ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR           

An International Newsletter, The Latest, Up-To-Date
In-Depth Ukrainian News, Analysis and Commentary

Ukrainian History, Culture, Arts, Business, Religion,
Sports, Government, and Politics, in Ukraine and Around the World       

 

 

Mr. E. Morgan Williams, Publisher and Editor, SigmaBleyzer

WASHINGTON, D.C., SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2007

 

Clicking on the title of any article takes you directly to the article.               

Return to Index by clicking on Return to Index at the end of each article

1.  UNESCO GENERAL CONFERENCE PASSES RESOLUTION TO
HONOR MEMORY OF VICTIMS OF UKRAINE'S GREAT FAMINE
According to media, the word "genocide" was removed from the final text
Interfax Ukraine News, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, November 1, 2007

 

2.  UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT WELCOMES UNESCO RESOLUTION
TO HONOR VICTIMS OF UKRAINE'S GREAT FAMINE OF 1932-1933
Expressed confidence it would one day be recognized as genocide
Press office of President Victor Yushchenko
Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, November 2, 2007

3.  UNESCO CALLS ON ITS MEMBER-COUNTRIES TO HONOR
MEMORIES OF VICTIMS OF 1932-1933 FAMINE IN UKRAINE
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, November 1, 2007

4.  "WE ACCUSE: HOLODOMOR GENOCIDE 1932-1933" THE

HOLODOMOR 1932-1933 75TH COMMEMORATION EXHIBITION
WILL BE HELD IN KYIV AT THE UKRAINIAN HOUSE FROM
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20 TO THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6
Action Ukraine Report (AUR) #887, Article 4
Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, November 4, 2007

5.  UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT YUSHCHENKO PROCLAIMS 2008 AS

Serhii Bobok, Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Oct 23, 2007

6.  NATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ECUADOR
RECOGNIZED HOLODOMOR IN UKRAINE AS ACT OF GENOCIDE
ForUm, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, October 31, 2007

7.  UKRAINE URGES WORLD COMMUNITY AT UN TO INTRODUCE
INTERNATIONAL DAY COMMEMORATING VICTIMS OF GENOCIDE
Interfax Ukraine News, Kyiv, Ukraine, October 4, 2007

8.  LIBYA TO CONSIDER ISSUE OF 1932-1933 FAMINE IN UKRAINE
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, October 25, 2007

9.  UKRAINE TO SEEK ISRAELI RECOGNITION FOR 1930'S GENOCIDE
By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz, Israel, Sunday October 28, 2007

10.  UKRAINE: PRES YUSHCHENKO CALLS ON INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY TO CONDEMN CRIMES OF STALIN'S REGIME 

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, November 2, 2007

11.  PRES YUSHCHENKO CALLS ON ROMANIA'S PARLIAMENTARY
AUTHORITIES TO ASSIST IN THE RECOGNITION OF HOLODOMOR

1932-1933 AS GENOCIDE AGAINST UKRAINIANS
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, October 31, 2007

12.  FAMINE OF THE 1930'S WAS NOT GENOCIDE AGAINST

Interfax Ukraine Focus, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, October 25, 2007

13.  UKRAINE'S FOREIGN MINISTRY CRITICIZES RUSSIAN
AMBASSADOR VIKTOR CHERNOMYRDIN'S STATEMENTS

ABOUT UPA SOLDIERS AND 1932-1933 FAMINE IN UKRAINE
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, November 3, 2007

14.  UKRAINE LASHES BACK AT RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR

OVER HISTORY DURING WWII AND SOVIET-ERA FAMINE
NIA Novosti, Moscow, Russia, Saturday, November 3, 2007

 

15.  'CHILDREN, LEARN TO VALUE STALIN,' RUSSIAN PUPILS TOLD
FEATURE: Agence France Presse (AFP),

Moscow, Russia, Saturday, November 3, 2007

 

16.  DESIGN OF MEMORIAL COMPLEX TO FAMINE VICTIMS

OF 1932-1933 APPROVED BY KYIV CITY PLANNING COUNCIL
Approximate cost of the project will amount to over UAH 80 million.
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, October 17, 2007

 

17.  DECREE OF THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE No. 1056/2007
Commemorating in 2007 the Day of Memory for Victims of Holodomor

Office of the President of Ukraine (in Ukrainian)

Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday November 2, 2007

Action Ukraine Report #887, Article 15 (In English)

Washington, D.C., Sunday, November 3, 2007

18.  AUSTRALIA - HOLODOMOR COMMEMORATIONS
NOVEMBER 17 THROUGH DECEMBER 2, 2007
Nation-wide Observances will be held in all capital cities.
Stefan Romaniw, Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organizations

Australia, Saturday, November 3, 2007

19.  JOIN THE SOLEMN MARCH TO HONOR THE UP TO 10

1933 BEING HELD IN NEW YORK CITY, SAT, NOV 17, 2007
National March of Remembrance, National Committee to Commemorate

the 75th Anniversary of the Ukrainian Genocide of 1932-1933
New York/Washington, Friday, October 12, 2007   

20.  THE UKRAINIAN HOLODOMOR & THE DENIAL OF GENOCIDES

International Conference, Rome, Italy, Friday, November 9, 2007

Professor Federigo Argentieri, John Cabot University

International Conference: Organized by Guarini Institute for

Public Affairs-John Cabot University With the cooperation of

Comitati Pro Libertatibus and the Italian Association for the

Study of Central and Eastern European History (AISSECO)

