INTERNATIONAL HOLODOMOR REMEMBRANCE FLAME ENTERS THE UNITED STATES Seattle, WA (UCCA) – On Sunday, May 4th, the Ukrainian community in Seattle, WA officially welcomed the International Holodomor Remembrance Flame from Canada to the United States. In a moving ceremony attended by Rep. Jim McDermott (Democrat from the 7th congressional district of Washington), Ambassadors of Ukraine to the United States, Canada, and the Holy See, and the presidents of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (and Chairman of the National Committee to Commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Ukrainian Genocide of 1932-1933) joined the nearly 300 local Ukrainian Americans, many of which were young students and Plast youth, gathered at the University of Washington to witness the transfer of the torch.
The program began with opening remarks from Petro Dromomyretsky, President of the Ukrainian Club of Washington, who officially welcomed everyone and spoke of the true nature of the genocidal famine in Ukraine 75 years ago. The program included very poignant and moving words by Rep. Jim McDermott, who of Irish descent, spoke of the similarities between the Irish Potato Famine and the Ukrainian Genocide of 1932-1933. “These examples of deliberate decisions by politicians (in reference to Josef Stalin’s act to destroy the Ukrainian conscience),” stated Rep. McDermott, “must be brought to the attention of the world. We must be vigilant as a nation.”
Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oleh Shamsur, spoke of the “lessons of the Holodomor that are yet to be fully learned,” while his counterpart, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Canada mentioned that “Holodomor is not just a tragedy of Ukraine, but of all mankind.” Following the warmly received ambassadors’ remarks, a greeting was read from Washington State’s Governor, Chris Gregoire, which emphasized the importance of Washingtonians having more knowledge of the Holodomor.
The program also featured remarks by Paul Grod and Michael Sawkiw, Jr., presidents of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, respectively. “As this International Holodomor Remembrance Torch,” stated Mr. Grod, “has delivered its flame of truth from province to province, city to city, town to town and school to school throughout Canada, it has left a valuable message with Canadians – we must have a world without genocide.” Mr. Sawkiw thanked his Canadian counterparts for their “endeavors across your great land and we pledge to you that we in the United States will also hold high this flame, this symbol of the eternal memory of 7-10 million victims of the Ukrainian Holodomor and say to the world in one common voice: Ukraine Remembers, the World Acknowledges.”
In between the remarks, a poem was recited and a video clip about the Holodomor was shown. After the formal portion of the program, a Canadian Holodomor survivor, Stepan Horlatch, passed the torch to the Ukrainian ambassador to Canada and the community representative, who rightfully transferred it to the their American counterparts. The torch was then passed to all the participants at the event before Ukrainian students carried it away, into the city of Seattle.
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