LANSING, Mich. – On November 2, a cold and rainy day, some 200 Michigan citizens of Ukrainian heritage gathered in the Rotunda of the Michigan Capitol to observe the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor. Arriving by bus and private automobiles, they came to pay tribute to the millions of innocent victims who perished in Ukraine during 1932-1933 as a result of the Soviet Russian government’s brutal plan to force all Ukrainian farmers to join government-controlled collective farms and to crush the Ukrainian resistance.
Coming by bus were residents of the Metro Detroit area. Among them were elderly parishioners of St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Church in Warren, residents of the Ukrainian Village, 23 students from the Immaculate Conception Schools and their teachers Daria Krywyj Hreha, Iryna Svytka and Oksana Zavadenko.
Included in the group coming by bus were Ukrainian National Women’s League of America (UNWLA) members Tetyana Bedrus, Zirka Clark Zubar, Slava Hlynska, Lydia Jachnycky, Marta Jovanovich, Mary Mykolnko, Olya Novak Luba LePage, Ulana Maziak, Olya Palinevych and Valentyna Shayda and Nina Wasylkevych; Ukrainian National Association activists Dr. Alexander Serafyn and his wife, Zenovia; Ukrainian Selfreliance Federal Credit Union Board member Bohdan Korduba and his wife, Svitlana; Ukrainian Cultural Center Board member Roman Zubar; Lubomyr Jachnycky, president of the Ukrainian American Medical Foundation; and Detroitski Novyny editorial board members Jaroslav Berezowsky and Jaroslaw Fylonenko.
Roman Zubar
With State Rep. Martin Howrylak (holding plaque) are (from left) his legislative assistant Ray Watts, Vera Andrushkiw and Marie Zarycky.
Arriving by car from Metro Detroit were Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) branch President Vasyl Peretz and board members Michael and Jaroslav Andriashko and Borys Potapenko; Ukrainian Graduates of Detroit and Windsor members Dr. Halyna Bialczyk, Cathy Nazark, Andrew Stoiko, Alex Tolksdorf and Lydia Taraschuk; and Sonya Kushner, Volodymyra Kumlyk and Ruslana Proonko of the Nova Khvylya (New Wave) organization.
Among those from other areas of Michigan were the Very Rev. Paul Bodnarchuk, pastor of St. Mary the Protectress Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Southfield; Barbara Carson, Oksana Posa and Dr. Daria Rotte of Ann Arbor; Kateryna Kizyma of Oxford; Nadia Parnell of Beverly Hills; Ostap and Nusia Macielinski from Brighton; attorney Daria Schlega from East Lansing; Nicholas and Jaroslava Zabrodsky from Lansing; and Bohdan and Lida Kazewych and Lesia Lawrin from Williamston.
Vera Andrushkiw, president of the Detroit Regional Council of the UNWLA, greeted the participants and asked the Rev. Walter Rybicky, assistant pastor of St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Church, to commence the observance with a prayer of remembrance, which was followed by the singing of the American and Ukrainian national anthems. Dr. Andrushkiw then read a letter from U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, a leading member of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus who was instrumental in procuring federal land for the Holodomor Memorial in Washington.
A former teacher at the Immaculate Conception High School and lecturer at Wayne State University, the University of Michigan and Harvard, Dr. Andrushkiw then provided a thorough historical review of the Holodomor. She reviewed its causes, terrible human costs and the scandalous silence of the Western media and government in the face of the horrendous events occurring in Soviet-occupied Ukraine in 1932-1933. Only a few courageous Western journalists honestly reported about the genocidal Famine.
Olga Liskiwsky and Roma Sawchuk-Figacz read moving excerpts from their mothers’ accounts of the Holodomor, which they witnessed as children.
State Rep. Martin Howrylak (R) of Troy, who arranged for the observance to be held in the Capitol Rotunda, and State Sen. Steven Bieda (D) of Centerline and Warren, addressed the participants and assured them that they would make every effort to make sure the Holodomor is included in Michigan’s statutory Genocide Studies curriculum. Also participating in the observance were State Reps. Patrick Green and John Miller.
Nicholas Deychakiwsky of Brighton, a member of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus played on the bandura and sang “Viye Viter” (The Wind Blows) and Tetyana Bedrus of Troy sang “Svicha” (Candle), the signature song about the Holodomor, to composer Myroslav Skoryk’s “Melodiya.” This concluded the program, and Dr. Andrushkiw thanked everyone for attending.
Before leaving the Capitol, participants were invited by Rep. Howrylak to visit the visitors’ gallery of the House of Representative, where they were duly recognized by the speaker.
On November 5, the Holodomor Commemoration Committee recognized true friends of Ukrainians, Rep. Levin and Mich. State Rep. Howrylak with certificates of appreciation.
On November 9, Rep. Howrylak announced at the State Capitol that, in accordance with Resolution 211, Saturday, November 25, would be marked as Holodomor Memorial Day in Michigan.
Marie Zarycky is the UNWLA’s Holodomor commemoration chair.