The New Pathway: One of the First to Report on Holodomor

Paul Migus, President,UNF Ottawa-Gatineau

The Ukrainian Canadian community in Ottawa, Ont. and Gatineau, Que. participated in the Ukrainian National Federation’s first public event organized by its newly-revived branch, featuring  Dr. Halyna Mokrushyna’s presentation of “Ukrainian Sentiments and Canadian Sustenance: Telling the Story of the Holodomor”.  Co-sponsored by the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies and the UNF Ottawa-Gatineau Branch, the public lecture was held at Saint Paul University on May 25, 2011, attended by almost 50 members of the community.  All participants thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Mokrushyna’s enlightening presentation of her MA thesis (University of Ottawa) which explored the campaigns in Canada to raise awareness and recognition of the Holodomor.

The Holodomor, (based on two Ukrainian words: holod - ‘hunger, starvation, famine,’ and moryty - ‘to induce suffering, to kill’), was an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people committed by the Soviet Communist regime in 1932-33. In the very heart of Europe - a region considered Europe’s breadbasket - Stalin’s Communist regime committed a horrendous act of genocide against up to 10 million Ukrainians. An ancient nation of agriculturists was subjected to starvation, one of the most ruthless forms of torture and death. The government imposed exorbitant grain quotas, in some cases confiscating supplies down to the last seed. The territory of Soviet Ukraine and the predominantly Ukrainian-populated Kuban region of Northern Caucasus (Soviet Russia) were isolated by armed units, so that people could not go in search of food in neighbouring Soviet regions, where it was more readily available. The result was the Ukrainian Great Famine Genocide of 1932-33, known in Ukrainian as the Holodomor, or extermination by artificial famine.

Almost 80 years ago, one of the first newspapers in Canada, and the world, which reported on the Holodomor in Ukraine in 1932 was The New Pathway Ukrainian Weekly (affiliated with the Ukrainian National Federation).  Dr. Mokryshyna provided an excellent overview of her research dissertation which captured the 3 stages of the Holodomor Awareness Campaign. 

Stage one focused on the period 1930-1970; namely getting the very fact recognized that the Great Famine really took place.  In the early years, Ukrainian Canadian media, such as Novyj Shliakh (The New Pathway) and Holos Ukrainy, and Ukrainian Canadian organizations publicized knowledge about the famine-induced genocide.  Later in this period, various Chairs of Ukrainian Studies at Canadian universities undertook primary research into the history of Ukraine.

The second stage, during the 1980s, brought the Great Famine to world-wide attention and provided evidence that this famine was premeditated and carried out by Stalin’s regime with the purpose of exterminating Ukrainians. This decade saw the introduction of academic research and use of mass media, such the 1984 film ‘Harvest of Despair’, and the 1986 book ‘Harvest of Sorrow’ to substantiate the genocide; notwithstanding continued Soviet denials of any atrocities.

The third stage, between 1980 and 2010, was the realization of the Holodomor’s “official recognition” as genocide. With strong support from the Ukrainian Canadian community, this period focused on the Government of Canada’s leadership role in providing official government recognition of the Holodomor as an act of genocide against Ukrainians.  The major events in Ukrainian Canadian engagement in Canada’s political arenas witnessed a successful Senate of Canada Resolution in 2003 on the Ukrainian Famine. In 2008, MP James Bezan introduced a private member’s bill – Bill C-459 - Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (Holodomor): a Memorial Day Act, which was passed unanimously by all parliamentary parties.  In addition, after dedicated advocacy by the Ukrainian Canadian community at the provincial level, similar Holodomor awareness and recognition legislation was passed by provincial legislatures in Saskatchewan (2008), Manitoba (2008), Alberta (2008), Ontario (2009), and Quebec (2010).  Efforts are still pending in British Columbia.

Other than in Quebec, members of parliament and legislative assemblies of Ukrainian ancestry were the primary sponsors of the Holodomor legislation. In addition to the federal government, four Canadian provinces have also recognized the Holodomor proclaiming the fourth Saturday of each November as Holodomor Remembrance Day in Canada.  The framing of the Canadian legislation focused not only on the genocide against Ukrainians, but also the Soviet crimes against humanity and the violation of basic human rights.

The Ukrainian Canadian community has also been successful in promoting the recognition and awareness of the Holodomor through the provincial school systems.  In Alberta and Manitoba, the Holodomor is a compulsory subject on the academic curriculum.  While in the provinces of Saskatchewan and Ontario, it is offered on a voluntary basis by various school boards.  In addition, the Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Centre (UCRDC) was established in Toronto, and provides 164 documented oral histories by survivors and witnesses of the Ukrainian artificial famine of 1932-1933.  These can be accessed at www.holodomorsurvivors.ca

Dr. Mokrushyna also noted that while ‘national’ feelings are often associated with negative social attributes, the Ukrainian Canadian experience in rallying around the Holodomor has had and continues to have a positive role.  The Ukrainian Canadian community has constantly acted as the guardians of this Ukrainian cultural memory. This is all the more significant given that the Holodomor was not recognized in Soviet Ukraine, and in current day Ukraine, the recognition of the Holodomor as an act of genocide continues to be in dispute.

 
PHOTOS

1 - Dr. Halyna Mokrushyna at Saint Paul University, Ottawa, presented findings on Canadian awareness of the Holodomor

2 - Paul Migus, President, UNF Ottawa-Gatineau Branch