PM demands president's resignation - The Ukrainian Weekly

INSIDE:• Text of U.S.-Ukraine Charter on Strategic Partnership – page 3.• Community commemorations of the Holodomor – pages 8-10.• Ruslana in concert in Toronto and Montreal – page 18.THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLYPublished by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profit associationVol. LXXVI No. 52 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008PM demands president’s resignationAccuses him of conspiracy with bankersOfficial Website of Ukraine’s PresidentPresident Viktor Yushchenko at ameeting with the Bankers’ Council onDecember 19.Official Website of Ukraine’s GovernmentPrime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko at apress briefing on December 20.by Zenon ZawadaKyiv Press BureauKYIV – Ukrainian business leaders andpoliticians emerged as key sponsors ofChristmas celebrations this season, both inthe Western and Ukrainian traditions.The Open Ukraine Foundation, createdby former Verkhovna Rada Chair ArseniyYatsenyuk, arranged for Santa Claus tovisit Kyiv from his home in Lapland, thenorthernmost province of Finland.Santa Claus kicked off his three-dayvisit on December 20 by riding a sleighdown the Khreschatyk, Kyiv’s main boulevard,and lighting the 115-footby Zenon ZawadaKyiv Press BureauKYIV — Prime Minister YuliaTymoshenko launched a vicious attackagainst President Viktor Yushchenko onDecember 19, demanding his resignationand accusing him of conspiring with bankersto intentionally plunder the hryvnia’svalue and profit from its decline.The alleged scheme was aimed at generating4.6 billion hrv ($657 million) in profit,the prime minister claimed, dispatchingInternal Affairs Ministry investigators tofind evidence to verify her accusations.Those allegedly involved include thepresident, National Bank of Ukraine (NBU)Chair Volodymyr Stelmakh, NBU FirstVice-Chair Anatolii Shapoval, PresidentialSecretariat Chair Viktor Baloha and NadraBank Chair Dmytro Firtash.“This is macro-corruption, macro-speculation,which directly ruins the nation’snational interests, ruins the economy’s stabilityand financial system, destroys thehryvnia and practically destroys the family,”Ms. Tymoshenko said at a December 20press briefing at the Cabinet of Ministers.Rather than pulling together to cope withfinancial problems, Ukraine’s warring leadershave only escalated their conflictthroughout the nation’s economic crisis,which has devastated the real estate andautomobile markets, plunged the nationalcurrency, frozen savings deposits and resultedin tens of thousands of layoffs.The hryvnia set an unprecedented low onDecember 18, reaching 9.45 hrv per $1 ininterbank trading and 10 hrv per $1 at streetexchange kiosks, prompting a NationalBank emergency meeting that evening anda conference between the president andbankers the next day.The afternoon of December 19, the(Continued on page 11)Businessmen, politicians sponsorChristmas celebrations in KyivChristmas tree at Independence Square –the tallest in Europe, according to theKyiv City State Administration. He wasjoined by Kyiv Mayor LeonidChernovetskyi.“The fund has as its goal raisingUkraine’s prestige in the world and developingUkrainian diplomacy,” said OrysiaLutsevych, the executive director of theOpen Ukraine Foundation. “This isdirectly related to Ukraine’s image, andwe view Santa Claus as an ambassador ofgood will, peace, joy and the holiday forchildren.”(Continued on page 15)by Yaro BihunSpecial to The Ukrainian Weekly$1/$2 in UkraineU.S. and Ukraine affirm relationsin Charter on Strategic PartnershipYaro BihunForeign Affairs Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko of Ukraine (center) discusses U.S.-Ukraine relations with Ukrainian American representatives at the Embassy ofUkraine. Sitting next to him on the couch is Ambassador Oleh Shamshur.WASHINGTON — The United Statesand Ukraine signed a “Charter on StrategicPartnership,” in which they affirm a deepeningof the security, economic, energy andother aspects of their bilateral relationshipand indicate that the United States willestablish a “diplomatic presence” inCrimea.The document was signed on December19 at the State Department by U.S.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice andUkrainian Foreign Affairs MinisterVolodymyr Ohryzko.The statement about the opening of aU.S. diplomatic post in Symferopol came inthe last sentence of the charter document:“Ukraine welcomes the United States’intention to establish an American diplomaticpresence (American Presence Post) inSymferopol.”This drew the most attention of themedia later during the daily press briefingat the State Department. As one reportersuggested, Russia could see this as “yetanother American incursion into Russia’shistoric sphere of influence,” or, in thewords of another questioner, “as a provocativeact, somehow protective of Crimea,that it will stay with Ukraine.”State Department Spokesman SeanMcCormack said that opening a diplomaticpresence is a bilateral matter between theUnited States and Ukraine. If the Russiangovernment “chooses to be upset” by this,he added, “well, there’s not much I can doabout that.”Russia bases its Black Sea fleet inSevastopol and has expressed some doubtover the years about whether Crimea, whichwas officially made part of the UkrainianSSR only in 1954, should remain an integralpart of Ukraine. The fleet-basing agreementruns out in 2017, and there are indicationsthat there is a difference of opinionbetween Moscow and Kyiv as to whetherthe Russian fleet should leave or stay whenthe agreement expires.Mr. McCormack explained that anAmerican Presence Post is a small presence,consisting of one or two diplomatsworking on such things as cultural exchangesand events, and political reporting,among other duties.In her remarks before signing the charter,Secretary Rice called Ukraine “a veryimportant partner” and “a good friend” ofthe United States. “We have long believedthat Ukraine’s independence, its democracy,is essential to a Europe whole and free andat peace.”The charter, she said, “outlines a way toadvance cooperation in defense and security,in economics and trade, in energy security,in democracy, and in people-to-peoplecontacts and cultural exchanges.”Ukraine’s foreign affairs minister notedin his remarks that over the last few yearsU.S.-Ukraine bilateral relations “have trulyattained the level of a strategic partnership”in such areas as defense, security, the economy,human rights, cultural and people-topeoplecontacts. Mr. Ohryzko also pointedto the “presence of the United States inUkraine, in particular in Crimea.”“It’s also very important that we aregoing to increase our contacts in theregions,” he said.In the first section of the charter, dealingwith principles of cooperation, the partiesstate that “support for each other’s sovereignty,independence, territorial integrityand inviolability of borders constitutes thefoundation of our bilateral relations.”Among other affirmations, the documentstates that the two countries “share a vitalinterest in a strong, independent and democraticUkraine,” that Ukraine’s integration(Continued on page 11)

2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008No. 52ANALYSISHard times for Ukrainian banks,central bank chairman under fireby Pavel KordubanEurasia Daily MonitorUkraine’s banking system is teeteringon the brink of disaster. The InternationalMonetary Fund’s (IMF) $16.4-billionloan (see Eurasia Daily Monitor,November 12) has probably come too lateto restore trust in banks or to prevent thenational currency, the hryvnia, (plural:hryvni) from a free fall. Most banks arein serious trouble, and several may soonchange hands or collapse. Meanwhile, thechair is shaky under Volodymyr Stelmakh,the chairman of the National Bank ofUkraine (NBU).Ukraine’s ailing banks have been usingthe funds they are receiving from theNBU to buy foreign currency with hryvni.The demand for Ukraine’s main exportcommodity, metals, has fallen dramaticallyon the world market, so less hard currencyis coming into Ukraine. In addition,the Naftohaz Ukrainy national oil and gascompany has been buying dollars on thedomestic market in order to pay its debtto Russia (see EDM, December 3). Allthese factors have contributed to a 65 percentdevaluation of the hryvnia againstthe dollar since August.Ukraine has been among the countriesworst hit by the global financial crisis.Key industries such as metallurgy andmachine-building are laying off workers,and real wages have started to fall for thefirst time in a decade. This makes it hardfor Ukrainians to make payments onloans, many of which, especially mortgages,were issued in dollars. Since mostpeople are paid in hryvni, they have tobuy dollars with the weak hryvnia and arepaying back much more on the loans thanthey had expected. The share of problemloans in bank portfolios grew to 10.3 percentby December 11 and is continuing togrow (Kommersant-Ukraine, December16).Banks have all but stopped issuingloans, and their clients have hurried towithdraw deposits. In October the NBUintroduced a moratorium on withdrawalsahead of schedule, which further underminedtrust in banks.Some 70 percent of Ukrainians wouldprefer to withdraw their deposits frombanks, and 67.7 percent of them do nottrust banks at all, according to a publicopinion poll conducted across Ukraine atthe end of November by the Kyiv-basedResearch and Branding Group(Ukrayinski Novyny, December 8).The Ukrainian version of a Russianbusiness daily quoted a source at theNBU as forecasting that over 40 banksmay soon collapse (Kommersant-Ukraine,December 16). Two banks, Nadra andProminvestbank, have apparently beenthe hardest hit by the crisis.Nadra reportedly borrowed more fromthe NBU than any other bank over thepast few months (Zerkalo Nedeli,December 13). Although Nadra was takenover in November by RosUkrEnergo gasintermediary co-owner Dmytro Firtash(www.korrespondent.net, November 7),Nadra’s cash machines are empty most ofthe time, and it has stopped paying depositorsmoney from their accounts. Nadra,Ukraine’s seventh largest bank, is amongthe top five leaders of the mortgage loanmarket, which is a serious drawback inthe current situation (Delo, December15).Ukraine’s sixth largest bank,Prominvestbank, was the first to admit tobeing in trouble. The NBU has been man-(Continued on page 22)Russian disinformation campaignagainst the Orange Coalitionby Taras KuzioEurasia Daily MonitorOn December 9 it was announced that alarger Orange coalition had been agreedupon in Ukraine. It was formally registeredon December 16. The news came as a surprise,as it had been widely assumed thatPrime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s blocwas close to reaching a coalition deal withits arch enemy, the Party of Regions ofUkraine (PRU).Although unpalatable three months agowhen Ukraine’s political crisis began afterthe Orange coalition collapsed, the YuliaTymoshenko Bloc (YTB) described themove as a short-term “coalition of nationalunity.” The YTB, pointing to other countriesrallying around to defend their nationalinterests, considered it a marriage ofconvenience to cope with the global financialcrisis.The stumbling block for the formationof the coalition of national unity was thePRU’s insistence on support for constitutionalreforms that would transformUkraine into a full-blown parliamentaryrepublic. PRU, as in 2003 and 2004, whenit supported the same reforms with otherpro-Kuchma forces, supports the electionof the president by Parliament, because itfears defeat in the forthcoming presidentialelections. In 2004 the PRU lost to ViktorYushchenko, and the party is afraid it willlose to Ms. Tymoshenko in December2009.The YTB does not support the electionof the president by Parliament. The consensusis to maintain the 2006 constitutionalreforms that transformed Ukraineinto a semi-parliamentary republic. Mr.Yushchenko is in a minority in backing areturn to the presidential constitution.The larger Orange coalition is the thirdattempt to establish an Orange alliance followingMr. Yushchenko’s election inJanuary 2005. The first lasted nine monthsand collapsed in September of that year,after the president dismissed the primeminister, as he was still able to under the1996 Constitution.The second Orange coalition lasted 11months, from November 2007 toSeptember 2008. It disintegrated after thepresident’s faction, Our Ukraine – People’sSelf-Defense (OU-PSD), withdrew onSeptember 3.The weak components of the threeOrange coalitions were Mr. Yushchenko’santipathy toward Ms. Tymoshenko, whichoverrides other considerations, and deepinternal divisions within the OU-PSD(Korrespondent, December 6, Fokus,December 12). Our Ukraine has alwaysbeen undecided, like the president, aboutwhether to establish an Orange coalition(Continued on page 22)Government submits bailout packageKYIV – The Ukrainian Cabinet ofMinisters has submitted a number of anticrisisbills to the Verkhovna Rada that areaimed at stabilizing the activities of variouseconomic branches and improving thesocial welfare of Ukrainians. On December22 the Parliament registered bills on theintroduction of amendments to someUkrainian laws on lessening the effects ofthe global economic crises on the nationaloil refining industry, and on minimizingthe consequences of the global financialcrisis in the field of public employmentand obligatory state social insurance.Moreover, the government submitted billson imposing financial sanctions against theillegal use of land plots and on the introductionof amendments to the Ukrainianlaw on land payment. The Parliament alsoreceived bills on amending laws on thetaxation of companies’ incomes as regardsregistration of expenditures on part ofuncompensated currency funds and paymentson distributed incomes involving afinancial mediator. The Cabinet ofMinisters is planning to amend Ukrainianlaws on pension provision and social protectionof servicemen. Moreover, the governmentis planning to introduce amendmentsin certain laws regarding theimproved provision of education servicesby educational institutions. (Ukrinform)Holodomor declaration at U.N.KYIV – A declaration commemoratingthe 75th anniversary of the Holodomor of1932-1933 in Ukraine has been opened forsigning at the United Nations on Ukraine’sinitiative. The co-authors of this documentare 32 countries, including Australia,Austria, Azerbaijan, Albania, Belgium, theUnited Kingdom, Georgia, Denmark,Estonia, Ireland, Israel, Spain, Iceland,Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Lichtenstein,Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco,Norway, Germany, Poland, St. Lucia, theUnited States, Hungary, Sweden, Finland,France, the Czech Republic and Croatia.The declaration is open for signature byother member-states of the United Nations.The text of the declaration has been releasedas an official document of the 63rd sessionof the U.N. General Assembly. Thus, theNEWSBRIEFSTHE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY FOUNDED 1933An English-language newspaper published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc.,a non-profit association, at 2200 Route 10, P.O. Box 280, Parsippany, NJ 07054.Yearly subscription rate: $55; for UNA members — $45.Periodicals postage paid at Parsippany, NJ 07054 and additional mailing offices.(ISSN — 0273-9348)The Weekly:UNA:Tel: (973) 292-9800; Fax: (973) 644-9510 Tel: (973) 292-9800; Fax: (973) 292-0900Postmaster, send address changes to:The Ukrainian WeeklyEditor-in-chief: Roma Hadzewycz2200 Route 10 Editors: Matthew DubasP.O. Box 280Zenon Zawada (Kyiv)Parsippany, NJ 07054The Ukrainian Weekly Archive: www.ukrweekly.com; e-mail: staff@ukrweekly.comThe Ukrainian Weekly, December 28, 2008, No. 52, Vol. LXXVICopyright © 2008 The Ukrainian WeeklyADMINISTRATION OF THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY AND SVOBODAWalter Honcharyk, administratorMaria Oscislawski, advertising managerMariyka Pendzola, subscriptionsworld’s leading countries in the field ofhuman rights protection have expressedtheir solidarity with Ukraine on the 75thanniversary of the Holodomor. The declarationhas been drafted and presented despiteserious resistance by the Russian delegationwhen this question was considered at the63rd session of the General Assembly.Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Ministry says thatthe position of the Russian delegation onthe Ukrainian Famine is reminiscent of thebehavior and phraseology of the SovietUnion’s delegation during consideration ofthe Universal Declaration of Human Rights60 years ago. Soviet diplomats at that timemade all efforts to prevent the adoption ofthat declaration. However, the truth triumphedthen and will triumph now, theForeign Affairs Ministry commented.Ukraine will continue revealing the truthabout the Holodomor to the internationalcommunity, the declaration underscored.(Ukrinform)Experts: presidential campaign has begunKYIV – Political experts believe thatthe mutual accusations were made byPresident Viktor Yushchenko and PrimeMinister Yulia Tymoshenko last weekendare the early start of a presidential electioncampaign, which will be officiallylaunched in 2009. The director of theInternational Institute of Democracy,Serhii Taran, said that Ms. Tymoshenkowould not leave her post as prime ministerto go into a classic opposition. Her accusationsagainst the president regarding hisinvolvement in the hryvnia’s devaluation,he said, were made with the goal of makingUkrainians remember Mr. Yushchenkoas the former chairman of the NationalBank of Ukraine. He added that Mr.Yushchenko’s counter-accusations againstMs. Tymoshenko, that is, that she has lostcontrol of the situation in the country, werepredictable. Mr. Taran said this is typicalin Ukrainian politics when the sides areseeking to blame each other instead ofassuming joint responsibility. Mr. Tarancommented that the president and theprime minister should ignore their personalambitions and start working together. OnDecember 19 Ms. Tymoshenko accused(Continued on page 14)(973) 292-9800, ext. 3041e-mail: ukradmin@att.net(973) 292-9800, ext. 3040e-mail: adukr@optonline.net(973) 292-9800, ext. 3042e-mail: ukrsubscr@att.net

