Holodomor Remembrance Flame begins international journey amid controversy

Canberra -- The Embassy of the Russian Federation in Australia issued a harsh statement in response to the launch of the International Holodomor Remembrance Flame's journey in Canberra accusing the Ukrainian community of rewriting history.

In a press released issued on April 3, the Embassy stated, "It is a historical fact that a large number of regions of the former USSR, including parts of Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Russia, were affected in 1932-33 by a catastrophic famine. One of its main reasons were economic reforms of the Stalinist government that were implemented in an unjustified anti-human way. The tragedy was aggravated by an unprecedented drought. Russia and its people together with Ukraine and other nations of the former Soviet Union were among the victims of that mass starvation. In fact, it was a humanitarian catastrophe with massive casualties among USSR citizens of different nationalities.

"That is why it is wrong to say that the famine was artificial and imposed specifically on Ukrainians and that it was a “genocide of the Ukrainian nation”.

"Such position is a gross contradiction to the internationally accepted definition and criteria of genocide. Supporting this position could lead to a formation of an explosive international precedent."

In an open letter to the Russian embassy, the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organizations has responded to the allegations that the community is acting divisively and misrepresenting history.

"In recent days the Russian Duma (Parliament) rejected a motion that the Holodomor was an Act of Genocide. The Russian Embassy in Australia has gone further by whitewashing Stalin’s greatest crime, and launching an attack on Australians of Ukrainian heritage who are participating in a process of remembrance and commemoration. The Russian Embassy’s release is implying that the act of commemorating this human tragedy through an International Torch Relay is being divisive.

"It would be unthinkable for the German Embassy in Australia to be acting as an apologist for Adolf Hitler’s role in the Holocaust, or to launch a media attack on a commemoration of the Holocaust by Australians, claiming that it is divisive. Yet that is what the Russian Embassy’s release has done in relation to the Holodomor.

"This is an extraordinary outburst by the Russian Embassy, as the commemoration of the 75th
Anniversary of the Holodomor has made no comment about Russians or the Russian Government (which the Russian Embassy represents). Blame for the Holodomor has instead been levelled at Joseph Stalin (who was a Georgian, not Russian) and the Communist regime under Stalin’s control."

For more on the International Holodomor Remembrance Flame in Australia visit www.ozeukes.com.

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