Famine amendment causes furor over genocide studies bill in N.J. (12/26/93)

Famine amendment causes furor over genocide studies bill in N.J.

by Walter Bodnar

NEWARK, N.J. - A Ukrainian famine amendment to the Holocaust studies bill has caused a furor in the New Jersey State Legislature. On Monday, December 13, State Sen. Ronald A. Rice (D-Essex County) introduced an amendment to S-2155 (after it passed in the State Assembly as A-2780), which stated that the genocidal 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine should be added to its list of genocides as part of the state's high school curriculum. The "Rice amendment" was accepted by a vote of 27-0 in the Senate on Thursday, December 16. An additional amendment sponsored by Sen. Randy Corman (R-Middlesex) to include the Polish Katyn genocide was passed by a vote of 28-0.

Assembly Speaker Garabed Haytaian (R-Warren) said he was shocked at the Senate action, especially since he had specifically asked that the Senate Education Committee accept his bill without changes. This the committee did, but when it reached the floor of the Senate, several amendments were approved and then sent back to the Assembly. Co-sponsor Assemblywoman Harriet Derman (R-Middlesex) amended the bill so that it reverted to its original form (without the Ukrainian and Polish amendments) and was then returned to the Senate.

On December 16, Senate President Donald DiFrancesco (R-Union) refused to post the bill as re-amended, explaining that "the Senate moved the bill in the form it was interested in" during the previous session. If the bill is not resolved at the upcoming final session of the State Legislature on January 10, the bill will die and will have to be introduced anew.

Jewish organizations, as reported in The Record, New Jersey's second largest newspaper, threatened "to withdraw political support from legislators if they insisted on putting Jewish victims of the Nazis in the same bill with Poles and Ukrainians, who they said suffered atrocities but, they said, also took part in the killing machine as camp guards." Paul Winkler of the state's Holocaust Education Commission was quoted as saying: "The tragedy of the Holocaust with its victims and survivors is diminished when placed in the same paragraph with other events not as catastrophic as the Nazi systematic planned extermination of a whole nation or ethnic group."

The original bill was introduced in September by Assembly Speaker Haytaian, who is of Armenian descent, and Ms. Derman, with a proviso that in addition to mandating the teaching of the Nazi Holocaust in the high schools of New Jersey, the Cambodian and Armenian genocides were to be included in the bill. This caused the Turkish community to vehemently protest the inclusion of the Armenian tragedy as a genocide on the grounds that the slaughter of more than a million Armenians was caused by civil war.

Sens. Jack Sinagra (R-Middlesex) and Louis Kosco (R-Bergen) favored the bill without amendments. The New Jersey School Boards Association's John Henderson argued that the bill as written would create discord and resentment among the groups that have been glossed over or omitted on purpose and that its implementation "is more likely to foster intolerance and inflame passions." What looked like a simple, easily legislatable bill ran into a snag.

The poignancy and interest in this legislation was heightened for the Ukrainian community because 1993 marks the 60th anniversary of the tragic genocidal famine in Ukraine. In comparison to events marking the 50th anniversary 10 years ago, the 60th anniversary generated hardly a ripple of activity in the U.S., and the year passed almost unnoticed in governmental and academic circles, with the exception of several congressional statements.

In order to stimulate recognition of this anniversary on the state level, Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine (AHRU) approached Gov. Jim Florio and New Jersey state legislators of the 28th district - Senator Rice, Assemblymen Harry McEnroe (D-Essex) and James Zangari (D-Essex) - to issue a resolution for this solemn occasion. They agreed with alacrity. The public presentation of Gov. Florio's resolution took place in August.

The two resolutions issued by the New Jersey State Assembly and the State Senate were publicly presented on Monday, December 13, in both chambers of the State Legislature and happened to coincide with voting on the bill and its amendments. In addition to Messrs. McEnroe and Zangari, Assemblymen Stephen Mikulak (R-Middlesex) and Ernest Oros (R-Middlesex) joined in the sponsorship and presentation in the Assembly.

