TORONTO – In 2018, the 85th anniversary year of the Holodomor, the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium (HREC) reached new levels of success in promoting Holodomor awareness, research and education. HREC initiatives in 2018 included the organization of an international conference that attracted leading scholars of genocide; publication of a first-of-its-kind resource for teaching the Holodomor in schools; establishment of the Conquest Prize recognizing an outstanding article published on the Holodomor; the publication of a major work in English by a leading Ukrainian historian of the Holodomor; and the inauguration of the HREC Educator Prize for teachers.
HREC, established through the generous support of the Temerty Foundation in 2014, is a project of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta, with offices in Toronto and Edmonton, and representation in Ukraine.
Genocide conference
On October 19-20, 2018, HREC brought together leading scholars of genocide at an international conference that examined the history of the concept of genocide and how it has evolved and been applied. The conference culminated with the 2018 Toronto Annual Ukrainian Famine Lecture delivered by Dr. Liudmyla Hrynevych (National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; Holodomor Research and Education Center, Ukraine). As with its past conferences, HREC provided grants to scholars early in their careers to support their attendance at the conference.
Publication of teaching resource
CIUS Press published a unique teaching resource titled “Holodomor in Ukraine, the Genocidal Famine 1932-1933: Learning Materials for Teachers and Students,” authored by HREC Director of Education Valentina Kuryliw, who developed the material over her long career as a teacher and department head of history and social sciences. The book employs a multidisciplinary approach to integrating the teaching of the Holodomor into social studies, media and religious studies, social justice, the literary and visual arts, history and genocide.
Conquest Prize
In 2018, HREC inaugurated the Conquest Prize for Contribution to Holodomor Studies. The $2,500 (Canadian) prize recognizes the author of an outstanding article that contributes to a fuller understanding of the Famine in Ukraine of 1932-1933. The jury of specialists – Olga Andriewsky (Trent University), Andrea Graziosi (Università di Napoli Federico II), Norman Naimark (Stanford University) and Lynne Viola (University of Toronto) – selected Lucien Bianco for his article “Comparing the Soviet and Chinese Famines: Their Perpetrators, Actors, and Victims.”
Prof. Bianco is an eminent French historian specializing in the history of the Chinese peasantry in the 20th century. He received the award at a ceremony in Paris on November 25, 2018, at the Cathedral of St. Volodymyr the Great, part of the Holodomor commemorations in Paris that concluded with a liturgy in Notre Dame Cathedral. The prize will be awarded on a biennial basis.
HREC Educator Prize
HREC inaugurated the HREC Educator Prize to foster the development of innovative, creative and interactive lesson plans for grades K through 12 that develop critical thinking skills while addressing the topic of the Holodomor. HREC recognized five educators for their innovative lesson plans. The winning submissions have been posted on HREC Education’s website (http://education.holodomor.ca/) for teachers to download and use in their classrooms.
The top three, each of whom received a $1,000 prize, were Michael Anthony, Weston Collegiate Institute, Toronto District School Board, Ontario, for his lesson for Grades 11 and 12; Jeff Kozak, Springfield Middle School, Sunrise School Division, Manitoba, for his Grade 7 lesson; and Olga Chassé, St. Martin Catholic School, Edmonton District School Board, Alberta, for her Grade 5 lesson.
Publication of Kulchytsky’s book
HREC published “The Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine: An Anatomy of the Holodomor” by Dr. Stanislav Kulchytsky, a pioneer in the study of the Famine. HREC translated the work from Ukrainian into English, and HREC’s Dr. Bohdan Klid contributed an introductory article that discusses Prof. Kulchytsky’s contributions to our understanding of the Holodomor. Prof. Kulchytsky toured Canada in November 2018, presenting his book at stops in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Edmonton, Victoria and Winnipeg.
Holodomor article is featured
An article by Ms. Kuryliw, “Teaching the Ukrainian Genocide – the Holodomor, 1932-1933: A Case Study of Denial, Cover-up and Dismissal,” was included in a book on teaching genocide, the only entry on the Holodomor. Genocide scholar Samuel Totten’s “Teaching about Genocide: Insights and Advice from Secondary Teachers and Professors,” published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, draws on the expertise of renowned international educators to offer practical strategies on teaching major genocides.
