LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (03/14/04)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Suitable models for our community

Dear Editor:

Recently Dr. Osyp Moroz in a letter to the editor of Svoboda, your sister publication, expressed his concern about the future of the Ukrainian community in the United States. He proposes to call a "congress" for the construction of one central institution that would represent all existing organizations in the Ukrainian community which would assure the future of its longevity, and at the same time be a good example of a democratic process so much needed in Ukraine.

He proposes that the organizers of such an event should consist of the open- minded people, preferably younger delegates, because for them the future is more important than the past. Well, it looks good at the first glance, but it is our past - our ethnic roots that unite us and divide us. Without the knowledge and appreciation of the past there is no future. We must learn from past failures and achievements. He recommends that we take The Washington Group (TWG) organization as a model. Very good!

In addition, I suggest that we should also consider the Ukrainian American Veterans (UAV) organization as an additional model. The UAV in its constitution states, among other things, the following as its objectives: "...to aid the Ukrainian people in promoting the growth of democracy in Ukraine..., to maintain the Ukrainian identity in a status of high esteem and respect in these, our United States."

UAV membership consists of individuals of various religions and political preferences, and includes all those who served in World War I to those who serve now in Iraq, from privates to generals. What unites us is our past and present, and our hope for a better future.

Dmytro Bodnarczuk
Albuquerque, N.M.

The letter-writer is past national commander of the Ukrainian American Veterans.

Time for diaspora to think and react

Dear Editor:

Why do we have to wait until something or someone of note outside of the Ukrainian community addresses issues which cause us to react? Are we, as a group, in a somnambulistic trance that precludes us from acting in a rational, purposeful way? I am referring to the Holodomor issue which is everpresent in our subconsciousness and which we regard historically as the most horrendous crime against humanity in general and the people of Ukraine in particular.

Until now there have been no statements of apology or asking of forgiveness from the perpetrators: neither the Soviets nor Russians nor Jews who were instrumental in the implementation of the Holodomor. Even, the pope, who apologizes to all for everything, failed to apologize to Ukrainians for the Vatican's silence during the Holodomor.

We sporadically remember this horrific event (e.g., on the 50th or 70th anniversaries) and go to churches, march on Fifth Avenue in New York, hold conferences and symposia that are poorly attended; then we go back to sleep for another decade or two.

Ukraine, which is barely waking up from brutal repressions of 70 years of Russian Soviet domination can be excused from rational thinking or acting, but what is the excuse of the political Third Wave immigrants of our diaspora?

Recent events have given us the impetus and opportunity to react, such as:

o The New York Times Pulitzer Prize scandal of 2003, which we utilized for protests against Walter Duranty's 1933 award for his lies about the Holodomor;

o "The Passion of The Christ" movie and Mel Gibson's mention of the Holodomor in an interview with Peggy Noonan in Reader's Digest and the reaction of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

We read about it in the American press, saw it on television and became indignant for a week or two. Then we receded back into slumber.

We do not react sufficiently to a continuous barrage of lies and insults directed against us such as: genetic anti-Semitism, collaboration with Nazis, reduction of the 1932-1933 Holodomor to a "natural agricultural disaster," past and recent "pogroms" in Ukraine, blocking and opposition by Jewish organizations in New Jersey of studies of the 1932-1933 Holodomor to be included in the New Jersey schools curricula, the current efforts of representatives of Russian government in the United States to block the passage of the Senate Resolution 202 which states that the 1932-1933 Holodomor was a genocide, etc.

We desperately need to stimulate work in this field on a serious professional basis, such as the writing of books, the contribution of articles and letters to newspapers and members of our government, the production of videos and films for educational purposes, teaching about the Holodomor in schools, and so on.

We cannot permit these serious events in our history to be relegated to a "footnote" in the discussions of issues that are vital to us in the United States, Canada and Ukraine.

It is time for the diaspora to wake-up, think, reflect and react!

Bozhena Olshaniwsky
Newark, N.J.

The letter-writer is president of Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine.

Sports Illustrated misidentifies Klitschko

Dear Editor:

Sports Illustrated's, February 16, 2004, issue carried a story on the retirement of Lennox Lewis, in which they referred to Vitali Klitschko as "the Russian." I wrote to them pointing out their error and canceling my SI and Time subscriptions and swiching from Time-Warner cable to Direct TV.

She wrote back advising me that they had referred my complaint to their research department. To date, to the best of my knowledge, no correction has been published. I urge other Ukrainians to cancel/switch Time Inc. and Time-Warner subscriptions.

Askold S. Lozynskyj
New York, N.Y.

The Ukrainian Weekly welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typed (not handwritten) and double-spaced. Letters may be mailed or faxed; they may also be sent via e-mail to [email protected].

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