With the Ukrainian Americans standing in the center of the podium, a short program was opened by Assemblyman McEnroe, who succinctly explained what the resolution entailed. He was followed by Bozhena Olshaniwsky, president of AHRU, who thanked all of the gathered assemblymen for their support. William Bahrey, president of the Ukrainian Evangelical Alliance of North America, then rendered a prayer and a spiritual message. Bronyslawa Skorupsky gave an emotional message and a tearful eyewitness reminiscence of her childhood experience during the raging famine. The gathering listened spellbound as she recalled the horrors of the hunger and cold of the fatal winter of the Great Famine. A framed copy of the resolution was then presented to Mrs. Olshaniwsky.

Other members of the Ukrainian American community and organizations in attendance were: the Very Rev. Bohdan Zelechiwskyj, pastor of the Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church; the Rev. John Fatenko, St. George Ukrainian Orthodox Church; Irene Plys, St. Josaphat's Church; Joseph Trush, Ukrainian American Coordinating Council; Maria Polanskyj, president of the New Jersey Regional Council of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America (UNWLA); George Miziuk, commander of the Ukrainian American Veterans, New Jersey State Department; Daria Kuzyk, Ukrainian Patriarchal Society and Ukrainian National Home in Trenton; Vera Sendzik, Ukrainian American Coordinating Council; Olha Dubyk, UNWLA Branch 119; Zirka Bekesewycz, League of Ukrainian American Voters; and Walter Bodnar, Ukrainian National Center: History and Information Network.

Later, the presentation of the Senate resolution took place on the Senate floor. Sen. Rice spoke eloquently on the horrors of the famine and the need to educate Americans about it. He stressed the values held by Ukrainians in New Jersey, mentioning that they often have been overlooked by governmental officials and not fully appreciated for the contributions they have made to their communities. "The United States was founded on cultural diversity to make this the strongest country in the world," he said. No one from the Ukrainian group was permitted to speak, since the genocide bill was being presented on the Senate floor for a vote and supportive statements might be construed as lobbying for the bill.

However, Sen. Rice saved the day, since he was not only the initial sponsor of the commemorative Senate resolution but was also the prime mover in initiating the amendment to include Ukraine's famine in the genocide bill. These events generated a lively interest among individuals and special interest groups that packed the galleries and chambers, as well as reporters from various newspapers and TV stations.

Newspapers that carried articles about this legislation the next day included The New York Times, The Star-Ledger, The Record (Hackensack), The Daily Record (Morristown) and The Asbury Press. The Associated Press also ran a story. Some newspapers reported on the progress of legislative activity for several days.

During the Tuesday and Wednesday prior to voting in the Senate, AHRU activated and coordinated a network of New Jersey callers and encouraged them to contact the offices of their state senators and urge them to support the amended version of S-2155. In addition to Messrs. Rice, McEnroe and Zangari, who had been approached regarding the legislation on December 2, AHRU had written letters on December 11 to all members of the State Senate with a similar message. Letters were also written by Mr. Miziuk, state commander of the Ukrainian American Veterans. Mrs. Kuzyk and other Trenton Ukrainians alerted AHRU to the impending impasse when they sent newspaper clippings of local reports on this legislation.

The bill in question was seen by the initial sponsors as part of the state's anti-hate campaign. Reaction to the bill has been unexpectedly and surprisingly volatile. Ukrainians and Poles argued for inclusion, while Jews and Turks have argued for exclusion of amendments in the bill. However, all argued for different reasons. Murray Laulicht of the New Jersey State Commission on Holocaust Education in a published report stated that the inclusion of the Polish and Ukrainian amendments as "wholly misguided" because they would "dilute and even deny the uniqueness of the Holocaust." Although, in his opinion, the Ukrainian and Polish amendments would water down the whole point of the Holocaust education, the inclusion of the "efforts of Turkish groups to deny the Armenian genocide may be instructive in assessing the methods and motives of those who deny the Holocaust," while the Cambodian event raises the question of "whether the United States and its allies refused to acknowledge the genocide and help save its victims."

The New Jersey School Boards Association objected to the bill because it tells teachers what they must teach.

It was reported that Mr. Haytaian was "passionate in arguing for the specific inclusion" of the Armenian genocide that took place some 80 years ago, but was "surprised and angered" that the Ukrainian and Polish amendments were added to his bill.

Since further voting on the bills A-2780 and S-2155 was postponed until January 10, there is time enough to continue to make comments on the bill. For further information regarding these actions, please call or write to: AHRU, 43 Midland Place, Newark, NJ 07106; telephone, (201) 373-9729; fax, (201) 373-4755.

| Home Page |