Greater Boston Committee
for the Remembrance
of the Ukrainian Famine Genocide
SALEM, Mass. – During ceremonies held on November 14, 2019, in the ballroom of Salem’s historic Hawthorne Hotel, attorney and political science professor Paul Thomas Rabchenuk was inducted into the Northeast Regional Educators Hall of Fame.
He was the recipient of the Dr. Edna Mauriello ’44 Lifetime Achievement Award based on his years as a teacher, his public positions and as a long-time advocate for genocide education and awareness. For the past 12 years, he has held the position of chair of the Greater Boston Committee for the Remembrance of the Ukrainian Famine Genocide, 1932-1933, the Holodomor.
His interest in genocide and the role of government and human rights started with his Eastern European parents and their friends discussing the conditions imposed on people living in Captive Nations who were subject to despotic rule.
Those family discussions had an impact on him and throughout his adult life he has been a devoted advocate of genocide education and Holodomor awareness. He traveled throughout the New England Region, New York and Washington to present and lecture about the Holodomor at conferences, colleges and advocacy groups.
Since 2014, he has been a presenter at Boston’s Annual Walk Against Genocide organized by the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur at which event he highlighted the Holodomor. Since 2011, he has testified before the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Education annually in support of bills to include genocide studies in the state’s world history curriculum.
Mr. Rabchenuk is currently working closely with the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Salem State University to develop and promote its programs of Genocide Studies, including a proposed program for Salem State students to study at Petro Mohyla Black Sea University in 2020.
Among the guests at his induction were Prof. Volodymyr Serhiichuk of Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv; Michael Sawkiw, chairman of the National Committee for the Remembrance of the Holodomor; Vsevolod Petriv, president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, Boston branch; and Maria Saxe, secretary of the Boston branch of the UCCA.
Prof. Serhiichuk addressed the gathering in Ukrainian and briefly discussed the Holodomor, as Mr. Sawkiw interpreted his remarks in English. He then presented two copies of his book “The Holodomor, 1932-1933” to both Mr. Rabchenuk and to Dr. Christopher Mauriello, director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Salem State University.
As Mr. Rabchenuk made his remarks, in which he gave the history of the Holodomor and referred to the need for caring, awareness and education, a slide show ran showing his activities over the past several years, including testimony before legislative committees, academic presentations and public marches.
Eric Cohen, chair of the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur, introduced Mr. Rabchenuk and listed the honoree’s above accomplishments, and described their work together to promote genocide awareness.
On the same day, the Massachusetts Senate passed a resolution offered by Sen. Joan Lovely recognizing Mr. Rabchenuk for receiving the Dr. Edna Mauriello ’44 Lifetime Achievement Award and his induction into the Northeast Regional Educators Hall of Fame.