During the dark days of the early 1930s, crimes against humanity sank to a new low when Communist Russia created a famine that systematically killed up to ten million innocent people in Ukraine.

I attended the Holodomor Commemoration Ceremony on Parliament Hill in late November to pay my respects to those who suffered at the hands of Russian dictator Josef Stalin. It is important that history remembers him as a cruel leader who would go to inhuman lengths to force Communism on a helpless public.

The term “Holodomor” is a Ukrainian term that combines “starvation” with “induced suffering to kill.” The Soviet Communist regime in 1932-33 inflicted untold torture and death, and a third of the victims were children. Unfortunately, some people are capable of appalling deeds, and Holodomor is one of the saddest notes in history.

The commemoration ceremony held on Parliament Hill was hosted by the ambassador of Ukraine to Canada, and Conservative M.P. Peter Goldring, who is chair of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Group. Prime Minister Stephen Harper attended the ceremony and delivered a heartfelt speech to remind Ukrainian people of this government’s sympathy over this horrific injustice. I was honoured to represent everyone of Ukrainian descent who live in Saskatchewan.

Just 75 years ago, the hard-working farmers of Eastern Europe were forced to farm for the Soviet state. Stalin crushed the Ukrainians’ right to private ownership and personal initiative, in favour of collectivization that destroyed agricultural production. One of the worst famines in history ensued as millions of Ukrainians and some Kazakhs and Russians slowly starved to death. Those who refused to meet Stalin’s demands were slaughtered.

There are now about a million Canadians of Ukrainian descent and many of them lost loved ones in the Holodomor. I believe that Canadians of every ethnic origin feel that genocide must be strongly opposed wherever and whenever it occurs. We must remain on guard, however, because the potential for genocide is always with us.

Prime Minister Harper told the congregation: “What was done to the Ukrainian people was a mortal offence against the values we hold dearest – freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

“Our special kinship with Ukraine was displayed to the world again (in October),” he added. “At UNESCO, Canada proudly co-sponsored the government of Ukraine’s motion honouring the millions who perished in the famine and acknowledging that their deaths were caused by the brutal communist dictatorship of Josef Stalin. That was just the beginning of a year of commemorative events in Canada planned by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.”

We will not, we must not, ever forget Holodomor.

- 30 -