Sudbury unveils educational project (12/19/99)

COMMEMORATING THE FAMINE-GENOCIDE OF 1932-1933

Sudbury unveils educational project

SUDBURY, Ontario - In response to the proclamation of a Day of Remembrance of Famine Victims by the current government of Ukraine and in recognition of 66th anniversary of this Forced Famine of 1932-1933, Sudbury's Ukrainian community has unveiled a new educational project aimed at assisting those studying xenophobia and genocide to understand the "Holodomor."

On the eve of the remembrance day, Friday, November 26, the Sudbury Regional Council of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress donated to the Sudbury Public Library and to the Laurentian University Library video copies of the award-winning and authoritative film titled "Harvest of Despair." In April 1985 this film won first prize and a gold medal at the Houston International Film Festival. This Canadian-made film explores the reasons this man-made famine remains so little known and exposes the campaigns of concealment.

Commenting on this educational effort, the president of the UCC's Ontario Provincial Council, Walter Halchuk, noted: "As we prepare for the new millennium, few Canadians are aware of the fact that Ukraine lost more of its population than any other country this century. Millions perished in Soviet and Nazi death mills. Stalin's executions by starvation in 1932-1933 contributed in large part to this carnage. Hunger was and remains just as lethal as a bullet."

He continued: "We are particularly fortunate to have these facts depicted in English, in video form, making them accessible to a broader viewership. In 1932-1933, roughly one-quarter of the population of an entire nation was killed by deliberate starvation. This film provides testimony of a lost generation that has been silenced for too long. It provides an eloquent legacy for the future, making sure that the generations of the 21st century recognize the evil that brought about this great European tragedy. We hope that teachers as well as students will make use of this valuable tool to help students come to grips with one of the greatest episodes of genocide in the 20th century."

The UCC Ontario Provincial Council also supports an inclusive museum, where genocides like the Great Famine, an instrument of Soviet state policy that liquidated more than 10 million Ukrainian landowners in 1932-1933, will be remembered and studied.

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