UKELODEON: For The Next Generation (11/14/99)

UKELODEON

For The Next Generation

The Great Famine and our duty

by Markian Hadzewycz

Every Ukrainian knows - or at least should know - how destructive Communism really is. We all are familiar with Joseph Stalin, and how he starved to death between 7 million and 10 million Ukrainians in 1932-1933 via his policy of forced collectivization.

Sadly, there were and still are people who deny Soviet responsibility for this artificially created genocidal Famine. One such person is a professor of English at Montclair State University in Upper Montclair, N.J. This Famine-denier has created a website (http://www.shss.montclair.edu/english/furr/politics.html) that contains his political beliefs, as well as his thoughts on the Great Famine. According to this professor, the Famine of 1932-1933 was a natural disaster that killed no more than a few hundred thousand people. The "lie" about Soviet responsibility for the "man-made famine" [his quotation marks], he says, was started by anti-Communist "Ukrainian fascist" groups such as the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists that worked with their "Nazi bosses."

I discovered this professor's webpage when perusing the site at infoukes.com. I read his section on Stalin and was outraged. Over a period of several weeks, I sent countless e-mails countering his outright lies. The debate was on: the professor quoted books and articles, while I cited official sources from the governments of the U.S. and Ukraine (both Soviet and post-Soviet), eyewitness reports, etc. I then escalated the debate by sending out information about the website to others. Pretty soon the professor was receiving unexpected e-mail condemning his website and his views on the famine.

Hopefully, this commentary will encourage others to act. It should be the duty of all Ukrainians to arm themselves with the facts and to tell the world the truth about the Famine-genocide.

PS: Do not forget about the solemn procession and memorial service dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Great Famine that will take place in New York on November 20.

Markian Hadzewycz may be reached at [email protected]

Young scientist wins Dream Trip

PARMA, Ohio - Larissa Paschyn, 14, a student of Parma Senior High School, competed in the Discovery Young Scientists Challenge in Washington. As noted in the October issue of Ukelodeon, Larissa was selected from over 50,000 students around the country that competed at state and regional science fairs; 4,000 of these students were selected for the Discovery Young Scientist Challenge; and 40 finalists competed in the final challenge held October 13-17 at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

The competition involved special challenges in the areas of physical anthropology, entomology, mineralogy, chemistry and marine ecology. The finalists also competed in special "Communications Challenges" and presented their science fair projects to a panel of scientists. Scholarships were presented to the top 10 winners along with a variety of special awards.

Larissa, whose project was titled "Wetland or Wasteland," has been studying wetland habitats for over three years. She plans to continue her research, is interested in many scientific disciplines, and is considering careers in astrophysics, environmental science, archaeology or medicine.

Larissa was awarded 10th place in the overall competition and will receive a scholarship, as well as various other prizes.

In addition, she won a special award offered by the Travel Channel: the "Dream Science Trip." Finalists completed an essay describing their dream science trip. Larissa wrote that her desire was to visit a site on the Dnipro River in Ukraine, where remnants of the Trypillian culture were discovered in 1893.

She also wrote: "The Trypillian culture has been dated back to 7000 B.C. The digs there have uncovered beautiful ceramics, tools, paintings and woven patterned textiles. Based on scientific analyses, these are theories that the Trypillian people were agriculturists and cattle breeders.

"While most civilizations were nomadic, the Trypillians established 2,000 settlements and sepulchral mounds in this region. They built villages, 10,000-person settlements with two-story houses and temples in beautiful circular and spiral developments. They had started to smelt bronze and had even built observatories and had calendars. Little is known of their religion, however they were matriarchal and their goddesses far outshine the smaller male gods.

"I believe that it was probably these Trypillian people who were first to cross into the great China desert, based on recent mummy findings in the region. The Trypillian culture mysteriously disappeared around 4000 B.C., but the influence of these ancient people is still evident in the Ukrainian culture and art of today.

"I am of Ukrainian descent, and I would love to be able to work on the excavation and archeological digs of the Trypillian culture. Perhaps now, 106 years after they were first discovered, more of their secrets could be revealed. For me it would be a trip not only to the dawn of civilization but to the dawn of my own heritage."

Larissa's was the winning essay and, as a result, she will travel to Ukraine, probably during the summer of 2000, courtesy of Discovery/Travel Channel to fulfill her dream.

Larissa is the daughter of Lisa and Oleh Paschyn of Parma, Ohio, who, as Mrs. Paschyn noted, are "still in disbelief that this happened."

Visiting history during a European vacation

by Adrianna, Nicholas and Olga Rudyk

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y. - How often do you hear vacationers say: "Boy, after this vacation, I'll need a vacation." That's exactly what we said this summer. Not a minute of rest for the three of us.

