Hansard 2008-12-02 Ukrainian holocaust: ceremony

BACKGROUND:
On 29th November 2008, Mr Peter Kavanagh DLP MLC for Western Victoria Region attended a commemoration event for the Holodomor -- the starvation of Ukraine.
Mr Kavanagh's comments in Parliament on Hansard are below.


HANSARD:
Title: Ukrainian holocaust: commemoration
House: COUNCIL
Activity: Members Statements
Members: KAVANAGH
Date: 2 December 2008
Page: 5254

...

Mr KAVANAGH (Western Victoria) -- On Saturday I had the honour of attending a commemoration event for the Holodomor -- the starvation of Ukraine; I was accompanied by Mr Guy and Mr Finn. The Holodomor was the deliberate theft of food from Ukraine with the intention of starving to death millions of people. Unfortunately between 7 million and 10 million people -- men, women, children and babies -- starved to death as a result of those actions conducted by the Soviet Union.

The ceremony on Saturday was at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in North Melbourne and was presided over by Bishop Peter Stasiuk. Also represented there by Reverend Vasyl Kasian was the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church. It was

Page 5255

organised by Stefan Romaniw and Victor Rudewych, who represent Ukrainian organisations.

It seems to me that a crime like that against humanity needs to be acknowledged and remembered. Perhaps even more importantly, the only honour we can do such victims is to take from their suffering and deaths a dedication that such a horrific crime against humanity will never happen again.