Rep. Sander Levin
Christine Syzonenko
Rep. Sander Levin
Following is the statement (remarks as prepared) by Rep. Sander Levin. The text was posted on Rep. Levin’s congressional website.
Reverend Clergy, Mrs. Poroshenko. It is my honor to join all of you assembled in such large numbers here.
Today is a memorable day for keeping memory alive. Today we are lighting the way for those still uninformed about the truth. Today we express our faith that speaking the truth will prevail over the power of those who deny it.
The horrors of the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933 resulted from the deliberate effort by the Soviet Union to destroy Ukrainian identity and thwart the battle of the Ukrainian people for their independence and freedom.
That battle has taken on added meaning in recent years. Thousands fighting for freedom in the Maidan stirred hearts and minds everywhere where freedom matters.
This monument in our nation’s capital testifies that Americans will not yield in our support for the Ukrainian people, as they persevere in their hard fought efforts to build a free and democratic nation, with a society open and secure for all of its citizens.
With this monument, we Americans also signify our determination to speak out and to speak up against genocide.
When I was a student, I read a book about the Soviet Union. I was reading a portion supposedly explaining the economic policies and practices of the Soviet Union.
In its dealing with the Ukrainian Famine, I came upon words which tried to minimize the loss of life and the horrors of the Famine of 1932-1933. I was startled by those callous words. They stayed with me.
Decades later, when I came to meet families at home in Michigan who had suffered from Holodomor, those words haunted still more so.
So the endeavor ensued – beginning almost 15 years ago – to bring about an American monument to the millions whose lives were lost in the Famine. During this arduous effort some argued that a remembrance of Holodomor should be combined with other events which had occurred in other places.
We said no, absolutely no.
A genocide if not clearly told can spawn another. The monument to Holodomor, we said, must tell its own tragic story. This monument we unveil today does just that.
It is so located that thousands in the capital of our nation will pass it every day. Hopefully many will pause to reflect and to vow to remember.
This Holodomor monument is so evocatively and creatively rendered that it will perpetually keep alive and honor the memory of the millions lost.
So many have joined in this effort – in both governments and in numerous communities in our two nations and beyond. This monument we launch today embodies our deep American commitment to our basic values.
For all of us here, wherever we come from, this monument represents our hopes for victory for our shared values and for our humanity that closely binds us together, both today – and may it be – for all the days ahead.
Rep. Marcy Kaptur
Stefan Slutsky
Rep. Marcy Kaptur
Following is the text of the speech delivered by Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio). The text was provided by the congresswoman’s office.
Thank you, Michael. Mrs. Poroshenko you honor us by your presence today. Mr. Severyn we bow before you. Thank you for your noble life. To all esteemed guests here today and religious leaders, and to my dear friend Congressman Sander Levin of Michigan, thank you for the personal invitation to join you at this unforgettable momentous event. Thank you for the years it took to achieve this great memorial.
It is appropriate today that we gather in our nation’s capital, a city marked by symbols of liberty and our most sacred monuments. To freedom-lovers everywhere, these enduring sites make permanent what is most precious to us. We do this to encourage the people of our nation and all nations to honor history. Monuments are lights illuminating humanity’s path forward.
More rare are the monuments to events so tragic and singular that we know in our hearts that we must never ever forget them. They help us turn grief into conviction so that we never forget the hard lessons learned. Today we mark the anniversary of the birth of such a monument, an indelible marker that will outlive us. Generations to come must not forget the murderous and inhuman violence of Ukraine’s Holodomor genocide during the Soviet regime.
The Holodomor was unprecedented in recorded history. Millions of Ukrainians of all confessions were condemned by Joseph Stalin to die by starvation at the hands of a brutal and repressive Soviet government. For decades, this profound massacre was denied its rightful place in history. Our nation, too, failed to recognize and respond to that brutality, a wrong that by our presence here today we continue to right.
In 1985, as a junior Member of Congress, I was privileged to co-author the legislation to create the Holodomor Commission to document the forced starvation of untold millions of Ukrainians at the hands of the Soviet Union. And in 2002, I proudly lent my strong support to Congressman Levin’s effort to construct the monument for which we are assembled today. And then last December, we were united in our support of passage of the Ukraine Freedom Support Act to meet the aggression that currently has invaded Ukraine, threatening her sovereign territorial integrity.
Our own family’s maternal grandparents emigrated to America from what is Ukraine today in the early 20th century, penniless and seeking sustenance, as the post-World War I Bolshevik Revolution drove peasants into oblivion, unable to survive. However, as I discovered 60 years later, our great uncle was unable to escape and was forced to spend 20 years in the Soviet gulag, where his brother died. The village of their childhood was transformed forever by the Holodomor. As one cousin related to me, her horrible memories of crawling on the ground in the winter of 1932-1933 scratching the frozen soil with her fingernails trying to find a single onion to make soup for her family.
This historical event is deeply personal for me as well. But it is one of which the American people have little knowledge since so many who could have lived to tell the story perished. So today we honor those who perished, and we remember those who fought and died – and fight today – for liberty.
The century-long Ukrainian longing for liberty has flowered in our own time, and I see it in the faces of the young people in Ukraine as travel there. It is a new day for Ukraine, and the Ukrainian people have walked toward liberty for a long time. Their passion for freedom and self-determination reminds me of America’s fight for independence 250 years ago. It is a passion that burns white hot. We have seen it repeatedly in recent years in the Orange Revolution and again at Euro-Maidan. You cannot conquer the spirit of a people who refuse to kneel. And this, this is the spirit of Ukraine. The people’s undying drive to liberty has foiled and infuriated tyrants time and again. And it will do so now.
