From 1932 to 1933, the Soviet Union engaged in forced starvation of Ukrainians in an attempt to crush resistance to Soviet policies and anti-Soviet sentiment resulting in the death of millions.

Holodomor commemorations held in Calgary on Nov. 25, recognizied the genocide of Ukrainians in the 1930s and the ongoing efforts by the Russian Federation to destroy that nation and its people today.

“Ninety years ago there was one of the largest tragedies of the entire world, and a lot of people don’t know what it was. It remained silent for decades and decades, and in fact, only in the 2000s, is when governments started to recognize it as an actual genocide,” said Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Calgary Branch President Dr. Daniel Moussienko.

The Holodomor is one of eight genocides recognized by the Government of Canada and has been recognized by most western nations. It has continually been denied as having been a genocide by the Russian Federation.

According to research done by historians of the Holodomor, more than 16 per cent of the rural population of Soviet Ukraine died from 1932 to 1934 as Soviet forces, ordered by Joseph Stalin, seized grain from Ukraine out of distrust for that nation’s leaders.

Punishing grain quotas were placed on Ukrainian farmers, with winter stores meant to feed people over the winter months taken.

Additional seizures of other crops like potatoes and sources of food like fish were undertaken by Soviet forces when farmers were unable to meet grain quotes.

In a final step, Soviet authorities prevented Ukrainians from leaving Soviet Ukraine in order to seek food and employment elsewhere in the USSR.

The majority of demographers estimate that between four and five million Ukrainians died as a result of the Holodomor, but poor record keeping and disinterest from Soviet authorities makes a precise count impossible.

Recognition in the community, and in classrooms

Saturday’s commemoration was attended by Mayor Jyoti Gondek representing Calgary City Council, UCP MLA Ric McIver and Alberta NDP MLA Janet Eremenko representing the Alberta Government and the Loyal Opposition respectfully, and MP Pat Kelly.

“Being able to commemorate freely and openly here today, along with the support from all three levels of government, is very important to us as a Ukrainian community but also to show to Ukrainians in Ukraine that that weren’t haven’t forgotten about them,” said Dr. Moussienko.

“We’re not forgetting about the past, but also looking at what’s going on now in Ukraine, and how Russia unfortunately is still using food as a weapon against Ukrainians whether that be by blocking ports in the Black Sea, or hitting supply depots.”

Mayor Gondek said that it was a day that needed to be commemorated, especially given the number of evacuees who have fled the war and are now living in Calgary.

“It’s a reminder that we have to ensure that we are recognizing acts like this, and calling them out,” she said.

“The Ukrainian community has been through much and it is important to indicate that we will remember the things that happened in the past.”

Mayor Gondek said that when she first was invited to speak at a Holodomor commemoration in 2018, it shocked her that she didn’t know more and that the genocide was not being taught in schools.

“The thing that troubles me about the Holodomor is none of us learned about it in school. And so now we have a woman named Pamela Clark, who’s going to be recognized today… who’s making sure that this history is actually told in schools,” she said.

Clark, a Grade 3/4 teacher with the Calgary Board of Education, was awarded the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium Educator Award for her work to transform the story A Bottle of Grain by author Rhea Good into lesson plans useable by educators nationwide.

Clark said the focus was on connecting hard concepts for Grade 3 students like genocide, Holodomor, and starvation with the words hope, family, community, and neighbours—all drawn from the book’s story which was based on a real-life survivor of the Holodomor, Maria Soroka.

“The power of truth, this is so important for students that this was a true story, fictionalized… the power of hope is what I hope to bring to young children in a time of great adversity for our world, and that they move forward as local and global citizens,” said Clark.

Those lesson plans are available for free online through HREC Education.

Proud to be an independent nation

Dr. Moussienko said that Ukrainians are proud of their nation being independent, despite the hardships they have faced.

He said that the Holodomor was among many attempts by the Soviet Union and now the Russian Federation to deny Ukrainians that independence, including those who have been allied with Vladimir Putin or other figures associated with the USSR or KGB.

“It’s very challenging to see everything that’s going on now as well because it’s just it’s an extension of what’s been going on for the last century, and probably even we can even extend it to several centuries,” he said.

“There’s cultural claims, meaning Moscow was trying to claim that certain cultures are the Kievan Rus is actually Russia and so forth. That historically is not accurate whatsoever.”

One of the precipitating factors recognized by historians as a cause of the Holodomor was the independence that Ukraine achieved from 1917 after the collapse of the Russian Empire during WWI to when it became a part of the USSR in 1921.

Dr. Moussienko said that he recognizes that the war in Ukraine has not been as important to many Calgarians lately and that he understands why people have become focused on more recent conflicts like those between Israel and Palestine.

“I think everybody deserves to have their own commemoration, their own recognition, their own support, and their own respect. I think the message to the Calgarians who are maybe focusing more on other issues, rather than what’s going on in Ukraine: I absolutely support that because I think whatever side you’re on and that spectrum of things, you have every right to as a Canadian to have an opinion,” he said.

“But I think when it comes to Ukraine, this is a threat that is going to be long-standing. Especially if it progresses, and in the unlikely event that Ukraine loses, it’s going to impact us a lot. I think we don’t realize as Canadians how close Russia is to us… I think that’s something that we have to recognize that although it seems like it’s so far away, it’s really not that far.”