"I saw the ravages of the famine of 1932-1933 in the Ukraine: hordes of families in rags begging at the railway stations, the women lifting up to the compartment window their starving brats, which, with drumstick limbs, big cadaverous heads and puffed bellies, looked like embryos out of alcohol bottles ..."
Arthur Kaestler*
Event Information:
On behalf of the Ukrainian-American community of the State of Connecticut, we extend our most respectful invitation to all Ukrainians, Organizations, and Concerned Citizens to attend a solemn commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the devastating Terror Famine (Holodomor) that took the lives of up to 10 million Ukrainians during Josef Stalin’s brutal collectivization campaign in 1932-1933.
The solemn commemoration will take place on the afternoon of Saturday, May 17th, at 1 p.m. beginning with an ecumenical memorial service at St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church at 135 Wethersfield Avenue in Hartford.
The service will be followed by a procession to the State Capitol, carrying the International Holodomor Torch, (which is a torch that will be carried around the world to as many Ukrainian communities as time will allow. The torch’s final stop will be Kyiv, Ukraine in November 2008 where it will light an eternal flame at the site of the planned memorial complex).
A Special Commemoration Program will begin at 3:00 PM at the State Capitol where we will honor the victims and survivors of the Famine with a short program and concert.
We have the active support of Governor Rell, Senators Dodd and Lieberman, our U.S. Congressional delegation from Connecticut as well as leading political leaders from throughout the state. We will be joined at the Capitol by delegations from other groups who have experienced genocides in their history including the Jewish, Armenian, Cambodian, Tibetan, and Darfurian communities to remember this genocide and to denounce all genocides.
Featured Speakers:
His Grace Archbishop Antony
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of America
Ambassador Oleh Shamshur
Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro
Connecticut's 5th district
Dr. Larry DeNardis
President-Emeritus of Southern Connecticut State University
His Excellency Bishop Paul Chomnycky
Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford
Michael Sawkiw
President of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America
Musical Selections by the Yevshan Ukrainian Vocal Ensemble of Connecticut.
The event will take place on May 17, 2008 in Hartford, CT
For further information please contact:
Ansonia: Marilyn Michel 203-881-9133
Bridgeport/Fairfield: Larissa Lytwyn 203-209-5325
Danbury Area: Rostyk Slabickyj 203-790-4422
Hartford: Myron Kolinsky 860-563-4072
or Alex Kuzma 860-652-0041
New Britain: Adam Platosz 860-225-9258
New Haven: Myron Melnyk 203-397-2087
Stamford: Roman Markovytch 203-358-0256
Willimantic: Olga Kurnyk-Ezis 860-456-1226
*Arthur Koestler was a famous British novelist, journalist, and critic. Koestler spent about three months in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv during the Famine. He wrote about his experiences in "The God That Failed", a 1949 book which collects together six essays with the testimonies of a number of famous ex-Communists, who were writers and journalists.