FACES AND PLACES: An experience not to be missed (09/28/03)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

An experience not to be missed

This year Ukrainians around the world are commemorating the wholesale murder of 7 million of our kinsmen in the 1932-1933 Terror-Genocide commissioned by Stalin, and effectively completed by thousands of loyal, barbaric followers of the Satanic cult called Marxism-Leninism.

"The death of one person is a tragedy; the death of millions is a statistic," Joseph Stalin once told someone.

Unfortunately, he had a point. It is difficult to comprehend the deliberate snuffing out of so many lives, so many families, so many unfulfilled dreams, 70 years ago. Few of us were there. We didn't hear the plaintive cries for mercy from the victims of ruthless guards who viciously ripped food from the mouths of men and women and children. Their only crime was their nationality, their Ukrainianhood, their belief in God. We didn't witness babies and little children dying a slow, agonizing death before the eyes of their parents and grandparents. We can't begin to comprehend, let alone understand, the beastly inhumanity visited upon millions of Ukrainians who died of starvation while living in the "breadbasket of Europe."

The horrors of the Nazi Holocaust have been portrayed in dozens of films, some of which, such as "Sophie's Choice" and "Schindler's List," we can never forget. Although Hollywood has yet to produce a film about Ukraine's Terror-Genocide the "Holodomor," - we now have something that comes close: a drama produced by the Yuriy Drohobych Dramatic Theater of Lviv Oblast, a group of professional performers currently on tour in the United States.

Their play, titled "Tears of the Virgin Mary," was performed last Sunday at Chicago's annual commemoration of the Terror-Famine at St. Andrew's Ukrainian Orthodox Church auditorium in Bloomingdale, Ill. The powerful performance ended with hardly a dry eye in the audience and a standing ovation.

For the first time my wife, Lesia, and I had an opportunity to grieve over the death of people who came alive on stage. For the first time we could relate to victims of the Terror-Genocide. For the first time, they were no longer a statistic.

The drama is based on the novel "Maria" by Ulas Samchuk. For the record, Mr. Samchuk also authored "In the Footsteps of the Pioneers: A Saga of Ukrainian America," which the UNA published in 1979.

This is a performance not to be missed. If you do nothing else in commemoration of Ukraine's Terror-Genocide this year, support these wonderful thespians with your attendance when they perform. Their schedule is as follows: Detroit - October 3, 7 p.m., Ukrainian Cultural Center, (586) 757-8130; Syracuse - October 10, 7:30 p.m., St. Luke Ukrainian Orthodox Church Hall, (315) 672-5361; Parma, Ohio - date open for performance at Normandy High School, (216) 240-4997; New York City - October 25, 7 p.m. St. George's School, (917) 330-5628; Philadelphia - October 26, 4 p.m., Ukrainian Cultural Center in Jenkintown, (215) 663-1166; Hartford - November 2, 4 p.m., Ukrainian National Home, (860) 257-3981 or (860) 913-7650; Somerset, N.J. - November 7, 7:30 p.m. Ukrainian Cultural Center, (732) 356-0090.

Be sure to double check times of performance with the local phone contacts.

"Tears of the Virgin Mary" has toured Ukraine to rave reviews, even in eastern Ukrainian cities. Being from western Ukraine, the group didn't know what to expect in towns such as Poltava and Sumy. They were exalted when their audience remained quietly reverent. The drama hit home as the people there grieved for family and neighbors they once knew.

In addition to "Tears of the Virgin Mary," the drama troupe also performs a comedy titled "After Two Rabbits," a parody of life in Ukraine today. It will be performed on October 4 at Roberto Clemente High School in Chicago, 7 p.m., (773) 774-5997; Philadelphia, October 18 at 7 p.m., (215) 663-1166; Passaic - October 19, 3:30 p.m. at the Ukrainian Center, (973) 478-2430; Somerset - October 24, 7:30 p.m., Ukrainian Cultural Center, (732) 356-0090; Detroit, November 1, 7 p.m., Ukrainian Cultural Center, (586) 757-8130.

This drama troupe is making a very important contribution to Ukrainian culture, both here and in Ukraine. They richly deserved our support for their effort. "Tears of the Virgin Mary" should be translated into English and performed before American and Canadian audiences. Let me know what you think once you share my experience.

Myron Kuropas' e-mail address is: [email protected].

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