The last Saturday of November is the day of commemoration of one of the biggest Ukrainian tragedies, the Holodomor. The Holodomor was organized by Josef Stalin in 1932-1933, but in fact people also died from the famine in 1922-1923 and in the after-war years, 1946-1947. Records show that up to 10 million people died. Many more people who survived live with the scars in their souls and with the memories of parents eating their own children to survive. When I read the stories told by victims of Holodomor, I wanted to cry. And it is very sad that some people deny the death of millions of people and try to falsify the facts.

Ukraine has observed a minute of silence in honor of the 1932-1933 famine. The nationwide minute of silence was observed at 15:52, November 28th. A national event called, “Light a Candle” followed the minute of silence. The President of Ukraine, Victor Yushchenko, with his family, lt the first candles in Sofia Cathedral, Kiev. The President also opened the memorial to the victims and delivered the speech to the few hundreds of people [gathered there]. He said: “We saved and returned to people the truth about the big famine of 1932-1933, returned from rupture and limbo. When we remember the famine, we revive the traditions that were lost in those dreadful times.”

In our churches, we prayed about the famine survivors and asked for God’s wisdom for our State and local authority, for them not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Give thanks for the ministry of our field staff and volunteers who witness to the saving grace of a wonderful Heavenly Father while hte country remembers mourn and consider the mistakes of the past.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 4th, 2009 at 2:31 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.