Events Dedicated to the Holodomor Remembrance Day in Ukraine Took Place at Ostroh Academy

November 22, 2024

Every year, the National University of Ostroh Academy joins the commemoration of the Holodomor Remembrance Day in Ukraine. It organises several events dedicated to this topic.

On November 21, the Scientific Library of the NaUOA hosted a screening and discussion of the film 'Gareth Jones. The Price of Truth' and a presentation of books and sources on the Holodomor in Ukraine. 

Halyna Tsepiuk, Director of the Scientific Library, made an opening speech:

"The Scientific Library of Ostroh Academy annually joins the commemoration of the Holodomor victims in Ukraine. Today, we will recall these events and discuss their significance. We collaborate with the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory and the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide and present a source database. The scope of your interests as historians can differ; some can relate to the Holodomor, which is still being researched."

Mykola Blyzniak, Cand.Sc. (History) and Associate Professor of the Department of History named after Prof. M. Kovalskyi noted:

"We comprehend that the Holodomor of 1932-1933 was man-made and directed from moscow. We are aware of the consequences of this horrific deed for the Ukrainian people, whose number of victims is approximately 4 million. These are direct losses, and there are also indirect ones. The Holodomor must be treated as a struggle of the Stalinist leadership against Ukrainian identity, culture, and national consciousness. Today, we also link these actions with the first liberation efforts of 1917-1921, when Ukrainians could not create their own state and, as a result, had to be part of the Bolshevik empire."

Mr. Blyzniak also focused on the mass and artificial Holodomors of 1921-1923 and 1946-1947. Thus, the Soviet administration broke the resistance of Ukrainians, their desire for independence, self-sufficiency, and their own national life.

"Today, entire institutes, groups of scientists, academic staff and historians are working on the issues of the Holodomor, and as a result, Ukrainians remember and know the architects of this misanthropic anti-Ukrainian act. Thus, we have numerous publications on this topic. Let us also clearly apprehend these processes to plan our future in a free, independent, democratic, and united Ukraine.",

The Head of the Foreign Literature Department, Oleksandr Kontoruk, informed the students of the website of the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide and the website of the Scientific Library, where relevant literature can be found.

"The Holodomor is a weighty topic; many memories and moments are frightening to discuss. But we must not forget these events because we are not worthy of our future if we do not remember our past.",

During the event, the "History and Archaeology" academic programme students watched and discussed the film "Gareth Jones. The Price of Truth". The plot is based on the story of "journalist Gareth Jones, who gets acquainted with the reality of the 'Soviet utopia' and, despite the deadly risks and threats from the secret services, uncovers the truth about the tragedy of the Ukrainian people: the Holodomor, censorship, and mass repressions." The students were recommended the book by Mirosław Wlekły "Gareth Jones. The Man Who Knew Too Much," which complements the film and provides a broader insight into the figure of Gareth Jones and his fate.

The students also could view books and sources on the Holodomors in Ukraine. The presented books covered a wide range of research, including works by Volodymyr Serhiichuk, Vasyl Marochko, Olha Movchan, Valentyna Borysenko, Volodymyr Vasylenko, and others. In addition, foreign publications by Robert Conquest, Myron Dolot, the collection of Liubomyr Lutsyk, and Norman M. Naimark were presented.

The publication "National Book of Memory of the Victims of the Holodomor 1932-1933" sparked the most significant interest among the students, as it highlights the regions of Ukraine from where archival and published sources, as well as testimonies from citizens, have been collected.

First-year students of the "History and Archaeology" academic programme, Andrii Ostapchuk and Sofiia Kobets, shared their impressions of the event and the film watching.

"The film is deeply emotional. The main character strives to expose Stalin's totalitarian regime and tell the world about the Holodomor in Ukraine. I will recommend it to my friends to watch.",

"The film's mission is essential for us today because the events depicted in it are close to reality. Organising such events is critical.",

On November 21, the lobby of the new academic building of Ostroh Academy hosted the presentation of the art project "HØLØDØMØR" by visual communication designer and artist Yuliia Fedorovych.

