BLOOMINGDALE, Ill. – Members of the Ukrainian Genocide Famine Foundation, members of Ukrainian organizations and members of St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral–Kyivan Patriarchate in Bloomingdale, Ill., gathered on the Thursday, May 17, to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide, the Holodomor of 1932-1933, with a Litiya service at St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral–Kyivan Patriarchate.
Attendees were honored with a visit and the presence of Nina Matviyenko, world-renowned Ukrainian singer, and recipient of the Shevchenko National Prize, a Ukrainian state award. Ms. Matviyenko placed wreaths at the Ukrainian Genocide Holodomor Memorial and at the Heavenly Brigade (Nebesna Sotnia) memorial monuments.
Klavdiya Dunayska/KYS Express Inc.
Nina Matviyenko, People’s Artist of Ukraine, with Nicholas Kocherha, president of Ukrainian Genocide Famine Foundation-USA Inc., at the Ukrainian Genocide Holodomor Memorial at St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral – Kyiv Patriarchate.
At the invitation of Nicholas Kocherha, president of the Ukrainian Genocide Famine Foundation-USA, Inc., a Litiya in memory of the 10 million victims of Holodomor and the heroes who perished defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, was officiated by the Very Rev. Victor Poliarny, secretary of the Vicariate, Ukrainian Orthodox Church–Kyivan Patriarchate in the United States and Canada.
Clergy participating in the service, representing the various eparchies/dioceses of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Ukrainian Catholic Church, were: the Very Rev. Bohdan Nalysnyk, the Very Rev. Anatolij Basarab, the Very Rev. Jaroslav Marikot, the Very Rev. Mykola Lypko, the Rev. Mychailo Leshchyshyn, the Rev. Dr. Myron Panchuk, and the Very Rev. Bohdan Kalynyuk. The responses during the service were sung by the St. Andrew UOC Choir under the direction of Taras Rudenko.
Following the service, the Very Rev. Poliarny greeted all attendees and noted that “…We cannot forget the 10 million innocent people who suffered and perished of a most horrific and torturous death from Russian forced starvation during Holodomor of 1932-1933… We do not have the right to be thoughtless nor to forget those that most recently perished during the Revolution of Dignity, the Heavenly Brigade, and all defenders of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity – those who sacrificed their lives for the preservation of freedom and Ukrainian independence… Memory Eternal!”
Ms. Matviyenko appealed to the Ukrainian community to remember the horror of the Holodomor. She reminded everyone that, “In the spring of 1933, the rural population of Ukraine was dying at a rate of 25,000 a day, half of them children. Ukraine, which was known worldwide as the breadbasket of Europe, was being ravaged by a man-made famine of unprecedented scale… It was engineered by Stalin with intent to control and oppress the Ukrainian people by denying them the basic essentials needed to survive. Death by forced starvation was a response toward the peaceful, self-sufficient and independent Ukrainian peasants who prospered from the wealth accumulated from farm holdings and dared to resist the ‘collectivization.’ It is most painful to describe what the Ukrainian people endured… We cannot allow ourselves to forget. We must communicate the horror and stories with others so that we do not witness a repeat of Holodomor.”
On Saturday, May 19, in commemoration of the 85th anniversary of the Ukrainian Genocide, the Consulate General of Ukraine in Chicago and the Ukrainian Genocide Famine Foundation-USA Inc. co-sponsored the North American premiere of “Ukrainian Requiem” composed by Yevhen Stankovych. The program included Ms. Matviyenko and Stefan Szkafarowsky (soloists), the Kalamazoo Philharmonia (Andrew Koehler, director), Kalamazoo Bach Festival Chorus (Dr. Chris Ludwa, director), George Wyhinny (“Buried Truth”) and the Women’s Bandura Ensemble of North America (Oksana Rodak and Oksana Zelinska, artistic directors). The event took place at the Harris Theater in Chicago.
In the words of Ukrainian Genocide Famine Foundation President Kocherha, “We must preserve the memory of this Ukrainian Genocide, the Holodomor, or history will repeat itself.”
Maria Korkatsch-Groszko, Ph.D., is a member of the executive board of UGFF-USA Inc. and St. Andrew UOC-KP.