Research grants
HREC awarded 15 research grants in 2018, ranging from $980 to $6,000, for a total of $33,500 (Canadian). Grants focused on research and publishing, preservation of materials, conferences and workshops, as well as collaborative projects that engage scholars both in and outside Ukraine. To date, HREC has awarded more than $150,000 CAD in research grants through five competition cycles.
Ensuring inclusion
In addition to organizing its own conferences, HREC works to ensure that the Holodomor is represented at other events and venues.
• Conference on Holocaust and Genocide, Millersville University: In 2018, HREC sponsored a panel on the Holodomor at a conference on the Holocaust and Genocide at Millersville University in Pennsylvania (April 11-13), featuring panelists Olga Bertelsen (New York University) on “Starvation and Violence Amid the Soviet Politics of Silence: The 1928-1929 Famine in Ukraine”; Dr. Klid (University of Alberta) on “Knocking Sense into the Heads of Ukraine’s Farmers: The Famine of 1932–1933 in Ukraine as Punishment”; and Douglas Irvin-Erickson (George Mason University) on “Raphael Lemkin and the Concept of Genocide.” The panel was chaired by Victoria Khiterer (Millersville University), a participant in past HREC conferences.
• Holodomor Panel at Danyliw Seminar, University of Ottawa: HREC sponsored a panel at the 2018 Danyliw Research Seminar on Contemporary Ukraine at the University of Ottawa in recognition of the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor featuring Oleh Wolowyna, Natalia Levchuk, Olya Ryabchenko, Daria Mattingly and Nicholas Kupensky. Prof. Kulchytsky also presented his new book on the Holodomor. The Danyliw Seminar is an annual forum and an important venue in Ukrainian studies, bringing together international researchers working in the social sciences and humanities related to Ukraine.
• Holodomor Roundtable at the Oral History Association Convention, Montreal: HREC worked with Natalia Khanenko-Friesen (University of Saskatchewan) to organize a panel at the Oral History Association conference in Montreal on the role of oral history and oral historical research in the study of the Holodomor. William Noll discussed his fieldwork in the 1990s with elderly villagers across Ukraine; Prof. Andriewsky (Trent University) discussed the interviews in the Harvard Project on the Soviet Social System; and Anna Shternshis (University of Toronto) discussed her interviews with Ukrainian Jews and the impact of the Famine on Jewish life in Ukraine.
• New Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Holodomor, CSEEES Conference, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: HREC supported this international scholarly conference organized by the Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies (CSEEES) at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, on October 5-7, 2018, in collaboration with the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute and the Ukrainian Association of North Carolina. HREC’s Ms. Kuryliw conducted a teacher workshop titled “Food as a Weapon in Man-Made Famines: Examining the Holodomor in Ukraine as a Case Study” for middle and high school teachers that focused on pedagogical approaches to teaching the Famine in a context of global human rights abuses, humanitarian crises and social justice.
Cooperation with Ukraine
HREC works closely with its sister organization, HREC in Ukraine, headed by Dr. Hrynevych. Joint initiatives include international scholarly conferences and publication projects.
International Forum in Kyiv
HREC took active part in the 85th anniversary Holodomor commemorations in Ukraine, in particular, as panelists at the International Forum “Ukraine Remembers, The World Acknowledges” held November 22-23, 2018, at Ukrainian House in Kyiv and organized by the National Institute of Memory of Ukraine and the government of Ukraine. HREC’s Marta Baziuk, Dr. Klid, Dr. Hrynevych and Ms. Kuryliw shared with Ukrainian colleagues information on research, publication and education projects as well as grant and fellowship opportunities.
On November 23, Ms. Kuryliw’s publication “Holodomor in Ukraine” was featured at a book launch event that attracted more than 50 methodologists and educators interested in learning about new methods and resources. Ms. Kuryliw, together with Dr. Hrynevich, Dr. Wolowyna, Ms. Levchuk and Oleksandr Hladun, participated in a televised press conference by Ukrinform on the Holodomor, at the Kyiv Press Center.
