LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Remembering the Great Famine

Dear Editor:

This November 26, Ukraine will commemorate the victims of the Great Famine of 1932-1933. Presidential decrees No. 1087 and No. 1088 of July 11, 2005, outline the tasks of a Ukrainian National Institute of Remembrance, including research into political repression and famine in Ukraine, and collaboration with foreign institutions.

While the Famine was part of Soviet policy in Ukraine, it was more than a form of political terror or repression. It was a unique phenomenon in the history of the USSR. At the same time, it has striking parallels in places like China, Ethiopia and Sudan. Famine studies should therefore constitute a discrete component of the National Institute of Remembrance, while its research should emphasize the international context.

There are several reasons for an international approach. Comparative study would open up new perspectives on the Famine, affording insights that the standard Soviet studies paradigms might not provide. It could identify general patterns of political use of hunger derived from the combined experiences of many peoples.

International exchange would help Ukrainian scholars to broaden their intellectual horizons, as well as their academic contacts. At the same time, it would contribute to bringing Ukraine itself into the political as well as the intellectual mainstream. One of the lessons of the past has been that a politically isolated nation is more vulnerable to disasters like famine.

A number of Western scholars have disputed the characterization of the Famine as genocide. It is no use writing them off as Russophiles, leftists or Ukrainophobes. Nor will any number of state decrees establish genocide as a fact. This can only be accomplished through a legal-historical analysis based on documentary evidence. Ukrainian jurists and historians need institutional support in order to engage foreign scholars in debate and prove their contentions in the forum of world opinion.

Cooperation between Ukrainian faminologists and those of other countries would also demonstrate that Ukraine is not content to dwell on its own misfortunes, but cares for the welfare of other peoples as well. It would show that Ukrainians' experience with state-sponsored famine has deepened their compassion for those who suffer from politically manipulated hunger today - for there is no such thing as a purely "natural" famine. And it would testify to their commitment to prevent such tragedies in the future.

For these reasons, the Ukrainian National Institute of Remembrance should include a separate Famine studies component oriented toward international cooperation in examining the politics of hunger. It would be appropriate to name it in honor of the late Dr. James Mace.

Andrew Sorokowski
Rockville, Md.

Orange Revolution was the beginning

Dear Editor:

It is easy, and to some degree fashionable, right now for critics to cry out that the Orange Revolution is over, or that there were and are ulterior motives on the part of the participants of that revolution. In fact I'm sure (at least through the articles I have read in the Russian press), that there is joy in Moscow, and a clear attempt to convince the world and Ukrainians in Ukraine that the Orange Revolution was a mistake, or just a mistaken fad. Russia would love to believe that Ukraine will return under its so-called sphere of influence on its knees.

I've got news for the Russians and the other "doubters." It will not happen.

The fact is that Ukraine and Ukrainians are survivors. Throughout Ukraine's history, countries such as Russia, Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary (just to name a few), not to mention Turkey and many other countries invaded Ukraine for its fertile soil. During these invasions, the goal, in addition to owning the land, was always to destroy any inkling of Ukrainian statehood and nationalism. After all, we are talking about a country that Stalin tried to destroy by starving 7 to 10 million Ukrainians to death in 1932 and 1933 during the forced collectivization of farming, while the world looked the other way.

Despite the fractured regional thinking that these foreign occupations have caused, Ukraine and the desire for a free Ukraine never died, but prevailed. The Soviet Union did everything in its power during its existence to destroy Ukrainian history, schools, independent media, a free-thinking government, any sense of pride and common culture, or its ability to defend itself.

Independent minded Ukrainians were not free to express their views in "a letter to the editor," on talk radio or public television, but paid for their "free thinking" by being sent to the gulag and having family members tortured. The thought of an Orange Revolution, or for that matter any kind of a revolution, was unimaginable not only in Moscow, but around the world. But it happened.

The main accomplishment of the Orange Revolution was that the Ukrainian people stood up in Independence Square and said "no more." Viktor Yushchenko and the people of Ukraine believed that the Ukrainian president should no longer be elected in Moscow, and be confirmed by a "rigged election." The people stated that they would no longer be considered "puppets" for anyone, and that the Proclamation of Independence in 1991 should be just that: independence.

The problem is that the media, like society in general, want immediate successful results, when in fact it has taken over 200 years for the United States to perfect its own democracy. I'd like to find one person who truly believes that everything has been running "smooth as silk" since 1776. If one looks at other democratic countries as well, democracy did not happen overnight or, for that matter, in a few months. Additionally, in Western governmental systems, it is not unusual for governments or cabinets to be dismissed. It is just that the ideas of "freedom" and "independence" of those countries prevail and are not negotiable.

Many Ukrainians, including many of those who stood freezing in the bitter cold during the Orange Revolution, will tell you that they did not expect everything to be perfect overnight. The orchestrators of the Orange Revolution are powerful people, but so were other revolutionaries throughout history of many other revolutions in the world. The agendas of these people were always in conflict as well. Our Founding Fathers in the United States argued bitterly during the early years of the United States.

