Expedition remembers 1932-1933 Famine-Genocide in Ukraine

Religious Information Service of Ukraine

LVIV - An academic and memorial expedition "In the Footsteps of the Famine of 1933" visited three southern regions of Ukraine, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa.

Initiated by the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC), the purpose of the expedition is to observe the 70th anniversary of the Soviet-instigated Famine in Ukraine. Members of the expedition group, with leader Anna Semeniuk, reported on the journey on June 11 at a press conference held in the UGCC Metropolitan's Palace in Lviv.

The expedition visited areas where large numbers of people died as a result of the Famine, studied archival data regarding the events of 1932-1933, gathered testimonies from witnesses of the Famine, visited places where victims of the Famine are buried, and celebrated memorial services that involved various religious confessions.

In Odesa, representatives of the UGCC, Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate, as well as the Anglican, United Methodist and German Lutheran Churches took part in joint memorial services for victims of the Great Famine. Ecumenical memorial services were held also in Kherson and Mykolaiv.

"We had the courage to witness to the truth," said Redemptorist Father Mykhailo Voloshyn, a member of the expedition. "If nothing is said about it, the evil will be repeated. Various confessions were open to learning about the truth."

The members of the expedition noted that they gave special attention to the spiritual consequences of the Famine. They said that the Famine had destroyed a generation of the local population and, as a result, religious and national traditions and spirituality were not handed down. They said that in these regions the lack of spiritual-pastoral care rules and is strongly felt, and that various new religious movements are taking advantage of this void.

According to Ms. Semeniuk, materials are now being prepared for an international congress on the Famine-Genocide to be held this October. An appeal will also be sent to the United Nations to acknowledge on the international level the fact that this was a genocide of Ukrainians.

Ms. Semeniuk said that, on the Ukrainian governmental level, the president's decree of a year in memory of the Famine was not being carried out, and more than once members of the expedition had encountered opposition from civil authorities.

Members of the expedition met with school pupils and college-age students to talk about the events of the Famine and to encourage the younger generation to learn more about this genocide.

The members of the expedition thanked the hierarchy of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church for its support of this action and expressed hope for similar support from the Ukrainian diaspora.

The second stage of the expedition will travel to the central Ukrainian regions of Khmelnytsky, Vinnytsia, Cherkasy and Kirovohrad.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, July 13, 2003, No. 28, Vol. LXXI

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