Holodomor Genocide In Ukraine Subject Of New Melrose Exhibit

MELROSE, MA — A exhibit opening this weekend in Melrose will aim to help share the history of the Holodomor, a Soviet-era artificial famine in Ukraine, officials announced last week.

An opening ceremony is set for Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Trinity Episcopal Church at 131 W. Emerson St. in Melrose.

The ceremony is free and open to all, officials said. It will include remarks from Mayor Paul Brodeur, Trinity Reverend David Prentice, members of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, and the Ukrainian Cultural Center of New England, among others.

Multiple musical acts will also perform.

The exhibit is titled HOLODOMOR 1932-33 IS GENOCIDE. It comes to Melrose from Salem State University.

Details of the Holodomor have been shared over time, prompting more widespread recognition of the famine as a genocide, exhibit organizers said. This follows what organizers described as decades of efforts by Soviet officials to deny Holodomor.

“The scale of the tragedy and testimonies from survivors contributed to the recognition as a genocide,” organizers continued. “Ukrainian communities abroad made contributions to the dissemination of accurate facts and preservation of memories during these years of Soviet disinformation.”

Gov. Charlie Baker formally recognized the Holodomor as a genocide in a proclamation in 2018.

Officials at the federal level have issued their own statements on the Holodomor over the years.

Estimates vary on the number of deaths caused by the Holodomor under the rule of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. An estimate shared by the Washington Post in March, though, put the figure around four million.

Roughly 90 years later, members of the Ukrainian community have recently discussed the Holodomor in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion earlier this year.

“Russia is committing a new genocide – war,” the Ukrainian Cultural Center of New England said in a statement last month after a vigil on the Boston Common.

“The methods of the latest regime differ little from Stalin’s: murder, terror with hunger and cold, intimidation, and deportation,” the organization continued.

This month’s Holodomor exhibit in Melrose is the product of a collaboration of groups including the Ukrainian Cultural Center of New England, the Ukrainian American Educational Center and Trinity Episcopal Church.

The exhibit is free and open to the public with viewing hours as follows:

• December 11, 1 — 4 p.m.
• December 12, 1 — 5 p.m.
• December 14, 5 – 8 p.m.
• December 17 & 18, 12 — 4 p.m.