No. 52The Holodomor 75 years later: The Odesa Oblastby Zenon ZawadaKyiv Press BureauODESA – With a little help from theAustralian diaspora and retired New Yorkbanker Marian Kots, Odesa has become ahub of Holodomor research.The city’s Gorky State AcademicLibrary this year published the secondvolume of the “Holodomor in Ukraine:1932-1933 Bibliographical Index,” consideredthe most comprehensive bibliographyof Holodomor publications in theworld.“We know everything,” said InnaRikun, the library’s chief bibliographer,invoking a tone that was both half-jokingbut serious too.Working together with Larysa Burian,director of the library’s bibliography divisionfor more than 20 years, this dynamicduo of Holodomor researchers trackeddown 12,409 publications written aboutthe genocide between 1933 and 2006.Incredibly enough, just as many publicationswere released on the Holodomorbetween 2001 and 2006, the period coveredby the bibliography’s second volume,as the 67-year span between 1933 to2000 covered by the first volume.During those five years, 6,025Holodomor publications were released,70 percent of which were from Ukrainebasedsources, Ms. Rikun said.“Memories were bared, people becamemore interested, and the topic suddenlybecame more open and accessible toresearchers and experts,” Ms. Buriansaid.Inspiration for the bibliography wasTHE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008 3Inna Rikun (left), chief bibliographer at the Gorky State Academic Library inOdesa, and Larysa Burian, director of the bibliography division, spent 14 yearscompiling the world’s most comprehensive bibliography of the Holodomor,“Holodomor in Ukraine 1932-1933.”sparked when the Gorky Library’s director,Olha Botushanska, traveled toAustralia in 1994 as part of an officialvisit on a project, “The Ukrainians ofAustralia,” involving the Gorky Library,the Ukrainian Studies Foundation ofAustralia and a state library in Sydney.Dr. Volodymyr Motyka, the foundation’schairman, introduced Ms.Botushanska to Holodomor publicationsand survivors, including EvdokiaZenon ZawadaOstrowskyj of the Ukrainian Women’sAssociation.“I then came to the realization that it isnecessary to speak of the past for the sakeof the future,” Ms. Botushanska said.Still in Australia, she called her bibliographydepartment and told them tobegin work on a Holodomor bibliographyimmediately.With an undisclosed sum of financingfrom the Ukrainian Studies Foundation inThe Holodomorin the Odesa Oblast37,961 known casualties *2,542 known survivors still alive **471 population centers affected* This figure is a gross underestimation,according to local researchers, who citeda more accurate figure of 136,000. A 1934decree ordered hundreds of Odesa villageregistration books confiscated anddestroyed. Local researchers haven’t yettallied the oblast’s mass graves.** This figure will likely increase, saidLilia Bilousova, working group director ofthe Odesa Volume of the HolodomorVictims National Book of Memory.Australia and Mr. Kots, an active publisherof Holodomor books in Ukraine, Ms.Burian and Ms. Rikun began combing allof Ukraine’s top libraries.Ms. Rikun even traveled abroad,spending even two weeks of “12-hourdays” gathering Holodomor informationfrom the 70,000-plus Ukrainian-languagecollection at the University of Illinois atUrbana-Champlain.Even Ms. Rikun’s daughter Paulina,who was studying for her Ph.D. in comparativeliterature at Harvard Universityin the early 2000s, contributed to the bibliographyby gathering materials at the(Continued on page 20)FOR THE RECORD: United States-Ukraine Charter on Strategic PartnershipBelow is the text of the United States-Ukraine Charter on Strategic Partnershipsigned in Washington on December 19.PreambleThe United States of America andUkraine:1. Affirm the importance of our relationshipas friends and strategic partners. Weintend to deepen our partnership to the benefitof both nations and expand our cooperationacross a broad spectrum of mutualpriorities.2. Emphasize that this cooperationbetween our two democracies is based onshared values and interests. These includeexpanding democracy and economic freedom,protecting security and territorialintegrity, strengthening the rule of law, andsupporting innovation and technologicaladvances.3. Stress our mutual desire to strengthenour relationship across the economic, political,diplomatic, cultural and security fields.4. Confirm the importance of the securityassurances described in the TrilateralStatement by the Presidents of the U.S.,Russian Federation and Ukraine of January14, 1994, and the Budapest Memorandumon Security Assurances in connection withUkraine’s accession to the Treaty on theNon-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons ofDecember 5, 1994.5. Affirm the Priorities for U.S.-UkraineCooperation (Road Map) signed on March31, 2008, and the commitments to a strategicpartnership made by Presidents Bushand Yushchenko on April 4, 2005.Section I: Principles of CooperationThis Charter is based on core principlesand beliefs shared by both sides:1. Support for each other’s sovereignty,independence, territorial integrity and inviolabilityof borders constitutes the foundationof our bilateral relations.2. Our friendship comes from mutualunderstanding and appreciation for theshared belief that democracy is the chiefguarantor of security, prosperity and freedom.3. Cooperation between democracies ondefense and security is essential to respondeffectively to threats to peace and security.4. A strong, independent and democraticUkraine, capable of responsible selfdefense,contributes to the security andprosperity not only of all the people ofUkraine, but of a Europe whole, free and atpeace.Section II: Defense and SecurityCooperationThe United States and Ukraine share avital interest in a strong, independent anddemocratic Ukraine. Deepening Ukraine’sintegration into Euro-Atlantic institutions isa mutual priority. We plan to undertake aprogram of enhanced security cooperationintended to increase Ukrainian capabilitiesand to strengthen Ukraine’s candidacy forNATO membership.1. Guided by the April 3, 2008, BucharestSummit Declaration of the NATO NorthAtlantic Council and the April 4, 2008,Joint Statement of the NATO-UkraineCommission, which affirmed that Ukrainewill become a member of NATO.2. Recognizing the persistence of threatsto global peace and stability, the UnitedStates and Ukraine intend to expand thescope of their ongoing programs of cooperationand assistance on defense and securityissues to defeat these threats and to promotepeace and stability. A defense and securitycooperation partnership between the UnitedStates and Ukraine is of benefit to bothnations and the region.3. Working within the framework of theNATO-Ukraine Commission, our goal is togain agreement on a structured plan toincrease interoperability and coordinationof capabilities between NATO and Ukraine,including via enhanced training and equipmentfor Ukrainian armed forces.4. Acknowledging the growing threatposed by the proliferation of weapons ofmass destruction, the United States andUkraine pledge to combat such proliferationof weapons of mass destruction and dangeroustechnologies through adherence tointernational nonproliferation standards andeffective enforcement and strengthening ofexport controls.Section III: Economic, Trade and EnergyCooperationThe United States and Ukraine intend toexpand cooperation to enhance job creationand economic growth, support economicreform and liberalization, develop a businessclimate supportive of trade and investmentand improve market access for goodsand services. Recognizing that trade isessential for global economic growth,development, freedom and prosperity, theUnited States and Ukraine support the followinginitiatives:1. Welcoming Ukraine’s accession to theWorld Trade Organization on May 16,2008, the parties held the first U.S.-UkraineTrade and Investment Council meeting onOctober 2, 2008, in Kyiv. As discussed atthe meeting, the United States continues tosupport Ukraine’s efforts to implement itsWTO commitments. Other areas in whichwe plan to accelerate our efforts includeexpanding market access, resolving outstandingdisputes and promoting intellectualproperty rights. Acknowledging the importanceof increased investment to economicgrowth and development, the United Statessupports Ukraine’s efforts to enhance investorprotections.2. Recognizing the importance of a wellfunctioning energy sector, the parties intendto work closely together on rehabilitatingand modernizing the capacity of Ukraine’sgas transit infrastructure and diversify andsecure Ukraine’s sources of nuclear fuel,making Ukraine less dependent on foreignsources of nuclear fuel and nuclear fuelstorage.3. Following the Roadmap of Prioritiesfor U.S.-Ukraine Cooperation, the UnitedStates and Ukraine intend to launch thework of the Bilateral Energy SecurityWorking Group. Consistent with the U.S.-EU Summit Declaration of June 10, 2008,the United States and Ukraine intend toenhance a trilateral dialogue with theEuropean Union on enhanced energy security.4. Actively developing cooperation withUkraine’s regions, including Crimea, theUnited States supports Ukraine’s plan topromote security, democracy and prosperitythrough expanded economic development,energy conservation, food security and goodgovernance initiatives. The United Statesand Ukraine also intend to cooperate in thearea of public-private partnerships inregions of Ukraine aimed at supportingsmall and medium enterprises.Section IV: Strengthening DemocracyStrengthening the rule of law, promotingreform of the legal system and of lawenforcement structures and combating corruptionare all of key importance to the wellbeing of Ukraine. We intend to work togetherto support reform, democracy, toleranceand respect for all communities.1. The United States and Ukraine willenhance their cooperation on efforts tostrengthen the judiciary, increasing professionalism,transparency and independence,as well as improving legal education andimproved access to justice for allUkrainians.2. Through enhanced law enforcementand judicial branch relationships, the United(Continued on page 20)

4 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008No. 52OBITUARIESHalyna Levytska, journalist and activist, 50by Zenon ZawadaKyiv Press BureauKYIV – Halyna Levytska, an activistin the Ukrainian independence movementand a passionate journalist who broughtthe human, civil and cultural rights ofUkrainians to the forefront, died onDecember 6 following a failed braintumor operation. She was 50 years old.Filing stories from Kyiv for the Lvivnewspaper Za Vilnu Ukrayinu, Ms.Levytska stung politicians with sharpquestions, steadfastly holding themaccountable for their indifference to culturalissues, lack of structural reforms andquestionable government policies.Amidst a relatively complacent Kyivpress corps, Ms. Levytska stood out as anunabashed truth-seeker who did not shyaway from debate.“Ukraine had a stable trajectory of economicand social payments growth,regardless of what you write in yourVilnu Ukrayinu!,” former FinanceMinister Mykola Azarov said of the pre-Orange years, during a feisty exchangewith Ms. Levytska at an October 2006press conference.At a press conference with PresidentViktor Yushchenko, Ms. Levytska placedhim in an uncomfortable position, askingwhy the government was allowing discriminationagainst Ukrainian-languagespeakers in the Luhansk Oblast. The presidenthad no good explanation to offer.Her husband and fellow journalist,Myroslav Levytskyi, posted an emotionalessay on the Za Vilnu Ukrayinu websitefollowing his wife’s unexpected deaththat stunned their colleagues.“It didn’t matter to her whether yourepresented the government or opposition– she always called the state’s disorderby Oksana ZakydalskyTORONTO – Metal artist andphotographer Ivaan Kotulsky died onDecember 5 following a stroke.An artist who worked primarily ingold, silver and bronze to create jewelryand sculpture in a flowing,organic style, his last metal artsexhibit was held at the CanadianUkrainian Art Foundation gallery inSeptember. Called “Sweepings:Treasures from the Atelier Floor,” itwas an exhibition of unfinished piecesMr. Kotulsky had started throughouthis creative life and, as writtenZenon ZawadaJournalist Halyna Levytska, who died on December 6, listens toPresident Viktor Yushchenko speak at the Presidential Secretariat’sPress Day on June 6, 2007.for what it was,” Mr. Levytskyiwrote. State officials viewed “hervalues of love, faith and genuinenessas those of past epochs, which don’tfit at all in a time of fierce pragmatism.”Ms. Levytska was born on March3, 1958, in the village of Kniselo inthe Zhydachiv district of the LvivOblast.She graduated the Lviv ForestryInstitute in 1981 and served in1981-1988 as an engineer in the LvivAdministration of Local Industrywhere Ms. Levytska was able to publishessays and news bulletins onbehalf of leading independenceactivists like Vyacheslav Chornoviland Bohdan Horyn.by his wife, Eya Donald Greenland,“swept aside and never resumed,either because the creative processthat inspired the piece had beenexhausted or – more often – becausethe partly finished work had alreadytaken on a life of its own.”Mr. Kotulsky was born during thelast days of World War II toUkrainian parents interned in aforced labor camp near the city ofKoln, Germany. The family immigratedto Canada in 1949 and settledin the town of Smoky Lake, Alberta,small rural community north ofSwept into the Rukh movementfor Ukrainian independence in 1988,she worked in the press service ofthe Ukrainian Helsinki Union (UHU)between 1988 and 1990.“I was in the circle of those peoplewhich the official Communist Partypropaganda called dissidents,” Ms.Levytska said.“By the way, the Lviv events arenow fashionably discussed by thosepeople who, in that time, feared evenuttering the initials UHU. And theyconstantly announced that the UHU,with its radical acts, could provokethe establishment of martial law inLviv. That includes most of the(Continued on page 19)Ivaan Kotulsky, artist and photographerEdmonton. There his family lived withthe family of the village blacksmith whereMr. Kotulsky first became acquaintedwith the qualities of molten metal.In 1951 the Kotulsky family moved toToronto. Mr. Kotulsky graduated from thephotographic arts program at RyersonPolytechnical Institute and subsequently(Continued on page 21)Bishop Sofron Dmyterkoof underground ChurchIVANO-FRANKIVSK, Ukraine – BishopemeritusSofron Dmyterko of the Ivano-FrankivskEparchy of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church(UGCC) died here on November 5. He was 91.He was involved in the Soviet-era undergroundactivities of the UGCC at the time it was known as“the Church of the catacombs.”He was born on June 1, 1917, in the village ofBychkivtsi, Ternopil region of western Ukraine.He entered the monastery of St. Basil the Greatand professed his monastic vows in 1937.He studied in Krystynopol and Lavriv, Ukraine,as well as at Olomouc and Karl University inCzechoslovakia. He was ordained on May 14,1942, in Prague.He was jailed in 1944-1954 for “anti-Sovietactivity.” After his release he carried on his ministryclandestinely in Kolomyia, Dolyna, Yaremcheand other towns in western Ukraine.He was secretly consecrated a bishop onNovember 30, 1968, by Bishop Ivan Sleziuk, oneof those beatified by Pope John Paul II during hishistoric trip to Ukraine in 2001.In 1973 Bishop Dmyterko was once again arrestedand was sent to a forced-labor camp in Luhansk.When the UGCC came out of the catacombs,Bishop Dmyterko was confirmed in 1991 aseparch of Ivano-Frankivsk and served in thatcapacity until his retirement in 1997.The funeral was held November 7 and burialwas in the crypt of the Cathedral of the HolyResurrection in Ivano-Frankivsk.Poet Ihor Rymarukof the ‘Visimdesiatnyky’KYIV – Poet Ihor Rymaruk, one of the bestknown poets of the 1980s, known as the“Visimdesiatnyky,” died on October 3 when hewas struck by a vehicle. He had celebrated his50th birthday just three months earlier.He was a winner of Ukraine’s prestigious TarasShevchenko Prize. President Viktor Yushchenkooffered condolences to the poet’s family.Mr. Rymaruk was born on July 4, 1958, in thevillage of Miakoty, Khmelnytsky Oblast. He graduatedfrom the journalism department of KyivUniversity and worked on the editorial staff ofVisti z Ukrayiny at the Molod publishing house.He served as editor of modern Ukrainian literatureat the Dnipro publishing house and was coeditorof the journal Svito-vyd. Since 2002 heserved as editor-in-chief of the journal Suchasnist.He was also vice-president of the UkrainianWriters Association.Mr. Rymaruk was the author of several collectionsof poetry, including “Vysoka Voda” (HighWater, 1984) “Uprodovzh Snihopadu” (Amidst aSnowstorm, 1988) and “Nichni Holosy” (NightVoices, 1991). He was the author also of “ZolotyiDosch,” “Diva Obyda,” “Bermudskyi Trykutnyk”and “Slioza Bohorodytsi.”He was also the editor of “80-ers: An Anthologyof New Ukrainian Poetry” published in 1990 bythe Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press.Mr. Rymaruk’s poetry was translated into manylanguages, including English, Polish, Spanish,Russian, Romanian, Swedish and German.Ivaan KotulskyThe Scythian stag brooch designed byIvaan Kotulsky for the Royal OntarioMuseum.Msgr. Stephen Chomko,priest for 62 yearsSCRANTON, Pa. – The Rt. Rev. MitredArchpriest-Prelate Stephen Andrew Chomko diedhere at the Community Medical Center onNovember 3. He was 86.Msgr. Chomko was born on January 6, 1922, inScranton. He attended St. Thomas College, St.Charles College and St. Basil College Seminary,and then continued his seminary studies at TheCatholic University of America in Washington.(Continued on page 21)

No. 52THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008 5THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FORUMAnniversaries of Svoboda and The Weekly marked at the UNAPARSIPPANY, N.J. – Major anniversaries of Svoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly were celebrated here at the UkrainianNational Association’s Home Office on November 11 with an anniversary luncheon hosted by the UNA. As luck would have it,it was also a day during the week that Zenon Zawada of the Kyiv Press Bureau was in town. UNA executive officers greetedthe staffs of Svoboda and The Weekly on their respective 115th and 75th anniversaries. Svoboda began publication onSeptember 15, 1893, while The Weekly’s first issue rolled off the presses 40 years later, on October 6, 1933. UNA PresidentStefan Kaczaraj greeted all UNA employees on the occasion, noting the newspapers’ proud histories and accomplishments.UNA Treasurer Roma Lisovich shared some excerpts of an early issue of Svoboda. The room was decorated with notablepages from Svoboda and The Weekly, as well as historic photos of their editors. To cap off the event, all enjoyed anniversarycakes prepared for the occasion. Seen above are the editorial staff and administration of Svoboda with an anniversarycake presented by the UNA, publisher of both newspapers. Below the editorial, administrative and production staffs of TheUkrainian Weekly and Svoboda are gathered for an anniversary photo.Northern and CentralNew Jersey districtshold organizing meetingWHIPPANY, N.J. – The Northern NewJersey and Central New Jersey districts ofthe Ukrainian National Association held ajoint organizing meeting here at theUkrainian American Cultural Center ofNew Jersey on November 7.Representing the UNA ExecutiveCommittee and the UNA GeneralAssembly were Treasurer Roma Lisovichand Second Vice-President MichaelKoziupa; Advisor Eugene Oscislawski.The meeting was called to order byStephan Welhasch, chairman of the NorthNew Jersey District Committee, who welcomedall present and then reported onthe organizing results for the state of NewJersey. He pointed out that during the pastyear the UNA had sold more annuitiesthan life insurance.Ms. Lisovich then delivered aPowerPoint presentation highlighting theUNA’s activity and its outlook for thenear future. She also took the time to notethe UNA’s top organizers and the top performingdistrict committees.She concluded her talk with a slidepresentation about Soyuzivka, the UNA’sUkrainian heritage center located inupstate New York.During the ensuing discussion amongmeeting participants, Mr. Welhaschunderscored that what the UNA is tryingto do is be more visible on the UkrainianAmerican community scene. To that end,information tables are regularly set upand manned at various festivals and othercommunity gatherings.The meeting concluded with a generaldiscussion of fraternal activities and withrefreshments.Do you havea young UNA’er,or potentialyoung UNA’erin your family?Call the UNA Home Office,973-292-9800,to find out how to enroll.THE UNA: 114 YEARS OF SERVICE TO OUR COMMUNITY