Ukrainians will also tell you they like the idea of being able to speak freely, their government suddenly being scrutinized in the media (although there is still room for improvement here) and the idea that potential markets in Europe may be open to them. They look forward to the March parliamentary elections, which will be "one heck of a political showdown."

Without a doubt, there will be problems and setbacks as Ukraine finds its way as a truly independent country. In sports there is a saying that a "true champion" never quits and when he is down and nobody expects him to get up, he will get up, dust himself off and get back in the game, and win.

The Ukrainian people have been champions for centuries, and they will win. The Orange Revolution was just the opening bell.

Paul Hlynsky
Akron, Ohio

Our institutions need perspective

Dear Editor:

I write out of concern for the plight of Ukrainians in the Russian Federation, where there is no Ukrainian language school nor a Ukrainian Church (Catholic or Orthodox); where, for example, the Ukrainian Catholic community in Tomsk, southern Siberia, is compelled to function as a German Roman Catholic community since Ukrainian Catholics dare not register.

Such is the case for some 10 million Ukrainians residing in an oppressive chauvinistic state where discrimination is the norm rather than an aberration. By way of comparison, a similar number of Russians reside in Ukraine and benefit from 3,500 Russian-language schools and some 8,500 religious edifices belonging to the Moscow Patriarchate.

The organized Ukrainian community in Russia has two very specific short-term projects: 1) continue the publication of its only federation-wide periodical which serves as a liaison for Ukrainians spanning 11 time zones in the Russian Federation and 2) publish a Russian-language book about Ukraine's Hetman Ivan Mazepa, who was the object of condemnation by the Russian Orthodox Church and in Russia is perceived as Benedict Arnold is in the United States as are all Ukrainian "separatists." Russians pervasively cannot come to terms with Ukrainian independence.

The Ukrainian community in the Russian Federation functions through a structure called the Association of Ukrainians in Russia. Oleksander Rudenko-Desniak, its former president (since 1993), who currently is honorary president and editor of the aforesaid periodical and the contracted (by a Russian publishing house) author of the Mazepa book recently visited the United States with a dual purpose: to inform about and to receive donations for both projects.

Much of his time was spent doing research at various repositories of Ukrainian material, such as the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute and the Shevchenko Scientific Society library in New York. He did visit or attempted to visit several Ukrainian financial institutions in the cities of New York and Philadelphia. In New York he was received generously by the Ukrainian Free University Foundation, the Ukrainian National Federal Credit Union and Self Reliance (N.Y.) Federal Credit Union. In Philadelphia he was welcomed by the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee and the Providence Association of Ukrainian Catholics.

However, he was rebuffed by the Ukrainian Self-reliance Federal Credit Union in Philadelphia. This writer personally communicated with the chairperson of that credit union's board of directors to arrange a meeting. After a brief conversation, she advised me that my request would be considered and a response communicated through another director. But, there was no response.

Granted, she was not enthused by my request. In the course of our conversation, she attempted to dissuade me from a meeting, insisting that matters involving Ukrainians in Russia were not the concern of the credit union she chairs. She stated that she resides some distance from the proposed venue and, logistically, it would be difficult to meet. Further, she argued that the credit union's scope of purpose strictly construed is limited to its geographic community.

I advanced the argument that member benefit provisions allow the board of directors to address more far-reaching concerns of its membership, which involve global Ukrainian issues, including Ukraine and Ukrainians residing elsewhere. Further, I suggested that the meeting may be held with other representatives of the credit union in her absence but with her consent and guidance.

My purpose is not to discredit one person.

My aim is to call attention to what may become a pervasive problem involving the future of our financial institutions. Ukrainian credit unions in the United States and Canada are the financial support of the Ukrainian community with assets approaching $3 billion. Their support goes well beyond the territorial limits of a several mile radius. They support projects which are of concern to their members. Fortunately, for the global Ukrainian community, which includes Ukraine, the membership of these credit unions is sophisticated in its national awareness. Credit unions have organized national and international Ukrainian structures. They have developed global projects and strategies. Their work within Ukraine itself is well-known. Many have assisted in projects in other areas where less fortunate and discriminated Ukrainian brethren reside.

Unfortunately, many of the visionaries of Ukrainian credit unions in the United States and Canada have passed on or retired. Their positions have been assumed by less visionary but nevertheless professional patriotic younger personnel. In most instances these new leaders have managed to combine professionalism with visionary patriotism. I can submit a listing of Ukrainian credit unions where this composition has become reality. Unfortunately, this is not the case with Self-Reliance in Philadelphia.

The Ukrainian community in Philadelphia has a long and illustrious history of service to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people worldwide. Just recently it hosted the president of Ukraine. Is the current credit union leadership in Philadelphia a harbinger that the community in Philadelphia is devolving to become strictly local and self-centered? I hope not! More importantly, I hope selfishness is not infectious!

Askold S. Lozynskyj
New York

The letter-writer is president of the Ukrainian World Congress.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, November 13, 2005, No. 46, Vol. LXXIII

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