University of Toronto Hosts Conference to Comemorate the Holodomor

By John Pidkowich

The profile of a national tragedy for the Ukrainian people was elevated at an academic level presentation of papers at The Holodomor of 1932-33: A 75th Anniversary Conference on the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide. The Holodomor (murder by starvation) is an act of genocide against millions of Ukrainians, committed by Josef Stalin’s Communist regime in 1932-33. The conference took place on November 1 at the Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto, sponsored by the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, the Peter Jacyk Program for the Study of Ukraine, University of Toronto, and the Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Centre.

 Panelists and guests were welcomed by Wsevolod Isajiw, Professor Emeritus from the University of Toronto, followed by opening remarks by His Excellency Ihor Ostash, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Canada and Dr. Zenon Kohut, Director of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (University of Alberta).

The first panel on Archival Sources was chaired by Roman Serbyn, Professor Emeritus from the Universit du Qubec  Montral, and papers were delivered in English by: Hennadii Boriak (Deputy Director, State Committee on Archives of Ukraine) on “Holodomor Archives and Sources: The State of the Art”; and by Iryna Matiash (Ukrainian Research Institute of Archival Affairs and Document Studies) on “Archives in Russia on the Famine in Ukraine”, read by Andrij Wynnyckyj. Commentary was provided by Lynne Viola (University of Toronto).

 Once classified top secret documents are now accessible with reference made to two publications (in Ukrainian) and on display: The Holodomor in Ukraine in 1932-33 – Documents and Materials by Ruslan Pyrih and Rozsekrechna Pam’yat’ – Holodomor 1932-33 (Declassified Memory) from the Security Services of Ukraine by editorial committee, Vasyl Danylenko et al.  As somewhat of a surprise, the most unused source in previous research on the Holodomor is local press material. About 150,000 entries give print media accounts of the Famine. Also known but pending release for availability, are 3,500 vital statistics registers from the local level, kept by village and regional councils. Preserved information on vital statistics for about one-third of the territory affected by the Famine are on 7 million pages representing the deaths of about 3 million victims. For certain, vital statistical information was destroyed intentionally, however, the mortality rate had been so high that numerous village councils stopped recording deaths.

Accessibility to documents and materials in the electronic medium has greatly improved and their number has grown to approximately 1500 entries as found in the “Electronic Archives of the Famine-Genocide” as posted by Ukraine on the State Committee on Archives web-site. Provided by the Government of Ukraine, Panel Chair Serbyn brought to the audience’s attention the arrival of Holodomor – Ukrainian Genocide in the Early 1930s by the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory and the availability of a limited number of copies of those present. In the question period that followed, Serbyn steadily emphasized, as in his introductory remarks, the importance of the liquidation of the intelligentsia during and immediately following the Famine and in effect removing the requisite intellectual leadership to defend extremely hard-hit peasants and large tract production farmers. The famine was caused by the requisition of grain to break the spirit of Ukraine’s farmers in their resistance to forced collectivization and adherence to their Ukrainian national identity. The campaign in 1932-33 was the worst of three famines that gripped Ukraine under Soviet rule.

The second panel on Historiography was chaired by Frank Sysyn (University of Alberta, CIUS) and Liudmyla Hrynevych (Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine) delivered a paper on “The Present State and Prospects of Development of Ukrainian Historiography of the Holodomor”. Commentary was provided by Terry Martin from Harvard University.

The final panel on Politics and Society was chaired by Peter Solomon from the University of Toronto and Mykola Riabchuk (University of Alberta) delivered a paper on “The Famine in Contemporary Ukrainian Politics and Society”. Commentary was provided by Dominique Arel, Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Ottawa.

Concluding remarks and gratitude were extended by His Excellency Yuriy A. Sergeyev, Ukraine’s  Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

Conference organizers will summarize the presentations and discussion that ensued and will consider collecting and preparing the delivered papers for publication as complete conference proceedings. The conference sponsors are grateful for the cooperation and support of the Buduchnist Credit Union Foundation and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress – Toronto Branch.