ARCHEPARCHY PARTICIPATES IN HOLODOMOR MEMORIAL
November 22, 2018
ARCHEPARCHY PARTICIPATES IN HOLODOMOR MEMORIAL AT LEGISLATURE
Metropolitan Lawrence Huculak and other members of the Archeparchy of Winnipeg participated in a special Holodomor commemoration event at the Manitoba Legislative Building. His Eminence Metropolitan Yurij (Kalistchuk) and Chancellor Fr Taras Udod were present representing the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada. Both Metropolitans led a prayer on the grounds of the Legislative Building at the Holodomor Memorial. There were many Members of the Legislature 
present, however the main host was the Honourable Cathy Cox, Minister for Sport, Culture and Heritage and the master of ceremonies was the MLA for Transcona, Blair Yakimowski.
There was a small number of now elderly survivors of the Holodomor who were present as special guests of honour. One of them, Luba Semaniuk (a parishioner of Sts Volodymyr and Olha Cathedral), read the following witness statement....
" My name is Luba Semaniuk. I am a survivor of the Holodomor. My memories of this time in my childhood were horrible. I will never forget the sights and sounds of the people crying, because they had nothing to eat. I will never forget painfully watching family and neighbours dying of starvation. I remember my mother grinding up dried corn cobs and husks and using that to make soup broth for her children to survive. And even though that was all we had, my mother told me to take some soup over to our neighbours, only to find the mother and her two young sons already dead of starvation. These are the things that should not be see or experienced by anyone, especially a six-year-old girl. I will always remember and never forget! On behalf of myself and my family, I would like to thank the Government of Manitoba for their continued support for the survivors of the Holodomor.
And for all the millions of Ukrainian people who perished during the Holodomor, may they rest in Eternal peace. Вічна їм пам'ять!"
The President of the Manitoba Provincial Council of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Joan Lewandosky, spoke and spoke of the importance of the remembering the Holodomor and mentioned some of the numerous events happening this month of November in Winnipeg. A quartet of girls from Chief Peguis School - all with their hair done up in braids like the little emaciated girl of the now famous Holodomor memorial statue - sang "Svicha" "Свіча", a contemporary song about the tragic anti-Ukrainian genocidal famine perpetrated by the communist regime of the Soviet Union in 1932-1933 that took the lives of as many as 10 million.