6 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008No. 52THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLYGareth Jones, searcher of the truthWestminster in London was the venue on November 22 for a special event commemoratingthe Holodomor, the premeditated Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933 thatkilled millions in Ukraine. A most significant part of the ceremony was the honorbestowed posthumously on two correspondents who reported the truth about the genocideperpetrated by Stalin and his cohorts: Gareth Jones and Malcolm Muggeridge.Both were awarded the Order of Freedom by President Viktor Yushchenko, actingon behalf of the ever-grateful Ukrainian nation. The presentation at Westminster wasmade by Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Dr. Ihor Kharchenko, in thepresence of survivors of the Holodomor, Ukrainian community members and variousdignitaries who attended the event organized by the Association of Ukrainians in GreatBritain and the Embassy of Ukraine.Accepting the awards were Dr. Margaret Siriol Colley, Jones’ niece (and authorof his biography) and Leonard Muggeridge, son of the correspondent, both ofwhom spoke about their relatives’ roles in revealing the Famine of 1932-1933 to adisbelieving world.Muggeridge is the more well-known of the two, and many stories appeared abouthim and his reporting at the time our Ukrainian community was marking the 50thanniversary of what we then referred to as the “Velykyi Holod,” or Great Famine. (Werefer our readers to a special section of our website dedicated to the Famine-Genocide:http://www.ukrweekly.com/old/archive/Great_Famine/index.shtml.)Jones was the young Welsh reporter who defied the Soviet regime and traveled toUkraine in 1933 during the Great Famine (he had traveled to Ukraine twice before, in1930 and 1931, warning of starvation due to the Soviet authorities’ policies, as well asnoting political developments such as the regime’s attempts to quash Ukrainiannationalism). In fact, he appears to have been the first to file reliable reports about thecatastrophe taking place in Ukraine unknown to the outside world.The Western Mail, a Welsh newspaper for which Jones reported back in the 1930s,noted in a story published this year: “When Jones announced at a press conference onMarch 29, 1933, that millions were starving in Ukraine as a result of Stalin’s five-yearplan, several foreign correspondents rushed to rubbish the story. The most vocal wasWalter Duranty of The New York Times…” Duranty – himself fully aware of theenormity of the calamity in Ukraine – responded in The Times: “There is no actualstarvation, but there is widespread mortality from diseases due to malnutrition.”Now, 75 years later, speaking at Westminster on November 22, Zenko Lastowiecki,president of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, underscored: “We standtogether united in the conviction that horrific events of this kind should not be forgottenand that the millions of innocent victims of the Holodomor should finally havetheir rightful place in 20th century history.”And so too should the courageous correspondents who, at risk to their careersat a time when the world was enamored of the Soviet “experiment,” and at riskto their very lives, reported to the world the real story of what was taking placeunder the Stalin regime.Young Gareth Jones, who was killed one day short of his 30th birthday while travelingin Inner Mongolia, accomplished much in his short life. It is fitting that he hasbeen honored by Ukraine with the Order of Freedom. However, we believe that thegreatest honor of all is that he is now widely known for what he was: a searcher ofthe truth.Dec.282007Turning the pages back...Last a year, on December 28, 2007, Prime Minister YuliaTymoshenko and all 227 members of the Democratic ForcesCoalition, as well as eight deputies from the Communist Partyof Ukraine, passed the 2008 budget.The passage of the budget was a victory for the coalition,but after the Volodymyr Lytvyn Bloc failed to support the documentdespite affirming it in its first reading, many coalition deputies shouted “shame”at Mr. Lytvyn.The Lytvyn Bloc’s opposition was focused on the moratorium on agricultural landsales, among other points. But the budget did call for an extension of the agriculturalmoratorium, Verkhovna Rada Chair Arseniy Yatsenyuk said. Prime MinisterTymoshenko said the moratorium would be extended “until we create normal legislationto secure this process and build a normal market.”Yaroslav Sukhyi, a member of the Party of Regions of Ukraine (PRU), claimed thatonly 197 coalition deputies were in the hall, and accused the majority coalition of falsifyingthe vote.The 2008 budget, coalition leaders touted, was more generous in social spendingthan what was offered by the preceding government under Viktor Yanukovych. The2008 budget included 40 percent higher pensions, a 37 percent to 65 percent increasein government wages and scholarships, and $4 billion for the return of lost Soviet-erasavings, which was Ms. Tymoshenko’s campaign promise.The budget planned for $42.6 billion (U.S.) in revenues and $46 billion in expenditures,with a deficit of $3.4 billions, or 2.1 percent of the gross domestic product(GDP).Spending for the sciences was increased by $200 million for 2008. “I don’t wantour talented academics and scientists to think of how to flee to somewhere they arerespected and appreciated. I want them to work here at home for their own country, sothat Ukrainian golden heads return from the world’s Silicon Valleys to their native landand work for Ukraine,” Ms. Tymoshenko said.In preparation for the Euro-2012 soccer tournament, the 2008 budget allowed $2.3billion for road improvements, which was a 60 percent increase from 2007.Source: “Tymoshenko government’s first success: a revised version of the 2008 budget,”by Zenon Zawada, The Ukrainian Weekly, January 6, 2008.THE HOLODOMOR“This is not simplya case of mass murder”Below is the text of the presentation atPennsylvania State University’s Holodomorcommemoration on November 9 byAlexander J. Motyl of Rutgers University-Newark.Raphael Lemkin, the Jewish-Polishscholar who coined the term “genocide,”wrote the following about “Soviet Genocidein the Ukraine,” the final chapter of his“History of Genocide:”“This is not simply a case of mass murder.It is a case of genocide, of destruction,not of individuals only, but of a culture anda nation.”According to Lemkin, the Ukrainiangenocide consisted of four components.• “The first blow is aimed at the intelligentsia,the national brain, so as to paralyzethe rest of the body.”• The second was “an offensive againstthe churches, priests and hierarchy, the ‘soul’of Ukraine. Between 1926 and 1932, theUkrainian Orthodox Autocephalous Church,its metropolitan [Vasyl Lypkivsky], and10,000 clergy were liquidated.”• “The third prong of the Soviet plan wasaimed at the farmers, the large mass of independentpeasants who are the repository ofthe tradition, folklore and music, the nationallanguage and literature, the national spirit,of Ukraine. The weapon used against thisbody is perhaps the most terrible of all, starvation.Between 1932 and 1933, 5 millionUkrainians starved to death.”• “The fourth step in the process consistedin the fragmentation of the Ukrainianpeople... by the addition to the Ukraine offoreign peoples and by the dispersion of theUkrainians throughout Eastern Europe.”Why did this genocide take place?Lemkin’s answer is worth quoting:“As long as Ukraine retains its nationalunity, as long as its people continue to thinkof themselves as Ukrainians and to seekindependence, so long does Ukraine pose aserious threat to the very heart of Sovietism.It is no wonder that the Communist leadershave attached the greatest importance to theRussification of this independent-mindedmember of their union of republics and havedetermined to remake it to fit their pattern ofone Russian nation.”In other words, Ukraine was – to use thelanguage of contemporary scholarship – theprimary obstacle to Bolshevik plans ofestablishing a totalitarian Communist stateand building a Russian empire.To put the matter in such terms is to invitecomparison with another revolutionaryregime with totalitarian and imperial aspirations– Nazi Germany.Like the Nazis, the Bolsheviks aspiredradically to transform the lands they hadgrabbed in a series of military campaigns in1918-1921. They got their chance in the late1920s, when Joseph Stalin became undisputedleader and, with the support of fanaticallycommitted true believers, embarked ona full-scale “revolution from above” thatwould change every dimension of life in theSoviet Union. Industry would be createdfrom scratch, the countryside would be collectivizedand empire would be consolidated.Like the Nazis, the Bolsheviks were violentand brooked no opposition. They killedtheir opponents ruthlessly and unthinkingly– a practice that already started in 1918 –and packed off millions to die in concentrationcamps. As with the Nazis, Stalin’sopponents were all those people who eitheractively resisted Soviet ideological goals orwere incompatible with them. Democrats,socialists and national Communists resistedand had to be killed. Obstreperous classes,such as the more prosperous peasants, hadto be eliminated; obstreperous nations thatstood in the way of Moscow’s totalitarianambitions and imperial rule –such asUkrainians – had to be crushed.Like Adolf Hitler’s regime, Stalin’s wasgenocidal: it practiced genocide as part andparcel of its policies toward its subject populations.Over 20 million non-Russians andRussians were shot, starved or worked todeath.The Ukrainian Famine-Genocide was themost devastating and most all-encompassingsuch mass murder. As Lemkin noted,Ukraine and Ukrainians were the primaryobstacle to Bolshevik revolution,Communist totalitarianism and Russianempire. As a result, the Ukrainian politicalleadership had to be crushed, the Ukrainiancultural elite had to be destroyed, theUkrainian Churches had to be eviscerated,and the Ukrainian peasantry had to bekilled.The Holodomor was the product of a collisionbetween an irresistible Bolshevikforce and an all-too-movable Ukrainianobject.Unfortunately, the Famine-Genocide wasonly the first of two genocides experiencedby Ukraine in the 20th century. And it wasonly one part of the story of Ukraine’s neardestructionin that century.It’s easy to forget that 100 years agoUkraine’s population consisted primarily ofilliterate peasant serfs, whose lives were littledifferent from those of American slaves.Starting in 1914, those brutalized people hadto endure seven years of world war, revolutionand civil war. After a brief respite in the1920s, famine, terror and genocide devastatedSoviet Ukraine, and repression and economicdepression came to western Ukraine.But the real troubles began in 1939 and1941, when Hitler unleashed a genocidalwar and transformed Ukraine into a colonywhose subject populations – both Jews andUkrainians – were slated for extermination.After peace returned in 1945, life returned to“normal” – another eight years of famine,terror and repression, this time in both eastand west.Ukraine experienced some 40 consecutiveyears of relentless death and destruction,starting in 1914 and ending with Stalin’sdeath in 1953. According to a recent studyof the Moscow-based Institute ofDemography, Ukraine suffered close to 15million “excess deaths” between 1914 and1948. Consider the horrifying numbers:• 1.3 million during World War I;• 2.3 million during the civil war, thePolish-Soviet war, and the famine of theearly 1920s;• 4 million during the Holodomor;• 300,000 during the Great Terror and therepressions in western Ukraine;• 6.5 million during World War II, whenNazi Germany treated Jews, Gypsies andSlavs as brutes and subhumans; and• 400,000 during the post-war famine andthe destruction of the Ukrainian nationalistmovement.Over three decades of normal totalitarianismfollowed Stalin’s death. Everyday violencedisappeared and the death camps weredisbanded, but totalitarianism as a system ofrule remained.In contrast to Nazi totalitarianism, Soviettotalitarianism actually managed to create anew type of civilization and, perhaps, a newtype of human being – one who is unwillingto confront the truth, unwilling to confrontthe historical past, unwilling to re-imaginethe present, unwilling to imagine the future.(Continued on page 22)

No. 52THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008 7LETTERS TO THE EDITORA thank-youto three WelshmenDear Editor:In all the commemorative events andmedia coverage of the Holodomor anniversary,I can’t recall whether a deep thank youwas extended to three specific individuals.Three Welshmen have done so very muchin documenting the Holodomor, and ininforming our own community and the generalpublic.Morgan Williams is a business, governmentand public affairs consultant and presidentof the Ukraine Market Reform Group.He is also the publisher of the ArtUkraine.com website and the ArtUkraine.comInformation Service. He has been involvedin Ukrainian economic development issuesfor many years. His private collection of artabout the Holodomor is amazing (see http://www.artukraine.com/).Nigel Colley continues the work of hislate great uncle Gareth Jones, the journalistwho reported on the Holodomor (see http://www.garethjones.org/index.htm).Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.Orysia TraczWinnipeg, ManitobaThe declineof U.S. influenceDear Editor:Two recent articles cut through theconventional wisdom to about the declineof American power and influence inEurope, with vexing consequences forformer Soviet satellite states and more sofor Ukraine.One of these two articles appeared inThe New York Times on December 2(“Germany Aims to Protect Its Interestsby Guiding the West’s Ties to Russia”).The other was Zenon Zawada’s “FourYears After the Orange Revolution,” publishedin The Ukrainian Weekly onNovember 30. The opening paragraph inthe latter article neatly encapsulates theessence of both: “Four Years after theOrange Revolution, the Russians haveregained the upper hand in their battlewith the United States for Ukraine (noneed to mention Europe).”While the U.S. is pinned down in Iraqand Afghanistan in pursuit of phantomobjectives that seem to be at odds with itsown national interest (and are formulatedWe welcome your opinionThe Ukrainian Weekly welcomes letters to the editor and commentaries on a varietyof topics of concern to the Ukrainian American and Ukrainian Canadian communities.Opinions expressed by columnists, commentators and letter-writers are their own and donot necessarily reflect the opinions of either The Weekly editorial staff or its publisher, theUkrainian National Association.Letters should be typed and signed (anonymous letters are not published). Letters areaccepted also via e-mail at staff@ukrweekly.com. The daytime phone number and addressof the letter-writer must be given for verification purposes. Please note that a daytime phonenumber is essential in order for editors to contact letter-writers regarding clarifications orquestions.Please note: THE LENGTH OF LETTERS CANNOT EXCEED 500 WORDS.MAY WE HELP YOU?in line with priorities relative to Israel andIran), a recrudescent Germany is fillingthe Western power vacuum and is redefiningEurope’s relations with Russia (gasand all the rest).This leaves NATO with not much morethan a ceremonial role, and is quite achange from its original charter (“to keepthe Germans down, the Americans in, andthe Russians out”).In the new “new order” that seems tobe taking hold in Europe, Ukraine isagain in a tough neighborhood. TheSolomonian dialectics evident at the latestmeeting of NATO foreign ministers inBrussels on December 2, annunciated inreference to Ukraine’s vanishing chancesto gain NATO membership, illustrates theobvious decline of America’s Europeanorientation, both political and cultural.This decline is parallelled by cracks withinAmerica’s own fault lines of its OldTestament-articulated foreign policy, oilinspiredand deficit-financed militaryspending, and debt-driven lifestyles.While President Viktor Yushchenko’sfailures of leadership have turned hisalpha-male status into a balcony for occasionalposturing, the exigency of dealingwith Russia falls on Prime Minister YuliaTymoshenko. Such a delineation of“labor” reminds one of her leadershiprole leadership on the Maidan, while Mr.Yushchenko was more or less getting afree ride.Dear Editor:Boris DanikNorth Caldwell, N.J.UWC’s Lozynskyjdeserves kudosFifteen years ago, it appeared that theUkrainian World Congress was an organizationthat thought the diaspora lived only inWestern Europe and North America. Then, adecade ago, Askold Lozynskyj became itspresident.First he examined its finances and founddifferent sources of income, then hechanged the direction on the compass. Hereached out to our communities in Siberiaand the South. They were told that theywere not forgotten but rather welcomed tothe UWC.Mr. Lozynskyj has brought accountability,responsibility and transparency to theUkrainian World Congress.John BodnarWindsor Locks, Conn.To reach The Ukrainian Weekly call (973) 292-9800,and dial the appropriate extension (as listed below).Editorial – 3049, 3088 • Production – 3063, 3069Administration – 3041 • Advertising – 3040 • Subscriptions – 3042Liberal elite: 1, guns and bibles: 0Or so says Kuba, our village cynic andtoken leftist, commenting on the Novemberelection.“And a good thing, too,” says Boba, settlingdown with his plate of jelly doughnutsand a styrofoam cup of watery coffee. “Weshould sell those redneck states back to theFrench.”“And let the godless intellectuals run thecountry,” mutters Koba, making room atthe long table.“Don’t worry, the East Coast bluebloodsare still in charge,” says Boba. “Hey, if youhad changed your name from Melnyk toMiller, added a Roman numeral, and donateda million to the right campaign fund,you could have joined the club. Literally.”“Sure,” chuckles Koba. “But you’re theone who supported the right campaign.Shouldn’t you be getting a call fromChicago?”“Maybe they’ll make you postmaster ofPeoria,” taunts Kuba. “You know, it’s alljust a war between two elites pretending torepresent the people. You have the richRepublicans pretending to support the bluecollarworkers and the poor white trash,and you have the rich Democrats pretendingto champion the minorities and theurban poor.”“Isn’t that a bit cynical?” protests Koba,struggling to split a bagel with a little plasticknife. “There’s a big difference betweena cynic and a realist.”“I’m with you there,” says Boba. “Andwith the new administration we’ll havesmart, educated people in charge. Peoplewho talk in complete sentences.”“What I don’t understand is this connectionbetween guns and Bibles,” says Vova.He is a student from Ukraine, though noone really knows what he is studying. Somesay it’s etymology, or maybe it’s entomology.Once when he confessed to an interestin pneumatology, he was deluged by asthmatics.“In Ukraine,” continues Vova, “thepeople who carry guns and the people whoread the Bible are two separate groups.”“It’s because of our history, and historyisn’t always logical,” explains Koba. “OutWest people feel entitled to defend themselvesand their families. They don’t wantthe government to do it for them. They alsohappen to be a pretty God-fearing bunch.”“They also feel entitled to invade otherpeople’s countries,” breaks in Kuba. “Theyeven cite the Bible to justify it.”“So it’s Christian fundamentalists versusMuslim fundamentalists?” asks Vova.“What I don’t understand,” breaks inLuba, fresh from a meeting of SoyuzUkrainok, “is how millions of Catholicscould vote for a guy who supports partialbirthabortion. Where are their ethics?”“What ethics?” says Kuba. “People voteby their pocketbooks, not their conscience.And politics trumps religion. Who was itwho said that politics is the religion of themodern man?”“I guess you’re right,” observes Koba,fingering a cruller. “The right-to-lifershaven’t done too well lately.”“But I’m convinced that abortion is themoral issue of our day,” persists Luba.“Like slavery in the 1850s?” asks Vova.He is always making strange analogies.“Yes, and everyone said the abolitionistswere crazy.”“But the right-to-lifers – I don’t meanyou – are such hypocrites,” protests Kuba.“They want to force a woman to die for herfetus.”“You can always make an exception foran exceptional case,” retorts Luba. “Butyou can’t base a rule on exceptions. Hardcases make bad law.”“Maybe,” says Kuba. “But those sameright-to-lifers support a war that kills innocentwomen and children. Aren’t their livessacred too?”“It’s a war against the terrorists, whoalso kill the innocent, and on purpose,”points out Koba.“Terrorism is like the Hydra,” observesBoba. “Kill one and two spring up. Besides,they’re fighting for an idea. You can’t stopan idea by force of arms, even if you killthose who fight for it. Look at the UPA.”“You’re not comparing Al-Qaeda to theUkrainian Insurgent Army, are you?” asksKoba incredulously. “The UPA foughtagainst foreign occupants. Al-Qaeda murderscivilians.”“And the other way round,” says Kuba.Reaching out for a glazed doughnut,Boba knocks over his coffee cup, sending amilky brown flood across the formica tableheaded straight for Koba’s Armani tie.Koba starts back, his metal folding chairscreeching against the linoleum. Wieldingwads of paper napkins, Kuba and Lubamove in like emergency-room surgeons tostanch the flow. Despite their ideologicaldifferences, they are fast friends. Must besome weird chick thing, muses Koba.“So now that the election is over,” asksVova, “what are you politicians going todo?”“I’m still waiting for that phone callfrom Chicago,” says Boba. “But seriously– I plan to work with the transition team onforeign policy recommendations.”“In whose interest – America, Ukraine,or the diaspora?” interjects Kuba.“OK, I know they don’t always coincide.But I want to identify those issueswhere they do, and build on that.”“How about you, Koba?”“I want to work in the Republican Partyto figure out what it really stands for. Weneed to figure out whether we’re libertarians,free-marketeers, or global warriors.Personally, I think we need to rediscovertrue conservatism. We need to re-readEdmund Burke.”“And Lypynsky,” adds Vova. He isalways coming up with obscure references.“And how about you, Kuba? You’ll be onthe other side of the barricades, yes?”“Absolutely. With this economy, we’reripe for class warfare. The working poor,the unemployed and the homeless need toorganize. The big parties don’t care aboutthem.”“I think the important issues cut acrossparty lines,” says Luba. “I want to mobilizeAmericans who care about moral and ethicalissues, like abortion, capital punishment,poverty and the war. Some day thebig parties will become irrelevant, andwe’ll have new coalitions that really standfor something.”They get up to make way for anAlbanian wedding reception. But Vovasits alone for a few minutes, musing onall he has heard. If only he could applythese lessons in his own country. Butthere, he reflects, there is no politics –only the illusion.Andrew Sorokowski can be reached atsamboritanus@hotmail.com.