Rome, Italy, November 1, 2007 

 

21.  YUSHCHENKO'S PUSH FOR A HOLODOMOR DENIAL LAW
ANALYSIS: Peter Dickinson, Business Ukraine magazine
Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, October 29, 2007

 

22.  UKRAINE: TRUTH ABOUT HOLODOMOR IN KHERSON

23. 2008 DECLARED AS NATIONAL YEAR OF HOLODOMOR

TO RESTORE HISTORICAL TRUTH ABOUT SOVIET-ERA FAMINE
New Europe, Brussels, Belgium, Monday, October 29, 2007

 

24.  DONETSK OBLAST GOVERNOR CONSIDERS DISASSEMBLING
MONUMENTS AND MEMORIAL SIGNS TO THOSE WHO

OSTROV, Provider: Research Center of Donbass Social Perspectives
Donetsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, October 30, 2007

 

25.  UKRAINE PRES YUSHCHENKO CRITICIZES AUTHORITIES

FOR INSUFFICIENT WORK OVER PERPETUATION OF MEMORY
OF VICTIMS OF 1932-1933 FAMINE 
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, October 23, 2007

 

26.  HEAD OF PRESIDENTIAL SECRETARIAT VIKTOR BALOHA

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, October 26, 2007

 

27.  UKRAINE: COMMUNIST PARTY SAYS RENAMING OF STREETS

& MONUMENTS WITH SOVIET NAMES IS TOTALITARIANISM
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Fri, November 2, 2007

 

28.  HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR WILL REVISIT CAVE IN UKRAINE
THAT HID FAMILY FROM CERTAIN DEATH
More than 60 years after surviving the Holocaust by hiding,
Yetta Katz will return to the caves where she spent 344 days.
Holocaust Survivor's Journey: By Jennifer Lebovich
Miami Herald, Miami, Friday, Sat, Nov. 03, 2007

 

29.  UKRAINE PRESIDENT ORDERS RETURN OF 700 TORAH
SCROLLS CONFISCATED BY COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT 
By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Correspondent,  Israel, Sun, Oct 28, 2007

 

30.  UKRAINE: UGLY FACE OF EMERGING EXTREMISM
Peter Dickinson, Business Ukraine Magazine
Business Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, October 29, 2007
========================================================
1. UNESCO GENERAL CONFERENCE PASSES RESOLUTION TO
HONOR MEMORY OF VICTIMS OF UKRAINE'S GREAT FAMINE
According to media, the word "genocide" was removed from the final text

Interfax Ukraine News, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, November 1, 2007

KYIV - The General Conference of UNESCO unanimously passed on
November 1 a resolution entitled "Remembrance of the Victims of the Great
Famine (Holodomor) in Ukraine", the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign
Ministry reported on Thursday.

The 34th UNESCO General Conference noted that in the former Soviet Union,
millions of men, women and children fell victims to the cruel actions and
policies of the totalitarian regime.

The documents reads the Great Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine (Holodomor)
took from 7 million to 10 million innocent lives and became a national
tragedy for the Ukrainian people.

The resolution of the UNESCO General Conference presented sympathy to the
victims of the Great Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine and victims of famines
that also took place in Russia, Kazakhstan and other regions of the former
USSR, the Ukrainian press service said.

The resolution was drafted by Ukraine in co-authorship with other 45 member
states of UNESCO.  According to a number of Ukrainian media, the word
"genocide" was removed from the final text of the resolution.

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[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]

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2.  UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT WELCOMES UNESCO RESOLUTION
TO HONOR VICTIMS OF UKRAINE'S GREAT FAMINE OF 1932-1933
Expressed confidence it would one day be recognized as genocide

Press office of President Victor Yushchenko
Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, November 2, 2007

KYIV - President Victor Yushchenko welcomes yesterday's resolution by
UNESCO to honor the victims of Ukraine's Great Famine of 1932-1933.

"This resolution shows that the job which has been done by Ukraine, [its]
political forces and diplomats has been recognized in 193 countries of the
world," he said on Friday in an interview with "Dzerkalo Tyzhnya," "Silski
Visti," "Ukrayina Moloda" and "Fakty."

"The international community has for the first time made such a large-scale
consolidated decision regarding the recognition of the Great Famine of
1932-1933."

The president expressed confidence Ukraine's Soviet-era famine would one
day be recognized as genocide against the Ukrainian nation.

Speaking of Ukraine's efforts to persuade parliaments around the world to
pass such resolutions, Yushchenko said: "We deliver dozens of speeches,
the Memory Institute holds dozens of conferences and there is no parliament
in the world which has not received my message regarding the recognition
of the Holodomor as genocide."
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LINK: http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/data/1_20274.html

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[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
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3.  UNESCO CALLS ON ITS MEMBER-COUNTRIES TO HONOR
MEMORIES OF VICTIMS OF 1932-1933 FAMINE IN UKRAINE

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, November 1, 2007

KYIV - The General Conference of UNESCO has called on the member-
countries of the organization to honor the memories of the victims of the
1932-1933 famine in Ukraine.

The press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry announced this
in a statement, a text of which Ukrainian News obtained.

According to the statement, the 34th session of the General Conference of
UNESCO adopted a resolution on honoring the memories of the victims of
the 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine on November 1.

