Five years ago, on November 27, 2010, the Holodomor of 1932-1933 was commemorated in Kyiv with two separate ceremonies.
One was organized by the Ukrainian government officials that included President Viktor Yanukovych and Prime Minister Mykola Azarov. Led by Metropolitan Volodymyr of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Moscow Patriarchate, a simple morning prayer was offered on St. Michael’s Square.
In an official statement, Mr. Yanukovych, who never referred to the Holodomor as genocide, in-line with the Kremlin’s rejection of that designation, stated: “Even today, the tragedy of the 1932-1933 is hard to comprehend. It was a true Armageddon, when people lost their humanity from hunger. Afterwards this national calamity, which engulfed millions of innocents, isn’t liable to oblivion.”
Also in attendance, which surprised many among the Ukrainian intelligentsia, were Dmytro Stus, son of former Soviet political prisoner Vasyl Stus, Borys Oliinyk, a Soviet-era literary icon, and Stepan Khmara, who was a fierce critic of the Yanukovych administration.
A separate commemoration, organized by a committee of 30 civic and cultural leaders, and held in the afternoon at the same location attracted several thousand people, under the slogan “Holodomor Genocide – 32-33.” The committee invited the Yanukovych administration to its event, but the government declined.
A requiem service was offered by Ukrainian Catholic Major Archbishop and Cardinal Lubomyr Husar and Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate. Roman Catholic and Protestant leaders, many pro-Western politicians and diaspora leaders also attended.
The Yanukovych administration also abandoned the “Light a Candle” tradition that was initiated by the government of President Viktor Yushchenko. Instead, during the unofficial ceremony, glass candles were distributed and placed at the memorial on St. Michael’s Square, the site of the first Holodomor monument in Kyiv.
Other changes included many television stations no longer displaying a black ribbon or symbol of mourning next to their logos, as was done in previous years. Channel 5 changed its logo from blue to black, while music networks M1 and OTV displayed a candle, ear of wheat or symbolic cross.
The 2014 commemoration was held, as is tradition, on the fourth Saturday of the month, November 22. Thousands including President Petro Poroshenko and Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko, came to commemorate the victims.
Source: “Two separate ceremonies in Kyiv remember Holodomor,” by Zenon Zawada, The Ukrainian Weekly, December 5, 2010.