NEW YORK – Hundreds of Ukrainian Americans from the tri-state area and beyond gathered at the landmark St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Saturday, November 12, for the annual commemoration of the Holodomor, the genocidal famine that killed millions in Ukraine in 1932-1933.
They came, as Bishop Paul Chomnycky said in his opening remarks, because “It is our solemn duty to remember this sad page in the history of the Ukrainian people and, indeed, of the world, not only to ensure that it is never repeated anywhere ever again, but to commend to the Lord the poor souls who had no one to pray for them.”
Christine Syzonenko
Holodomor survivors Nadia and Alexander Severyn are escorted in the solemn procession.
The Ukrainian Catholic eparch of Stamford, Conn., explained: “It is our obligation today, and always, to remember and to pray for those poor souls who had no one to pray for them, for those whom the world had forgotten for so long…”
The solemn ceremonies began with a procession of Holodomor survivors, students and members of the Ukrainian American Youth Association and Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization. The children carried wheat stalks symbolizing the harvest seized by the Stalin regime from Ukraine.
The service is led by hierarchs (from left) Bishop Paul Chomnycky, Metropolitan Antony and Bishop Emeritus Basil Losten.
Metropolitan Antony of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A., and Bishop Chomnycky and Bishop Emeritus Basil Losten of the Ukrainian Catholic Church led the memorial service for the Holodomor’s victims. Responses were sung by the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York, under the direction of Vasyl Hrechynsky.
After the service, the newly elected president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, Andriy Futey, addressed the prayerful assembly, reminding them that the Holodomor is not merely a Ukrainian issue, but a global one, and that “it is our solemn responsibility to remember so that the world never forgets.”
Speakers at the commemoration included (from left): Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.S. Valeriy Chaly, Sen. Charles Schumer and Metropolitan Antony.
Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States Valeriy Chaly stated that Joseph Stalin had decided “to crush our nation with a new weapon – food” and then embarked on a propaganda campaign “to convince the world there was no famine.” He referred also to another genocide committed by the Stalin regime – the 1944 genocide of the Crimean Tatars – and noted the presence at this commemoration of a leader of the Crimean Tatar movement, National Deputy of Ukraine Mustafa Dzhemilev.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), a regular participant of the annual commemorations of the Holodomor, began his remarks by paying tribute to the two Holodomor survivors present, Nadia and Alexander Severyn. He went on to reiterate that “it is our duty to remember” the Holodomor and underscored that “Stalin tried to annihilate the Ukrainian nation and the Ukrainian sprit. He failed.” Sen. Schumer also pointed to the current war on Ukraine being waged by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Seminarians of St. Sophia Seminary of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A.
Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko, the permanent representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, cited historical information about the Holodomor: 25,000 died each day; Ukraine and the Kuban (an ethnically Ukrainian region) were cordoned off; towns were blacklisted and ghettoes were created where the people were left to die. Meanwhile, tons of harvested grain from Ukraine were exported abroad by the Soviet authorities.
William Pope, senior advisor for Europe to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, read a statement issued by the White House press secretary (see text on page 10).
Other notables present in St. Patrick’s were Sergiy Kyslytya, Ukraine’s vice-minister of foreign affairs, and Ihor Sybiga, Ukraine’s consul general in New York.
Vasyl Hrechynsky conducts the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka.
Closing remarks were offered by Metropolitan Antony, who emphasized the importance of this annual remembrance of the Holodomor. “It is something that we need to speak about to our children and our children’s children,” he said. As families died during the Holodomor, “there was no one left to pray for them,” therefore, “it is our responsibility to pray for them from generation to generation to generation.”
The metropolitan also expressed gratitude to Cardinal Timothy Dolan “for making this magnificent cathedral available to us for prayer” and to Sen. Schumer, “who has been with us for so many years.” He said of Sen. Schumer: “He gets it,” and he “is not afraid to use the word genocide,” while others in government are.
Speaking of “the sacred responsibility of sharing the history of the Holodomor,” Metropolitan Antony said that is the only way to prevent another such genocide.
UCCA President Andriy Futey delivers his address.
Seated during the speeches are: (front row, from left) Bishops Basil Losten and Paul Chomnycky, (back row) Senior Advisor to the U.S. Mission to the U.N. William Pope, Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev, Ukraine’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergiy Kyslytsya and Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.N. Volodymyr Yelchenko.