LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (08/08/04)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Community must pressure Lugar

Dear Editor:

Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine (AHRU) sent a series of letters to all members of the United States Senate urging support of Senate Resolution 202 which classifies the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933 as genocide. AHRU letters to senators who were already sponsors of the Resolution were asked to influence Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar to schedule S. Res. 202 for hearings.

In a reply to AHRU, Sen. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.) included the following: "In 1932, Joseph Stalin ordered an increase in Ukraine's wheat procurement quota, creating a man-made disaster that resulted in the deaths of millions of Ukrainian men, women and children. The resulting famine annihilated an estimated 25 percent of the rural population of that country between 1932-1933. Such a travesty is incomprehensible and we should never forget this act of genocide. The bill is currently pending in the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. I sit on this committee and will continue to promote this Resolution as it is debated by the Senate."

During the era of the Soviet Union's domination over its republics and satellites, the interest and responsibilities of United States legislators in the defense of human rights was not only more but the interest in Eastern Europe was more significant. Perhaps the administration of today is still playing the game of "ostpolitik" with Russian President Vladimir Putin and also placating Turkey in its refusal to admit that it committed genocide against Armenia. This is the same argumentation that U.S. State Department representative Mark "Robbie" Palmer and President Ronald Reagan used against formation of the U.S. Commission on the Ukraine Famine. At that time we were presented in person in Sen. Lugar's office with the following argument: "We were and are quite aware of what happened in Ukraine in the 1930s. Why should we waste our effort, time and money on something we already know?"

Sen. Lugar is still recalcitrant and negatively disposed toward Ukrainians. Therefore, our community should apply a stepped-up effort and put pressure on Sen. Lugar, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, to bring S. Res. 202 out of committee and onto the Senate floor for a vote by the full Senate.

We call upon Sen. Lugar for action and encourage our communities to write numerous letters to: The Honorable Richard L. Lugar, Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510.

Walter Bodnar
Newark, N.J.

Comments on book "Not Worthy"

Dear Editor:

The most recent publication of the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA) titled "Not Worthy" is inaccurate. It purports to recount the efforts of the Ukrainian diaspora community to revoke the Pulitzer Prize given to The New York Times reporter Walter Duranty in 1932. Unfortunately, it is a compendium of articles, put together by academic Lubomyr Luciuk about the efforts of academic Luciuk.

The Foreword reveals the mission of this collection. An academic from the University of Cincinnati writes that "the crusade to revoke Duranty's Pulitzer was born in the fertile brain of a Canadian academic Lubomyr Luciuk." In fact this assertion was made to me privately by Dr. Luciuk prior to publication and I, as president of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) of which the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) is an integral part, forwarded to him a chronology of the efforts showing that this action was initiated by the UCCA in February 2003 with a letter to the Pulitzer Board to which the board's administrator, Sig Gissler, replied several days later. The UCCLA joined the effort and spearheaded an effective postcard campaign several months later.

The entire campaign consisted of not only missives, but protest-demonstrations, reports, etc. carried out by many organizations and individuals.

In the course of our electronic discussions, Dr. Luciuk finally acknowledged that the UCCA may have initiated this action but assured me that it did not get off the ground until he joined in. I replied that that is not an issue of fact, but a subjective evaluation.

I write this letter not to disparage Dr. Luciuk, but to set the record straight.

Askold S. Lozynskyj
New York

Hats off and thanks to Taras Hunczak

Dear Editor:

As usual, Dr. Myron Kuropas wrote an excellent column in the July 18 issue ("Ukraine under Nazi rule"). In his book review of Prof. Berkhoff's work, "Harvest of Despair: Life and Death in Ukraine Under Nazi Rule," he does not hesitate to point out who played a leading role in the crucifixion of our nation.

Dr. Kuropas notes one flaw in the book, a slur against the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, especially the Banderites. This attack on OUN is based on a paper published in 1999 by Harvard Ukrainian Studies (HUS). Hats off and a deep bow to Dr. Taras Hunczak for his 2001 rebuttal of the shameful article by concluding that the document upon which it was centered "was written in the offices of KGB functionaries."

Back in the 1960s, when the idea of Harvard Ukrainian Studies was being floated in the Ukrainian community (along with appeals for a multi-million-dollar campaign drive), there were a few brave souls who dared to raise the issue of Soviet propaganda infiltrating America's center of liberalism. However, they were ignored in the rush to set up the studies. Now we see that in 1999, long after the collapse of the "evil empire," HUS brazenly propagated the Soviet lies against the Ukrainian liberation movement that fought so heroically for so long and sacrificed so much for the independence of Ukraine.

It certainly was the highest degree of chutzpah for HUS to then turn to the Ukrainian community for financial and moral support. And it is sad that most of our intellectual elite and press either ignored or were unaware of such a scandalous development.

Leo Iwaskiw
Philadelphia

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