8 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008No. 52Boston remembers Holodomor via film, drama and photographsby Peter T. WoloschukCAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The HarvardUkrainian Research Institute (HURI), inco-sponsorship with the Ukrainian FilmClub of Columbia University, presentedthe New England premiere of the documentary“The Living” (Zhyvi) onWednesday evening, December 3, as partof its ongoing year long commemorationof the 75th anniversary of Ukraine’s1932-1933 Famine-Genocide.Approximately 100 people attendedthe screening of the 75-minute film,which was shown in Ukrainian withEnglish subtitles.Michael S. Flier, HURI’s director andOleksandr Potebnja Professor ofUkrainian Philology, opened the eveningVsevolod PetrivThe Rev. Edward Evanko performing“Be Well and Prosper, My BelovedUkraine.”by Alexsandra RiznikROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Ukrainiancommunity of Greater Rochester onSunday, November 23, marked the 75thanniversary of Ukraine’s Holodomor at St.Mary Ukrainian Orthodox Church and hall.At 3 p.m. a memorial service(panakhyda) was served by the Rev. IgorKrekhovetsky (St. Mary’s); the Rev.Roman Sydorovych (Church of theEpiphany); the Very Rev. Archpriest KirilAngelov and the Rev. John Jendrychowski(St. Josaphat’s) to commemorate the millionsof men, women and children murderedby Joseph Stalin’s artificially createdfamine, and to honor its survivors.The program began at the church hallwith Irene Russnak’s presentation of thememorial flame, followed by a momentof silence. After the audience lit theirmemorial candles, “Our Father” was sungin Ukrainian by St. Mary’s Choir, followedby soloist, Tania Beghini’s performancein English, accompanied on thepiano by Nickole Sleight.Mistress of ceremonies Anna Bucierkaconducted the program, which consistedof: Lidia Zacharkiw reading a poem“Children of Holodomor”; a short preview-screeningof the movie, “Holodomor-Ukraine’s Genocide 1932-1933”; a“Famine dinner” (a small piece of stalebread and glass of water); StephaniaRomaniuk and Michael Kaufman (studentsof the Eastman School of Music) presentingthe song “Psalm for Those Who Diedin the Holodomor” (lyrics by LesiaChraplyva-Schur); sisters Lydia Dzus andZinnia Dzus-DeBole performing twosongs, “Ave Maria” and “To Your Grace”;and Ms. Beghini singing “Hail Mary.”Ms. Zacharkiw then presented a histo-by welcoming everyone and then presentingDr. Yuri Shevchuk of ColumbiaUniversity, lecturer and director of theUkrainian Film Club, who made introductoryremarks about the film and introducedSerhiy Bukovsky, the film’s notedUkrainian director, and Victoria Bodnarthe film’s producer. Both spoke brieflyabout the film’s content and about whatthey were trying to convey through thefilm.“The Living,” which was produced byKyiv’s Lystopad Film Studios, opens witha montage of scenes from today’s Ukraineand of Famine-ravaged Ukraine in1932-1933 and then switches to footageof President Viktor Yushchenko as hewalks through fields and woods near hisnative village of Khoruzivka in the SumyOblast, where he shows the location ofmass graves of more than half of the village’sinhabitants who perished from theHolodomor.The film then goes on to explore elementsof the Holodomor using dispatchesof Welsh reporter Gareth Jones, whodescribed his observations of the conditionsin Soviet Ukraine during the fall,winter and spring of 1932-1933, as wellas the diplomatic intelligence reports ofGerman, Italian and Polish legations inthe Ukrainian capital at that time,Kharkiv, who cited the massive starvationof the Ukrainian peasantry as part of aplan to remove the strongly anti-Sovietpopulation and to replace them with loyalRussians.The most poignant moments of the filmare the interviews with senior citizens whohad witnessed and survived the Holodomoras children and who had lost parents, relatives,classmates and friends during theconfiscation of all foodstuffs by localSoviet functionaries. One of the survivors,an old woman, exclaims thatit would have been better ifher entire generation hadnever been born.Following the film, thedirector and produceranswered questions fromthe audience for more thanan hour.The next day, at HURI’sUkraine Study Group, Mr.Bukovsky and Mr. Bodnarparticipated in an informalpublic discussion on themaking of “The Living,” itsreception at its recent twoscreenings for critics andthe media in Kyiv, the currentstate of film-making inUkraine, the need to attractyoung people to the arts,and the lack of governmentunderstanding and support.Later that evening in arelated commemorative eventsponsored by the BostonCollege Ukrainian StudentSociety, the Rev. EdwardEvanko of Vancouver, BritishColumbia, a noted actor and singer, gave asolo tour de force performance of “Be Welland Prosper My Beloved Ukraine” (BuvaiZdorova, Liuba Ukraino) at St. IgnatiusChurch on the Boston College campus.The 90-minute performance consistedof dramatic readings of five eyewitnessaccounts of the Holodomor interspersedwith appropriate Ukrainian folk and religioussongs.Finally, a film and photo exhibition onthe Holodomor co-sponsored by theCommunity College of Rhode Island andthe Greater Boston Committee toSerhiy Bukovsky, director, and Victoria Bodnar,producer, of the film “The Living.”Commemorate the 75th Anniversary ofthe Holodomor ended its month-long runon Friday, December 5, at the school’sKnight Gallery.The exhibit was the work of CherylMadden who received the Order ofPrincess Olha from President Yushchenkofor her work compiling a bibliography ofEnglish resources on the Holodomor. Thefilm was the result of a Fulbright grantand was done in collaboration with a theaterschool in Ukraine. It featured studentsreciting first-hand accounts andpoetry written by Holodomor survivors.Rochester community recalls victims of the Famine-GenocideOrganizers of the Holodomor commemoration and members of Rochester’s Ukrainian community.ry of the Holodomor and Famine testimonieswere read by Stephanie Wowkowych,Parania Smith, Zinnia Dzus-DeBole andLuba Bilozir-Baran.Holodomor survivor Anna Kaczanowiczwas in the audience. Her daughter,Alexsandra Riznik, read her testimony asit is still too painful, even after all theseyears, for her mother to recount her experience.Ms. Dzus, daughter of Maria Dzus,read her mother’s testimonial.The commemoration concluded withthe Rev. Krekhovetsky and St. Mary’sChoir singing “Vichnaya Pamiat” (EternalMemory).The commemoration was organized bythe Committee of Ukrainian Women’sOrganizations of Rochester, which consistedof members of St. Josaphat’sUkrainian Catholic Church Sisterhood –St. Ann’s Society; St. Mary theProtectress Ukrainian AutocephalousOrthodox Church Sisterhood; UkrainianCatholic Church of the EpiphanySisterhood; and Ukrainian NationalWomen’s League of America Branches47, 46 and 120.Ms. Russnak initiatied the commemoration;co-chairs were Ms. Riznik andStephanie Stanfield, with behind-thescenesassistance by Daria Hanushevsky,Christine Dziuba, Maria Lylak, KathySweryda and others. Wasyl Kornylo,Wolodymyr Sukhenko and GeorgeHanushevsky also provided assistancethat made the commemoration possible.

No. 52by Andrew LeskiwSTATE COLLEGE, Pa. – On Sundayafternoon, November 9, the Penn StateUkrainian Society and the Penn StateByzantine Catholic Student Ministry jointlycommemorated the 75th anniversary of theFamine-Genocide in Ukraine (Holodomor)in the Worship Hall of the PasquerillaSpiritual Center at the Pennsylvania StateUniversity. With over 150 people in attendance,it marked the largest Ukrainian eventin the history of the university.The commemoration began with an introductionfrom emcee Andrew Leskiw, presidentof both the Penn State UkrainianSociety and the Penn State ByzantineCatholic Student Ministry. Mr. Leskiwreminded everyone in attendance of the twofoldpurpose of the commemoration: toremember the lives of those who perished asa result of the Holodomor and to spreadknowledge of this horrible tragedy to peoplewho are unaware of its occurrence.Following this introduction, a processionof students and clergy entered the room tobegin the divine liturgy. Ten students walkedin the procession, each holding a candlecommemorating one million lives lost duringthe Holodomor; the candles were placedin front of the memorial created at the frontof the hall.The divine liturgy was celebrated byMetropolitan-Archbishop Stefan Soroka ofPhiladelphia, as well as several priests anddeacons from the Center County area. TheTHE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008 9Penn State student groups commemorate the Famine-GenocidePrometheus Male Ukrainian Choir ofPhiladelphia (under the direction of RomanKuczarskyy) sang the responses to the liturgyin Ukrainian, while the clergy chantedmostly in English.In his homily Archbishop Soroka emphasizedthe importance of commemoratingsuch an event, noting that it is our job asAmericans to speak up about global eventssuch as the Holodomor, and more currentissues such as the genocide in Darfur andthe sex trade in Eastern Europe.After the divine liturgy was celebrated,the educational program began. The firstspeakers were Holodomor survivors Alexand Helen Woskob, owners of the AW &Sons Co. and founders of the WoskobCenter for the Study of UkrainianAgriculture and the Endowment inUkrainian Studies at Penn State University.The Woskobs, who spoke in Ukrainian witha translator, talked about their memories oflife in Ukraine during the Holodomor.Afterwards, Michael P. Bernosky, a professionalactor from Boalsburg, Pa., readexcerpts from Robert Conquest’s book “TheHarvest of Sorrow” as well as from“Memoirs of My Life” by Mr. Woskob.Following the hymn “Bohorodytse doTebe,” performed by the Prometheus Choir,Woskob Family Professor of UkrainianStudies Michael M. Naydan and visitingFulbright scholar from Ukraine MariyaTytarenko read several poems that wereconnected with the Holodomor, includingVasyl Symonenko’s “Chuyu (I Hear).”Helen (at the podium) and Alex Woskob speak about the Holodomor.Alexander J. Motyl, professor of politicalscience at Rutgers University-Newark, lecturedabout the history of the Holodomorand its effects on the land and people ofUkraine. Prof. Motyl stressed the necessityfor everyone to recognize the Holodomorsince the statistical and visual proof of theHolodomor is indisputable. (For the text ofhis remarks, see page 6.)Father Robert F. Oravetz, advisor of thePenn State Byzantine Catholic StudentMinistry and pastor of three other parishes,gave the closing remarks in which he urgedeveryone to learn from history and to notrepeat its mistakes. The ceremony concludedwith a solemn remembrance service, or“panakhyda,” in memory of the victims ofthe Holodomor, as well as the singing of the“Prayer for Ukraine,” (“Bozhe VelykyiYedynyi”).The event, organized by the studentmembersof the two sponsoring organizations(with the guidance of the advisors),was a huge success as the event carried outits twofold purpose. In addition to rememberingthe victims and spreading knowledgeof the Holodomor, over $500 was raised atthe commemoration and will be donated tothe building fund of the Ukrainian GenocideMemorial to be erected in Washington.Solemn programs in Detroit area mourn Holodomor victimsby Marie Zarycky-CherviovskiyDETROIT – The Detroit communityattended commemorations of the 75th anniversaryof the Holodomor of 1932-1933 inlarge numbers. The solemn event took placeon November 9 at the Ukrainian CulturalCenter in Warren, Mich., where the publicparticipated in a requiem service for the 10million victims of the never-to-be-forgottentragedy perpetrated by the Communistregime of the Soviet Union.Nine priests representing the six localUkrainian parishes officiated at the ecumenicalpanakhyda under the leadership ofHolodomor survivor Archbishop AlexanderBykovets of St. Andrew’s UkrainianAutocephalous Orthodox Cathedral, whoserved as honorary chairman of the commemoration.St. Andrew’s Choir, under thedirection of Serhij Lazurenko, sang theresponses.The event’s organizing committeeworked under co-chairs Lydia Wroblewski,and Zenon Wasylkewycz, presidents,respectively, of the Ukrainian CongressCommittee of America (UCCA) and theUkrainian American Coordinating Council(UACC). Representatives of major communityorganizations participated: Vera Kucyj(Ukrainian Cultural Center), secretary;Serhij Lazurenko (St. Andrew’s OrthodoxChurch) and Dr. Alexander Serafyn(Ukrainian National Association), co-treasurers.Marie Zarycky Cherviovskiy, DariaZawadiwskyi and Vera Andrushkiw,(Ukrainian National Women’s League ofAmerica) were in charge of promotion;Borys Potapenko (Organization for theDefense of Four Freedoms for Ukraine), Dr.Olena Palywoda and Natalia Slyz Stasiw(Nova Chvylia), Roma Dyhdalo, OlgaLiskiwsky and Anna Macielinski(UNWLA), and Wolodymyr Lewenetz(Ukrainian Cultural Center), provided informationand the event program. SvitlanaLeheta and Chrystyna Nykorak (DetroitUkrainian Museum and Archives) joinedthe Exhibit Subcommittee.Members at large were: George Korol(St. Mary Protectress Parish, LidaThe Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus performs performs under the direction of Adrian Bryttan.Kolodchin (UNWLA), Oleh Cieply(Ukrainian American Veterans) andJaroslaw Stetkewycz (ODFFU).The program started with a respectfulflag ceremony arranged by Mr. Cieply, featuringnational flags and the flags of theparticipating organizations. Vera Kryvarecited her poem titled “UkrainianGenocide,” while attendees lighted candlesof remembrance.Students Julia Bedrus, Natalia Boyko,Oksana Doubrowska, ChristinaBodnarchuk, and Larysa Woryk joinedDanylo Higgins in the recitation of“Holodomor in the Book of Memory of theUkrainian Nation” accompanied by thebandura playing of Renia Cholovey. Theduet of Myhailo and Victoria Voreniuk,singing Zhutkevych’s “Road to God,” concludedthis segment.A particularly emotional address waspresented by Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.),longtime friend of the Metropolitan Detroitarea Ukrainian American community,whose initiative culminated in the passageof House Resolution 1314 recognizing theUkrainian Famine of 1932-1933 as genocide.Special tributes sent from Gov. JenniferM. Granholm, the Michigan StateLegislature, Lesia Liss, state representativeelect,the City Council of Warren with MarkLiss, and Mayor James R. Fouts were thenread by the co-masters of ceremonies: Dr.Palywoda and Mr. Potapenko.It was with great pride that the audiencegreeted the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorusunder the baton of its newly selected conductorand musical director Adrian Bryttan.Their chosen selections included StanyslavLiudkevych’s “Prayer of Mercy,” AlexanderKoshetz’s “Thrice-Holy Hymn,” andHryhory Kytasty’s “Echoes of the Steppes.”The religious hymn “Amazing Grace” garneredvery appreciative applause, as didBohdan Lepky’s “The Cranes.” The effectof lit candles held by the singing banduristsin a darkened auditorium provided a veryappropriate and unifying mood.The highlight of the commemorationwas the emotional appeal of ArchbishopAlexander to President Viktor Yushchenkoand the government of Ukraine to punishthe perpetrators of the Famine. After theeyewitness testimonies of Olena Liskiwskyiand Bishop Alexander, other survivors wereacknowledged: Dr. Raissa Schlega, MariaHalych Dutkewycz, Mykola Liskiwskyi,Kateryna Potapenko Oleksandra Misiong.This intensily moving event came to aconclusion with the viewing of an excerptof the film “Holodomor: Ukraine’sGenocide of 1932-33” by Bobby Leigh andMarta Tomkiw.The public was encouraged by the cochairsof the commemoration committee,Ms. Wroblewski and Mr. Wasylkewycz(UACC) to view the very solemn and artfullypresented Holodomor PictorialExhibition organized by Svitlana Leheta,president, and Chrystyna Nykorak, director,of the Detroit Ukrainian Museum andArchives.The commemorative committee willrelay half of the event’s proceeds to theHolodomor film and the other half to thefuture Ukrainian Genocide Memorial inWashington.

10 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008No. 52North Port Ukrainians teach local students about the Holodomorby Ann-Marie SuslaNORTH PORT, Fla. – Approximately200 social studies, ESL (English as a SecondLanguage) and Holocaust/human rights studentsat North Port High School sat in raptattention on December 10 at a special programon the 75th anniversary of Holodomor– the Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933 inUkraine that killed millions of people.Neonillia Lechman gave a brief historyof Ukraine and of the events leading up toHolodomor. She cited the United Nations’adoption of the Convention on Preventionand Punishment of the Crime of Genocideon December 9, 1948. A segment of thefilm “Harvest of Despair” was shown andAnastasia Chomyk, a survivor ofHolodomor, gave a very moving testimonyof her personal experience during that tragictime.Doris Horbachevsky summarized theprogram and explained the role of WalterDuranty, a reporter for The New YorkTimes, in covering up the Famine and denyingits existence. Today, she explained, theHolodomor has been recognized by 19countries and a national memorial, the“Candle of Memory,” has been built in Kyiv.Here in the United States, land has beendonated in Washington where a monumentis to be constructed to commemorate thevictims of the Famine.The program ended with a question andanswer session. Students were especiallyintrigued by Mrs. Chomyk’s personal storyand asked her numerous questions about herexperiences during the Famine.The Committee of the United Ukrainian-American Organizations of North Port, Fla.,implemented this program. Thanks wereexpressed to Carol LaVallee, teacher atNorth Port High School and coordinator ofthe program, Ryan Oliver for his technicalsupport and Dr. George Kenney, principal ofNorth Port High School, without whom thisprogram would not have been possible.At the Holodomor program at North Port High School (from left) are: DorisHorbachevsky, Neonilia Lechman, Carole LaVallee and Anastasia Chomyk.Clifton-Passaic communitymarks Famine anniversaryStudents during the assembly at North Port High School in Florida.PASSAIC, N.J. – The Ukrainian community of Clifton-Passaic, N.J., commemoratedthe 75th anniversary of the Holodomor on December 7 at the UkrainianCenter on Hope Avenue in Passaic. The event began with a candle-lit panakhyda,or requiem service, led by the Rev. Andriy Dudkevych of St. Nicholas UkrainianCatholic Church in Passaic and the Rev. Oleh Zhownirovych of Holy AscensionUkrainian Orthodox Church of Clifton. Children from the school, the UkrainianAmerican Youth Association and Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization led the150 people who attended in traditional songs. A group from Jersey City, N.J., thenpresented a dramatic performance of events related to the Famine. Two survivorsof the Holodomor also spoke about their experiences. Nina Kowbasniuk of JerseyCity told her story in Ukrainian and Rostyslav Wasylenko of Union presented hiseyewitness account in English. The event was coordinated by John Burtyk.– Tom HawrylkoNeed a back issue?If you’d like to obtain a back issue of The Ukrainian Weekly,send $2 per copy (first-class postage included) to: Administration, The Ukrainian Weekly,2200 Route 10, P.O. Box 280, Parsippany, NJ 07054.

