LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (12/24/06)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

A "moral victory," but a hollow one

Dear Editor:

Regarding your editorial of December 3, The Verkhovna Rada's passage of a bill describing the Holodomor as genocide is indeed a "moral victory" but it is a hollow one.

We have the government of an ostensibly free Ukraine confirming that (1) a crime took place and that there were (2) many millions of victims, but then (3) where are the criminals responsible? Who were the actual perpetrators of the Great Famine of 1932-1933 in Soviet Ukraine? Why not name names, beyond disparaging the conveniently long-gone Stalin? How many of the enablers of this atrocity are still alive today? Where are they living? Certainly some of these now-elderly villains will be in Western Europe, the U.S., Israel and Russia.

We know that a few self-identified NKVD, Smersh and KGB veterans are living in Canada. More unconscionable is that some of these mass murderers are taking their pensions in Ukraine, unpunished and untroubled by Ukraine's Justice Department. Why is that?

If Ukraine really wants the world to recognize the Holodomor as genocide it needs to move beyond mere declarative statements and start bringing Soviet war criminals and those responsible for Communist crimes against humanity to justice.

Unlikely to have the skills needed to organize a "second Nuremberg," the folks in Kyiv should at least be able to replicate a Ukrainian equivalent of the "Eichmann in Jerusalem" project. They might be treated seriously if they start acting that way.

Lubomyr Luciuk, Ph.D.
Toronto

The letter-writer is director of research for the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

Russia's denial of genocide

Dear Editor:

During World War II, Hitler perpetrated the Holocaust in "the name of the Third Reich." Germany apologized for this, making the Holocaust universally acknowledged.

Ten years earlier, Stalin and company engineered the Holodomor-Genocide. This was done supposedly in the name of Communist ideals such as "class," "enemy of the people," "nationalism" and "struggle," but in fact it was done in "the name of Russia." The inheritor of the USSR - Russia - never apologized for this and is stubbornly denying it.

This, perhaps, is the reason why Victor Pinchuk and his spokesman Nikita Poturaev treated the subject of the Holodomor-Genocide in the article on Steven Spielberg's "Holocaust Documentary" (October 29) evasively and without compassion. This is in spite of the undeniable documentary and survivor evidence about the magnitude of horror caused by the planned 1932-1933 catastrophe in Ukraine.

Personally, my memory at age 7 to 10 in the rural area near Lubny (Poltava region), was forever engraved with the agony of a frightful solitude and realization that there was no one in the entire world to turn to for help.

The Holodomor-Genocide in Ukraine, like the Holocaust, is a unique historic event. It reminds us that human sufferings are inseparable, regardless of ideology or nationality.

Ivan Danylenko
Somerdale, N.J.

Sound the alarm and save Soyuzivka

Dear Editor:

I congratulate Taras Szmagala Jr. on an excellent column on how to save Soyuzivka for us Ukrainians, "Teaching Suzy-Q to fish" (November 19).

Let's sound the alarm before it's too late. Maybe a good way would be to start a campaign to flood the management of the Ukrainian National Association with e-mails, and the Svoboda weekly with letters to prod them into action, and quickly. Find a developer and get a business plan now. Save Soyuzivka!

Jurij Baranowskyj
West Hartford, Conn.

A thank-you for UNA course

Dear Editor:

I recently attended a Ukrainian National Association secretaries' review course in Hartford, Conn., organized by National Secretary Christine Kozak and National Organizer Oksana Trytjak.

The information was professionally presented with printed materials and handouts, as well as a PowerPoint presentation. The course was thorough, with opportunity to ask questions as we proceeded. We all left with the desire to apply this knowledge and gain new UNA members.

Should anyone have the opportunity to attend this course in their area, please do take the opportunity. The time is well worth it!

A special thank-you to our instructors and to our host, UNA Branch 277 of Hartford, for their delicious hospitality, and especially to Mr. and Mrs. Myron Kuzio.

Gloria Paproski Horbaty
Wallingford, Conn.

The letter-writer is financial secretary of UNA Branch 414 of New Haven, Conn., and an advisor on the UNA's General Assembly.

We welcome your opinion

The Ukrainian Weekly welcomes letters to the editor and commentaries on a variety of topics of concern to the Ukrainian American and Ukrainian Canadian communities. Opinions expressed by columnists, commentators and letter-writers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of either The Weekly editorial staff or its publisher, the Ukrainian National Association.

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