THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FORUM

UNA curriculum guide on Famine-Genocide is available to the public

by Roma Hadzewycz

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - The Ukrainian National Association is making available to members of the Ukrainian community and the public copies of the curriculum guide on the Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933 prepared by Dr. Myron B. Kuropas, an educator and historian.

The guide was prepared in 2003 on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Great Famine; it was published and funded by the UNA.

The guide includes two sections: one for teachers and the other geared for students.

The 29-page teachers' guide includes information on: "Soviet Policy and the Forced Famine," "The Organized Preparation of the Famine," "The Terror-Famine in Perspective," "Was the Famine Really a Genocide?" and "Food as a Political Weapon."

Also discussed are the press cover-up of the Famine, the Soviets' direct responsibility for the Famine and Soviet denials that the Famine took place.

At the end of the teachers' section is a vocabulary list, suggested student activities and an extensive bibliography.

The 33-page student section consists of student handouts, beginning with President Ronald Reagan's 1984 proclamation on commemorating the Great Famine, and brief articles that cover Russian imperialism, Russia and the Soviet Union, Soviet imperialism, and Ukraine and its people.

"The Terror-Famine in Perspective," written by the eminent historian Dr. Robert Conquest, is included in this section along with "Famine and Nationalism in Soviet Ukraine: Postscript" by the late Dr. James E. Mace, renowned researcher of the Ukrainian Famine.

The testimonies of Famine survivors, including human rights activist and former Soviet political prisoner Sviatoslav Karavansky, follow.

Also covered in the student handouts are: the press cover-up, Soviet responsibility for and denials of the Famine, the use of food as a political weapon and Ukraine in recent times.

Dr. Kuropas, a former UNA vice-president and today an honorary member of the fraternal organization's General Assembly, originally developed a curriculum guide geared toward teaching the Ukrainian Famine in 1983. That guide was used at several teachers' workshops, including those held in Chicago, Detroit and Newark, N.J.

In 2003 Dr. Kuropas prepared a new curriculum guide on the Famine, which was reproduced and funded by the Ukrainian National Association. The updated and revised guide was employed at a major workshop for secondary school teachers on the topic of the use of food as a political weapon that was held at the University of Denver. Dr. Kuropas was among the experts invited to address the educators.

Theupdated guide was first used at a 2003 workshop on the Famine-Genocide for New Jersey's high school teachers held at Rider University. The program was sponsored by the Julius and Dorothy Koppleman Holocaust/Genocide Resource Center at the university.

Copies of the curriculum guide are available from the UNA Home Office. Orders may be placed by calling or writing to Steven Woch, Ukrainian National Association, 2200 Route 10, Parsippany, NJ 07054; (973) 292-9800, ext. 3013. Copies of the guide are free, however, there is a postage charge.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, July 31, 2005, No. 31, Vol. LXXIII

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