Holocaust & Holodomor – Similar Conclusions

I came across an interesting article about the Holocaust in the April 20^th edition of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. In it the reporter makes salient points that duplicate statements that Ukrainians make about the Holodomor – the murder by famine of at least 7 million Ukrainian men, women and children by the Russians in 1932-33.

For example:

“After reading hundreds of books and articles about the Holocaust, and even perusing many documents that have never been published as part of his work as the director of the Elie Wiesel Archive at Boston University, Rappel (Jewish archivist – ID) realized that despite the research controversy regarding the precise number of victims, ‘in our consciousness the number remains 6 million.’ …

“About 15 years later, during Eichmann’s trial, chief prosecutor Gideon Hausner said that ‘In the consciousness of the nation the number 6 million has become sanctified.’ But he added: ‘It’s not so simple to prove that. We did not use this number in any official document, but it became sanctified.’ Now, thanks to Rappel, historical research had added another layer for understanding the context for the number.”

Indeed the number of Holocaust victims became “sanctified” in Jewish and everyone’s minds. Regardless of what was, is or will be said, that’s the number of killed Jews. Question it and you become an evil denier. So why are we, Ukrainians, allowing a discussion about the number of Holodomor victims? Why are some Ukrainian and non-Ukrainians discounting the number of dead to a mere 4 million? My generation of baby boomers grew up with the figure of 7 million Ukrainian men, women and children starved to death by Russia in 1932-33 just because they were Ukrainian. That figure must be sanctified against all others in our and everyone’s minds.

Another dramatic point made in the story concerns the word “nation.” Many scholars, pundits, writers and readers identify nation as a country and vice versa, rarely stating or implying that a nation does not necessarily exist only within the boundaries of a country or state. Oftentimes a nation exists or has existed for hundreds and hundreds of years without the formal boundaries of a country.

The Haaretz story points out:  “‘Polish Jewry is extinct and no longer exists. Polish soil is a sacred grave of Polish and European Jewry. I could have brought you a sacred gift: a clod of earth from Polish soil suffused with the blood of a nation, which has died a martyr’s death,’ was how Unger began.”

The blood of a Jewish nation, which had lived in Europe not merely beyond the borders of a Jewish state, Israel, which didn’t yet exist during World War II.

The Haaretz reporter correctly used the word nation, meaning a group of people with a shared language, history, culture, religion, tradition and experience of persecution – just like the Ukrainian nation which lost 7 million people to forced famine created by Russia.