According to the resolution, the tragedy of the famine should be a warning
to the present and future generations to abide by democratic values, human
rights, and the law.

It expresses condolences to the victims of the 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine
as well as the victims of the famines that occurred in Russia, Kazakhstan,
and other former Soviet republics.

Moreover, the General Conference welcomed the initiative of Ukraine to
organize the commemorations on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of
the 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine and encouraged UNESCO member-states
to take part in those events.

UNESCO also requests that its director-general promote awareness of
remembrance of the 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine by incorporating this
knowledge into the educational programs aimed at inculcating the lessons
of this tragic event in future generations.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the Foreign Affairs Ministry presented
the draft of the resolution on infirming member-states of UNESCO about the
1932-1933 famine in Ukraine to UNESCO for consideration on October 4.

President Viktor Yuschenko has declared 2008 as the year of remembrance
of the victims of the 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian parliament declared the 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine as an
act of genocide against the Ukrainian people in 2006.

Ukraine will honor the memories of the victims of famines and political
repression on November 25.

Between 3 million and 7 million people died in the 1932-1933 famine in
Ukraine, according to various estimates.

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[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]

========================================================
4.  "WE ACCUSE: HOLODOMOR GENOCIDE 1932-1933" THE
HOLODOMOR 1932-1933 75TH COMMEMORATION EXHIBITION
WILL BE HELD IN KYIV AT THE UKRAINIAN HOUSE FROM
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20 TO THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6

Action Ukraine Report (AUR) #887, Article 4
Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, November 4, 2007

KYIV, Ukraine - The "We Accuse: Holodomor Genocide 1932-1933"
International Exhibition for the 75th Commemoration of the Holodomor

[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================

U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC): http://www.usubc.com

========================================================
5.  UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT YUSHCHENKO PROCLAIMS 2008

 

Serhii Bobok, Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Oct 23, 2007

 

KYIV - Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko has proclaimed 2008 as the

year of memory of the Holodomor 1932-33 victims.

The President announced this in Kharkiv when speaking at the second

meeting of the Coordination council for preparation of events on the 75th
anniversary of the Holodomor 1932-33.

"The next year is proclaimed as the year of immortalizing memory of victims
of the Holodomor 1932-33," told the President.

Yuschenko expressed confidence in that 2008 Kyiv and Kharkiv will build

new memorials devoted to the 75th anniversary of the tragedy will, the first
national museum of the Holodomor will be commissioned and many historical
works on this issue will appear.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, when speaking in Kharkiv Yuschenko
criticized representatives of different layers of power for insufficient
work on immortalizing memory of the Holodomor 1932-33.

In 2006, the Verkhovna Rada declared the Holodomor 1932-33 as the

genocide of Ukrainian people. November 24 Ukraine honors memory of

victims of famines and political repressions.

In 1932-1933, the famine took lives of about 3-7 million people.
Moreover, according to information from different historians, there were
famines in 1921-23 and 1946-1947.
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[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================      
6.  NATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ECUADOR
RECOGNIZED HOLODOMOR IN UKRAINE AS ACT OF GENOCIDE

ForUm, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, October 31, 2007

KYIV - On October 30 the National congress of the Republic of Ecuador
adopted a resolution by which the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine was
recognized as an act of genocide of the Ukrainian people. Chairman of the
subcommittee on interparliamentary relations, bilateral and multilateral
relations of the foreign affairs Committee of the VRU of the fifth
convocation Oksana Bilozir informed.

As it is noted in the statement, the parliament of Ecuador also shows
solidarity with the Ukrainian people, noted that following of principles of
justice, freedom, democracy and mutual respect, which must be the basis in
the relations between the countries in order such phenomena as Holodomor
in Ukraine doesn't repeat again.

Ecuador is the second country after Peru, the parliament of which recognized
Holodomor in Ukraine as an act of genocide of the Ukrainian people. 11
countries have already recognized Holodomor in Ukraine.
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LINK: http://en.for-ua.com/news/2007/10/31/132042.html

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[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
7.  UKRAINE URGES WORLD COMMUNITY AT UN TO INTRODUCE
INTERNATIONAL DAY COMMEMORATING VICTIMS OF GENOCIDE

Interfax Ukraine News, Kyiv, Ukraine, October 4, 2007

KYIV - Ukraine's First Deputy Foreign Minister Volodymyr Khandohiy
urged the world community during the 62nd session of the UN General
Assembly to endorse a resolution introducing an international day
commemorating the victims of genocide, the ministry's press service has
reported.

He raised the issue on the need for international recognition of Ukraine's
famine of 1932-1933 as genocide against the Ukrainian people. Khandohiy also
expressed hope that the UN "as a collective and moral voice of the world
community and an effective instrument for observing human rights and
freedoms" would condemn the tragedy the Ukrainian people suffered in
1932-1933.

Furthermore, he stressed the need to step up the international legal
mechanisms and political instruments aimed at preventing the spread of
weapons of mass destruction.

Khandohiy said that frozen conflicts in GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan
and Moldova) countries threatened the sovereignty and territorial integrity
of the region's states, and stressed the importance of taking practical
steps, including at the UN, to settle them.

Commenting on the Kosovo problem, he said that in order to resolve the
situation, all parties should refrain from acting unilaterally to resolve
the problem, not involving the UN.