In 2021, Yuliia Fedorovych earned a Master of Arts (MFA) degree from the University of Notre Dame in the United States. She is a scholarship holder of the Fulbright and Edmund S. Muskie programmes. Her work focuses on visualising the complex history and heritage of Ukraine and Eastern Europe. Her award-winning works are exhibited in the United States, Canada, and Ukraine galleries.

Anastasiia Kheleniuk, the director of the Museum of the NaUOA History, delivered an opening speech:

"Our museum collaborates with various fascinating people, including the artist Yuliia Fedorovych, who currently resides in Canada. She is a young and promising artist who studied in the United States and purposefully addresses complex topics within American society. Yuliia Fedorovych's graduation design project was dedicated to the Holodomor, where she, not through terrifying photos or lectures but through her art, reflected on the history of this tragic chapter. It was done very effectively."

In the series of posters, the artist tells the story of the Holodomor through her language of symbols, based on both the visual similarity to traditional Ukrainian embroidery elements (colour schemes, arrangement of elements) and the symbolism of the totalitarian regime that caused the famine. Each of the 10 posters sequentially tells the tragic story of the famine: the main preconditions, facts, and consequences of the 1930s tragedy, and also has an animated version available in augmented reality. 

The exhibition is equipped with a short video broadcast in which Yuliia Fedorovych talks about the project and details the symbolism of each poster:

"The title of my project is the word 'HØLØDØMØR,' in which all the 'O' letters are crossed out." This technique is meant to visually represent how widespread the mortality of Ukrainians was during this genocide. We do not know, and it is unlikely that we will ever know how many people became victims of this tragedy. But we know for certain that it involves millions of those who directly died from starvation. The Holodomor is perhaps the greatest tragedy in the history of Ukraine, causing irreparable trauma to our entire nation. We must continue to speak the truth about the Holodomor because only by condemning the genocidal crimes and atrocities of the past can we prevent their recurrence in the future."

As part of the Open University Project, on November 21, Doctor of Science (Philology) and Professor at the NaUOA, Zhanna Yankovska, delivered a lecture entitled "The Real and Artistic Dimensions of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 Through the Lens of Ukrainian Women's Prose."

On November 22, a memorial service for the innocent Ukrainians who were starved to death during the Holodomor of 1932-1933 took place at the Academic Church of St. Fedir Ostrozkyi at the NaUOA.

The pastor of the church, archpriest Vasyl Zhukovskyi, conveyed:

"Ukraine has a complex history. We have glorious pages, but there are also many sad events, unhealed wounds. Sometimes, we must stop, reflect, analyse, draw certain conclusions, and pray together to God. This is necessary, first and foremost, for ourselves, our identity, our nation's history, and our country.

Today, we commemorate a very tragic, sad event. In the early 1930s, the Ukrainian people experienced the most horrific humanitarian catastrophe in the history of modern civilisation – the Holodomor of 1932-1933, whose distinctive feature was the destruction of those who resisted.

 To achieve this, a plan was implemented, which involved depriving people of the most natural need – the ability to consume food. These actions of the government are what we call genocide against its own people. Against the backdrop of spiritual and religious genocide, it became easier for the Soviet authorities to carry out physical genocide.

They took away bread from peasants and food from children, committing these lawless acts on Ukrainian lands, partially carried out by commissars sent from russia. However, most of them were locals—Ukrainians, fellow villagers—misled by Soviet propaganda and the ideological machine with a pathological desire to survive in these difficult conditions at any cost. 

Today we pray to God for our compatriots, starved to death in different periods, and that these events never repeat in our history again.”

Every year, on the fourth Saturday of November, Ukraine and the world honour the memory of the victims of the Holodomor. Thirty countries have recognised the Holodomor as the genocide of the Ukrainian people.

Let us remember with a moment of silence the millions of Ukrainians who died from the man-made famine orchestrated by the communist totalitarian regime!