“The Famine of 1932-1933 and the Ukrainians: History and Literature” conference was held in the Embassy of Ukraine

April 5, 2008 – In honor of the 75^th anniversary of the Holodomor the Embassy of Ukraine together with the Shevchenko Scientific Society – DC Branch and the Ukrainian Free Academy of Arts and Science group organized and held a conference on "The Famine of 1932-1933 and the Ukrainians: History and Literature."

The conference was opened with the silence minute when all the distinctive audience stood in memory of the victims of this great tragedy. Afterwards Deputy Head of Ukrainian diplomatic mission Victor Nikitiuk announced an address by Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine Dr. Oleh Shamshur to the conference participants.

Presentations by prominent scholars from the USA, Canada and France did not only touch upon the issue of necessity of historical truth revealing and international recognition The Holodomor to be genocide against the Ukrainians, which was substantially proved by Professor Roman Serbyn from University du Quebec a Montreal. Jurij Dobczansky, Senior Cataloging Specialist and Recommending Officer for Ukraine in the Library of Congress, devoted his presentation to the topic of accessing bibliographic resources on the Holodomor. Independent scholar Markiyan Dobczansky touched upon the topic of contemporary Ukrainian society’s attitude towards the Holodomor phenomena and the role of President V.Yushchenko in raising public discussion and paying tribute to the consequences of the great famine. Dr. Leonid Rudnyzky, Professor Emeritus of La Salle University, and Dr. Jean-Pierre Cap, Professor Emeritus of Lafayette College discussed the issue of the image of the Holodomor in Ukrainian literature with a especial attention to Vasyl Barka’s book “Zhovtyy kniaz” (“The Yellow Prince”).

In 1932-1933, while the Soviet government sold massive quantities of Ukrainian grain to foreign markets, approximately 7 million Ukrainian men, women, and children starved to death. The facts and evidences introduced by the speakers during the conference became the other eloquent testimony of the goal of the Holodomor phenomena was a genocide against the Ukrainians and a deliberate attempt to crush the Ukrainian nation.