No. 52PM demands...(Continued from page 1)exchange rate strengthened to about 7 hrvper $1 in interbank trading, and hasremained relatively stable since. Kioskswere buying dollars for about 7.5 hrv onDecember 23.The sudden measures to strengthen thehryvnia didn’t assuage Ms. Tymoshenko,who believes the exchange rate ought to becloser to 6-6.5 hrv per $1.The prime minister alleged the NationalBank of Ukraine began printing 40 billionhrv starting October 1, under the pretextU.S. and Ukraine...THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008 11that the extra money would allow banks toprovide cash to depositors who were eligibleto withdraw their money. (Banks arestill forbidding Ukrainians from breakingtheir agreements on savings deposits, allowingwithdrawals only when the deposit termis fulfilled.)Instead of earmarking the money forwithdrawals and supporting the hryvnia,Ms. Tymoshenko claimed top bankersacquired hryvni at a lower exchange rateand used their newly acquired cash to buyU.S. dollars, anticipating the hryvnia wouldfall even further, according to plan.In exchange for the hryvni, the select(Continued from page 1)into Euro-Atlantic institutions “is a mutualpriority,” and that they plan to enhance theirsecurity cooperation in order to strengthenUkraine’s candidacy for NATO membership.This expanded cooperation willinclude “enhanced training and equipmentfor Ukrainian armed forces.The charter includes expanding economic,trade and energy cooperation,developing U.S. cooperation withUkraine’s regions, “including Crimea,”strengthening democratic institutions, andenhancing law enforcement against suchcommon threats as terrorism, organizedcrime, trafficking, money laundering andcyber crime.(The complete text of the United States-Ukraine Charter on Strategic Partnership isreprinted on page 3.)The day before his meeting withSecretary Rice, Minister Ohryzko discussedsome of the elements of the document at theUkrainian Embassy, during a meeting withrepresentatives of Ukrainian Americanorganizations.The Strategic Partnership Charter theywould sign is not only an important documentthat will deepen U.S.-Ukraine bilateralcooperation, he said. It will help quickenthe pace of Ukraine’s entry into NATO andthe European community as well.“This year we have made a strong surgein our bilateral relationship,” Mr. Ohryzkosaid, and there is now “a new dynamism” inthat relationship. The year also saw theestablishment of a solid foundation for apro-Western course in Ukraine’s foreignpolicy and its goal of getting into theEuropean Union, he added.“Unfortunately, we were unable to makesimilar progress in resolving outstandingissues with the Russian Federation,” hesaid, adding that the Kyiv-Moscow relationshiphad not moved forward, “practicallyspeaking, on any of the outstandingissues.”Despite Ukraine’s initiatives in numerousnegotiations and meetings, Russiaremains unwilling to seriously discuss borderdemarcation in the Azov and Blackseas, the removal of its Black Sea fleet fromCrimea by 2017 and other issues thatremain “major irritants in our relations.”He called the presence of the RussianBlack Sea Fleet a destabilizing factor inCrimea. Ukraine cannot demand its removalbefore 2017 because of the its bilateralagreement with Russia. Earlier this year, hesaid, he presented the Russian foreign ministera memorandum about initiating preparatorydiscussions on the ultimate removalof the fleet. Russia refused to begin suchdiscussions, Mr. Ohryzko said, possiblyhoping that Ukraine will change its mind asMoscow argues for putting off the 2017withdrawal.“We will not agree to this,” he stressed.The fleet will have to leave by May 27,2017, he added.The Ukrainian foreign affairs ministeralso discounted the economic argumentmade by some for keeping the Russian fleetthere – because it provides employment forabout 60,000 people in the area ofSevastopol. He cited the case of nearbyBalaklava, which used to have a secretSoviet submarine base. After it was decommissionedand dismantled the area developedinto a beautiful tourist attraction withhotels, restaurants and the like.“We are convincing the people ofSevastopol that they would be much betteroff if the naval base were not there, becauseit is an impediment to the city’s economicdevelopment,” he said.On the positive side of the Ukrainian-Russian bilateral ledger he pointed out thatthe two countries have learned to speak thetruth to each other. Mr. Ohryzko expressedthe hope that things will improve further inthe coming year.As for Ukraine’s relationship withUkrainian Americans, he expressed hiscountry’s gratitude for their efforts onbehalf of Ukraine as it evolves into an influentialcountry in Europe.On his way to the meeting with Secretaryof State Rice at the State Department, Mr.Ohryzko laid a wreath at the foot of theTaras Shevchenko monument inWashington.bankers offered the Mr. Stelmakh a bribe of3 percent to 7 percent of the credit offered,the prime minister alleged.Among those who most profited was Mr.Firtash, who received the biggest credit of7.1 billion hrv, Ms. Tymoshenko charged.In response, Mr. Firtash, who made billionsfrom his role in the shadyRosUkrEnergo natural gas intermediary,said he will sue Ms. Tymoshenko for libelin London’s courts, which are notorious fortheir loose interpretation of libel laws thatfavor plaintiffs.The prime minister wasn’t alone in hercalls for Mr. Stelmakh’s resignation; shedrew support from Arseniy Yatsenyuk, whoserved as the NBU’s first vice-chair duringthe Orange Revolution.Kyiv political insider Ivan Lozowy, presidentof the Institute of Statehood andDemocracy, said he believes Ms.Tymoshenko’s accusations are credible andaccurate, considering it’s unclear why theNBU chose a select group of bankers, outof 180 banks, to receive the 40 billion hrvemission.“Stelmakh realizes he has one year leftas National Bank chair and has provided forhis comfortable retirement in a matter ofweeks,” he said, adding that the top bankeralso bought millions of dollars, thus undermininghis nation’s own currency.For Mr. Stelmakh to engage in thescheme, the president would have had togive his approval and receive a cut of thebribes, Mr. Lozowy said. “This blatant typeof corruption is unprecedented in Ukraine’shistory since independence,” he said, addingthat Yushchenko appears to be supportingit.Though the Internal Affairs Ministry isinvestigating the allegations, prosecutionisn’t likely because the PresidentialSecretariat has influence over the ProcuratorGeneral’s Office and its director, OleksanderMedvedko.Ms. Tymoshenko has asked the independentGlobal Witness international investigationsagency to review the financial transactionsthat occurred among Ukraine’s bankers.“I deeply regret that this person, I amreferring to the nation’s president,Yushchenko, with whom I stood on all theOrange ‘maidany’ and for whom I agitatedfor and convinced people that he’s an honestand moral politician, and he’s loweredhimself to such to a level today that it’sshameful to even mention his name,” Ms.Tymoshenko said December 20, alsodeclaring her unequivocal opposition to thepresident and his entourage.In its turn, the NBU blamed Ms.Tymoshenko’s economic policies for thehryvnia’s decline, and warned her againstmaking such accusations out of concernthat her remarks would further destabilizethe Ukrainian economy.“The government’s activity in managingthe economy has led to a situation inDecember in which the country could faceinternal default,” said an NBU statementreleased December 19. “The governmentdoesn’t have funds today to pay wages,pensions, social payments and obligationsof a foreign and domestic character.”President Yushchenko offered a similarresponse to the accusations, blaming theprime minister’s trade policies for the country’seconomic troubles and accusing her ofspeculating on the current financial crisis inorder to make political gains.Commenting in a live national televisioninterview on December 21, the presidentoffered his own insults directed at the primeminister, indirectly calling her a “vorovka,”or thief.Ms. Tymoshenko’s political world consistsof two types of people, either “awhipped lackey or ... an enemy who willalways be anathema,” the president said.“There is no third position.”Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko.Yaro Bihun

12 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008No. 52

No. 52THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008 13The things we do ...by Orysia Paszczak TraczSomething strange about Ukrainian Christmasby Orysia Paszczak TraczYours truly, your involuntarily appointedUkrainian Christmas guru, was askedrecently to give examples of some unusualaspects of Ukrainian Christmas. Well, to theaverage non-Ukrainian person, “unusual”and “Ukrainian Christmas” would be synonymous.Not that English, American orCanadian Christmas is that usual – withreindeer, and fat men in red, and cut-downtrees standing indoors, and, well... you get it.Let’s see, for Ukrainian Christmas, inplain language, we’ve got a Christmas Evefeast that has no meat and no dairy products– and yet there is very much satisfying food,your mother and other female relatives havingspent the past weeks cooking and bakingthe most exotic comfort foods; there is anempty chair and place setting for the departed,i.e., the dead, and the food on their plateis left out all night for their enjoyment; theanimals (OK, nowadays, the pets) are serveda bit of the dinner food before the family sitsdown to the meal; there are garlic cloves inthe corners of the table under the tablecloth;the father may toss some food to the ceiling;the time to begin dinner is not indicated bythe clock, but by the appearance of the firststar; your Christmas Day is not completeunless at least a few groups of people havecome in, sung up a storm, eaten and drunk,taken a donation from you and gone on tothe next address; it was good luck if, as earlyas possible on New Year’s morning a boycame to your door, you let him in, and hescattered wheat kernels all over your house,tossing them at the walls and ceiling...All this is not unusual, it is perfectlynormal.So, I began searching for the reallyunusual Christmas, New Year’s, and Yordan(Epiphany) traditions that have been forgotten,or were very regional. There are certainlymore than enough of these.“Christmas Is Here,” a glasspainting by Yaroslava Surmach Mills, from a cardprinted by the Surma Book and Music Co,“Christmas Carolers,” a watercolor by Luba Maksymchuk, from a UNAChristmas card.One that procrastinators will like: notonly was the one place setting left for theancestors – it was considered a sin to clearthe table after the Sviata Vecheria and washthe dishes that night. All of the dishes wereto be left on the table as they were untilmorning. The souls of the ancestors wouldhave their fill during the night.Men in drag were very popular, indeedmandatory, around New Year’s Eve. TheMalanka character was a young man (thebigger the mustache the better) dressed upas a flirtatious young woman, Malanka.With a group of koliadnyky/schedrivnyky(carolers) he would act out the verses of thesilly songs, doing everything in the oppositeway. A guy dressed as a goat was alsorequired. Other masked characters joinedthe merry band.Also on New Year’s Eve, the young menwould gather (OK, steal) from people’syards anything flammable that was not tieddown– such as wooden utensils and equipment,straw, corn stalks, whatever. Thesewere piled into small bonfires at street intersections,and the guys leapt over the fire forgood luck and to protect themselves fromharm in the new year.We have seen the Ukrainian version ofthe Polar Bear Club in news reports fromUkraine, where people from the presidenton down jump into the open spaces cut outof the frozen rivers after the waters havebeen blessed on Yordan (the Feast of Jordan– Christ’s baptism in the Jordan River byJohn the Baptist.) This newly blessed waterwas believed to have healing properties andwould protect you from harm (if you didn’tget a deathly chill from the freezing water).A really strange tradition is the fisticuffsheld on Yordan. Sometimes these began atChristmas and lasted to just before Lent.Yes, fisticuffs, formalized fist fights. In particularregions of central and easternUkraine, young men would gather to fight.The teams would be neighboring villages or,in large villages, different sections of thesame village. In towns, the merchants wouldfight the townspeople, or the tradesmenwould fight the seminarians or students. Theopponents were constant, from generation togeneration. There were unwritten rules –something the NHL should emulate – nohitting when someone is down and no hittingfrom the back. Often these fights endedin the tavern, with all the teams merrymakingtogether.We can see why it is a good thing thatsome of these traditions are now a distantmemory. They certainly would not be practicaltoday. And yet, what we still observeduring our Ukrainian Christmas season isnot all that practical either. That’s just theway traditions are.There is a saying among the old-timersabout traditions: “We did not invent them,and it is not up to us to change them” (Nemy yikh prydumaly, ne nam yikh i vidminiaty.)Orysia Tracz may be contacted at orysia.tracz@gmail.com.Alberta archives/museum holds Christmas decorations workshopEDMONTON, Alberta – The UkrainianCanadian Archives and Museum of Alberta(UCAMA) held its third folk arts and craftsworkshop. In keeping with the holiday season,the theme of the workshop was decoration-making.Participants made miniature dolls and angelsto use as ornaments on their Christmas trees.Khrystyna Kohut opened the workshop bywelcoming participants and introducing NatalieKononenko from the University of Alberta KuleCentre for Ukrainian and Canadian Folklore andstudents Genia Boivin, Svitlana Kukharenko andYanina Vihovska.Prof. Kononenko then spoke briefly aboutUkrainian Christmas traditions. These celebratedthe nativity of Christ and also helped peoplearticulate their sense of the cycle of nature, theend of one year and hope for the year to come.Many old traditions involved crops and crop fertility,often combined with a religious meaning.After talking about traditional celebrations,participants viewed a short film showingUkrainian Christmas on the Canadian Prairies asit was celebrated over 50 years ago.In all of the old traditions, Prof. Kononenkopointed out, the Christmas tree is missing. Yet itis very much a part of Christmas today, both inCanada and Ukraine. The Christmas tree, or“yalynka,” is a relatively new tradition, but onethat has been thoroughly integrated intoUkrainian life.An interesting folktale is called “Spiders atChristmas.” It illustrates the fact that Ukrainiansdid not really have a traditional way of decoratingtheir trees. Prof. Kononenko told this story,addressing it particularly to the children in theaudience, and said that, as the tree has beenadopted and adapted, so workshop participantswere going to adapt traditional dolls to give aUkrainian feel to their trees.The highpoint of the workshop was the constructionof three dolls, an angel made out of asquare of fabric, a cotton ball and embroiderythread; a doll built around a birch bark core(substituted with a paper core for this workshop);and a doll made of rolled-up strips of fabric.Both the paper core doll and the one built onfabric strips could be dressed up in a variety ofways to reflect Ukrainian traditional clothing.The fabric doll could be made up as either a boydressed in Hutsul trousers and a keptar, or a girldressed in a scarf (khustka) and a skirt.As Prof. Kononenko pointed out, once thebasics of doll construction are learned, almostendless variation is possible. Sure enough, severalparticipants made their own interpretationsof the various dolls, creating little hand-madetreasures.Genia Boivin, a graduate student at the University of Alberta, showsoff the angel she made during a Christmas decorations workshop.

14 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008No. 52MERCHANDISECLASSIFIEDSTO PLACE YOUR AD CALL MARIA OSCISLAWSKI (973) 292-9800 x 3040SERVICESOne-on-OnePSAT / SAT / ACT TutoringFoundation for LearningLocations in Harding & Randolph973-895-1774OR E-MAIL ADUKR@OPTONLINE.NETPROFESSIONALSGEORGE B. KORDUBACounsellor at LawEmphasis on Real Estate, Wills, Trusts and Elder LawWard Witty Drive, P.O. Box 249MONTVILLE, NJ 07045Hours by Appointment Tel.: (973) 335-4555OPPORTUNITYEARN EXTRA INCOME!The Ukrainian Weekly is lookingfor advertising sales agents.For additional information contactMaria Oscislawski, AdvertisingManager, The Ukrainian Weekly,(973) 292-9800, ext 3040.FOR SALECemetery Crypt For SaleVenice Memorial Gardens, Venice, FLUkrainian Section, Top LevelPlease call Irene713.789.0239WANT IMPACT?Run your advertisement here,in The Ukrainian Weekly’sCLASSIFIEDS section.NEWSBRIEFS(Continued from page 2)Mr. Yushchenko of being involved in corruptschemes linked to the hryvnia’s devaluationand said that he must resign. Mr.Yushchenko said on TV on December 21that the prime minister is responsible forthe policies she is currently following. Hedescribed her as a “shady lady” andrecalled that she “had been stealing gas.”The president said that the prime ministerwas “standing behind his back” during theOrange Revolution on IndependenceSquare for the sake of her own politicalcareer, rather than for the sake of the strugglefor Ukrainian values. (Ukrinform)Ukraine represented in 81 countriesKYIV – Three days before their professionalholiday, which is annually markedon December 22, Ukrainian diplomats presentedthe ninth issue of a scholarly annualmagazine titled Diplomatic Ukraine. Thechairman of the International CooperationAssistance Foundation, former ForeignAffairs Minister Anatolii Zlenko said thatin 2008 the number of countries in whichthe Ukrainian diplomatic institutions areoperating had grown to 81, and fiveUkrainian diplomatic offices are representedin international organizations. A total of103 diplomatic offices of foreign countriesand international organizations are operatingin Ukraine, including 69 embassies, 19consulates general and 15 offices of internationalorganizations. The country’s legalbase includes over 4,000 documents,including 360 agreements signed withRussia, 141 with the United States, and1,094 with EU countries. (Ukrinform)Tymoshenko most influentialKYIV – Prime Minister YuliaTymoshenko is ranked atop Ukraine’s 200most influential persons, according toFocus magazine, Editor-in-Chief MykhailoHladkykh reported. He also said thatPresident Viktor Yushchenko ranked thesecond this year, while in 2007 he was infirst place. The rating of Ukraine’s 200most influential persons also includes thefollowing: National Deputy and co-ownerof the SCM-Holding Rinat Akhmetov (3),leader of the Party of Regions ViktorYanukovych (4), co-owner of the PryvatGroup Ihor Kolomoyskyi (5), VerkhovnaRada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn (6),DF Holding owner and co-owner ofRosUkrEnergo Dmytro Firtash (7),Presidential Secretariat Chief ViktorBaloha (8), Kyiv Mayor LeonidChernovetskyi (9) and owner of theInterPipe Group Viktor Pinchuk (10). Thisyear the names of 50 new most influentialpersons, representing the regional elite andlocal authorities, appeared in the ranking.(Ukrinform)External debt grows by 7.6 percentKYIV – Ukraine’s gross external debttotaled $105.429 billion (U.S.) in the thirdquarter of 2008, which is 7.6 percent or$7.425 billion up from the level of 2007.According to the National Bank ofUkraine, bank debts grew over the periodfrom $38.433 billion to $42.117 billion,while debts in other economic branchesrose from $10.681 billion to $44.339 billion.(Ukrinform)Akhmetov: seek experts’ adviceDONETSK – Businessman andNational Deputy Rinat Akhmetov commentedat a news conference on December19 on the current situation in Ukraine andsuggested possible mechanisms to overcomethe economic downturn. He said thecountry today strongly needs fast and efficientdecisions. In order to assess the situationin Ukraine, without any shame,Ukraine should invite world’s best experts,he said, adding everyone will then see thecorrectness of the decisions taken. “Youhave come to an exchange office, the dollaris 10 hrv today, 8 hrv tomorrow and 6hrv the day after tomorrow. So we are onthe right path,” he said. First and foremost,such fast and effective decisions must betaken by the parliamentary coalition, thebusinessman stated. (Ukrinform)IMF predicts slower GDP growthKYIV – The International MonetaryFund (IMF) on December 17 predictedthat Ukraine’s GDP growth would fall by5 percent in 2009, the head of the mainservice for social and economic developmentat the Presidential Secretariat, RomanZhukovskyi, said. He explained that theposition of the Ukraine’s EconomyMinistry also influenced a review of theIMF’s outlook for 2009. In early Octoberthe International Monetary Fund alteredUkraine’s inflation forecast for 2009 from13.4 percent o 14.7 percent, the averageannual inflation from 15.7 percent to 18.8percent, and GDP growth from 4.2 percentto 2.5 percent. In November 2008,Ukraine’s real gross domestic product fellby 14.4 percent year-over-year, to 75.38billion hrv. (Ukrinform)265 million hrv in contraband seizedKYIV – The State Border GuardService detained contraband valued at 265million hrv, First Vice-Chairman of theState Border Guard Service PavloShysholin reported on December 19. Hesaid this amount had been returned to thestate budget. Over the first 11 months of2008 border guards seized 586 units ofweapons, 7,316 units of ammunition, eightkilograms of explosives and 435 kilogramsof narcotics. Over 83 million persons and16.7 million vehicles have been registeredat checkpoints; 52,000 persons weredenied entry – 28,000 of whom werepotential illegal migrants. In 2008 thenumber of illegal migrants primarily fromSoutheast Asia, who were deported out ofthe country, increased by 11 percent; thenumber of cases instituted against organizersof illegal movement of migrants grewthreefold; and the number of personsimprisoned for organization of illegalmigration went up sevenfold. (Ukrinform)EC supports Ukraine’s energy efficiencyKYIV – The European Commission isready to allocate 70 million euros to developmentof energy efficiency in Ukraine in2009, according to a statement issued onDecember 19 by the National Agency onEffective Use of Energy Resources. Thefunds will be allocated under the conditionof fulfillment of cross obligations by theCabinet, for instance, lowering the powerintensity index for the established period.It is planned that financing will be carriedout according to indices determined by ajoint working group of representatives ofthe European Commission, the NationalAgency on Effective Use of EnergyResources, the Economy Ministry, theNational Commission for Electric EnergyRegulation and the Finance Ministry. OnNovember 19 the Cabinet had approved aConcept of State Target Economic EnergyEfficiency Program for 2010-2015. TheUkrainian economy is one of the world’smost energy-intensive economies.(Ukrinform)Redeeming Stepan Bandera’s honorKYIV – Academician Ihor Yukhnovskyi,director of the National Memory Institute,has tasked his colleagues to restore thegood name of Stepan Bandera, a leader ofthe Ukrainian national liberation movement.The attitude to this person is contradictory,Dr. Yukhnovskyi noted onDecember 19. To some people he is a symbolof the strength of the Ukrainian spirit,while others say he is a bandit and terror-(Continued on page 15)