This monument ensures that the memory of the Holodomor genocide lives on. This monument alerts future generations about the cost of liberty and the fight for it, and against allowing oppressive regimes to rule over any people. The value of such a memorial should not be underestimated. It reminds us of our own history. It helps us educate and inform generations to come. And it serves as a daily reminder of the despicable deeds of totalitarian regimes that ultimately collapse under the weight of their own moral corruption.
In closing, in his book “Bloodlands,” Dr. Timothy Snyder, who was born in the Buckeye State of Ohio, describes the tragic sacrifice of the millions upon millions of people who were forcibly starved to death in the Holodomor genocide. He says, “The good people died first. Those who refused to steal or to prostitute themselves died. Those who gave food to others died. Those who refused to eat corpses died. Those who refused to kill their fellow man died. Parents who resisted cannibalism died before their children.” This was not an act of God, but of politics and therefore of humanity.
Today, three-quarters of a century later, our country, a former ally of Stalin’s regime, in the complexities of the 20th century, is working to right the historical record. In this act of the remembering of truth, we show our commitment to the spiritual admonition, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Today we seek to make America more free as well, even from the long shadow of our darkest alliances. That is why we have gathered here in our nation’s capital at the monument to the Holodomor genocide: to remember and honor noble sacrifice, and face that evil which man hath wrought; to make certain it will not happen again and that those who come after us will never, ever forget.
God bless you all.
Sen. Rob Portman
Following is the text of the video message presented by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), co-chairman of the Senate Ukraine Caucus. The text was provided by the senator’s office. (A video of the message may be viewed by accessing the link shared on The Ukrainian Weekly’s Facebook page.)
Hi, I am U.S. Sen. Rob Portman. I am very sorry I cannot be with you today, but I wanted to take a few moments and thank everyone at the Embassy of Ukraine, members of the U.S. Holodomor Committee, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and everyone else who has played a part in the unveiling of this memorial to commemorate the millions of innocent people who were victims of the Famine-Genocide in Ukraine in the last century.
This memorial will now stand as an eternal tribute to the men, women and children who were killed through starvation as part of then the Soviet Union’s ruthless campaign to stamp out any trace of Ukrainian national identity and political and cultural independence. It will also help educate people who may not know about one of the most horrifying tragedies of the last century and the 20th century, and encourage them to learn more. Finally, it reminds us that evil is real, and it will only be defeated if we stand up and fight it together to ensure that these horrors of the past remain in the history books.
Today, the people of Ukraine face a different, but a familiar foe. An aggressive Russia has violated sovereign territory and ignited a conflict that has now left thousands dead and ceasefires broken. However, after visiting Ukraine twice in the past year and a half, I have seen that the spirit of the Maidan is alive and well. I saw it when I led a congressional delegation to Kyiv to monitor the Ukrainian presidential elections back in of May 2014.
There I saw the still smoldering ruins of the protesters’ camps in the Maidan, where the first battles in the war for Ukraine’s future were fought. I saw the true spirit of the Ukrainian people, and just as the brutal repression failed to break the Ukrainians’ spirit in the last century, so too will this latest effort to determine Ukraine’s destiny fail.
History is testing us once more and it is clear that we must stand together. We must stand with Ukraine against continued aggression. Russian forces make a mockery of the so-called ceasefire, and they continue their occupation of sovereign Ukrainian territory in Crimea and in Donbas.
The United States, in my view, should provide direct, lethal military assistance to Ukraine to give Ukrainians the tools they need to defend themselves. We must tighten sanctions until Russia understands its actions are unacceptable and respects Ukraine’s sovereignty. We must help win the information war and help fight back against the propaganda machine which seeks to convince the world that somehow Russians are the victims of this and not the aggressors.
We need sustained, long-term support for strengthening this U.S.-Ukrainian relationship. This is why Sen. [Dick] Durbin and I founded the Senate Ukraine Caucus. It’s a group of senators committed to supporting Ukraine’s democratic, pro-Western future. This is our mission, and we stand shoulder to shoulder with everyone who supports this goal.
It’s important that we learn from the past to best shape the future. The best way to honor those who have fallen in a struggle for their country is to reach our shared destinies in a time in which peace and freedom are known to everyone. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak with you today. I wish you all the best of luck. God Bless America and Slava Ukrayini!
White House
The statement below was issued by the White House, Office of the Press Secretary, on November 7.
Today we join Ukrainians here in America and around the world
to remember the catastrophe of the Holodomor, and the millions
of innocent Ukrainians who starved to death more than eight
decades ago as a result of the brutal policies of Joseph Stalin’s regime.
It was the Soviet regime’s deliberate seizure of Ukrainian crops and
refusal to provide food relief that turned Europe’s breadbasket into a
land of immeasurable human suffering.
Despite decades of totalitarian rule, Ukrainians refused to abandon their drive for freedom and independence. And as the Ukrainian people face new threats to their territory and well-being, they have once again demonstrated their resolute commitment to human dignity. Ukraine’s modern struggle for freedom and democracy is a testament to the unbreakable spirit of its people and honors the memory of the many who perished under Stalin’s brutal rule.
It is incumbent upon us to remember the horrors of the past as we
renew our commitment to the prevention of future atrocities. Through
the tireless efforts of the Ukrainian American community and friends of
the Ukrainian people, a memorial now stands in the heart of our
nation’s capital, allowing Americans to share in the somber memory of
the Holodomor and reflect upon our shared determination to build a
better world.