[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 163 (Thursday, November 29, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2169]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            RECOGNIZING THE UKRAINIAN FAMINE REMEMBRANCE DAY

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                            HON. CURT WELDON

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 29, 2001

  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, sixty-eight years ago a 
horrific crime was inflicted, killing an estimated 3-5 million people 
and yet this genocide is seldom heard of. I am referring to the Great 
Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine conducted by Stalin's Soviet Union. We 
should not, we can not allow the elimination of a people go unnoticed 
or become forgotten. While some events in history are documented and 
memorialized to ensure that future generations will never have to be 
victim to them again, we have a duty to learn of and reveal those that 
have not yet been exposed.
  The Ukrainian Government has designated the last Saturday in the 
month of November as Ukrainian Famine Remembrance Day. Today I join 
those in mourning and assist their cause in expanding the world's 
acknowledgment of what had happened.
  The 1930's marked a time of ``Collectivization'' for the new Soviet 
Empire. Any symbolism or feelings of Ukrainian national consciousness 
or identity was hoped to be erased but to do so required an ethnic 
cleansing of the most brutal nature. The task took the form of a man-
made famine whereas the quota for grain procurement from Ukraine was 
increased by 44 percent. The extraordinarily high quota resulted in a 
severe grain shortage, effectively starving the Ukrainian people.
  After collection, grain elevators were guarded by military troops and 
secret police denying access to even those who had harvested the grain 
in the immediate area. Those hiding grain were killed and an internal 
passport system was implemented to restrict people from moving to where 
there was food. The result was a demoralized and depleted Ukrainian 
ethnic population. Stalin covered up this genocide so effectively that 
little is known to outsiders even today. Perhaps that will end now.
  Today, there is a Ukrainian state, proud but mindful of its past. 
They will forever suffer the memory of being intentionally starved to 
death to end their struggle for freedom. Let us, a nation that 
symbolizes the very definition of freedom, learn of and remember the 
struggle the Ukrainians endured to obtain it. Mr. Speaker, in the 
spirit of standing up to all who threaten democracy and freedom, last 
Saturday, November 24, 2001, was the Ukrainian Famine Remembrance Day.

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