I cannot stop thinking of the people in Ukraine, still living in terror as explosions deafen. Today, food shortages are critical, the cold and snow will soon gnaw at bodies, medical supplies and services are almost non-existent and visible exhaustion is on the faces of young and old alike. Fear is a daily reality.


Children who survive this assault by Russia on their country will have bitter memories of childhood, just as it was for those children who survived the Holodomor of 1932.


The Holodomor – did you learn about it in school? I didn’t or at least I don’t remember learning about it. The English translation to the word ‘Holodomor’ is ‘death by hunger’. It was a famine engineered by the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin. According to the 2010 findings of the Court of Appeal of Kyiv, there were losses due to famine of around ten million people … ten million! And it wasn’t just famine that resulted in lives lost, but cannibalism. According to the Harriman Review, over 2500 people were convicted of cannibalism during Holodomor.


Today, explosions continue, life carries on in underground shelters, food and medication shortages escalate, and remembrances of the terror of the Ukrainian revolution grow as Ukrainians fear that the Holodomor will once again be forced upon them by Russia. With the news this weekend, the anniversary of Holodomor, it is beginning to sound more and more of a possibility.


The Holodomor makes the desire for independence from Russia, a “need” … much more than a “want. It makes it a life-long “need.” It is not surprising that Ukrainians are fighting – and will continue to fight and defend their country.

Resilient in the face of terror and threat of reprisal, they are led by a courageous man, President Zelinskyy, Cabinet members and the brave women and men who valiantly fight for and stand up for democracy. They are not just fighting for themselves. They are fighting for people everywhere that democracy is being threatened.


Many Ukrainians arrived in Canada as refugees after the Holodomor, so it is not surprising that Canada has stood with Ukraine for decades. In 2014, a statue of a child, entitled “Bitter Memories of Childhood,” was unveiled outside the Manitoba Legislative Building in Winnipeg to memorialize the Holodomor. There are similar statues in other parts of Canada.


We must not forget the people of Ukraine. We must not forget all who work and fight for freedom and democracy in Ukraine and other places in the world.

“Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver, Source of all that is and that shall be
… in times of temptation and test, strengthen them and us
… from trials too great to endure, spare them and us;
… from the grip of all that is evil, free them and us.” (adapted from the NZ Prayer Book)
Amen. So may it be. Amen.

Remember Ukraine.
Slava Ukraini!

Text and Artwork © June Maffin

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