WHIPPANY, N.J. – On November 10, Ukrainian National Women’s League of America Branch 75 of New Jersey sponsored a presentation by the well-known opinion writer Andrew Stuttaford in observance of the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor in Ukraine. Mr. Stuttaford has frequently written on the subject of Eastern Europe, communism and the genocidal Holodomor in a wide range of publications that include The Wall Street Journal and the National Review, where he is a contributing editor.
Mr. Stuttaford was introduced by Oksana Lodziuk Krywulych, president of the branch, and Karen Chelak, a personal friend of the guest.
Mr. Stuttaford said his first exposure to the existence of the Holodomor came 40 years ago while he was in graduate school in Belgium, when he became friendly with a Ukrainian family, who discussed the events of the Holodomor with him. Mr. Stuttaford stated that since that time there has been a growing worldwide realization of what happened in Ukraine during the Holodomor, but that it is still far from a universal awareness that this was “mass murder on a deliberate scale.”
He felt that there is still much work to do to counter the Russian point of view, which is that the Famine was the result of a failed agricultural experiment, rather than a conscious effort to break a nation and its consciousness. Stalin had recognized that for Ukraine to become a model republic of the USSR under the control of the Bolsheviks, the Ukrainian peasantry, which was the “soul” of Ukraine, would have to be eviscerated, and the Famine was designed to accomplish that purpose, he explained.
Mr. Stuttaford discussed several issues that hindered the broader acceptance of the Holodomor as a “crime perpetrated by the Soviet Union on the Ukrainian people.” Debate has questioned whether the Holodomor qualified to be defined as a genocide. Whether genocide is defined as a physical annihilation of a people, or as the destruction of the culture of a specific national group, Mr. Stuttaford asserted that the Holodomor was a genuine genocide. Referring to Anne Applebaum’s new book, “Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine” – which he strongly recommended – he said the author considers the Holodomor a conscious attempt to destroy the Ukrainian nation. Mr. Stuttaford added that he believes the term “genocide” is important to use in any discussion of the Holodomor, as the term carries convincing weight.
Other discussions divert attention from the reality of the Holodomor by focusing on the actual numbers of those killed as a result of the Famine, and subsequently on the validity of the Famine itself, the guest speaker noted. The specific number “misses the point,” said Mr. Stuttaford. Whether it was 4 million or 7 million, the number of dead was in the millions, which is horrific. He mentioned that a broader understanding of the Holodomor is often undermined by an indifference to Ukraine, which often is not accepted as a “proper country” due to effective Russian propaganda.
The subject of Walter Duranty, reporter for The New York Times who won a Pulitzer Prize for his reportage from the Soviet Union under Stalin, including discredited dispatches that refuted the existence of the Famine, generated several questions during the Q&A portion of the talk. Mr. Stuttaford said he feels that Duranty was an “opportunist” who took advantage of an audience that wanted to believe the Soviet state was an attractive alternative to democracy. Another factor was that President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to establish diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, and Duranty’s writings supported this objective.
In response to a question asking why The New York Times refuses to disavow the discredited Duranty’s Pulitzer, Mr. Stuttaford said it was unlikely the newspaper would make any changes, partly due to arguments based on the timing of the award, and partly due to stubbornness and embarrassment on The Times.
Looking at the part of Holodomor through the prism of current events, Mr. Stuttaford observed that Vladimir Putin is rebuilding an imperial state, and that a democratic state in Ukraine would support Russians who are interested in democracy. It is in President Putin’s interests to keep the conflict in the Donbas running as a continuing irritant to Ukraine to keep Ukraine as a “failed state” and thereby prevent Ukraine from joining NATO.
The discussion concluded with sincere thanks from Ms. Krywulych, who noted that the audience had gained valuable new insights from Mr. Stuttaford’s very informative presentation.
The well-attended event sponsored by UNWLA Branch 75 was open to the public and was presented in recognition of November as Ukrainian Genocide Remembrance Month.