Roselle Park unanimously adopts resolution on remembering Famine (11/02/03)

Roselle Park unanimously adopts resolution on remembering Famine

ROSELLE, N.J. - The Borough of Roselle Park, N.J., unanimously adopted Resolution 151-03, titled "Solemnly Remembering the Ukrainian Victims of the Russian Communist-Engineered Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933 on its 70th Anniversary," on October 16 during the meeting of the mayor and Council.

The resolution was authored by Board of Education member Alexander Balaban. Mr. Balaban and Councilwoman Melanie Selk are two Ukrainian American public officials in Roselle Park.

The borough will also mark the solemn anniversary of the Famine with an exhibit on the Famine-Genocide. The display will be on view during the month of November at the Roselle Park Veterans Memorial Library, 404 Chestnut St.

Copies of the borough's resolution were to be forwarded to the Ukrainian press, the United Nations and Ukraine's Mission to the U.N. by November 15.

Following is the text of the resolution.

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Whereas, Ukrainian Americans form an integral part of the ethnographic map of Roselle Park and contribute to its rich cultural diversity, and

Whereas, 2003 marks the 70th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933, which resulted in the deaths of at least 6 million Ukrainians and was covered up and officially denied by Russian Communist authorities, and

Whereas, Russian Communists deliberately confiscated grain harvests and starved millions of Ukrainian men, women and children in a policy of forced collectivization that sought to destroy Ukrainian aspirations for independence, and

Whereas, the Russian Communist authorities ordered the borders of Ukraine sealed to prevent anyone from escaping the artificial famine and preventing any international food relief shipments to reach the starving masses, and

Whereas, at the height of the famine, Ukrainian villagers were dying at the rate of 25,000 per day, and

Whereas, one in three Ukrainian children perished as a result of the forced famine genocide, and

Whereas, the United States Congress formed a Commission on the Ukraine Famine on December 13, 1985, to conduct a study with the goal of expanding the world's knowledge and understanding of the famine, and

Whereas, the commission's formal report concluded that the victims 'starved to death in a man-made famine' and that 'Joseph Stalin and the Russian Communist leadership committed genocide against Ukrainians in 1932-33', now therefore

Be it resolved by the governing body of the Borough of Roselle Park that:

1. Ukrainian victims of the Russian Communist-engineered Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933 be solemnly remembered by Roselle Park residents on its 70th Anniversary,

2. Information regarding the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33 will be made available at the Roselle Park Public Library during the month of November 2003,

3. The United Nations and all the governments of the world should recognize the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933 as an act of "crimes against humanity."

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be sent to Councilwoman Melanie Selk and Board of Education member Alexander Balaban, both of whom are Ukrainian Americans, the Ukrainian Mission to the United Nations, The Ukrainian Weekly and the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.

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