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Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations |
Союз Українських Організацій Австралії Last updated - Tuesday, 25 December 2007 |
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Build the future , knowing the past! Millions perished the 1932-33 Famine in Ukraine A topic for a family table discussion at this time Christmas and the Eide Festival are two wonderful celebrations currently happening in our multicultural society at this time in Australia. These times of celebration are a wonderful opportunity to spend quality time with our families. As happens during many family gatherings, casual discussion moves to reflection on the past and planning for the future. We espouse our personal aspirations for our families and speak about our society and on world events. You know the –What has happened, what we would like to happen, what we needs stop happening type talk. Here is a possible topic for this discussion. Something you may not even know happened. Yet it is important because it shows what happens when values and respect are substituted by the abuse of power leading to a crime against humanity. Seventy-five years ago in Ukraine, 7-10 million people perished in the 1932-33 Ukrainian Famine – Holodomor. At a time where food was plentiful, grain was being exported, yet millions of people perished from starvation, as Stalin and the Soviet regime callously implemented collectivisation. More than half of those who perished were children and thus Ukraine lost one-third of all its children in this planned Holodomor. The slogan “Ukraine Remembers - the World Acknowledges” gives us an opportunity here in Australia, to give some thought to this tragic episode in history, a blatant act of genocide and ask: ‘how was something like this allowed to happen? How did those people in power, sitting around tables as we are doing now, knowingly sanction and enforce this crime against humanity?’ Why consider this issue? . In building a better future we must learn from the past. Stripping people of food, taking away their basic human rights and dignity, the abuse of power, the falsification in media and Soviet and Western Government documents relating to the period must be questioned. Findings of scholars like Robert Conquest and James Mace dismissed as anti-Soviet propaganda. The awarding of the Pulitzer Prize to the now exposed journalist Walter Duranty for his writings based on lies of the time are of serious concern. As we sit and discuss the future, the values we demand from those in power, base our society on, want our children to grow up with, are often based on episodes in history. Positive ones set the standard; bad ones help us to be diligent. Whether at the table we sit now, our work place or any other sphere of influence, discussion often revolves around aspiring to a strong future thus creating a better world. I recently presented a paper on the Holodomor at a United Nations Forum in NY, followed by a visit to Kyiv, Ukraine. The overarching topic at each table, whether in NY in meetings with Heads of Missions or in Ukraine in meetings those who now represent the new democratic Ukraine, its President , Victor Yuschenko; Minister for Foreign Affairs, Wolodymyr Ohryzko; the Head of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, the discussion was probably no different from that which you will be having, ‘What do we need to do to make the world a better place, a place where people are respected?’ Similar solutions proposed. We must have firm values and standards and be committed to making valuable contributions. In practical terms this is reflected in the SBU commitment to major change to better society. It has opened its archives, those of the former NKVD, KGB. The Holodomor archives tell of intent and motive of the Stalin and the Soviet regime, to eradicate the Ukrainian nation. I had in my hands the archives of Alexandra Radchenko, who was sentenced for 10 years for anti soviet propaganda, based on a series of diaries she wrote about the time of the Famine; the cruel demands to seize grain; the cold faces of those who were pleaded with ‘what of our children? What will they eat?’ I read these diaries with tears in my eyes. Alexandra wanted no more or any less for her family than we want today at our family table – a table laden with food and surrounded by her family. On asking Valentyn Nalyvaichenko why he took the major step to declassify SBU archives, he eyeballed me and said “Truth must be the basis of our society. History must be based on truth. The famine period has been hidden and the truth must be told. Secondly, my co workers, the young workers of the SBU, must be educated that the role of security agencies must not be abused to tell lies or scare people into submitting for political purposes as was the case with NKVD and KGB.” You may again well ask ‘so what’s that to do with us here?’ Think Globally - Act Locally – International events, the telling of history, the respect for human rights, the atrocities committed internationally, whether they be the Holodomor, Holocaust or any another act of Genocide, have to be lessons in life. Educating our children, our young families about these issues, is an insurance policy for the future. Look around your table at home today. There sit current or future business people, leaders, educators, members of society. Thus values, respect and truthful history - Australian and International need to be discussed, taught, studied and put in context. Episodes in history must be learning points for the future. We must not allow these tragedies to have been in vain! We have our spheres of influence. Our family, our friends, our work and sporting environment are our strongest spheres. President Yuschenko recently said these words: “As we sit at our family tables at this time, I call upon the business community to resolve never again to profit from human misery, as did those who bought cheap grain that had been seized from the hands of starving farmers, or did business with the engineers of death. I appeal to journalists never to compromise the truth in exchange for special privileges, or in order to indulge their political fantasies. I admonish politicians and diplomats never to accept a government’s assurances when they know that its people are dying of hunger.” We as families, we as members of society must be the guarantors of this future. The question is how do we achieve this? Maybe it’s something to consider as we take those few serious moments at Christmas or Eide or just sitting in a group enjoying the break to reflect on the past and sketch out the future!
Stefan Romaniw OAM
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