Khandohiy said that hasty actions in resolving the Kosovo issue might
destabilize the situation in the Balkans and have a negative effect on the
whole system of international relations.

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[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================
NOTE: Send in a letter-to-the-editor today. Let us hear from you.
========================================================
8. LIBYA TO CONSIDER ISSUE OF 1932-1933 FAMINE IN UKRAINE

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, October 25, 2007

KYIV - Libya intends to consider the issue of the 1932-1933 famine in
Ukraine at a session of the Libyan General People's Congress.  The press
service of the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry announced this in a
statement, a text of which Ukrainian News obtained.

According to the statement, the Secretary of the Libyan General People's
Committee for Foreign Liaison & International Cooperation, Suleiman
al-Shehoumi, promised during a meeting with Ukraine's Ambassador to Libya
Hennadii Latyi on Wednesday, October 24, to put the issue to a debate in the
General People's Congress.

The Ukrainian ambassador drew attention to the importance of informing the
international community about the tragedy suffered by the Ukrainian people
as a result of the 1932-1933 famine and expressed the hope that member-
countries of UNESCO will support the relevant resolution that Ukraine
proposed for consideration at a general conference of UNESCO.

Latyi also stressed the importance of the closeness of the two countries'
positions on international politics as well as the constructiveness of
Ukrainian-Libyan cooperation within international organizations.

They also paid significant attention to development of Ukrainian-Libyan
cooperation and the need to quickly sign several important bilateral
agreements.

The Ukrainian ambassador also informed Shehoumi about the problems
that Ukrainian citizens working in Libya are encountering.

Shehoumi assured Latyi that the leadership of the Libyan People's Congress
would facilitate solution of the problems connected with the work of
Ukrainian citizens in Libya.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Ukraine has called on UNESCO
member-countries to support its resolution entitled "On Honoring the
Memory of the Victims of the 1932-1933 Famine in Ukraine."

President Viktor Yuschenko has declared 2008 as the year of remembrance
of the victims of the 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian parliament declared the 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine as an
act of genocide against the Ukrainian people in 2006.

Ukraine will honor the memories of the victims of famines and political
repression on November 25.  [Actually it is Saturday, November 24th]

Between 3 million and 7 million people died in the 1932-1933 famine in
Ukraine, according to various estimates. Moreover, according to several
historians, there were famines in Ukraine in the 1921-1923 and 1946-1947
periods.
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[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]

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9.  UKRAINE TO SEEK ISRAELI RECOGNITION FOR 1930'S GENOCIDE

By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz, Israel, Sunday October 28, 2007

Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko is expected to ask Israel to recognize
the genocide of the Ukrainian people in the 1930s by their communist
government when he visits here in about two weeks, sources said.

Israel is not expected to accede to the request, which has won the support
of Jewish community leaders in Ukraine, so as not to damage its relationship
with Vladimir Putin's government at a sensitive time.

Millions of Ukrainians died of hunger from 1931 to 1932 following the
collectivization of farming in the Soviet Union by Joseph Stalin. Famine was
particularly severe in Ukraine, which was a regional breadbasket and was
strongly opposed to the move.

At the same time the communist government attempted to wipe out Ukrainian
intelligentsia and nationalists, with estimations of the number of victims
ranging from a million and a half to 10 million. Advertisement

A number of countries, including the United States, have recognized these
acts as genocide, however, Russia vigorously rejects this definition,
preferring to use the term "tragedy."

Members of the Jewish community in Ukraine say Yushchenko also intends
to present a proposal in the parliament in Kiev to recognize the suffering
of the Jewish people in the Holocaust and the suffering of the Ukrainian
people.

The chairman of the General Council of Jewish organizations, Joseph Zisels,
who met with Yushchenko last Monday, said yesterday: "Israelis understand
more than anyone what genocide is and Yushchenko therefore expects that
Israelis will also recognize the Ukrainian genocide. We don't think it is
the same as the Holocaust, but it is also a terrible tragedy with seven or
eight million murdered."

Last week Yushchenko signed a presidential order to return to the Jewish
community 700 Torah scrolls that were confiscated from the community by
the communists.

The move is believed to be an attempt to soften up Jewish and Israeli public
opinion ahead of his visit. He is expected to bring some of the scrolls to
the Presidential Residence in Jerusalem during his visit.

An attempt to organize a visit by Yushchenko to Israel was made about six
months ago by Rabbi Moshe Azman, Ukraine's Chabad rabbi, and Mordechai
Tzivin, an Israeli attorney active in international Jewish causes.

But Israeli government officials postponed the visit, among other reasons
because Yushchenko wanted to be in Israel on Holocaust Day and to
participate in a ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.
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LINK: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/917798.html

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[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
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10.  UKRAINE: PRES YUSHCHENKO CALLS ON INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY TO CONDEMN CRIMES OF STALIN'S REGIME 

 

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, November 2, 2007

KYIV - President Viktor Yuschenko has called on the international community
to condemn the crimes committed by the Stalin regime. Yuschenko made the
call at a meeting on perpetuation of the memories of victims of political
repression.

'The crimes of the Stalin regime - the 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine the major
terror of the 1930s - should be fully condemned by the international
community. It is the duty of all countries, political and public forces that
accept the values of democracy,' Yuschenko said.

