BOSTON – The Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933 was prominently featured in Boston’s third annual Walk Against Genocide held on April 10. The walk, organized annually by the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur and sponsored by 12 Boston organizations involved in genocide awareness and education, selected the Ukrainian Holodomor for prominent recognition.
Other genocides represented included the Holocaust and those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Armenia, Congo and Sudan, as well as the genocide committed against the Kurds.
Following presentations by Holocaust and Holodomor representatives at the Boston Holocaust Memorial, the march proceeded to the Armenian Heritage Park on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, where additional presentations took place.
The audience, consisting of activists and the general public, was somber and respectful as it listened to attorney Paul Thomas Rabchenuk quote the first-hand observations of Holodomor survivors as reported in testimony before the U.S. Commission on the Ukraine Famine. The quotes were preceded by a brief description of the involvement and motivations of Joseph Stalin and Lazar Kaganovich.
Following the presentation, both Mr. Rabchenuk and Boston activist Mary Walzer were approached by representatives of “Facing History and Ourselves,” an educational website popular with history and social studies teachers, with offers to work with the Boston Holodomor Committee to enhance the presence of the Holodomor on the organization’s website. The activists present also received expressions of sympathy and support from audience members. Many were surprised that such a tragedy remained unknown for a long period of time.
The prominent position given to the Holodomor was seen as indicative of the progress made by the Boston Holodomor Committee in bringing awareness of this tragedy to the general public.