No. 52Businessmen, politicians...(Continued from page 1)During his visit, Santa Claus led acharity evening with political and businessleaders at Kyiv’s central puppet theater,visited schoolchildren and orphans,and met with his Ukrainian counterpart,Sviatyi Mykolai (St. Nicholas), during afestive evening at Taras ShevchenkoPark.Meanwhile, Ukrainian traditionsreceived a boost from Kyiv City CouncilDeputy Ivan Plachkov, who financiallysponsored the monthlong “Revival ofTraditions” Christmas holiday festival atthe historic St. Sophia Cathedral NationalMuseum in the heart of Kyiv.The festivities began on St. NicholasFeast Day on December 19, in whichboys from the Rozumovskyi State ChoirAcademy performed in the cathedral andthen gathered around the mystical visitorto receive gifts.Other events include a December 25“vertep” performance, traditional folkcarols, or “koliady” on January 7, aJanuary 13 “Malanka” led by pop legendOleh Skrypka, a St. Basil (Vasyl) FeastDay children’s vertep competition and theFeast of Theophany Feast on January 19.THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008 15A leader in reviving Ukrainian culture,Mr. Skrypka said he sponsors theChristmas festival at St. Sophia in orderto help Ukrainians reconnect with theirspiritual and cultural roots, which wereruined by the Soviets. Under their rule,New Year’s Day replaced Christmas asthe most festive holiday of the year.“I only began to learn of Mykolaimaybe seven years ago,” said Mr.Skrypka, a Ukrainian who spent his childhoodin Tajikistan and Russia. “My parentsbrought me (to Ukraine) only in thesummer, which is why I didn’t knowabout the Christmas holidays.”As part of tradition on St. NicholasFeast Day, Donbas industrial king RinatAkhmetov, accompanied by Russian composerand close friend Igor Krutoy, visiteda Donetsk orphanage to distribute presents.Mr. Akhmetov has led the “Shakhtarfor Kids” campaign for eight years, andthis year he and Mr. Krutoy offered financialdonations to 142 children’s institutionsin the Donetsk Oblast.As part of the campaign, more than17,000 less fortunate children receivedgifts for Christmas, ranging from chocolatesto Shakhtar Donetsk football souvenirs.Zenon ZawadaKyiv City Council Deputy Ivan Plachkov (right) financially sponsored the“Revival of Traditions” monthlong festival at the St. Sophia Cathedral NationalMuseum. He is accompanied by the Rev. Archpriest Mykola Kryhin, dean of theHoly Assumption Spiritual Youth Center of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church –Kyiv Patriarchate.NEWSBRIEFS(Continued from page 14)ist. That is why it is necessary to clearBandera’s reputation from Soviet-eramythology, it was pointed out during aroundtable meeting at the institute at whichscholars discussed the role and place ofBandera in the Ukrainian national liberationmovement of the 1920s-1950s. Dr.Yukhnovskyi noted that Bandera was consideredto be dangerous by three occupationalregimes: the Polish authorities in1936 sentenced him to death, the Naziregime in 1941 placed him in a concentrationcamp for declaring Ukraine’s independencein Lviv, and the Soviet regime organizedhis murder abroad in 1959. HistorianVolodymyr Viatrovych, who has studiedBandera’s life, noted that “the logicalmove toward recognition of StepanBandera as a fighter for national independencewould be granting him the Hero ofUkraine title.” He said that both in Ukraineand abroad certain political circles wouldprotest such a move. Yet, in his opinion,Bandera stands in line with such leaders ofthe liberation movement as RomanShukhevych, who was recently grantedthis honorary title, which also provokedcontroversy among politicians. HistorianVasyl Derevynskyi, having drawn parallelsbetween Bandera, Poland’s Jozef Pilsudski,Israel’s Menachem Begin and Ireland’sMichael Collins, whose names are inseparablylinked with the ideas of their countries’sovereignty, stressed that there isevery ground to believe Bandera’s politicalactivity to be “a foundation stone in thebuilding of Ukraine’s state sovereignty.”(Ukrinform)Lutsk designated as historical cityKYIV – Ancient Lutsk, the regionalcenter of the Volyn region in westernUkraine, was accepted in the internationalorganization League of Historical Cities,president of the League, Kyoto MayorDaisaku Kadokawa informed LutskMayor Bohdan Shyba, it was reported onDecember 18. Membership in the Leagueof Historical Cities is proof of world recognitionof the uniqueness and significanceof Lutsk as one of the most ancientUkrainian cities. The first record of thecity dates to 1085, Mr. Shyba noted. Thedesignation, he explained, will give Lutskan opportunity to establish closer tieswith most famous historical cities, andpreserve and develop its own historicalheritage, including over 30 architecturalmonuments. Among them is the almostfully preserved famous castle of Liubartof the 14th-16th centuries. In the MiddleAges Lutsk was called “Little Rome” dueto the number of Roman Catholic churcheslocated there. In the 21st centuryVolyn’s regional center received the all-Ukrainian Best Improved City award severaltimes. According to Mr. Shyba, themayor of Kyoto has already invited a delegationfrom Lutsk to participate in the20th world conference of historical cities,which is supposed to take place in thecity of Nara, Japan, in 2010. The Leagueof Historical Cities was established in1987. It now includes 76 member-cities,among them Athens, Brussels, Budapest,Jerusalem, Paris and Riga. Ukraine is representedby Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa and Lutsk.(Ukrinform)Teliha plaque unveiled near PragueKYIV – A memorial plaque dedicatedto poetess and public figure Olena Telihaof Ukraine (1906-1942) was unveiled inthe Czech town of Podebrady, not far fromPrague, it was reported on December 16.The plaque is set on a sanatorium buildingwhere Teliha lived with her parents in1922-1928. The poetess was born in theMoscow region in 1906 in the family ofscientist Ivan Shobgenov. The family thenmoved to Ukraine. Beginning in 1922Teliha lived in Podebrady and graduatedfrom a secondary school there. In 1926 shemarried Mikhail Teliha, a Kuban Cossackand a former soldier of the UkrainianNational Republic. In 1941, when theGermans occupied Kyiv, the Telihasreturned to Kyiv. Olena Teliha started topublish the anthology “Litavry” andfounded the Union of Ukrainian Writers.She condemned communism and fascism,openly criticizing Stalin and Hitler. TheTelihas were then imprisoned and shot atBabyn Yar in February 1942, along withrepresentatives of the Ukrainian underground.(Ukrinform)NOC Ukraine marks 18th anniversaryKYIV –The National OlympicCommittee (NOC) of Ukraine onDecember 22 marked the 18th anniversaryof its establishment. In September 1993,the International Olympic Committeefinally approved this historical decisiontaken by the first general assembly ofNOC founders. The National OlympicCommittee of Ukraine currently unites 40federations of Olympic sports. The committeewas headed by Olympic championValerii Borzov (1990-1998), IvanFedorenko (1998-2002), ViktorYanukovych (2002-2005). Since June 23,2005, the committee has been headed byOlympic champion Serhii Bubka.(Ukrinform)

16 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008No. 52Soccer• Ukraine’s National Soccer Team wasranked 15th for its performance in 2008,FIFA announced on December17. TheUkrainian team had its highest rating(11th place) from September 2006 toNovember 2007. Last year Ukraine finishedin 30th place.• Dynamo Kyiv defeated FenerbahceSK 1-0 on December 10 in Group G ofthe UEFA Champions League. Dynamo’sRoman Eremenko scored the lone goal inthe 20th minute of play after a pass byArtem Milevskiy. Dynamo finished inGroup G in third place with eight points,two wins, two draws and two losses, withfour goals for and four against. Despitethe win, Dynamo did not advance past thegroup stage, as only the top two teams ineach group advance to the next round.• Shakhtar Donetsk defeated Barcelona3-2 in Group C of the UEFA ChampionsLeague match on December 9. Scoringfor Shakhtar were Oleksandr Gladkiywith two goals, in the 31st and the 58thminutes, and Fernandinho in the 76thminute off of a cross from Razvan Rat.Shakhtar improved to three wins andthree losses, 11 goals for and sevenagainst, and after six games played, withnine points, finished in third place inGroup C. The top two teams from eachgroup advance to the next stage.• FC Metalist Kharkiv defeated SLBenifica 1-0 on December 18 in their lastmatch of the group stage, with substituteOlexandr Rykun scoring in the 84th minute.Metalist finished Group B in theUEFA Cup in first place with 10 pointsafter four games played, with three wins,one draw and no losses, and three goalsaggregate.• Ukraine defeated Kazakhstan 3-0 onDecember 9 at the UEFA U-21 Futsal(indoor soccer) Tournament. Goals werescored by Vitaliy Gavrylenko in the secondminute, Dmytro Sorokin in the 20thminute and Dmitriy Klochko in the 39thminute. Ukraine defeated the Netherlands3-2 on December 8 with goals for Ukrainescored by Klochko in the 11th minute, andSergiy Zhurba with two goals in the 25thand 36th minutes. Spain defeated Ukraine2-1 on December 11 with AndreiKolesnikov scoring the lone goal in the14th minute for Ukraine. Ukraine suffereda second loss 1-0 in its semi-final matchagainst Russia on December 12. Ukrainefinished the group stage in second placewith six points, two wins and one loss,with seven goals for and four against.• Oleh Mkrtchian, director general ofthe Industrial Union of Donbas, onDecember 17 bought 75 percent of thestock of the FC Kuban Joint StockCompany, located in Krasnodar, Russia,Ligabusinessinform.com reported. Theremaining 25 percent of the stock belongsto the administrator of the KrasnodarTerritory of Russia. Mr. Mrktchian’s IUDpartner Serhiy Taruta owns FC MetalurgDonetsk.Fencing• The Ukrainian women’s fencing teamwon four medals at the Junior FencingWorld Cup in Leszno, Poland, onDecember 1: one gold medal by AnastasiaMoskovska and three bronze medals byKateryna Chentsova and Klod Yunes.• Yevgenia Sregina won a bronzemedal and Yaroslav Ponomarenko wonthe silver medal in epee at the JuniorWorld Cup in Laupheim, Germany.• Ukraine’s junior men’s foil team ofRostislav Gertsig, Igor Revutskiy, KlodYunes and Vladimir Koltygo won thegold medal, and Ukraine’s junior men’sKlitschko.comWladimir Klitschko pounds Hasim Rahman during a bout in Mannheim, Germany.epee fencing team of Denys Boreyko,Yaroslv Ponomarenko, Anatoliya Hereyand Yevhen Makiyenko won the bronzemedal at the Junior FencingChampionship in Amsterdam onNovember 10. Anastasia Moskovska wonthe bronze in the women’s doubles event.Chess• The Ukrainian women’s chess teamwon second place at the 38th ChessOlympiad Dresden 2008 on November26. The Ukrainian team defeated itsPolish challengers 2.5-1.5. The Olympiadattracted 154 men’s and 116 women’steams.• Yevhen Miroshnichenko won the77th Ukrainian Chess Championship inKyiv. The tournament, held according tothe Swiss system, attracted 26 players,including 18 grandmasters and eightinternational and national masters.• Inna Haponenko won a tournamentof chess champions in Mykolaiv, Ukraine,on December 13. Haponenko, who finishedwith 8.5/11, won a silver medal atthe 2008 World Chess Olympiad with theUkrainian Chess Team.Judo• The junior Ukrainian judo team finishedin fifth place at the European JudoChampionship for Young Seniors, held inthe city of Zagreb, Croatia, on November23.Viacheslav Denysov won the goldmedal in the 100 kg division, andVladislav Potapov (90 kg) won the bronzemedal.Figure skating• Ukraine’s pair skaters TetianaVolosozhar and Stanislav Morozov wonthe bronze medal at the Russia’s Cup, aspart of the International Skating Union’sGrand Prix series, on November 23. TheUkrainians finished five of the six competitionsof the series with 24 points andare set to participate in the world finals inKorea.• Alla Beknazarova and VolodymyrZuyev won first place at the Golden Spininternational figure skating competitionin Zagreb, Croatia, on November 16. Theyoung pair finished in second place incompulsory and free dance events, butwon in original dance with 179.17 points.Other Ukrainian couples included NadiaFlorenkova/Mykhaylo Kaslo and AlinSaprykina/Pavlo Khimich, who finishedin second and third places, respectively.Kateryna Kostenko and Roman Talanwon the bronze medal for Ukraine.CyclingUkraine’s indoor track cycling teamwon six medals – two gold, one silver andthree bronze – at the UCI Track CyclingWorld Cup Classic at the Hisense Arenain Melbourne, Australia, on November22. Liubov Shulika won the sprint event,Vitaly Shchedov won the bronze medal inthe individual pursuit, Andriy Vynokurovwon silver in men’s keirin, a cyclingsprint, and Ukraine’s men’s team wonbronze in the team sprint.Boxing• Vitali Klitschko (36-2, 35 KO) isscheduled to fight British undisputedcruiserweight champion David Haye(22-1 21 KO) in London, sometime in thesummer of 2009, as announced onDecember 13. Klitschko is the WBCsuper-heavyweight champion. Some prefighttension between the fighters camewhen Haye posed with a picture ofWladimir Klitschko’s head in his hand forMen’s Health magazine in England. Vitalimade it clear that such behavior is seen asa provocation.• Wladimir Klitschko (52-3, 46 KO)the IBF, IBO and WBO world superheavyweightchampion, retained his IBFbelt with a seventh-round technicalknockout (TKO) of challenger HasimRahman (45-6-2) in Mannhiem, Germany,on December 13. Referee Tony Weeksstopped the bout 44 seconds into the seventhas Klitschko landed a barrage of lefthooks. This TKO was Klitschko’s sixthdefense of his IBF belt (the third one thisyear). President Viktor Yushchenko congratulatedthe champion boxer on his victory.“Ukrainians are proud of you – aninvincible fighter embodying the strengthand glory of the nation,” the presidentsaid in a letter of congratulations.• Oleksander Usik won the silvermedal at the AIBA World Cup in Moscowon December 13. An ear injury he sustainedin training did not allow the boxerto continue into the finals.• The World Boxing Council confirmedon November 6 that WBC super-heavyweightchampion Vitali Klitschko’s (36-2,35 KO) next mandatory fight will beagainst challenger Juan Carlos Gomez(44-1, 35 KO) of Cuba, held in early 2009.Other details are still in negotiations.• Vasyl Lomachenko was declared thebest boxer at the European BoxingChampionship in Liverpool, England, onNovember 18. Lomachenko (57 kg), a2008 Olympic gold medal winner, wonthe gold medal. Other Ukrainian championsincluded Heorhiy Chihayev (51 kg),Ia Senay (75 kg) and Oleksander Usik (81kg).• Viacheslav Uzelkov (20-0, 12 KO)defended his light-heavyweight WBAInter-Continental title against AlejandroLakatus (29-4-2, 22 KO) of Romania,who resides in Spain, by unanimous decisionon November 15. The judges scored118-112, 115-113 and 115-112.OlympicsUzhhorod applied for hosting theInternational Children’s Games in 2012,said Oleh Podebriy, press secretary of theCity Council. Preliminary estimates speculatedthat $3 million would be neededfor preparations. The games are expectedto attract competitors from 60 countries.SamboThe Ukrainian Sambo team won ninemedals at the World Sambo Championshipin St. Petersburg, Russia, on November18. Viktor Savinov won the gold medal inthe 74 kg division. Ukraine’s women’steam finished in third place.Tennis• Olena and Kateryna Bondarenkowere ranked 10th and 11th, respectively,in the World Tennis Association doubles.Maria Korytseva ranked 41st,TetianaPerebyinis 66th and Olha Savchuk 84th.In singes, Olena Bondarenko is ranked33rd by the WTA. Other Ukrainians inthe top 100 include Kateryna Bondarenko(62nd), Korytseva (67th) and Perebyinis(90th).• Ukrainian tennis player OksanaLiubtsova won her second InternationalTennis Federation ladies doubles title atan international tennis tournament inGermany on November 12. Liubtsova,paired with Ksenia Pervak of Russia,defeated the German doubles team ofJulia Goerges and Aura Siegemund 6-2,4-6, (10-7).VolleyballThe Ukrainian women’s teamBudivelnyk won first place at an internationalvolleyball tournament in Lviv onDecember 9. Last year’s champions, fromPoland’s Rzeszow University, won secondplace, and third place went toPrometey from Ivan Franko NationalUniversity of Lviv.GymnasticsOleksandr Vorbiov won the all-aroundat the 14th Artistic Gymnastics WorldCup in Madrid on December 13.Vorobiov, a 2008 Olympic bronze-medalwinner, won the gold medal in men’srings. Valeriy Honcharov won the bronzemedal in the men’s bar exercise.BasketballOleksandra Horbunova, a forward onUkraine’s national basketball team, wasnominated by FIBA Europe for “Player ofthe Year.” The report, by the FIBA pressservice on December 15, said thatHorubunova is one of 14 candidates forthe honor. Voting is by the FIBA Europewebsite (www.fibaeurpe.com), and resultswill be announced in February 2009.BiathlonUkraine’s men’s biathlon team,Viacheslav Derkach, Andriy Deryzemlia,Oleh Berezhnyi and Serhiy Sedniev, wonthird place in the second stage relay-raceat the World Cup Biathlon in Hochfilzen,Austria, on December 15. Russia wonfirst and Austria won second place.– compiled by Matthew Dubas

No. 52by Oksana BartkivDETROIT – The Ukrainian AmericanYouth Association’s (UAYA) 25th nationalconvention was held at the UkrainianCultural Center near Detroit, on November14-16. The event was officially opened bypast UAYA past president Bohdan Harhaj,who greeted the convention’s 82 delegatesfrom cities around the United States.Delegates solemnly honored the victimsof the 1932-1932 Holodomor and rememberedthose UAYA members who havepassed on in the past three years with amoment of silence.Presiding at the convention was RomanKozicky, who expertly guided the two-dayproceedings. Reports were heard from officers,who spoke in detail of the successesand challenges during the national executive’sthree-year term, and answered manyquestions posed by delegates.A number of committee worked throughoutthe day to formulate organizational,budgetary, membership, educational, andother goals, as well as plans for the nextthree-year term. Among the committeeswas one dedicated to increasing activemembership of the UAYA’s “Druzhynnyky,”those age 18 and up who commonly aregeographically distanced from their familiesand their UAYA branch while studying atuniversity and starting out on new careers.The commission formulated a number ofideas to give young members the opportunityto remain active within the organization,and maintain contact with their fiendsand colleagues through organized eventsand through online networking resources onthe Internet.A grand banquet was held on SaturdayTHE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008 17Ukrainian American Youth Associaton holds 25th national conventionevening to celebrate both the triennialnational convention and the 50th anniversaryof the Detroit UAYA’s Kyiv Estateresort. Askold Lozynskyj, a past presidentof the UAYA in America, as well as formerpresident of the Ukrainian World Congress,gave the keynote address, telling of therich history of the Kyiv Estate, as well asreminding young UAYA members of theimportance of preserving their languageand heritage. Founding members of KyivEstate were honored with awards for theirmany years of dedicated service.Sunday’s program began with liturgy atthe St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Churchin Warren, Mich. The delegates then continuedthe work of individual committees, proposingresolutions for the plenary session ofthe convention to adopt.A number of members were honored for25 or 35 years of outstanding service, whileothers were honored for their work in variousspheres of the youth organization’swork. The national executive’s CeremonialBanner, which is entrusted every three yearsto the most outstanding UAYA branch inAmerica, was passed on to the Yonkers,N.Y., branch for its multifaceted and exemplarywork. Andrij Burchak, branch presidentaccepted the banner with thanks to thenational executive.A new national executive was duly electedby the convention. The newly electednational president, Andriy Bihun of theUAYA branch in Goshen N.Y., was greetedwith enthusiastic applause as he spoke todelegates of the importance of activismamong the organization’s membership,promising three years of dedicated andenthusiastic work on the part of the nationalexecutive.Representatives of the Yonkers, N.Y., branch receive the UAYA CeremonialBanner in recognition of the branch’s exemplary work over the past three years.Askold Lozynskyj delivers the keynote address.UAYA’s former President Bohdan Harhaj and newly elected President Andriy Bihun.