He expressed compassion for all the peoples who were part of the former

USSR and suffered losses as a result of the policies of the Stalin regime.

Yuschenko called on all the former republics of the USSR to join forces to
establish the actual scale of the crimes of the Stalin regime.

'We are obliged to clear our land of all totalitarian signs and monuments to
criminals who were involved in the destruction of millions of Ukrainians,'
Yuschenko said in his speech at the meeting.

He welcomed the Kyiv municipal council's decision to name one of the streets
in Kyiv after Lesia Kurbas, who was a victim of a totalitarian regime.

Yuschenko believes that perpetuation of the memories of victims of political
repression is sacred. 'Stalinism destroyed Ukraine with special thoroughness
and in special dimensions. These losses are definitely irreparable.
Systematic destruction of Ukraine-hood was perpetrated on our land,'
Yuschenko said.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Yuschenko welcomed the General
Conference of UNESCO's resolution that calls on the member-countries of the
organization to honor the memories of the victims of the 1932-1933 famine in
Ukraine.
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[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
========================================================

11.  PRES YUSHCHENKO CALLS ON ROMANIA'S PARLIAMENTARY
AUTHORITIES TO ASSIST IN THE RECOGNITION OF HOLODOMOR

1932-1933 AS GENOCIDE AGAINST UKRAINIANS

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, October 31, 2007

KYIV - President Viktor Yuschenko is calling on Romania's parliamentary
authorities to assist in the recognition of the Holodomor of 1932-33 as

genocide against the Ukrainian nation.

The Presidential press service announced this in a statement, a copy of
which Ukrainian News has obtained. According to the statement, Tuesday
Yuschenko met Nicolae Vacaroiu President of the Senate of Romania, the upper
house of the Romanian Parliament, and Bogdan Olteanu president of the
Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Romanian Parliament.

At the meeting the sides discussed Ukraine's domestic political situation,
interparliamentary cooperation, European and Euro-Atlantic integration of
Ukraine. Besides, the talkers discussed collaboration in the national
minorities issues.

Yuschenko expressed hope that the Romanian Parliament will be assisting,
within the scope of its competence, improvement of condition of the
Ukrainian national minority in Romania.

The President also called on the Romanian side to adjoin recognition of the
Holodomor of 1932-33 as genocide against the Ukrainian nation. Yuschenko
invited heads of the Romanian Parliament to pay a visit to Ukraine.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Yuschenko left for Romania to attend a
meeting of the Yuschenko-Basescu Ukrainian-Romanian commission.

In 2006, the Verkhovna Rada declared the Holodomor 1932-33 as the genocide
of Ukrainian people. November 24 Ukraine honors memory of victims of famines
and political repressions. In 1932-1933, the famine took lives of about 3-7
million people. Moreover, according to information from different historians,

there were famines in 1921-23 and 1946-47 in Ukraine.
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[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
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12.  FAMINE OF THE 1930'S WAS NOT GENOCIDE AGAINST

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[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
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13.  UKRAINE'S FOREIGN MINISTRY CRITICIZES RUSSIAN
AMBASSADOR VIKTOR CHERNOMYRDIN'S STATEMENTS

ABOUT UPA SOLDIERS AND 1932-1933 FAMINE IN UKRAINE

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, November 3, 2007

KYIV - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is critical of the opinion statements
made by Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Viktor Chernomyrdin about the
Ukrainian Insurgent Army soldiers and the 1932-1933 Famine in Ukraine.
Ukrainian News learned this from the press service of the ministry.

According to the report, the ministry said that provision of expert
summarization about the country's past and its inside political life does
not correspond to the established diplomatic practice.

'We would like to note that Ukrainian politicians and academic elite, as
well as the public community, are able to make judgments about the
historical and social phenomena of their nation without additional comments
which are based on ideological and stereotypical principles,' the report
reads.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs requests Chernomyrdin to refrain
from statements and actions that can have a negative influence on the
development of good neighbor relations between Ukraine and Russia.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Chernomyrdin said that official
recognition of Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) soldiers as WWII veterans
would negatively influence Ukraine-Russia relations.
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[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
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14.   UKRAINE LASHES BACK AT RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR

OVER HISTORY DURING WWII AND SOVIET-ERA FAMINE

NIA Novosti, Moscow, Russia, Saturday, November 3, 2007

KIEV - Ukraine's Foreign Ministry dismissed statements by the Russian
ambassador about a Ukrainian WWII army and Soviet-era famine as being
against diplomacy.

In an interview with Russia's Vremya Novostei popular daily Friday, Viktor
Chernomyrdin spoke critically of the attempts to romanticize the Ukrainian
Insurgent Army (UPA), which has been said to cooperate with the Nazis in
WWII.

He also slammed President Viktor Yushchenko's initiative to prosecute those
who deny the 1932-33 famine in Ukraine known as Holodomor.

"Ukrainian political and scientific elite and the public can well qualify
historical events of their nation without any additional commentaries based
on ideological and stereotyped principles," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry
said.

The UPA was formed in 1942 on the initiative of the Organization of
Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). UPA operated mostly in western Ukraine,
historically opposed to Russian domination, and fought against the Soviet
Army.

UPA is known to have cooperated with the Nazis, even though at the end of
the war, it fought against them and the Soviet Army altogether.

