OPEN LETTER CONCERNING THE “VICTORY DAY IN UKRAINE”
VICTORY DAY IN UKRAINE
May 9th, is an important day in Ukraine as residents mark Victory Day – the surrender of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union in World War II.
Victory Day was first inaugurated in the republics of the Soviet Union following the signing of the surrender document in Berlin late on the evening of May 8, 1945 – after midnight Moscow time. It was declared a statutory holiday by former Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev, in 1965, to commemorate victory in what was officially defined as the Great Patriotic War.
Victory Day is marked by fireworks and ceremonies to pay tribute to veterans and all who died in World War II fighting Nazi occupation.
Canada and Ukraine have close bilateral relations. Both countries co-operate in a number of international organizations, including the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Canada welcomed Ukraine’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in May 2008 and supports Ukraine’s aspirations for eventual North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership.
Canada is a proud multicultural nation that embraces a wide variety of cultures and heritages. Canadians of Ukrainian heritage help to foster this identity and strengthen the fabric of our society. Members of the Ukrainian Diaspora in Canada have made, and continue to make, significant contributions in a number of areas including sports, business, the arts, medicine and public service. Canada has attracted, and continues to attract, people from all over the world. We will continue to work together to build our nation and enhance our international reputation. As the Liberal Critic for Multiculturalism, I look forward to our ongoing work in building a stronger Canada.
On behalf of the Liberal Party of Canada, please accept our wishes on the occasion of Victory Day in Ukraine.
The Honourable Jim Karygiannis, P.C., M.P. 2013
Open Letter Concerning the “Victory Day in Ukraine” Statement by the Liberal Critic for Multiculturalism
The statement by the Honourable Jim Karygiannis, P.C., M.P. and Liberal Critic for Multiculturalism, concerning “Victory Day in Ukraine” dated May 9, 2013 reflects a deep misunderstanding of the circumstances that Ukraine and many other nations found themselves in on that faithful day, May 8, 1945. For Ukrainians it is at best, a bitter-sweet commemoration of the official end to WWII. Sweet, because it represented the defeat of the totalitarian Nazi regime. However, in no way did it represent an end to the violence and bloodshed or some sort of “Victory Day in Ukraine.” What Mr. Karygiannis omitted in his celebratory remarks is that, essentially, the Ukrainian and many other nations of Europe fell victim to Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, two totalitarian/ genocidal regimes that instigated the Second World War. And, the bitter truth is that the war against the Ukrainian people did not end on May 8, 1945. On the contrary, it continued and even intensified in a number of key respects. In the second half of the 1940s and well into the 1950s, the totalitarian Soviet regime run by Stalin from the Kremlin in Moscow engaged in an all-out assault on the Ukrainian people in order to crush their struggle for national freedom and independence. Throughout that time, famine, mass arrests, executions, and deportations to the Gulag engulfed literally millions of Ukrainians. All of this took place after the official end of WWII. Subsequently, in the 1960s to late 1980s the Soviet Gulag was populated by a vastly disproportionate number of Ukrainian political prisoners, Ukraine’s churches existed only underground, and its people continued to suffer under a totalitarian system. Hence, in Ukraine, the day after May 8, 1945 represented no victory. Rather, it was a continuation of massive loss of life and wholesale repression and persecution of the Ukrainian population, including the destruction of the nation’s culture and historical memory, resulting in a profound deformation of society.
In fact, during the first decades of totalitarian Soviet rule, Ukraine was a proving ground where the mechanisms of occupation and the construction of a totalitarian system were tested and refined, including the Holodomor/Genocide of 1932-33. Later, after WWII this system was "successfully" implemented by Soviet forces and their local agents in other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as around the world. Hence, the subsequent Iron Curtain and Cold War resulted in another half century of Soviet Russian colonial domination over Ukraine, the other Captive Nations in the USSR, and the “satellite states” of Central and Eastern Europe. Mr. Karygiannis’ insensitivity to this reality is made clear not only because he makes not even a passing reference to it. What is truly shocking is that he seemingly thinks that Ukrainian Canadians and their organized community share his esteem for the Soviet myth of the “Great Patriotic War” or his high regard for the Soviet totalitarian dictator Leonid Brezhnev, by holding him up as the initiator of the statutory Victory Day holiday, or his explanation that Victory Day in Ukraine is not on May 8, because in Moscow it was already May 9 when the surrender was signed.
