Winnipeg marks millions of victims in Ukraine’s Holodomor
EFREM LUKATSKY/AP
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People light candles during a ceremony to commemorate victims of the 1932-33 Great Famine, or Holodomor, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday. Church bells tolled, candles flickered and national flags, adorned with black ribbons, flew as the country marked the anniversary of the start of a Soviet-era famine that killed millions.
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A memorial service was underway Saturday afternoon at city hall to pay tribute to those who starved to death in Soviet Ukraine during the man-made famine engineered under Josef Stalin 80 years ago.
Millions died in the famine from 1923 to 1933 and millions more made their way to other countries, including Canada, to start new lives.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) observed National Holodomor (Death by Famine) Awareness Week from 17-23 November 2014 to commemorate the tragedy.
This year, observances carry added poignancy as the ex-Soviet state wages war against separatists holding large chunks of eastern Ukraine since the overthrow of a Russian-backed president and Russia’s annexation of the Crimea peninsula.
On Saturday, the day set down to mark the Holodomor in Ukraine and elsewhere, the UCC calls upon all Canadians to remember the victims with a moment of silence at 7:30 p.m. local time.
That can also include lighting candles of remembrance in homes and taking part in commemorative events and memorial services.
Canada’s 1.2 million-strong community is one of the largest Ukrainian populations outside Ukraine and Winnipeg has one of the largest populations inside Canada.