, Dr. Mace and others, is an advantage because then "no one can say that it comes from a bias. It's a soft sell approach."

Ukrainian American community members present at the conference reflected all ages and professions, teachers in unrelated fields, businesspersons, academics, clergy, community activists and senior citizens. Most came because of feelings of obligation or curiosity.

Gary Prestash of Old Saybrook, a technical specialist employed by the federal government, when asked why he was at the conference, responded: "I believe in supporting a Ukrainian issue like this. If Ukrainians don't support it, who will? What would a civil rights march be without the participation of blacks? Or a conference on the Jewish holocaust without the participation of Jews?"

Mr. Prestash, who was born in the U.S., heard about the conference through his parish, St. Mary's Ukrainian Orthodox Church in New Britain, where Dr. Kerelejza is also a parishioner, and whose Cultural Organization funded the printing of the conference curriculum covers.

Roma Hayda, a community activist from Bridgeport, was pleased with the conference in terms of "the program, the context, the presentation and participation." However she was disappointed that more Ukrainian American educators did not attend.

"It's vital for them to follow up on this issue to make sure that the Ukrainian famine is properly represented in future editions of the Connecticut Education Department's resource guide on human rights," she added.

When, after the conference, Dr. Mace was asked for an assessment of the day's event, he commented that he felt that "too often, the Ukrainian and Jewish communities don't work together. A conference like this is good for both groups." He also said that "Jewish scholars have been in the forefront of genocide studies, and in his experience "they have been especially receptive to the issue of the Ukrainian famine."

Intergroup dialogue

As for Dr. Nussbaum, he pointed out that the spirit of constructive dialogue is part of the mandate of the National Council of Christians and Jews, a human relations organization founded in 1927 with a goal of eradicating religious, racial and ethnic prejudice and discrimination. NCCJ's current program calls for creating closer ties between Jewish and East European communities in the U.S.

Dr. Nussbaum commented that he has noticed a great deal of "highs and lows" in Ukrainian-Jewish relations as reflected on the pages of The Ukrainian Weekly. He expressed the hope that this conference would contribute to creating one of the "highs," and that additional positive Jewish-Ukrainian cooperative efforts might take place.

NCCJ's future plans regarding the Ukrainian famine issue are for informal follow-up sessions with teachers who have used the Ukrainian terror-famine study unit, refinement of the curriculum package, the creation of a "human rights literacy network," and tentative plans for a similar teachers' conference to be held next spring in Massachusetts.

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