18 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008No. 52Ruslana wows audiences in Toronto and Montrealby Marika SochanMONTREAL – Popular Ukrainiansinger Ruslana impressed audiences inToronto (on November 13) and Montreal(on November 14) with an energetic programof song and dance numbers fromher new album “Wild Energy” as well asher past hits and Ukrainian folk songs.The audience was enthusiastic andjoined in during the refrains of favoritesongs.At the Montreal concert, young peopleage 4 to their 20s came up to the front ofthe theater with Ukrainian flags andencouraged the group during the last portionof the concert. They were rewardedwith an even more enthusiastic performanceby the singer and her back-updancers, complete with light effects, DJ,video clips and colorful costumes.Ruslana received a standing ovationafter the performance, with a goodnaturedgreeting and thank-you fromUkraine’s Ambassador Ihor Ostash ofOttawa, and many flowers.The concerts were coordinated throughthe joint efforts of Meest Corp. of Torontoand Yevshan Corp. of Montreal.Kids join Ruslana on stage in Montreal.Ruslana has shown herself to be a veryfine artist as well as a good organizer, whois politically savvy. Her achievementsinclude many awards for best vocalist inUkraine and Europe, numerous recordings,concerts and various programs.Despite her busy and demandingschedule, and a Ukraine-wide concerttour that began on November 18, Ruslanasigned autographs and spoke with fansand community members in Canada.Before her departure she visited theMontreal Ukrainian School, where thechildren greeted her with a short programof song and dance to her music. She tookthe time to chat with all of the children,encouraged them in their studies andinterests, and joined them on stage to singUkrainian folk songs.For North American children,Ruslana’s performance could be summarizedthrough the eyes of 11-year-oldCassandra, who could hardly contain herenthusiasm. When asked how she enjoyedthe concert and meeting in Montreal, shereplied: “It’s the best EVER!” And then,becoming serious and with a tear in hereye, added: “I want to be moreUkrainian.”Marika Sochanby Patricia BurakNEW YORK – The Syzokryli DanceEnsemble of New York City broughtUkrainian folk dance to the regional conferenceof NAFSA: Association ofInternational Educators at the Marriott atthe Brooklyn Bridge in New York onNovember 11. Featured as the entertainmentfor the conference gala, the Syzokryliperformed five dances under the title, “TheWorld Is Flat, and So We Dance!”Patricia Burak, director of the SlutzkerCenter for International Services atSyracuse University and a past chair ofRegion X of NAFSA: Association ofInternational Educators, served as masterof ceremonies.Sponsored by the New York StateCouncil on the Arts (NYSCA), theSyzrokryli have performed on some ofthe finest stages in New York, includingthe Alice Tully Hall and Avery FisherHall at Lincoln Center, the KennedyPerforming Arts Center in Washingtonand the Kyiv Opera House in Ukraine.Founded by the renowned RomaPryma Bohachevsky, the troupe has continuedto spread the beauty of Ukrainiandance and richness of Ukrainian cultureunder the leadership of her daughter,Anya Bohachevsky Lonkevych.Dancers Yurij Dobrianskyj, JerryDzindzio, Andrij Kyfor, Zenon Borys,Adia Hankevych, Katya Hoshowsky,Anna Chelak. Nicole Berezny. KseniaHentisz, Sophie Panych, JenniferUkrainian pop star Ruslana in concert.Katie MalazdrewiczSyzokryli Dance Ensemble performsat regional conference of educatorsZanowiak, Ilene Gebuza, MarusiaDrobenko and Larisa Pagan came in fromall around the New York City area to performwith and under the direction ofOrlandoPagan, artistic director, who organizedthis performance.The audience of international educatorsfrom all over New York State andNew Jersey was thrilled. The excitementand strength of the dancers infected thecrowd of over 200 people as they werewelcomed with a specially choreographed“Pryvit.”Ms. Burak provided some history andcontext to the educational value of folkdance, citing from Thomas Friedman’s2006 book, “The World is Flat: a BriefHistory of the Twenty-First Century”:“Cultures are not wired into our humanDNA. They are a product of the context –geography, education level, leadership,and historical experience – of any society.”The Syzokryli reinforced this with thepresentation of dances from differentregions of Ukraine: “TranscarpathianDances,” “Arkan,” “Tropatianka” and, ofcourse, the “Hopak.”The conference gala was underwrittenby three insurance companies which areengaged in international educationalexchange: Haylor, Freyer and Coon, Inc.,HTH Worldwide and MEDEX. Membersof the audience remarked throughout therest of the conference that this gala performancewas the highlight of the conference.Lara ChelakThe Syzokryli present Ukrainian dance to a group of American educators.

No. 52THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008 19MUSIC REVIEW: Pianist Nadia Shpachenko and the Biava Quartet at UIAby Bohdan MarkiwNEW YORK – The music series of theUkrainian Institute of America presentedpianist Nadia Shpachenko in her secondappearance here. On November 22 sheappeared with the celebrated Biava StringQuartet. Members of the quartet are: AustinHartman and Hyunsu Ko; violins; MaryPersin, viola; and Jason Calloway, cello.Like her previous concert four yearsago, Ms. Shpachenko brought a similarlybuilt program between two war horses ofstandard musical literature, including onemodern piece by contemporary Ukrainiancomposer Alexander Shchetynstsky –“Epilogue” for piano quintet.The work received its world premierethat evening and comes from an earlierpiece for clarinet, piano and string trio writtenin 1993. This version was modifiedrecently (2008) for piano and string quartet.“Epilogue” is built on a variation of anascending semitone germ exposed by violaalone. Later, the piano joins in by playingthat interval simultaneously but in a distancenine steps apart and continues in usingall possible variations of that germ producingnew themes that emerge from it in otherinstruments imitating pointillist style.Using different techniques of producingsounds and sometimes, rather, visualeffects as “foamy sounds” practicallyinaudible, in the string instruments anddelicate finger plucking of the pianostrings. The entire piece is played in asoft dynamic range and creates a peacefulatmosphere. These accomplished stringvirtuosi played refined phrases with aremarkably sweet tone evoking an Indiansummer. The composer was present andwas repeatedly called to take his bow.After the intermission Ms. Shpachenkopresented Dvorak’s Piano Quintet No. 2Pianist Nadia Shpachenko and the Biava Quartet take a bow at the Ukrainian Institute of America.in A Major, Op. 81. This work was completedin 1887 and epitomized the quintessentialfeatures of Dvorak’s music:melody and counter melody, vital rhythmand colorful scoring with a variety ofmoods ranging from sorrow to gaiety.In this work the string instrumentshave a predominant role with specialattention given to the lower strings. Thefirst movement’s principal theme wasbeautifully exposed by Mr. Calloway,who took the opportunity to show hisexquisite tone, while Ms. Persin answeredwith her counter melody. Ms. Persin hadlots to do in this work since Dvorakplayed viola, thus providing the violistwith a more important role. The characteristicchanges from major to minorshowed pianist Ms. Shpachenko showingthese dynamic distinctions where upperstrings supported her with flair.Character pieces were often used in the19th century, so Dvorak called his secondmovement “Dumka,” which might bearsome folklore material. The third movementscherzo, titled “Furiant,” is full ofsharp dancing rhythms, although it has noobvious connection with that dance. Thefinale produced vigor and gaiety thatbrought the program to its conclusion.The opening piece that evening wasthe Mozart Piano Quartet in G Minor K.478 completed in 1785 in Vienna. It issaid that Mozart’s original intention wasVolodymyr Tkachenkoto write six piano quartets and an arrangementfor their issuance was tentativelymade with the publisher Hoffmeister, butthe quartet in G Minor was criticized asbeing too difficult and only one more (inE-Flat Major) was written. It is worthmentioning that Mozart’s favored tonalitywas G minor and works written in thistonality might have been conceived in analmost awe-inspired mood.The execution of this piano quartet wasdelivered in somber character but withsparkling transparency. The entire programwas played in proper style for eachcomposer, and all soloistic parts wereexecuted with certain authority. Theensemble playing was outstanding.Halyna Levytska...(Continued from page 4)members of the former Lev Association.”Ms. Levytska led the press service ofthe Lviv Oblast organization of theUkrainian Republican Party in 1990,which was formed on the basis of theUkrainian Helsinki Group and nominatedUkrainian political prisoner LevLukianenko as its candidate in theDecember 1, 1991, presidential election.Her subsequent calls for national democraticforces to consolidate got her ejectedfrom the party, and Ms. Levytskajoined the Congress of National-Democratic Forces in 1992, which wasled by Mykhailo Horyn.“We supported (Leonid) Kravchukagainst (Leonid) Kuchma,” Mr. Levytskyitold The Weekly. “It represented those ofus who didn’t want Rukh to become apolitical party.”She directed its press service until1996, and became a Kyiv correspondentfor Za Vilnu Ukrayinu, which is publishedin Lviv by Bohdan Vovk.Ms. Levytska also wrote for Chas, anewspaper financed by Chornovil untilhis death in 1999, when it shut down, andVlada i Polityka, which was eventuallytaken over by the Party of Regions in2001.In her more recent articles, sheaddressed rising Russian chauvinism inthe Donbas, the significance ofEcumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I’svisit to Ukraine, and efforts to rectify thehistorical truth about the UkrainianInsurgent Army (UPA).Ms. Levytska’s last article for Za VilnuUkrayinu highlighted the first anniversaryof former Soviet political prisoner NadiaSvitlychna’s death.“Amidst the Ukrainian governmenthierarchy, perhaps there aren’t any peoplelike the Svitlychny family – Ivan, hiswife, Leonida, and Ivan’s sister Nadia,”Ms. Levytska wrote in November. “Shewould have been 72 years old onNovember 8, if not for the harsh trial offate.”Ms. Levytska’s dedicated struggle toUkrainian independence and its preservationearned her respect among top politicians,including Mr. Yushchenko, whoreferred to the late journalist Ms.Levytska as a true Ukrainian and sentcondolences.“Halyna was and remains in our heartsa model of a journalist with a capital letter,”Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenkosaid. “She was not indifferent and a wonderfulperson who fought for our countrywith all her spirit.”The funeral service for Ms. Levytskawas held December 6 at the St. Basil theGreat Ukrainian Catholic Church at LvivSquare in Kyiv.She was buried in the Sykhiv Cemeteryin Lviv on December 8 after Lviv nationaldeputies told Mr. Levytskyi thatLychakiv Cemetery wasn’t an option. “Tobe buried in Lychakiv, you need millions,literally,” Mr. Levytskyi said. “The Lvivgovernment didn’t take notice of Halia’spassing.”To subscribe to The Ukrainian Weekly: call 973-292-9800 x 3042.

20 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008No. 52The Holodomor...(Continued from page 3)Ukrainian Research Institute there.The first volume was published in2001 and was recognized as the top bibliographicalindex that year by theUkrainian Library Association.Given the limited Holodomor researchand financing in Ukraine at the time, Ms.Rikun estimated about 70 percent of its6,384 materials were published abroad.Once Ukrainians began writing moreabout the Holodomor, a second volumebecame inevitable, Ms. Rikun said.The bibliographies offer indices basedon subjects, authors, geography, periodicalsand abbreviations. The subject indexconsists of topics as diverse as commemorativeactivities in the diaspora, who theHolodomor organizers were and the postagestamp controversy of the mid-2000s.The second volume, published in May,contains references to materials distributedat academic conferences, an index ofHolodomor websites, and even the emergingpublications questioning theHolodomor and its genocidal nature. Thebibliography consists of works in at least10 languages.Top Holodomor scholar StanislavKulchytskyi edited both works, whichwere reviewed and approved by theInstitute of History of the NationalAcademy of Sciences of Ukraine.Preparing such a comprehensive workwasn’t easy, Ms. Rikun insisted, quiteconvincingly.Russian atlases had to be translatedinto Ukrainian, while Ukrainian nameswritten in English had to be transliteratedback into Ukrainian.Publications about a specific region orvillage are classified by oblast, whichwasn’t simple to compile when writerswould refer to a vague village named,say, Ivanivka or Petrivka. “And do youknow how many Marianivkas there are inUkraine?” Ms. Rikun said. “And welooked at the maps. But then we read,‘We walked eight kilometers to the districtcenter.’ Then we had to find whichdistrict center.”What researchers won’t find is the vastvolume of Soviet documents proving theHolodomor’s genocidal nature, which arestored in state archives in various oblast centersand, therefore, are indexed separately.Spending 14 years reading about someof the most horrifying events in recordedhuman history was psychologically taxing,Ms. Rikun admitted. “Cannibalism wasn’teven the worst,” she said. “The worst wasreading about the children – how they losttheir brothers and sisters, how they werenaked and hungry, or how their mother leftthem at a train station or an orphanage. It’sa horror. If someone asks us whether therewas a Holodomor, we immediately throwourselves at them.”Among the rewards for the years ofresearch is the fact that Holodomor recognitionhas come a long way in Ukraine.President Viktor Yushchenko personallyawarded Ms. Burian the Merited CulturalWorker Award at a November ceremonyat the Presidential Secretariat.The example set by the Ukrainiandiaspora in financing the bibliography’sfirst volume inspired support for the secondvolume in 2008, offered by the OdesaOblast State Administration (led byMykola Serdiuk), the Odesa City Council(led by Mayor Eduard Hurvits) andOleksii Kozachenko, a national deputyfrom Odesa and founder of the IntellectualCooperation – Ukraine 21st CenturyFund.“There wouldn’t have been a secondvolume without them,” said Ms. Rikun,hinting that they’re already considering athird volume.For the record...(Continued from page 3)States and Ukraine plan to address commontransnational criminal threats such as terrorism,organized crime, trafficking in personsand narcotics, money laundering and cybercrime.3. Recognizing the importance of combatingcorruption, the United States andUkraine intend to increase cooperation thatwill expand media and public monitoring ofanti-corruption efforts; enforce ethical standardsby establishing internal investigationunits; and streamline the government regulatoryprocess.4. The United States and Ukraine plan towork together to promote reform inUkraine’s legislative processes throughincreased transparency, heightened accountabilitythrough citizen and media access,and expanded public information about thework of Ukraine’s Parliament.5. Recognizing the importance of harmonizingUkraine’s criminal justice systemwith European and other international standards,we plan to work together moreintensely on issues of key importance,including the adoption of a CriminalProcedure Code compliant with Council ofEurope standards.6. The United States plans to provideUkraine with further technical assistance tosupport Ukraine’s efforts through governmentand judicial authorities to combathuman trafficking, including strengtheningwitness protection.7. The United States supports increasedassistance to strengthen democracy buildingand good governance in order to build uponUkraine’s political progress and commitmentto democratic development.Section V: Increasing People-to-Peopleand Cultural ExchangesThe United States and Ukraine share adesire to increase our people-to-people contactsand enhance our cultural, educationaland professional exchange programs thatpromote democracy and democratic valuesand increase mutual understanding.1. Recognizing the vital importance ofincreased contact between the people of theUnited States and Ukraine, both sides intendto promote further cultural and socialexchanges and activities through initiativessuch as the Fulbright program, FutureLeaders Exchange Program (FLEX),Undergraduate Exchange (UGRAD),Legislative Education and Practice (LEAP),the International Visitor Leadership Program,the English Language Teaching and LearningProgram, and the Open World Program.2. Stressing the necessity of innovationand dynamism to the future of our twocountries, the United States and Ukraineintend to promote increased cooperation inhigher education and scientific research.The United States will facilitate theseexchanges consistent with U.S. laws andprocedures so that qualified individuals incultural, educational and scientific activitiesare given the opportunity to participate.3. Our two countries will continue tocooperate closely to promote remembranceand increased public awareness of the1932-1933 Great Famine (Holodomor) inUkraine.4. Ukraine welcomes the United States’intention to establish an American diplomaticpresence (American Presence Post) inSymferopol.Signed at Washington, D.C., onDecember 19, 2008.For the United States of America:Condoleezza RiceSecretary of StateFor Ukraine:Volodymyr OhryzkoMinister of Foreign Affairs

