NEW YORK – Ukrainian Americans gathered in New York City on Saturday, November 16, to remember the victims of Stalin’s Famine-Genocide – the Holodomor of 1932-1933.
Gathering at the landmark St. Patrick’s Cathedral in the heart of Manhattan, attendees were greeted by Metropolitan Antony of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A., prior to the start of the memorial ceremonies. As the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York began singing, students from St. George Academy slowly processed up the nave of the cathedral followed by Holodomor survivor Nadia Severyn, who was escorted by her grandson, Bill Wieting.
Irene Rejent Saviano
Metropolitan Antony with Holodomor survivor Nadia Severyn.
A Ukrainian American Veterans (UAV) color guard was led by New Jersey State Commander Michael Hrycak, along with flagbearers Peter Polnyj and Nicholas Skirka, commanders of Posts 27 and 301, respectively. Students from the Samopomich School of Ukrainian Studies in New York City, the School of Ukrainian Studies Nova Khvylka in Brooklyn, and the School of Ukrainian Studies at the New York City branch of the Ukrainian American Youth Association concluded the procession by following the lead of Ms. Severyn and individually laying a stalk of wheat on a table erected at the front of the cathedral.
Metropolitan Antony was joined by Metropolitan-Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, Archbishop Daniel of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A., Bishop Paul Chomnycky and Bishop Emeritus Basil Losten of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in leading the traditional Ukrainian memorial service – the panakhyda – at the start of the commemoration, with responses provided by Dumka, under the direction of Vasyl Hrechynsky.
Following the requiem service, attendees were addressed by Andriy Futey, president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA), which has co-organized this annual commemoration for 35 years. Once again, the event attracted attendees from across the tri-state metropolitan area, including buses of churchgoers from New Jersey and Brooklyn, as well as of thousands of viewers who watched the livestream on the UCCA’s Facebook page.
Irene Rejent Saviano
Schoolchildren lay symbolic stalks of wheat at the front of the cathedral.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) continued his nearly unbroken record of attendance at the annual event. In his remarks, the senator hailed the efforts in Congress to recognize the Armenian Genocide earlier this year, and he cited the resilience of the Ukrainian nation, which “has outlasted authoritarian thugs in the past, and will continue to do so in the future.”
Additional remarks were made by Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko, the permanent representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, as well as New York City Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, who represents the East Village, home to a significant Ukrainian community.
Also in attendance were Oleksii Holubov, consul general of Ukraine in New York, and Serhiy Kyslytsya, deputy minister of foreign affairs of Ukraine, who were seated alongside the speakers but did not deliver remarks.
Prior to the recessional, Metropolitan Borys thanked all who participated in the day’s events. On behalf all of the assembled speakers, he expressed the community’s sincere gratitude to Cardinal Timothy Dolan for once again graciously allowing the Ukrainian community to commemorate the Holodomor at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, after which the congregation rose for the singing of the spiritual anthem of Ukraine, “Oh God, Almighty and Only.”
Andrij Dobriansky
Ukrainian Americans fill St. Patrick’s Cathedral on November 16 for a memorial service marking the 86th anniversary of the Holodomor.