Dear Editor:
During the month of November there have been many excellent presentations, webinars and exhibits to commemorate the Holodomor. It is wonderful to see so many individuals and groups involved in raising awareness about this important issue, as well as the recent creation of the Holodomor Descendants Network.
I would like to make a comment about an issue I feel strongly about and which needs our attention. The word peasant has been used by many scholars and in most academic circles for many years in reference to victims of the Holodomor.
The Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines peasant as, one, any of a class of small landowners or laborers tilling the soil, and, two, a usually uneducated person of low social status.
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines peasant as, one, a member of a class comprising small farmers and tenants, sharecroppers, and laborers on the land where these constitute the main labor force in agriculture, and, two, a countryman, and, three, (rustic) an uncouth, crude, or ill-bred person; a boor.
These definitions of the word “peasants” are highly derogatory and add insult to the millions of Ukrainian farmers who were deliberately starved to death during Stalin’s brutal regime.
The Ukrainian dictionary Podvesko defines “selo” as a village. Isn’t it time we start using the word “villagers” or “farmers” to describe the people who suffered rather than the term “peasants” which has a very negative connotation. When I do my presentations on the Holodomor I do not use the term “peasants.”
Oksana Kulynych
NYC Department of Education (retired)
Yonkers, N.Y.