At a meeting of the Ukrainian World Congress in Kyiv that followed the Holodomor commemorations, Ms. Kuryliw was awarded the St. Volodymyr the Great Medal, the highest accolade granted by this organization, for her work and contribution in the diaspora and Ukraine.
At the summer program “New Ukrainian School: Teaching the Holodomor, Human Rights and other Genocides Summer School Program” (July 28 to August 11) held in Chornomorsk, Odesa Oblast, Ms. Kuryliw presented 10 sessions on teaching the Holodomor in the context of human rights, introducing resources and technologies to Ukrainian educators.
Holodomor Memorial Day
HREC Education, in partnership with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress National Holodomor Education Committee, promoted the inclusion of the Holodomor in curricula and commemoration of the Holodomor in schools across Canada (on the fourth Friday in November). This initiative has spread to school boards throughout Canada. A package of materials is prepared each year, distributed electronically and in hard copy, with a pamphlet containing information about the Holodomor, an announcement to be read and a list of resources. Teachers are encouraged to visit the HREC website, education.holodomor.ca, and to join a network through Facebook for information and news updates.
Cooperation with other organizations
In April, in recognition of Genocide Awareness, Condemnation and Prevention Month, HREC partnered with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the Armenian National Committee of Canada and the Humura Association to organize a conference on the importance of genocide education. Held at St. Vladimir Institute in Toronto, the event featured genocide survivors and descendants of survivors, as well as a panel on education that included Olesia Stasiuk, general director of the Holodomor Victims’ Memorial National Museum in Kyiv.
In addition, HREC Executive Director Ms. Baziuk spoke on April 16 in Ottawa on Parliament Hill. The event “What Does Never Again Really Mean?” was endorsed and sponsored by the All-Party Parliamentary Friendship Group for Genocide Prevention and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
HREC is a partner of the Holodomor National Awareness Tour project, spearheaded by the Canada Ukraine Foundation. HREC provides research support in developing lesson materials for the project’s Holodomor Mobile Classroom, which travels to schools across the country. The first lesson, The Historian’s Craft, created by Ms. Kuryliw, has received three design awards for its “immersive learning experience.”
HREC Education Assistant Director Sophia Isajiw was the keynote speaker on the “Transgenerational Consequences of the Holodomor: What Oral History Accounts from the Diaspora Tell Us” on October 28, 2018, at the Ukrainian American Community Center in Minneapolis. She discussed research of the “Children of Holodomor Survivors Speak” oral history project conducted by UCRDC – the first project in North America to interview the second generation of Holodomor survivors, for which she served as interviewer and researcher.
Visiting scholar in Holodomor studies
HREC has established a partnership with the Petro Jacyk Program for the Study of Ukraine (Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto) to host a visiting scholar in holodomor studies from Ukraine to conduct research using the institutions’ resources and to interact with Canadian scholars. The 2018-2019 visiting scholar is Dr. Iryna Skubii, an associate professor at the Petro Vasylenko Kharkiv National Technical University of Agriculture. Her research project focuses on the experiences of children during the Holodomor.
Red Famine
In 2018, Anne Applebaum was awarded the Lionel Gelber Prize for “Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine.” The award is given for the world’s best non-fiction book in English on foreign affairs that seeks to deepen public debate on significant international issues; it is presented by the Lionel Gelber Foundation in partnership with Foreign Policy magazine and the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (University of Toronto). HREC provided research during the writing process of “Red Famine” and supported the Ukrainian translation of the work, which received the Best Book Award at the Lviv Book Forum in 2018.
Discovery of unpublished testimonies
HREC researcher Dr. Klid discovered unpublished Holodomor-related materials in archival collections in Washington and Milwaukee, including testimonies submitted in 1954 to the U.S. House Select Committee on Communist Aggression that address the Holodomor and other punitive measures taken by Soviet authorities against Ukrainian farmers. HREC is preparing these for publication along with an introductory essay co-written by HREC researcher Oksana Vynnyk and Dr. Klid.