Mr. Karygiannis is profoundly mistaken if he believes that Ukrainian Canadians share his views. On the contrary, the organized Ukrainian Canadian community is proud of the struggle of the Ukrainian people before, during and after WWII for national liberty and independence, including against both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. We would like to assure Mr. Karygiannis that our community will continue to work to bring to Ukraine the blessings that have made Canada a free, just and prosperous country and the envy of the world: democracy, human rights, rule of law, civil society, tolerance, and respect for the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of all countries. Indeed, family and community, God and patriotism, hard work and sacrifice, heritage and understanding have sustained the Ukrainian Canadian community for more than five generations. We believe in our country. Canada is our home and multiculturalism is our credo. The League of Ukrainian Canadians, League of Ukrainian Canadian Women, Ukrainian Youth Association of Canada (CYM), Society of Veterans of UPA, “Homin Ukrainy/ Ukrainian Echo” are united in the Canadian Conference in Support of Ukraine and are members of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. We are proud of our organized community’s contribution to the betterment of Canada, and fidelity to our Ukrainian roots. As such, we will continue to serve our Ukrainian Canadian community, our country-Canada, and our ancestral homeland-Ukraine.
Therefore, we hope and trust that the Liberal Leadership, including Mr. Karygiannis in his capacity as Liberal Critic for Multiculturalism, will respond to our concerns and clarify the statement on Victory Day in Ukraine. Yours very truly,
Orest Steciw, President
League of Ukrainian
Canadians
Adriana Buyniak Willson, President
League of Ukrainian
Canadian Women
Roman Brytan, President
Ukrainian Youth Association of Canada (CYM)
Mykola Koshyk, President
Society of Veterans of UPA
Oleh Romanyshyn,
Editor-in-Chief
Homin Ukrainy
CANADIAN CONFERENCE IN SUPPORT OF UKRAINE (CCSU)
League of Ukrainian Canadians (LUC), League of Ukrainian Canadian Women (LUCW)
Ukrainian Youth Association of Canada (CYM), Society of Veterans of UPA, Homin Ukrainy/Ukrainian Echo weekly newspaper
STATEMENT BY THE LIBERAL CRITIC OF MULTICULTURALISM
May 9, 2013
Dear Mr. Steciw, Ms. Buyniak Willson and Mr. Brytan:
Thank you for your letter in which you expressed concerns with respect to my Statement on “Victory Day in Ukraine.” Victory Day in Ukraine is a National Holiday and it is a time to commemorate the sacrifices of Ukrainian soldiers who laid down their lives in defence of their countrymen.
While the end of the Second World War is a rightful cause for celebration, Liberals also understand that the Ukrainian fight for freedom continued in the subsequent years, as Ukrainians were confronted with an oppressive Soviet regime.
That tragic experience must never be forgotten. The Ukrainian community is an integral component of our Canadian identity in which we all share the value of freedom for every individual. Please accept my apology for the misunderstanding which the statement might have caused. I look forward to continuing to work with the Canadian Ukrainian community on issues of interest and concern.
LUC’S PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MEET WITH THE LIBERAL CRITIC FOR MULTICULTURALISM
On May 14, 2013, Orest Steciw and Borys Potapenko, President and Executive Director of the League of Ukrainian Canadians (LUC), met with the Hon. Jim Karygiannis P.C., M.P. (Scarborough-Agincourt) and Liberal Critic for Multiculturalism. The LUC representatives requested the meeting at his constituency office to further discuss the generally held views of the Ukrainian Canadian community on Ukraine in WWII in the context of the “Victory Day in Ukraine” Statement issued by Mr. Karygiannis.
In thanking Mr. Karygiannis for his official reply to the LUC’s Open Letter concerning the Statement, Mr. Steciw noted that “The prompt apology contained in the reply is fully accepted by our organization and its partners in the Canadian Conference in Support of Ukraine. We consider this matter closed and look forward to working with Mr. Karygiannis on further enhancing our longstanding cooperative relationship with the Liberal Party of Canada.”
On his part, Mr. Karygiannis reiterated his concern over the distress among Ukrainian Canadians caused by the misunderstanding of the intent of his statement. He reaffirmed his position that “while the end of the Second World War is a rightful cause for celebration, Liberals also understand that the Ukrainian fight for freedom continued in the subsequent years, as Ukrainians were confronted with an oppressive Soviet regime. That tragic experience must never be forgotten.”
Mr. Karygiannis and the LUC representatives also discussed how best to facilitate Holodomor/Genocide education, in particular the inclusion of the Holodomor/Genocide in the curriculum of Ontario high schools and the establishment of a monument in Toronto commemorating the victims of the Holodomor/Genocide.
LUC’S PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MEET WITH THE LIBERAL CRITIC FOR MULTICULTURALISM
