Hero of Ukraine Honoured in Wales

By Olena Wawryshyn

Welsh journalist Gareth Jones, whose dedication to exposing the truth about the Holodomor in Ukraine cost him his life, was honoured at a memorial service and plaque unveiling at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth on May 2.

Gareth Jones “was indeed a solitary beacon of light illuminating the darkness of a tumultuous world of evil tyranny,” said Nigel Linsan Colley, Jones’ great-nephew, speaking at the ceremony.  “Wherever he saw injustices he felt compelled to confront them with the pen,” added Colley.

A graduate of the University of Wales and Cambridge, Jones worked as a foreign affairs advisor to David Lloyd George, a former British  Prime Minister. From 1930-1933, Jones visited the Soviet Union where he saw evidence of a famine that he said was “man-made” (Jones was the first to coin this term).  Jones alerted the world of the suffering he witnessed in articles that were published in various newspapers.

Bowing to pressure from the Soviet government, Western-based Moscow correspondents refused to back up the veracity of Jones’ reports  and accused him of lying. 

In 1935, Jones was kidnapped in North China while travelling in a vehicle which, unbeknown to him, belonged to the Soviet Secret Police. His companion, who it was later revealed was under surveillance by the British Intelligence Service for his involvement with the communists, was released, but Jones was murdered.

“The chances then of the Soviet NKVD not being behind Gareth’s murder now look very remote; Gareth had perhaps become the last victim of the Holodomor,” said Colley.

“Ukraine lived through a very difficult period of history in the 20 century. We had more evils than truths and that is why Ukrainians will always be grateful for every word of truth…” said Ihor Kharchenko, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom in his remarks at the plaque-unveiling ceremony.

The trilingual (English, Ukrainian, Welsh) plaque features a relief of Jones’ image designed by Toronto-based Ukrainian-born sculptor Oleh Lesiuk.  It was erected in the university’s Old College’s Quadrangle, a large room whose walls are lined with memorial plaques.

The event, attended by political, religious and academic dignitaries from England, Wales, Canada and Ukraine, commenced with a service in the university’s chapel where Lord Elystan Morgan, the President of the University of Wales, delivered his remarks.

The plaque unveiling ceremony was emceed by Professor Noel Lloyd, the university’s Vice Chancellor and Principal, who spoke in English and Welsh. “I hope that today’s event in itself will have formed a close relationship between Aberystwyth and Ukraine and indeed between Wales and Ukraine both of them at exciting times of their development,” he said.

Ukrainian-Canadian professor Lubomyr Luciuk of the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, who was instrumental in coordinating the event, also delivered remarks, quoting Ukraine’s national bard, Taras Shevchenko.

On behalf of the Ukrainian community, Luciuk thanked the university's staff for their support and work. He also expressed gratitude to the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada and the United Kingdom and the organizations that supported the event financially. They were listed in the program and include: the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation, the Ukrainian American Civil Liberties Association and numerous individuals.

Following the plaque unveiling and the blessing by Ukrainian clergy, there was a reception.

The event was reported widely in the British print, television and online media.