In 2007, President Yushchenko signed a decree to celebrate the date of UPA
formation as a state holiday. He also awarded a title of the Hero of Ukraine
posthumously to UPA leader Roman Shukhevich.
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LINK: http://en.rian.ru/world/20071103/86547995.html

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[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
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[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
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17.  DECREE OF THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE No. 1056/2007
Commemorating in 2007 the Day of Memory for Victims of Holodomor

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[return to index] [Action Ukraine Report (AUR) Monitoring Service]
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19.  JOIN THE SOLEMN MARCH TO HONOR THE UP TO 10

1933 BEING HELD IN NEW YORK CITY, SAT, NOV 17, 2007

National March of Remembrance
National Committee to Commemorate the
75th Anniversary of the Ukrainian Genocide of 1932-1933
New York/Washington, Friday, November 2, 2007   

NEW YORK - One of the darkest pages in Ukraine's history is the

Genocide of 1932-33, during which up to 10 million innocent victims

were starved to death through a deliberate Soviet policy to crush the

nationally conscious Ukrainian peasantry.

The Ukrainian Genocide ranks among the worst cases of man's
inhumanity towards man, and is perhaps the most extreme example
of the use of food as a weapon.

Starting Point: St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church
(7th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, New York City)
March begins at 11:45AM, Friday, November 17, 2007
Final Destination: St. Patrick's Cathedral
Solemn Requiem Service at 2PM
To commence the 75th Anniversary of the Holodomor!
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17th 2007, NEW YORK CITY
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NOTE: For further information contact Tamara Olexy at ucca@ucca.org.

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20.  UKRAINIAN HOLODOMOR & THE DENIAL OF GENOCIDES

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21. YUSHCHENKO'S PUSH FOR A HOLODOMOR DENIAL LAW

ANALYSIS: Peter Dickinson, Business Ukraine magazine
Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, October 29, 2007

President Yushchenko announced last week his intention to push for laws
criminalising the denial of the Ukrainian Holodomor terror famine of the
1930s. This would be the latest step initiated by Yushchenko in addressing
the crimes of the Soviet era, but it also threatens to infringe on freedom
of speech

Since becoming Ukraine's third president in 2005, Viktor Yushchenko has
made a fresh appraisal of the country's history and the crimes of the
Communist regime one of his broad policy objectives.

This has seen previously muted remembrance services enter the national
consciousness and led to the benchmark November 2006 parliamentary vote
which saw lawmakers overwhelmingly support a bill to recognise the famine
as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people.

The next step, it seems, is to be the introduction of legislation making it
a criminal offense to cast doubt on this version of events.

During an official visit to Kharkiv last week, President Yushchenko declared
his intention, as soon as the new parliament convenes, to call for the
introduction of laws making it a crime to deny the 1932-33 famine.
A EUROPEAN TREAD
Such legislation would be very much in line with the general trend towards
genocide denial laws already in place in many European Union member states.

These existing laws currently focus on denial of the Holocaust, or genocide
of European Jewry during WWII. Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic,
France, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia have all made
denying the Holocaust a criminal offense punishable by anything from fines
to serious prison time.

Other forgotten or unrecognised genocides of the 20th century are also
coming up for reappraisal, not least the murder of an estimated 1.5 million
Armenians in Ottoman Turkey during the First World War.

A preliminary vote by the American House of Representatives earlier this
month branding the deaths an act of genocide provoked international
political repercussions that are now threatening to impact on the precarious
peace of northern Iraq. A similar vote in France in 2006 led to a major
diplomatic row between the two countries.
FEARS OVER ALIENATING RUSSIA
Given the sensitivity to charges of crimes against humanity in today's
Russia, the self-appointed successor state of the Soviet Union, many
Western nations are cautious about offering any official acknowledgement
of the Holodomor.

Numerous resolutions have been passed sympathetic to the claims of
genocide, but international legislation recognising the Holodomor remains
largely elusive.

President Yushchenko has called on foreign governments to recognise it as
genocide in time for the beginning this November of a year of memorial
events to mark the 75th anniversary of the tragedy, but few appear ready to
do so.

Denial laws similar to those in place across the EU governing denial of the
Jewish Holocaust could only be introduced once official recognition for
Ukraine's Holodomor has been granted.

However, with recognition within Ukraine already achieved in November
2006, there are no legal constraints which could act as barriers to the
introduction of denial laws domestically.
REOPENING THE DEBATE?
In light of the highly charged political debate surrounding the Ukrainian
Holodomor, it will not be long before any new denial legislation is put to
the test.

Apologists for the Soviet regime have repeatedly claimed that the famine,
while acknowledged as a real historical event, was in fact a product of a
number of factors and was not a systematic genocide perpetrated specifically
against the Ukrainian people.

With support in Ukraine relatively high for pro-Russian politicians and
resistance to attacks on the Soviet past still robust, there will likely be
no shortage of activists and academics prepared to test any new denial laws
by contradicting the official government line over the Holodomor publicly.

Whereas Holocaust denial is largely the preserve of minority extremist
groups in most Western countries, millions of Ukrainians still refuse to
adopt the official government position that the Soviet authorities willfully
ordered the destruction of the Ukrainian population. The size of this
constituency would appear to pave the way for large scale opposition to the
plan.

The irony is that any new laws will doubtless be attacked as infringements
on Ukraine's new-found freedoms of speech by the same political forces
which previously fought to curtail press and public freedoms.