No. 52by William J. Misnick Sr.and Maria L’AmoreauxELMIRA HEIGHTS, N.Y. – St.Nicholas Church was the site of muchrejoicing on November 2, as the parishcelebrated the 50th anniversary of thededication of its newly built church.St. Nicholas has been in existencesince 1895 and is the oldest parish in theStamford Eparchy. Bishop PaulChomnycky presided over a pontificaldivine liturgy, assisted by the Rev. VasileGodenciuc and the Very Rev. KirilAngelov of Rochester, N.Y.Bishop Chomnychy eloquently delivereda homily congratulating parishionerson the past 50 years and inspiring them tocontinue God’s work in the next 50.Trustees Tom Bocon and Nick Moffeaccepted a certificate of appreciation fromthe eparch on behalf of the parishioners.Following divine liturgy, all were invitedfor an exquisite brunch at ElmiraCountry Club, where the festivities continued.Master of ceremonies MariaTHE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008 21Parish in Elmira Heights, N.Y., celebrates its 50th anniversaryL’Amoreaux gave a PowerPoint presentationchronicling the beginnings of St.Nicholas Parish up to the present, payingtribute to the “living stones” upon whomthe foundation of the parish was built.In recognition of the Rev. Godenciuc’sfifth year with St. Nicholas, and especiallyin appreciation of his impeccable executionof pastoral duties for the parish,Bishop Chomnychy presented him with acommendation of appreciation.Terezia Godenciuc was happily surprisedwith her own commendation, sincethe parish recognizes her hard work anddedication as well.In honor of this occasion, the CatholicWar Veterans presented a check for$1,000, Kent’s Funeral Home donatedcommemorative laminated icons for allparishioners, and a former trustee for 23years, Wasyl Dowzycky, made a donationof $200.The program ended with the lovelyUkrainian dancing of the localVerkhovyna ensemble, choreographed byJennifer Karski.Catholic War Veterans and altar servers with Bishop Paul Chomnycky, the VeryRev. Kiril Angelov and the Rev. Vasile Godenciuc.Ivaan Kotulsky...(Continued from page 4)worked for Maclean Hunter Publishing as a photographer.Although he left the publishing firm in1969 for metal arts, he continued to enjoy photography.In 1997 Mr. Kotulsky won both a Gold and aSilver National Magazine Award for photojournalism,for his photography essay, “No FixedAddress,” which was published by Toronto Lifemagazine. He took part in Contact 2003, Toronto’sannual photography festival with a series of photographs– “World Class City” – of people who makeup Toronto’s street life.From 1969 Mr Kotulsky made metal arts hislife’s work. He was a popular choice for peoplewho wanted wedding rings or jewelry designed orremodelled. His works were regularly sold in theshop of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). Forthe Scythian Gold exhibit at the ROM in 2001, Mr.Kotulsky made the iconic Scythian stag brooch.He designed and executed The Advocates’Society Award of Justice, choosing the image of agryphon, an offspring of a lion and an eagle, withheraldic significance and ancient connection withthe law. (Examples of Mr. Kotulsky’s metal artscan be found on the site http://www.lordoftherings.tc)Mr. Kotulsky’s funeral was held on December13, in Toronto at the Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedralof St. Volodymyr.Msgr. Chomko...(Continued from page 4)He was ordained on July 12, 1946, in Philadelphia. His pastoralassignments took him to Hamtramck, Mich.; Syracuse, Auburn,Elmira Heights and Rochester, N.Y.; Cleveland; Philadelphia andBerwick, Pa.; New Haven and Hartford, Conn.; and Boston.During his 62 years of priesthood he served as consultor of theEparchy of Stamford, Conn., dean of the Boston, Hartford andNorth Anthracite district (Pennsylvania) deaneries and econome ofthe Stamford Eparchy. As well, he was president of the ProvidenceAssociation of Ukrainian Catholics in America.Funeral services were offered at St. Vladimir Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in Scranton, with Archbishop-MetropolitanStefan Soroka as principal celebrant. Burial was at St. VladimirCemetery in West Scranton.

22 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008No. 52TWG announces 2008 internat Embassy of Ukraine in D.C.WASHINGTON – Tetyana Podobinskais the new 2008 intern sponsored by TheWashington Group’s Fellowship Fund. Herinterest in international relations and foreignpolicy of Ukraine led to her application foran internship at the Embassy of Ukraine inWashington.Ms. Podobinska was born in Rivne,Ukraine, and graduated from Volyn NationalUniversity, Lutsk, majoring in internationalrelations. She was selected to participate inan exchange program with the United States,which allowed her to study at Utica College,Syracuse University, N.Y., majoring in internationalstudies.Ms. Pdobinska is now pursuing a master’sdegree at Leipzig (Germany) andVienna (Austria) universities, majoring inglobal studies. She is a recipient of theErasmus Mundus Program, sponsored bythe European Parliament.Ms. Podobinska has been activelyinvolved in the work of Ukrainian NGOs,managing social, media and cultural projects.Working with international missions toUkraine, she learned about the work of internationalorganizations and their contributionto the democratic development of the country.Her latest experience at a consultingcompany provided opportunities to learnabout government and public relations.“During my entire life, I’ve been dreamingof working in the field of Ukrainian foreignpolicy and now my dream begins tocome true – I have a chance to learn about“This is not...”Tetyana Podobinskathe work of Ukrainian diplomatic missionsfrom the inside,” said Ms. Podobinska. Shewill work at the Embassy of Ukraine inFebruary 2009.The Washington Group, an association ofUkrainian American and other professionalsbased in Washington, was founded in 1984;it provides for the social, professional andcultural development of its members and thegreater community.(Continued from page 6)If we want to understand just why today’sUkrainians have such difficulty embarkingon reform and coming to grips with theirown past, we need look no further than thefour decades of unremitting daily terror thatbrought Ukraine to the brink of extinction.It is of course too late to save the millionsof victims of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide. And it may be next to impossibleto bring the perpetrators to justice. Indeed,as long as the likes of Vladimir Putin – aman who prides himself on being an officerof the Soviet secret police, an organizationthat, like the SS and Gestapo, committedenormous crimes against humanity – continueto be feted in Russia and the West, theSoviet Eichmanns may rest easy.But we can make sure they don’t rest tooeasy. We can refuse to forget. We can refuseto forget the millions who perished in theHolodomor. We can refuse to forget the millionswho perished in Ukraine’s secondgenocide during World War II.Our refusal to forget not only serves as areminder to the world that Ukraine willnever again fall victim to genocide and thatthe perpetrators of genocide will one day bebrought to justice. Our refusal to forget alsohonors the victims. Most important, ourrefusal to forget keeps the victims alive – inour speeches and books, of course; in ourmemories, of course; but, most of all, in ourhearts.Hard times...(Continued from page 2)aging it and trying to find buyers for thebank since October 7. It was announcedin early November that the Klyuyevbrothers, businessmen and national deputiesfrom the Donetsk-based Party ofRegions, had agreed to buy a controllingstake in Prominvestbank, but they apparentlyfailed to come up with the necessary$120 million. Russian multibillionaireAlisher Usmanov, who had reportedlybeen interested in the bank, said he wouldnot buy into it (Interfax-Ukraine,December 10).The NBU reportedly offered stakes inProminvestbank to the European Bank forReconstruction and Development and theInternational Finance Corp. A majoritystake will most probably be nationalized(Ekonomicheskie Izvestia, December 12;Delo, December 16). The Ukrainian presidentialoffice has urged Prominvestbank’sprompt nationalization, as the bank’s stabilizationis one of the IMF’s main conditions(Interfax-Ukraine, December 16).The new parliamentary coalition, establishedon December 16 by Prime MinisterYulia Tymoshenko’s bloc, the majority ofPresident Viktor Yushchenko’s OurUkraine – People’s Self-Defense(OU-PSD), and the bloc of VerkhovnaRada Chair Volodymyr Lytvyn, threatensRussian...to remove Mr. Stelmakh. On December 8two OU-PSD national deputies formed aparliamentary investigative commission toexamine how the NBU managed its foreignexchange reserve (Zerkalo Nedeli,December 13). Addressing the nation onTV a week ago, Prime MinisterTymoshenko blamed the NBU leadershipfor the situation on the currency market(Inter TV, December 10). Mr. Lytvyn alsois in favor of replacing Mr. Stelmakh(UNIAN, December 13).Mr. Stelmakh was vice-chairman whenMr. Yushchenko chaired the NBU in the1990s, and the president is now his onlysupporter. Mr. Yushchenko met Mr.Lytvyn after his election as Rada chair onDecember 9 and warned him againstbeing hasty in ousting Mr. Stelmakh, buteven Mr. Yushchenko’s own trust in Mr.Stelmakh is waning. On December 1 Mr.Yushchenko’s spokeswoman IrynaVannykova warned that “the presidentwill have to make difficult personneldecisions” if the NBU failed to stabilizethe hryvnia (Zerkalo Nedeli, December13). According to the Constitution ofUkraine, even if the president decides todismiss the NBU head, the final decisionis up to Parliament.The article above is reprinted fromEurasia Daily Monitor with permissionfrom its publisher, the JamestownFoundation, www.jamestown.org.(Continued from page 2)with the YTB or a grand coalition with thePRU.These deep divisions were evident inSeptember and again this month. Fourmonths ago the OU-PSD voted by a baremajority (39 of 72 deputies) to withdrawfrom the Orange coalition. This month itvoted to join a larger Orange coalition withthe YTB and the centrist VolodymyrLytvyn Bloc by a similarly slim majorityof 37 deputies (the list is re-published inZerkalo Nedeli/Dzerkalo Tyzhnia,December 13-19).Mr. Lytvyn’s election as VerkhovnaRada chairman was made possible only bythe 27-member Communist Party faction,which supported the vote (www.pravda.com.ua, December 9-10). Only 40 of the72 OU-PSD deputies supported his election.The larger Orange coalition cannotremain stable if it has to rely on the votesof the Communists, who would never supportmany of the anti-crisis measures thatUkraine is being forced to adopt as part ofthe International Monetary Fund’s standbyloan negotiated in October.Of the nine parties in the OU-PSD, fivedid not support the OU-PSD’s withdrawalin September, and this month six supportedjoining the larger Orange coalition. It isinteresting how many of the deputies havefallen out with Mr. Yushchenko. Only 30 ofthe 72 OU-PSD deputies attended a meetingwith the president on December 15.The president does not favor the largerOrange coalition and holds out hope for atechnocratic government (www.president.gov.ua, December 15); but this is unrealisticin a parliamentary democracy, as theposition of prime minister will always goto the leader of a political party.After much criticism from abroad andwithin Ukraine, Mr. Yushchenko hasdecided not to hold early elections.Dealing with the global crisis is now thepriority. Early elections would have beenthe only way to remove Ms. Tymoshenko,even though this was a dangerous tactic,since the president’s planned ViktorYushchenko Bloc only has about 3 to 4percent support. Dealing with the economiccrisis will be impossible if theVerkhovna Rada remains unstable and thepresident continues to attempt to underminethe new coalition.This domestic instability continues togive Russia opportunities to destabilizeUkraine. According to information givento the Jamestown Foundation, Russianintelligence hacked into the PresidentialSecretariat during the invasion of Georgia,creating a sense of paranoia among thepresident’s staff. An analytical wing wascompromised and its staff, after beingaccused of “working for Russia,” wasreleased.Russia has also returned to the old KGB“dezynformatsiya”(disinformation) tactics.Stories were planted in the provincialUkrainian media that the coalition wascreated “with the support of Moscow.”These stories were then reprinted by themain Kyiv media.The Russian threat is real, as can beseen from the hacking of the PresidentialSecretariat and support for Russian nationalistsand separatists; but the paranoia ofPresident Yushchenko and his staff about“Russian conspiracies” is exaggerated.Both the proposed coalition of nationalunity and the larger Orange coalition havebeen accused of being in the “pay of theKremlin,” just as unfounded accusationsof “treason” were leveled against Ms.Tymoshenko in August.The Procurator’s Office declined toinstitute criminal charges after studyingthe 300-page “testimony” prepared by theSecurity Service of Ukraine (SBU) on theorders of the Presidential Secretariat.These accusations have been aimed atinfluencing western Ukrainians, but opinionpolls and focus groups have determinedthat the public has not been dupedby such crude propaganda, a senior YTBofficial told the Jamestown Foundation.Mr. Yushchenko had hoped to attract patrioticvoters away from the YTB ahead ofthe upcoming presidential elections.The third (larger) Orange coalition suffersfrom the same problem as its two predecessors:presidential antipathy and internaldisunity within the pro-presidentialOur Ukraine. The third Orange coalitionalso faces two additional new threats: theglobal crisis and a bellicose Russia.The article above is reprinted fromEurasia Daily Monitor with permissionfrom its publisher, the JamestownFoundation, www.jamestown.org.

No. 52THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008 23OUT AND ABOUTDecember 31 New Year’s Eve, Ukrainian Community Center,Jersey City, NJ 201-982-4967December 31Whippany, NJDecember 31Jenkintown, PANew Year’s Eve, featuring music by ChetvertaChvylya, Ukrainian American Cultural Center ofNew Jersey, 973-652-5389 or 973-585-7175New Year’s Eve, featuring music by Tempo,Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center,215-663-1166 or 215-663-8572December 31 New Year’s Eve, Assumption Ukrainian OrthodoxOttawa Auditorium, 613-521-7522 or 613-27-9760January 15WashingtonLecture by Olena Nikolayenko, “Youth Movement inPost-Communist Societies – A Model of NonviolentResistance,” Ronald Reagan Building andInternational Trade Center, 202-691-4000January 16Malanka, featuring music by Fata Morgana, St.Scranton, PA Vladimir Parish Center, 570-563-2275January 17Malanka, St. Mary Ukrainian Orthodox Church hall,Ottawa 613-596-5906January 17Slavic New Year Dance, with music by Vox Ethnika,Ansonia, CT John A. Sullivan’s, 203-235-0667December 31 New Year’s Eve, featuring music by Vorony,Syracuse, NY Syracuse Ukrainian National Home, 315-478-9272January 5WashingtonLecture by former U.S. ambassador to UkraineWilliam Miller, “Priorities for U.S. Policy TowardUkraine in the Obama Administration,” RonaldReagan Building and International Trade Center,202-691-4000January 17Baltimore, MDJanuary 17Carteret, NJMalanka, featuring music by Svitanok, St. MichaelUkrainian Catholic Church, 410-248-0329 or410-730-1245Malanka, featuring music by Na Zdorov’ya, St.Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church and St. DemetriusUkrainian Orthodox Cathedral, St. DemetriusBanquet Center, 732-541-5452 or 732-541-6163January 7Parma, OH21st annual Christmas radio program on WJMO1300 AM, featuring divine liturgy, great complinesand matins services, St. Vladimir UkrainianOrthodox Cathedral, www.stvladimirs.orgor 440-885-1509January 9Piano recital by Alexander Seredenko, Le Salon,Ottawa National Arts Center, 613-947-7000or 866-850-ARTSJanuary 10Hartford, CTJanuary 11TorontoMalanka, featuring music by Na Zdorov’ya,Ukrainian National Home of Hartford,860-296-6955Christmas Concert, featuring Levada and Orionchoirs and the Vanguard Concert Band of theUkrainian Youth Ensembles, St. Mary UkrainianCatholic Church, 416-239-1685January 17Malanka, with music by New Dimension, St. LukeWarners, NY Ukrainian Orthodox Church, 315-468-1981January 17Jenkintown, PAJanuary 17San FranciscoMalanka, featuring music by Hrim, UkrainianAmerican Youth Association, Ukrainian Educationaland Cultural Center, 215-745-9838 or215-722-7212Malanka, featuring music by Victor Nazarchuk andperformance by Anitchka, St. Michael UkrainianOrthodox Church Hall, 680-968-6428 or707-935-9142Entries in “Out and About” are listed free of charge. Priority is given to eventsadvertised in The Ukrainian Weekly. However, we also welcome submissionsfrom all our readers. Items will be published at the discretion of the editorsand as space allows; photos will be considered. Please note: items will be printeda maximum of two times each. Please send e-mail to mdubas@ukrweekly.com.

24 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008No. 52Soyuzivka’s DatebookDecember 31 – New Year’s Evewith Fata Morgana 12/31/08January 6 – Ukrainian ChristmasEve SupperJanuary 10 – Ukrainian Engineers’Malanka with Svitanok 1/10/09To book a room or event call: (845) 626-5641, ext. 140216 Foordmore Road P.O. Box 529Kerhonkson, NY 12446E-mail: Soyuzivka@aol.comWebsite: www.Soyuzivka.comPREVIEW OF EVENTSSaturday, January 10HARTFORD, Conn.: Hartford Malanka2009 (Ukrainian New Year’s Eve Dance)will be held starting at 9 p.m. at theUkrainian National Home of Hartford,961 Wethersfield Ave. Musical entertainmentwill be provided by Na Zdorovyafrom New York. Donation: adults, $25;students (to age 22), $15. For tickets andtable reservations contact the CooperativeSUMA Ukrainian Gift Shop,860-296-6955. The Malanka is sponsoredby the Hartford branches of theOrganization for the Defense of FourFreedoms for Ukraine, the Women’sAssociation for the Defense of FourFreedoms for Ukraine and the UkrainianAmerican Youth Association.Saturday, January 17CARTERET, N.J.: St. DemetriusUkrainian Orthodox Cathedral and St.Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church are cosponsoringa Malanka (Ukrainian NewYear gathering) at the St. DemetriusCommunity Center, 681 Roosevelt Ave.Music will be by Na Zdorovya. Tickets are$55, which includes admission, choice ofsirloin beef or chicken Francaise dinner,open bar, midnight hors d’ouvres and achampagne toast. The center is located justblocks from Exit 12 of the New JerseyTurnpike; there is a Holiday Inn right offthe exit. Doors open at 6 p.m.; dinner willbe served at 7 p.m.; music starts at 8 p.m.For table and ticket reservations call PeterProciuk, 732-41-5452. Tickets will not besold at the door; outside liquor is prohibited.Deadline to purchase tickets is January11.JENKINTOWN, Pa.: The UkrainianAmerican Youth Association invites all toattend a fun-filled Malanka, a traditionalUkrainian New Year welcoming dancefeaturing the popular zabava band Hrimfrom New England at the UkrainianEducational and Cultural Center, 700Cedar Road. Starting time is 9 p.m.Admission is $35 for adults in advance;$40 at the door; $25 for students andseniors. Admission includes delicious hotcatered buffet. Champagne will be providedat midnight. For information andadvance tickets call Ivan, 215-745-9838,or Olya, 215-722-7212.PREVIEW OF EVENTS GUIDELINESWherever you are,The Ukrainian Weekly can be there with youCheck out THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY online atwww.ukrweekly.comPreview of Events is a listing of community events open to the public. It is aservice provided at minimal cost ($20 per listing) by The Ukrainian Weekly to theUkrainian community.Preview items must be received no later than one week before the desired date ofpublication. No information will be taken over the phone.Information should be sent to: Preview of Events, The Ukrainian Weekly, 2200Route 10, P.O. Box 280, Parsippany, NJ 07054; fax, 973-644-9510; e-mail,preview@ukrweekly.com. NB: If e-mailing, please do not send items asattachments; simply type the text into the body of the e-mail message.