WASHINGTON – This year’s candle-lighting remembrance ceremony in Washington for the millions of people who died in Joseph Stalin’s genocidal famine, the 1932-1933 Holodomor in Ukraine, was unique.
For the first time, the annual commemoration took place at the site of the Holodomor Memorial, constructed this year and dedicated three weeks earlier.
As the sun was setting that cloudy November 28 evening in Washington, a large group of people started gathering in front of the memorial. Many came with flowers and candles, which they then lit and placed at the base of the monument as the religious memorial service was about to begin, led by Bishop John Bura and members of the clergy from the local Ukrainian Catholic and Orthodox churches.
Then, Ukraine’s Ambassador Valeriy Chaly shared his thoughts about the meaning and historical context of the Holodomor, and Michael Sawkiw, chairman of the U.S. Committee for Ukrainian Holodomor-Genocide Awareness 1932-1933, which was responsible for getting the monument built, noted in his remarks that the memorial was erected not just for Ukrainians but for the entire world to acknowledge that the Holodomor was, indeed, a genocide directed against Ukraine.
The remembrance ceremony concluded with the remaining flowers and lit candles being placed at the foot of the memorial, whose artist-designer, Larysa Kurylas, was among those paying their respect that evening.
In previous years, the candle-lighting remembrance of the Holodomor – which is held to coincide with similar ceremonies held in Ukraine on the last Saturday of November – was held at the Embassy of Ukraine.