| |
St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York
November 16, 2002
Your Excellencies,
Reverend clergy,
Distinguished members of the Ukrainian government,
Honored guests,
Ladies and gentlemen:
"To defeat the enemy, only one solution was possible: they would have to be
starved out. " The preceding statement describes a conclusion from "The
Black Book of Communism," a book that illuminated the unfathomable horrors
of communist tyranny worldwide. Yet, mankind has often known famine in all
parts of the world brought about by prolonged wars, droughts, floods, or
other cataclysms. But never and nowhere have any people suffered so
devastating a famine as that inflicted by a special Soviet government policy
upon the Ukrainian people in 1932-1933. The word, as described by Webster's
dictionary, is simple: "Genocide - the deliberate and systematic destruction
of a racial, political, or cultural group." It is shocking that in the 20th
century alone, genocide has been so calculatingly used as a
political-ideological weapon.
|
Michael Sawkiw, President, Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA)
© HK/BRAMA
|
When former Soviet Commissar of Foreign
Affairs Maxim Litvinov commented on the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide, he stated
that "food is a weapon," thus giving genocide an entirely new dimension. No
human tragedy can so revile one's innermost instincts as to that policy
which so brutally annihilated millions of men, women, and children
sixty-nine years ago and from which the Ukrainian nation has not yet fully
recovered both politically, socially, and psychologically.
So why then, 69 years later, is the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide so little
known? How has this horrible atrocity escaped the attention of mankind, its
conscience, and justice? The world, as we know it today, accessible through
various forms, was not the world of 1932-1933. Because the Soviet Union was
a closed society, most western journalists and government officials were
purposely kept away from the Ukrainian countryside and could not see the
scales of horror and human tragedy. The Western eye largely ignored those
journalists that did report on the Famine-Genocide as they turned a blind
eye and a deaf ear for fear that peaceful "co-existence" might be disrupted.
But, we are here to say otherwise. The lessons of the Ukrainian
Famine-Genocide must be taught and the unfortunate acts of genocide
perpetrated amongst the world population must be recognized so that history
NEVER repeats itself again. Thus, as we gather on this "Ukrainian Famine
Remembrance Day" within the sacred walls of this Cathedral, let us recall
the victims of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide and the victims' incredible
sacrifice to achieve national statehood and preserve their Ukrainian
identity, as well as to thank those who have helped to bring this tragic
chapter in Ukrainian history to the attention of the world
BRAMA: New York
http://www.brama.com/news/press/021118faminegenocide_ucca-sawkiw.html
For personal and academic use only
|
|
back
