Holodomor 2020
The global Ukrainian community, consisting of those in
Ukraine and the diaspora, are commemorating the anniversary of Russia’s mass
murder by starvation of at least 7 million Ukrainian men, women and children.
Imagine, mass murder by starvation. How? Moscow simply confiscated all food
resources and products, and exported them to Russia, leaving the people to die
at home or on the streets. This act of genocide ranks among the greatest crimes
against humanity. Not only did the Ukrainian nation lose millions of men, women
and children, but the world lost their contributions in all segments of
endeavor.
In tribute to the victims, I’m repeating some thoughts from previous blogposts.
Holocaust &
Holodomor – Similar Conclusions
I came across an interesting article about the Holocaust in the April 20th
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.
Include Holocaust in the
Dictionary
While
many people around the world have heard of the famine deaths in Ukraine, the
word Holodomor, Russia’s premeditated murder by hunger of at least 7 million
Ukrainian men, women and children in 1932-33, they may not be as familiar. Yes,
7 million killed. That number has been sanctified in the minds of generations
of Ukrainians.
H-O-L-O-D-O-M-O-R
Planned,
deliberate death by hunger. Moscow sought to deprive Ukrainian peasants or
farmers of food to eliminate this excess population so it decided to seize
wheat and other foodstuffs from them. Simple starve every one of them. It was
the first time that food was used as a weapon. It was a genocide according to
the United Nations. In the past eight decades many national parliaments as well
as America states and municipalities have adopted resolutions denouncing the
Holodomor as genocide.
However, sadly, if you were to open the latest edition of the classic Merriam-Webster dictionary you wouldn’t find any reference to the Holodomor. You wouldn’t learn how to spell it and you wouldn’t find even a cursory reference to what it was and why it should be remembered.
However,
it you looked under “H” for Holocaust, you would rightly find a succinct,
accurate definition:
Definition of holocaust
1: a sacrifice (see SACRIFICE entry 1 sense 2)
consumed by fire
2: a thorough destruction
involving extensive loss of life especially through fire a nuclear holocaust
3a usually the Holocaust: the mass slaughter of European
civilians and especially Jews by the Nazis during World War II. Several members
of her family died in the Holocaust. a Holocaust survivor
b: a mass slaughter of people especially : GENOCIDE
a holocaust in Rwanda
Examples of holocaust in a Sentence
The museum is devoted to the Holocaust. There were fears of a nuclear holocaust.
You would also find a definition of the Hebrew word Shoah:
Sho·ah | \ ˈshō-ə , -ˌä \
Definition of Shoah
First Known Use of Shoah
1967, in the meaning defined above
History and Etymology for Shoah
Modern Hebrew shō'āh, literally, catastrophe, from Hebrew
But you wouldn’t find a definition for the world Holodomor. Instead you’d find:
“holodomor” – The word you've entered isn't in the dictionary. Click on a spelling suggestion below or try again using the search bar above.
It’s not that Merriam-Webster doesn’t include foreign words in its
dictionary. Here’s what they say about blitzkrieg, Nazi Germany’s lightning
fast invasion of Europe:
Definition of blitzkrieg
1: war conducted with great speed
and force specifically: a violent surprise offensive by
massed air forces and mechanized ground forces in close coordination
Examples of blitzkrieg in a Sentence
The stunned survivors of the crash
were then confronted with a blitzkrieg of in sensitive questions from
the media
The war began with a blitzkrieg that was designed to shock the enemy into submission
A global campaign, launched by Bohdan Onyschuk, chair,
Canada-Ukraine Foundation, and Chair, Holodomor National Awareness Tour, is
currently underway by the Ukrainian World Congress, the Ukrainian Congress
Committee of America, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and others to rectify
this hopefully mere oversight and not premeditated expurgation of the word
Holodomor. They are asking the global community to view a video and then sign a
petition in support of this effort.
You can access the petition on the website http://deeptruth.ca,
where you can also view the “deep fake” video of Stalin finally telling the
truth about the Holodomor, and the posters for the campaign which will be
carried out on the Internet, Facebook, Twitter, other social media, and
hopefully press stories and morning show interviews.
Using rare color film footage of Stalin, the Soviet
dictator’s features have been painstakingly mapped onto the face of a
modern-day actor, effectively bringing Stalin back to life. In the video,
Stalin lays claim to his right to be credited as the true originator of “Fake
News” by denying the Holodomor and successfully concealing from the world how
he engineered the famine in Ukraine in 1932-33, killing millions of innocent
men, women and children.
The campaign needs support by: (a) adding your name to the
petition, which you can find on the deeptruth.ca website, or directly here: https://www.change.org/p/merriam-webster-dictionary-help-us-get-the-word-holodomor-included-in-all-major-english-dictionaries?use_react=false
(b) sharing this information, and the deeptruth.ca website
with your organizations and your own personal contacts (including politicians
at all levels), and
(c) offering any advice in areas where you could be helpful
in expanding the campaign.
History and contemporary references to the Holodomor must be rectified for the sake of the innocent victims.
From Twitter: Watching
the outstanding movie MR. JONES about heroic journalist Gareth Jones who
uncovered Russia’s murder by hunger of 7 million Ukrainians, I wondered if
Hollywood’s Putin lackeys like Oliver Stone, Steven Seagal et al are aware of
Stalin’s lackey Walter Duranty. Sleazy characters will disrupt global peace,
security & development.