Advocacy groups throughout the Muslim world have successfully attacked
Western perceptions regarding freedom of speech by pointing out the
contradictions inherent in Europe's widespread Holocaust denial laws, and
there is every reason to believe that Kremlin loyalists in Ukraine and
across the former Soviet Union would use any new Holodomor denial
legislation to undermine the moral stance of the pro-democracy camp.

Sergiy Ilyin, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Communist Party in Donetsk,
slammed the idea of Holodomor denial laws, commenting, "Yushchenko has
no right to impose his way of thinking on entire nations. There was famine
but to see the hand of Moscow in engineering it is wrong.

"Genocide cannot be recognised in this way. If governments can do this, then
the policy of the United States towards the indigenous American Indian
population can equally be labeled an act of genocide."
LEGAL COMMUNITY HESITANT
Lawyers are also unsure over the plans to introduce anti-denial legislation.

Sergei Konnov, the Senior Partner at Kyiv's Konnov & Sozanovsky law firm,
comments, "If the President wants everyone in Ukraine to have the same
opinion about the Holodomor then he should try to educate people about the
historic facts, but not punish those who do not agree that it was the result
of Moscow policy against Ukraine.

"By all means explain the facts to anyone in doubt but don't send them to
court. Criminalising denial of the Holodomor would demonstrate that Ukraine
is still not ready to be a truly civilised country. Or at least its leaders
are not."

Konnov's colleague Ronald G. Marks adds, "In a democracy, the people
'hold the stick', and in some countries they have used it to 'beat' the
politicians into passing anti-holocaust denial laws.

"I can't imagine a democracy in which the president would force the
population into living under such a law, where there is no demonstrable
evidence that a compelling majority have demanded such a restriction on
civil liberty."

Beyond the argument about the need for Holodomor denial legislation is the
issue of priorities, and there is a further debate about how urgent the
issue is given the very real practical problems facing the country.

Alex Frishberg of Frishberg & Partners attorneys summed up this sentiment,
commenting, "Ukraine's President should be focusing on economic and
corruption issues (particularly in the judicial sphere) rather than seeking
to appease the nationalists with a populist measure like this.
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LINK: http://www.businessukraine.com.ua/yushchenko-s-push-for-a-denial
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22.  UKRAINE: TRUTH ABOUT HOLODOMOR IN KHERSON

OBLAST TO BE REVEALED IN EARLY 2008

The Day Weekly Digest #30, Kyiv, Ukraine, Tue, October 30, 2007

KYIV - In February 2008 the residents of Kherson oblast will become widely
acquainted with the latest materials on the Holodomor tragedy of 1932-33.

This announcement was made by the governor of Kherson oblast Borys
Sylienkov, as he commented on the Oct. 24 session of the Coordinating
Council, which has been tasked with preparing measures dedicated to the
75th anniversary of the Holodomor, Liga reports.

Sylienkov said that the work of the Coordinating Council, created by
presidential decree on March 14, 2007, has enabled researchers to reveal the
whole truth about the Holodomor of 1932-33, which "raged in Kherson region
too.

Ukrainian society must consolidate around its own history," said the
governor, who added that "for 75 years the Communist Party concealed the
tragic truth and spread propaganda that there was no Holodomor in our
region.

Thanks to the president's position, confirmation of tens of thousands of
deaths as a result of the genocide of 1932-33 was found in the archives.
Many unmarked graves were discovered.

We have published information about the Holodomor in the Kherson lands
based on evidence provided by eyewitnesses and disseminated it among
local communities," the governor of Kherson oblast emphasized.

According to Sylienkov, the truth about the events connected to the
Holodomor must be conveyed first and foremost to the communities of
southern and eastern Ukraine.

"Following in the footsteps of historians and researchers in Kharkiv oblast,
the residents of Kherson oblast will be widely familiarized with materials
on the study of the Holodomor of 1932-33," he summarized.

On Oct. 23 President Yushchenko arrived on a working visit to Kharkiv
oblast, where he chaired a session of the Coordinating Council to prepare
measures dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Holodomor.

The main goal of the council is to draft proposals for coordinating tributes
to the Holodomor victims, which will be organized by the Ukrainian
government, and academic and social institutions.
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LINK: http://www.day.kiev.ua/190507/
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23.  2008 DECLARED AS NATIONAL YEAR OF HOLODOMOR

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24.  DONETSK OBLAST GOVERNOR CONSIDERS DISASSEMBLING
MONUMENTS AND MEMORIAL SIGNS TO THOSE WHO

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25. UKRAINE PRES YUSHCHENKO CRITICIZES AUTHORITIES

MEMORY OF VICTIMS OF 1932-1933 FAMINE 

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, October 23, 2007

KHARKIV - President Viktor Yuschenko has criticized authorities for
insufficient work over perpetuation of memory of 1932-1933 Famine.

The president disclosed this in Kharkiv taking floor at the second meeting
of the Coordination Council for the issues on preparations for the 75th
anniversary of 1932-1933 Famine.

"You do not correspond to requirements of the society," Yuschenko said
addressing participants of the meeting. He marked that worthy perpetuation
of memory of the Famine is one of the obligations of the power.

"There has not been a more considerable tragedy than Ukrainian Famine in the
whole world," the president said. He also marked that the Famine took lives
of more people than the number of people killed in WWII.