We admit we do not regret any of it. During our tour of Europe we made sure not to forget who we are. Our photo album proves it.

The most memorable and moving goals of our trip were to track down the final resting places of Otaman Symon Petliura in Paris and Col. Yevhen Konovalets in Rotterdam, Holland. We felt a part of history when we bowed our heads to these two great men and said our prayers.

While in Germany we also paid a visit to the American military base in Schweinfurt. It was there that our father (and husband) Stephen Rudyk was born in 1946 in a displaced persons camp. His parents, Stephanie and Michael, had wound up at the camp after World War II and were married there. Later, Stephen's brother, William, was stationed in Schweinfurt when he joined the U.S. Army. (A story about our visit to our roots appeared in the Crusader, a newspaper serving the U.S. Army in Germany.)

It is an adventure we will always remember and recall as highlights of our vacation.

Camp memories: a great summer

by Maya Ripecky

CHICAGO - As the school year began, I remembered summer as a time of fun and games, long talks at midnight, sunsets on the beach and blisters. It was a great vacation.

My summer started with camp. I went to a three-week Plast Ukrainian scouting camp in Whitehall, Mich. It was held at Camp Owassipe, which belongs to the Boy Scouts of America. Our camp name was "Land of the Morning Sun," which refers to a book about the Scythians in Ukraine.

Camp started with a very thorough check for candy, food, body glitter, nail polish and other make-up, none of which were allowed. We then parted with our parents and began setting up our tents. Our counselors informed us that if we said one phrase in English, we would have to write an eight-line poem about that phrase in Ukrainian and read it at dinner.

Later we said a short "hello" to all the head Plast people and went to liturgy. When we got ready for bed we were notified that every night we were going to take turns "guarding" the camp. This is an old Plast tradition. The week ended with no problems. We had a few hours to stay with our parents and fill up on candy.

The second week began with our counselors telling us that we would have to build a gate ("brama" in Ukrainian). So we grabbed axes and saws, and began chopping all the dead trees we could find (hard on the hands). We were rewarded, though, with a great looking entrance (better than the one the boys built). In the middle of the second week, everyone got sick (well, almost everyone). Our camp had its own quarantine. We also started to prepare for our overnight trip to Lake Michigan.

The third week began with a bang. We got our tastes of fun (and great views) on Lake Michigan, when we had our "day at the beach," ending with burnt hot dogs and a walk on the beach as the sun set. Camp ended with hugs from our friends, and tears.

Before I knew it, camp was over. It was sad to part with friends and counselors, but I look forward to seeing them at camp next year. I hope I will have as much fun next year at our camp at "PK" (Pysanyi Kamin in Middlefield, Ohio) as I did this year.

A Halloween costume

Roman Zyla of Etobicoke - that's a city outside of Toronto, in Ontario, Canada - was the only UKELODEON reader who sent Mykola Myshka a drawing of his costume for Halloween. So, do you want to know what Roman was dressed as? He was a chef.

Mishanyna

Locate the words or phrases below to solve our November Mishanyna. All of the words are somehow related to this month.

cranberry, fall, freedom, harvest, Indians, independence, Lviv, Mayflower, Pilgrims, pumpkin, November, Remembrance Day, Squanto, Thanksgiving, turkey, Veterans Day, yam.

Hard work pays off at talent show

by Sofia Padkowsky and Natalie Rakowsky

CEDAR KNOLLS, N.J. - On Saturday, September 25, we took part in a Ukrainian talent show during the Ukrainian Festival in Malapardis Park. We decided to recite "Rozryta Mohyla" (The Plundered Grave), a poem by the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko.

Although we were very well prepared by Iwanna Kononiw, we were still extremely nervous while delivering the poem. As we got up on stage and began reciting the poem, our hearts began racing and our hands trembled while holding the microphones. Despite our nerve-wracking feelings, we delivered the poem flawlessly.

Since we felt we hadn't even placed, we began to gather our things and leave, but at that moment the winners were announced: "The second-place winners are: Sofia Padkowsky and Natalie Rakowsky." We won.

We couldn't believe it! We were ecstatic. Relief, surprise, happiness, along with many other emotions rushed through us as we giddily walked over to receive our prize. Finally, satisfaction took over. Our hard work had paid off.

Myshka's Thanksgiving

[Mykola, why not have Mama make holubtsi or kotliety for Thanksgiving this year?]

OUR NEXT ISSUE:

UKELODEON is published on the second Sunday of every month. To make it into our next issue, dated December 12, please send in your materials by December 3.

Please drop us a line: UKELODEON, The Ukrainian Weekly, 2200 Route 10, P.O. Box 280, Parsippany, NJ 07054; fax, (973) 644-9510. Call us at (973) 292-9800; or send e-mail to [email protected].

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