Campaign mounts to erect D.C. monument to Famine-Genocide (06/15/03)

Campaign mounts to erect D.C. monument to Famine-Genocide

by Markian Dobczansky
Ukrainian National Information Service

WASHINGTON - Sometimes a few letters can make a big impression. A lot of letters can make an even bigger one. The campaign to build a memorial in Washington, dedicated to the victims of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933, received a boost when letters written to Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), co-chair of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus, in support of such a project were presented at a hearing before the National Capital Memorial Commission of the National Park Service.

The commission met to consider H.R. 591, sponsored by Rep. Levin, which would provide federal land for the Ukrainian American community to build a monument memorializing the over 7 million victims of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide.

Testifying before the commission were David Ettinger, legislative assistant in Rep. Levin's office; Michael Sawkiw Jr., president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America; and Volodymyr Yatsenkivskyi, deputy chief of mission (DCM) at the Embassy of Ukraine. The commission comprises representatives from the District of Columbia mayor's office, the Commission on Fine Arts and the American Battle Monuments Commission, among others.

John Parsons, chairman of the National Capital Memorial Commission, brought the meeting to order promptly at 1 p.m. The Famine-Genocide memorial was the first item on the agenda and was introduced by the chairman of the commission, who remarked that there had been "a lot of letters related to this issue."

Representing Rep. Levin's office, Mr. Ettinger began the presentation by supplying members of the commission with copies of the congressman's prepared testimony before calling Mr. Sawkiw and Mr. Yatsenkivskyi as witnesses.

Rep. Levin's testimony called the Famine-Genocide "a political weapon [used] to destroy Ukrainian aspirations for independence." It also excerpted a letter written by Dr. Walter Lyzhohub of Redford Township, Mich., which was received by the congressman's office some time before he officially introduced the bill in January of this year. Dr. Lyzhohub's letter thanks Rep. Levin for his earnest efforts in promoting this issue and stresses the fact that the Famine-Genocide was created to "undermine [the] freedom-loving Ukrainian nation."

Continuing in his written testimony, Rep. Levin, who had planned to attend the hearing but was called to a vote in the House of Representatives at the time, went on to state: "Only through remembrance and recognition can we stop such acts of senseless cruelty and violence against humankind from happening again."

Next to testify was Mr. Sawkiw, who spoke on behalf of the Ukrainian American community in his capacity as president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, which has been working side-by-side with Rep. Levin in initiating this project. The UCCA president gave a history of the Famine-Genocide, and a description of Ukrainian American relief efforts at that time, and concluded by calling upon members of the commission to give their approval to a monument that would "serve as not only a memorial to those who perished but also as a tool to help educate the global community about such heinous crimes."

Mr. Sawkiw called attention to the fact that the world knows very little about this crime against humanity, mentioning the case of The New York Times correspondent Walter Duranty, who assisted the Soviet regime in covering up the death of 7 million to 10 million people. "Duranty's dispatches," stated Mr. Sawkiw, "may have influenced the U.S. government's formal recognition of the Soviet Union in 1933 - at the height of the Famine-Genocide. This official recognition sanctioned Stalin's repressive regime, which led to decades of continued brutality and the slaughter of untold millions."

The UCCA president also pointed out that Ukrainian Americans were instrumental in establishing the U.S. Commission on the Ukraine Famine, which was the first official American recognition of the Great Famine of 1932-1933 as a genocide.

Mr. Sawkiw then introduced Mr. Yatsenkivskyi, deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of Ukraine, who testified on behalf of the Ukrainian government. His statement provided emotional impact as it focused attention on the horrible sufferings of Ukrainians during the Famine-Genocide, referring to it as a "dark page of our nation's history." Mr. Yatsenkivskyi summarized by saying, "Building a Famine-Genocide monument would be an act of justice." The deputy chief of mission also paused to express the gratitude with which the Ukrainian people would greet such a memorial. He acknowledged the achievements of the Ukrainian American community in similar matters, specifically mentioning the monument to poet Taras Shevchenko in Washington, which was built on their initiative in 1964.

These testimonies were taken into account by the commission, which did not immediately release its findings to the public. Included with the testimonies were letters from various Ukrainian Americans organizations, as well as Ukrainian government officials and leaders of the Ukrainian Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

Letters were received from Patriarch Lubomyr Husar and Metropolitan Stefan Soroka of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, of which Metropolitan Soroka declared that the memorial "will boldly reflect this nation's commitment to freedom and democracy for all peoples and all nations."

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. and the Ukrainian Orthodox League of America also sent in letters, as did Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate, who stated that the proposed monument in Washington would "facilitate friendship between the Ukrainian and American people."

The Shevchenko Scientific Society, which has held three scholarly conferences on the Famine-Genocide, called it a "monstrous example of man's inhumanity to man." Support for the measure was expressed also by the Ukrainian National Association, the Organization for the Defense of Lemkivschyna, the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee, the Organization for the Defense of Four Freedoms for Ukraine, Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization and the Ukrainian American Youth Association (SUM). Media organizations were represented by the Ukrainian-language newspapers Svoboda and America. The Chicago-based financial institutions Selfreliance Ukrainian American Federal Credit Union and 1st Security Federal Savings Bank also added their voices. For its part, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America provided letters from its national offices in New York and its branches in Illinois, Michigan, Philadelphia and New York City (the latter is known as the United Ukrainian American Organizations of Greater New York).

Through the active work of the UCCA's Kyiv bureau, members of the Ukrainian government also joined the chorus of support letters. Ukraine's Minister for Foreign Affairs Anatolii Zlenko underscored that a monument "will serve as a reminder that the battle for human rights is a global issue that cannot and must not be forgotten." Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States Kostyantyn Gryshchenko wrote of the Famine-Genocide as "one of the best-kept secrets of modern history" and stated that "the erection of a monument will prove that the 'Holodomor' is not only [a] Ukrainian tragedy, but the tragedy of all civilized society."

Additional letters arrived from the chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament, Volodymyr Lytvyn; member of Ukraine's Parliament and 52nd president of the United Nations General Assembly Hennadii Udovenko; and the leader of the Our Ukraine parliamentary faction, Viktor Yushchenko. In his lengthy letter, Mr. Yushchenko referred to the "silent hell" created in Ukraine when entire villages slowly died out from hunger.

All told, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and Rep. Levin's office have received nearly 30 letters of support.

After the testimonies were presented, members of the commission addressed questions to Messrs. Yatsenkivskyi and Sawkiw. They asked what similarities and differences there are between this proposed monument and other monuments in Washington, such as those dedicated to Mahatma Ghandi and Czech President Tomas Masaryk. In addition, they asked if there were similar efforts to erect a monument to the victims of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide under way in Ukraine today, to which Mr. Yatsenkivskyi replied in the affirmative.

Mr. Ettinger and Mr. Sawkiw were guardedly optimistic following the meeting, believing the commission to be receptive to the idea of a Famine memorial, especially in light of the support expressed by members of the community. The commission's findings will be made public within future weeks.

The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America encourages individuals and organizations to continue writing letters of support, both to Rep. Levin and to their individual representatives in Congress in support of H.R. 591. For information about the Famine-Genocide memorial project, the campaign to revoke Walter Duranty's Pulitzer Prize, and 70th anniversary Famine-Genocide commemorations around the world, readers may visit the UCCA's website at http://www.ucca.org.

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