Joseph Stalin’s terrorization and de facto execution of 5-7 million Ukrainian farmers in 1932-1933 via forced starvation , i.e. the “Holodomor,” was a heinous, premeditated crime of industrial-scale proportion – a crime against humanity. Yet, it is not well-known outside of our community.
The upcoming November 7 dedication of a memorial to Holodomor victims in Washington is an opportunity to, once again, reach out to the news media to raise awareness of this forgotten genocide.
By pooling our voices worldwide, reaching out to local news media in our home communities and repeating key messages over the course of the coming year, we can not only boost media interest in Stalin’s atrocity against Ukraine, but compare it to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Both are crimes for which the perpetrators should be brought to justice, in Stalin’s case, in absentia.
As proof of just how effective our community can be – when there is concentrated, coordinated media outreach at the local level – consider the fact the 50th anniversary commemorative march on the Soviet Embassy in Washington in 1983 generated news “hits” in more than 500 U.S. daily newspapers, as well as major radio and TV outlets.
It can be done.
Even more so today, with 24/7 news cycles that leave news outlets hungry for good material – especially human interest stories and coverage by “citizen journalists.”
There is also the unprecedented, democratizing power and reach of social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. Witness the important role of the #freeSavchenko Twitter campaign and others like it in building and maintaining awareness of the plight of Ukrainian fighter pilot Nadiya Savchenko.
Importantly, Ukraine is no longer isolated as it was in decades past. Indeed, after the uplifting images of the Orange Revolution, Apocalypse-like images of the (late-stage) Maidan, the downing of MH-17 over eastern Ukraine, the drama of the Ukrainian “cyborgs” defending Donetsk Airport, the tide of refugees fleeing war-torn Ukraine, etc., there is an increased appetite for Ukraine-related news. Along with its nemesis, Mr. Putin, Ukraine is in the news virtually every day.
There is immense power and drama in the Holodomor story – it is a shocking crime, after all, and one that is still largely unknown. What’s more, it directly relates to what is happening today in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Thus, a key task in any outreach campaign surrounding the Holodomor monument is to point out the parallels between Stalin’s 1930s Terror-Famine – and Mr. Putin’s current war of aggression/ terrorization of the population in eastern and southern Ukraine.
We need to steer the Western press into this part of the story. It would provide important context for understanding the current situation as a continuation of the Kremlin’s historical policies toward Ukraine.
This includes the centuries-long policy of attacking and undermining the Ukrainian language – e.g., via 19th century tsarist edicts and bans against the Ukrainian language, and the attempted silencing of Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko via forced exile in Kazakhstan for 10 years, with express orders forbidding him from writing in his native Ukrainian.
To get the kind of coverage the November 7 event deserves, we can and should be:
• reaching out to our local press and alerting them about plans for travel to the nation’s capital en masse for the November 7 event;
• urging them to provide coverage – either directly or through the Associated Press (the focus on syndicated AP coverage was a key factor in the success of the 1983 commemoration’s press coverage); and
• providing reporters with fact sheets, resources and access to experts – maybe even survivors or the children of survivors – to help journalists understand and cover this big story.
Notably, we should not view the November 7 dedication as a one-time event, but as the kick-off to a year-long campaign of outreach to the media, op-ed and letter-writing, and coordinated public marches against symbols of the Kremlin. And, we should consider the weeks beforehand as a prime time for building interest in the dedication – worldwide – via events in various countries, cities and towns.
Such events can include:
• where possible, marches on any symbol of the Putin government, such as embassies and consulates;
• ecumenical prayer vigils, to which members of non-Ukrainian churches are invited; and
• candlelight vigils on our main streets with appropriate signs.
While a strong turnout on November 7 is very important, it is not enough to just “show up,” listen to some solemn speeches and prayers, and then return home.
Instead, we must collectively work on maximizing press coverage – on getting the message out. Because after all, we know about the Holodomor. No need to “preach to the choir,” as they say.
There is enough material to assemble a press kit to give to your local news media that includes key points about your local commemoration of Holodomor, tied to the November 7 dedication of the Holodomor memorial in Washington.
Specific information about the Washington dedication is contained in a flyer issued by the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA). The information above can be used as the basis for your press release.
In addition, we can supply you with quotes from the late, renowned Holodomor researchers Dr. Robert Conquest and Dr. Jim Mace, as well as conservative columnist George Will, and others.
To fail to act on this opportunity would be an injustice to the millions of free Ukrainians whom Stalin deliberately starved in that bleak year of 1932-1933.
We know this story; we just need to tell it in our communities, again and again. Each of us can be a leader in this quest.
Andrij Bilyk, now a freelance writer, is a former newspaper reporter, magazine editor, and public relations specialist. In the 1980s, on behalf of three Ukrainian American ad hoc committees, he coordinated media campaigns for three separate marches on the Soviet Embassy. He can be reached at: [email protected].
Xenia Jowyk is a business communicator and public affairs specialist with over 20 years’ experience working with the written word – and images – to help shape public policy at the national level. She was previously a chapter president of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America, and is active with the Arlington-Ivano-Frankivsk Sister Cities Committee in Virginia. She can be reached at [email protected].