According to the president, the Famine brought not only death to Ukrainian
lands, but also fear people have lived with for 75 years, earthliness,
amorality and lawlessness. "Why don't ministries having any reference to
this tragedy work?" he said.

Yuschenko made an example of Kharkiv region, where monuments to

Famine victims are not located in all districts.

At the same time, the president marked insufficiency of efforts of archives,
schools, historians, press and film industry on perpetuation of memory of
the tragedy.

"Tomorrow, a decree will be drafted to make order in the district, where
nothing has been done," Yuschenko said. The president urged all

representatives of the government to take all necessary measures to fully

pay tribute to the memory of Famine victims.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, in 2006, the Verkhovna Rada declared the
1932-1933 Famine as the genocide of Ukrainian people. On November 25[date
should be November 24] , Ukraine pays tribute to the victims of famines and
political repressions.

In 1932-1933, the famine took lives of 3-7 million people. Besides, a number
of historians say that there were other famines in 1921-1923 and in
1946-1947.
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26.  HEAD OF PRESIDENTIAL SECRETARIAT VIKTOR BALOHA

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, October 26, 2007

KYIV - The Presidential Secretariat's head Viktor Baloha has warned regional
governors that they may be replaced if they ignore President Viktor
Yuschenko's directive on perpetuating the memory of the victims of the
1932-1933 famine in Ukraine. The presidential press service announced this
in a statement, a text of which Ukrainian News obtained.

At the same time, Baloha considers fair and timely the disciplinary measures
that were taken against the regional governors that are not satisfactorily
implementing Yuschenko's decree on preparation for measures for
commemorating the 75th anniversary of the famine.

According to Baloha, Yuschenko said during a meeting of the coordinating
council on preparation for a ceremony that will honor the victims of the
famine that certain senior regional officials were indifferent to this
historical tragedy.

"They attempted to throw dust in the eyes of the President, but this attempt
was in vain. The criticism that he voiced in Kharkiv regarding regional
leaders did not hang in the air. The reprimands that were issued today
should serve as a palpable inoculation against apathy," the press service
quoted Baloha as saying.

Baloha also believes that painstaking work is necessary for restoration of
historical justice. At the same time, Baloha warned regional governors

against imitation of work on measures for preparation for the anniversary

of the famine.

"Any window dressing or insincerity will require adequate personnel
decisions. The tragedy of the people is not a reason for loud reports. The
pain and sorrow of those cruel years should be recognized by the current

and future generations of Ukrainians," Baloha said.

He also said that Yuschenko intended to personally oversee the preparation
for commemoration of the anniversary of the famine.

"If bureaucrats allow themselves to have a depreciating attitude to
presidential directives and orders, they will not get away with reprimands
alone," Baloha said.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Yuschenko has asked the heads of 10
regional administrations to bring to account officials in charge of
preparation of the events commemorating the 75th anniversary of the
1932-1933 famine in Ukraine.

Yuschenko earlier criticized officials for insufficient work on perpetuation
of the memory of the 1932-1933 famine. Yuschenko has declared 2008 as

the year of remembrance of the victims of the 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine.

Ukraine will honor the memories of the victims of famines and political
repression on November 25. Between 3 million and 7 million people died in
the 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine, according to various estimates. Moreover,
according to several historians, there were famines in Ukraine in the
1921-1923 and 1946-1947 periods.
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27.  COMMUNIST PARTY SAYS RENAMING OF STREETS

TOTALITARIANISM

Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Fri, November 2, 2007

KYIV - The Communist Party believes that the renaming of streets, squares,
and monuments that bear Soviet names is a manifestation of totalitarianism.
The press service of the party announced this in a statement, a text of
which Ukrainian News obtained.

The press service said that the Presidential Secretariat's head Viktor
Baloha sent to regional and district administrations on October 6 the letter
No. 02.02/3262 in which he demanded that the administrations provide the
Presidential Secretariat with a list of population centers, monuments,
streets, squares, parks, and squares named after events and activists of the
Soviet era.

According to information from the Communist Party, the heads of regional
administrations have demanded that the relevant districts and cities provide
such information by 12:00 on November 5.

Serhii Hmyria, a parliamentary candidate for the Communist Party, suggested
that officials who failed to fulfill this demand would be dismissed.

The Communist Party believes that the Presidential Secretariat demanded a
list of facilities with Soviet names with the aim of renaming them.

'According to the laws of Ukraine, only members of one territorial community
or another have the right to decide which names that are acceptable for
which monuments. Why then are Yuschenko and his restless deskman

attempting to usurp this integral constitutional right of citizens,' the statement
said.

The Communist Party believes that the actions of the Presidential
Secretariat and President Viktor Yuschenko should be taken to the people's
court.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the Kyiv municipal administration's
commission for renaming of streets and erection of monuments and memorial
plaques is initiating renaming of 131 streets with Soviet names.
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28. HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR WILL REVISIT CAVE IN

UKRAINE THAT HID FAMILY FROM CERTAIN DEATH
More than 60 years after surviving the Holocaust by hiding,
Yetta Katz will return to the caves where she spent 344 days.

Holocaust Survivor's Journey: By Jennifer Lebovich
Miami Herald, Miami, Friday, Sat, Nov. 03, 2007

MIAMI - The depths of a Ukrainian cave shielded Yetta Katz and her

family from almo