THE 70th ANNIVERSARY OF THE FAMINE-GENOCIDE IN UKRAINE: Montreal (12/14/03)

THE 70th ANNIVERSARY OF THE FAMINE-GENOCIDE IN UKRAINE

Montreal

by Marta D. Olynyk

MONTREAL - The Montreal book launch of "Famine-Genocide in Ukraine, 1932-1933. Western Archives, Testimonies and New Research," edited by Wsewolod W. Isajiw, and published by the Toronto-based Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Center, took place on Monday, November 10, at the Faculty Lounge of Concordia University.

Prof. Roman Serbyn, who recently retired from the History Department of the University of Quebec at Montreal, opened the event with a few introductory remarks about the book. This latest publication on the Famine-Genocide is a collection of papers, all but two of which were originally presented as papers at a conference held in 1990. Some of the articles in this volume analyze the reports on the Famine found in the archives of three Western governments: Germany, Italy, and Great Britain. The book also contains "Testimonies from Kyiv."

Prof. Serbyn then introduced Dr. Kurt Jonassohn, a professor in the department of sociology and co-director of the Montreal Institute for Genocide Studies (MIGS) at Concordia University, who urged researchers of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide to make survivors' testimonies available in English. Dr. Jonassohn said that MIGS, founded in 1986 and based in the departments of history and sociology, would publish any short or long (20 to 200 pages) English translations of eyewitness reports on the Ukrainian Famine on its website (www.migs.concordia.ca). Surprisingly, a visit to this site revealed that although several genocides are listed, the 1932-1933 genocide in Ukraine is not among them.

The last speaker was Frank Chalk, a professor in the department of history and co-director of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies at Concordia University. He discussed the differences between the terms "genocide" and "crime against humanity," and mentioned that the man who is acclaimed as the coiner of the term "genocide" was a Jew born in tsarist Russia, in the village of Bezvodne, now in Belarus. (On November 13 Prof. Chalk was one of the speakers at a session entitled "Famine as a Weapon and Lessons for Prevention: Genocide, Atrocities and Ethnic Cleansing," during the Washington conference on "The Ukrainian Man-Made Famine of 1932-1933.")

The book launch, which was sponsored by the Montreal Institute for Genocide Studies at Concordia University, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Montreal branch, and the McGill and Concordia Ukrainian students' clubs, would have been a resounding success but for the very low attendance. Including the three speakers, there were only 10 people in the lecture room, among them a representative from the Canadian Polish Congress in Montreal. Not a single student, either from Concordia or McGill universities was present.

The book launch is one of a series of events taking place in Montreal to mark the 70th anniversary of the Famine-Genocide. Also part of the commemorations were a screening of the award-winning documentary film "Harvest of Despair" at McGill University, and a commemorative community service and concert held at the Ukrainian Youth Center.

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