TORONTO – The Holodomor featured prominently at an international conference on genocide held at the University of Toronto on October 20-21. Organized by the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium (HREC, Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta) and the Institute for Holocaust, Genocide and Memory Studies (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), the conference culminated with the Toronto Annual Ukrainian Famine Lecture on October 21.
Mykola Swarnyk
Dr. Liudmyla Hrynevch delivers the Toronto Annual Ukrainian Famine Lecture as part of a conference on genocide.
The conference “Genocide in 20th-Century History: The Power and the Problems of an Interpretive, Ethical-Political and Legal Concept” considered how the concept of genocide has evolved and been adapted, examining both the contributions and challenges of the concept as a way of understanding the 20th century.
The idea for the conference originated with HREC advisor Andrea Graziosi of the Università di Napoli Federico II, whose research includes his discovery in the archives of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs of remarkable Italian diplomatic correspondence describing the Famine.
Presenters came from Canada, the United States, Australia, Israel, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Among them were specialists from the Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities (Oslo), University of Calgary, Leibniz Institute for Jewish History and Culture, University of Michigan, University of Leicester, University of Nevada, University of Wisconsin, Australian National University, University of Bern, Harvard University and University of Wollongong.
Also in attendance were 20 early career scholars who received support from HREC to offset the cost of attendance. They came from University of Alberta, Northeastern University, University of Notre Dame, University of Southern California, State University of New York at Binghamton, George Mason University, Stockton University, University of Michigan and Presidency University in Kolkata, India. The more than 40 attendees received four HREC publications related to the Holodomor.
Prof. Norman Naimark of Stanford University lectures on the world history of genocide.
“While it is useful to examine recent history in the context of theories of genocide, the legal definition, which came about for political reasons, raises a number of issues. We’re pleased the conference succeeded in establishing the importance of analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the genocide concept and plan to publish its proceedings,” said Prof. Graziosi.
According to Frank Sysyn of HREC and the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, “The conference is a milestone in the study of the Holodomor, marking its integration into broader discussions of genocide.”
Following introductory remarks from the organizers and from Lesley Cormack, dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta, and Randall Hansen, director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, the first panel covered the emergence of the term “genocide.” Other panel topics included “The Evolution and the Concept of Genocide,” “The Colonial-Post-Colonial Experience,” and “Rethinking the Term ‘genocide.’”
The panel “Discovering the Genocidal Nature of the 20th Century” featured papers addressing the Holodomor by Prof. Graziosi and Norman Naimark, professor of East European Studies in the History Department, Stanford University. Ronald Suny of the University of Michigan spoke on the Armenian genocide and questioned the genocidal nature of the Holodomor, sparking a spirited exchange with Profs. Graziosi and Naimark.
The conference, which was organized for an academic audience, also included two evening lectures open to the public. The first, given by Prof. Naimark, considered the question “Is There a World History of Genocide?” Prof. Naimark is the author of such works as “Stalin’s Genocides” (2010), which includes a chapter on the Holodomor, and “Genocide: A World History” (2017). He is presently finishing a book project, “Stalin and Europe: The Struggle for Sovereignty, 1944-1949.”
Annual Famine lecture
The Toronto Annual Ukrainian Famine Lecture, held on the second evening of the conference, was delivered by Liudmyla Hrynevych, the director of the Holodomor Research and Education Center in Kyiv. A senior scholar at the Institute of the History of Ukraine, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, she is a specialist on collectivization and the Holodomor, and compiler of the multi-volume “Khronika Kolektуvizatsii i Holodomoru v Ukraini v 1927-1933” (Chronicle of Collectivization and the Holodo-mor in Ukraine, 1927-1933). Her monograph “Holod 1928-1929 rr. u Radians-kii Ukraini” (Famine in Soviet Ukraine, 1928-1929) was published in 2013.
Dr. Hrynevych discussed the Holodomor in the light of theories of genocide and colonialism. Illustrating her points with visuals from the period of the Holodomor, she demonstrated how Soviet propaganda prepared the ground for genocide by using the press and the cinema to demonize the better-off Ukrainian peasants (kulaks) as the enemy.
Workshop for early career scholars
On Sunday morning, HREC and the Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Center hosted a workshop for the 20 early career scholars at St. Vladimir Institute. The event was an opportunity for academics at the start of their careers to discuss how the conference themes relate to their own research interests, and for HREC to share information on its own research projects.
The young scholars also benefited from valuable advice on publishing in academia provided by world-renowned genocide scholar Prof. Dirk Moses of the University of Sydney, who is also editor of the Journal of Genocide Research.
Kristina Hook, who received a HREC grant to attend the conference, commented: “…after Sunday’s early career scholars event, I felt inspired to begin outlining a new academic paper idea, which I know flowed from listening to the interesting presentations at the conference. It was wonderful to visit the HREC Toronto office and to learn about the many projects HREC is undertaking.” Ms. Hook is working on a dissertation at the University of Notre Dame’s Department of Anthropology and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies on how the legacy of the Holodomor influences political identity in Ukraine.
Conference organizers also included the University of Toronto’s Petro Jacyk Program for the Study of Ukraine, Center for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy; the Anne Tanenbaum Center for Jewish Studies; and the Chair of Ukrainian Studies.
Co-organizer Alon Confino, director of the Institute for Holocaust, Genocide and Memory Studies, will be organizing a follow-up conference for next year. The activities of HREC are made possible through the generous support of the Temerty Foundation.