Throughout the centuries long–suffering Ukraine was the handmaiden of her
great–state neighbors–deprived of rights, freedom, and fortune. Yet even this was not
enough for those who sought to wreak harm upon us. Through their misanthropic
plans that were ultimately aimed at the complete subjugation of the Ukrainian people,
the Bolshevik Leninists decided to destroy them completely. Thus, they starved
Ukrainians to death, shot them, and deported them to Siberia.
The Communist period was the bloodiest page in Ukrainian history. The Leninists
were the first to introduce blatant banditry under the guise of “revolutionary legality.”
They glorified and sang paeans to the image of an executioner dressed in a leather coat,
holding a Mauser. They became a satanic force that gathered to itself the entire criminal
world of the Communist empire. These killers, united in their own, special apparatus,
were known early on as Chekists, and later by the names GPU, NKVD, and KGB.
Ukraine became an independent state at the cost of dozens of millions of lives.
However, even after more than a decade of independence the consequences of her
colonial past are still preventing Ukraine from getting off her knees. The Communist
ideologues imbued our history with countless historico–political myths, and it is commonly known that myths, particularly political ones, lead to antagonism in any
society. Such myths can only be overcome by means of the truth. Today, truth is akin to
vengeance: it speaks to us in the voice of eternity. The truth of Ukrainian history is the
memory of the nation, which has been suppressed as a result of evil times. If this memory is not restored, we shall never rise to our feet. Today, the path of truth, which has
been achieved through great suffering, is forcing our descendants to pay for the sins
of preceding generations.
The restoration of memory is a painful and difficult process. We want our children
to live happily in their independent state; we thus have no desire to traumatize them
by saddling them with bitter memories of our nation's tragic past. But the suppression
of national memory leads to feelings of doom and inferiority. We shall not allow this
weight to burden the souls of our children. Let us look back and tell ourselves: “We
survived; they did not make us bend.” Let us find in ourselves the will to live and
remember, for only memory will preserve us as a nation, a people, and a state.
Together, let us embark on the process of spiritual and moral revolution. Let us
remove the bondage caused by the trauma of statelessness, national and social enslavement by empires and their totalitarian ideologies, and political myths.
If we want to be better people, then let us become them. Let us learn about ourselves from our own history, without hiding from the world. Let us not allow others to
distort, falsify, and conceal our truth and our history from the world.
The Kyiv City Organization of the All–Ukrainian “Memorial” Society of Vasyl Stus
has created the first permanent museum exhibition in Ukraine entitled “Not To Be
Forgotten: The Chronicle of the Communist Inquisition in Ukraine.” In chronological fashion it traces historical events from 1917 to 1991, thus mirroring the totalitari.
an period of Ukrainian history.
This year, the 70th anniversary of the Famine–Genocide of 1932–1933, a poster
version of the museum exposition has been created through the joint efforts of the
“Memorial” Society and the Ukrainian American Diaspora. One component of it is
comprised of fifty–four posters and this educational handbook, which is intended for
lecturers and tour guides. More than five hundred copies of this poster exhibition
have been reproduced and are being circulated throughout various Ukrainian cities,
where they are on display in museums, teaching institutions, and public libraries. In
order to facilitate the planning and organization of lessons, public lectures, and tours,
the materials of this exposition have been grouped according to the following periods:
The materials featured in the exposition will provide history teachers, tour
guides, and all those interested in the Soviet period of Ukrainian history with
ample information for conducting tours, public lectures, and lessons intended for
all age groups. The left–hand side of each poster displays a chronology of historical
events by month and year, beginning with the creation of the Ukrainian National
Republic, the alternate congress of Soviets in Kharkiv, Lenin's early decrees, decisions of party congresses and plenums, Politburo resolutions and other decisions
issued by the Communist authorities, and events that took place between 1917 and
1991. The right–hand side of each poster features photographs, irrefutable facts,
previously unknown secret documents from various archives, scholarly conclusions, and statistics. This data reveals the chronology of events and the consequences of the rule of Communist ideology. In legal terms, this exposition is a codification of Communist crimes.
This exposition recreates the true historical chronology of the fate of millions of
Ukrainians and other nationalities that perished as a result of the criminal policies of
the Soviet occupiers. All the crimes of Communist totalitarianism were carried out in
strict secrecy, which is why the population of Ukraine generally knows little about
them. Indeed, most people throughout the world have little inkling of the history of
Ukraine and at what price this second largest (territory and population) European
country became an independent, democratic state in 1991.
The Ukrainian people and the international community must be informed
about the crimes against humanity, which were committed by the Muscovite rulers
of the Kremlin, and about the deliberate acts that were aimed at the total destruction of the Ukrainian nation.
It is dangerous to ignore the tragic lessons of history, for this weakens our collective ability to progress within the framework of a universal civilization. It is essential to
inform the world community about the completely passive role of various governments whose leaders displayed meek indifference or were even implicated in the tragic destiny that befell Ukraine. Knowledge and understanding of our history will
enable the countries of the world to fully grasp the concept that support of Ukraine's
desire to consolidate its independence is morally justified and will foster the vital
interests of their own states.
by Roman Krutsyk
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