According
to an UNIAN correspondent, he said this at the presentation of the
National Book of Memory and documentary-arts exhibition “Holodomor of
1932-33 – Genocide of Ukrainian Nation” in Kyiv on Tuesday.
Victor Yushchenko stressed that this tragic page in the history of the Ukrainian nation may help unite the nation.
“It
may create many motives for the 47 millions of Ukrainians, make them
feel themselves closer to one another, feel your neighbor’s elbow,
remember that we are Ukrainians, that we are a single nation, and
everything will be all right”, the President said.
The President
also stressed that Ukrainians should remember and study the Ukrainian
history, including such tragic pages as the famine of 1932-33. He
emphasized that a nation and a state cannot exist without knowing its
history, culture, language, and traditions.
Victor Yushchenko called Holodomor a crime against the Ukrainian nation.
“It
would be a pity if we will look at the Holodomor through the eyes of
its main criminals – the Communists, and blame the God for everything,
saying the God did not give the water and heat. It’s a blatant lie”, he
said, adding that behind the idea of the artificial famine in Ukraine
was the desire to subdue Ukrainian peasants, who are a key factor of
any national liberation movement.
The President emphasized that
namely the deliberate actions of Joseph Stalin, which had begun much
earlier than 1933, including confiscation of lands, harvest, etc.,
caused the large-scale tragedy.
According to the President,
during the two years of work over compiling the National Book of
Memory, experts managed to establish almost 900 thousand people who
died during that years, and collect more than 200 thousand testimonies
of people who witnessed Holodomor. “Just imagine the scales of this
tragedy, when, even 75 years after, more than 1 million of surnames was
collected – it makes one feel creepy”, Victor Yushchenko said.
He
expressed a belief that the today’s presentation of the first volume of
the Book will make Ukrainians more interested why their grandparents
died in 30ies.
Victor Yushchenko also thanked churches of
different confessions and political forces who reached agreement on the
Holodomor issue.
“We are Ukrainians, and we cannot call these
developments anything but a genocide against the Ukrainian nation”, the
President said.
He also thanked native diplomats for their great work on recognizing the Holodomor of 1932-33 at the international level.
Victor
Yushchenko thanked international organizations, structures of the
European Union for recognizing the Great Famine in Ukraine. He
expressed a belief that this process will continue, and the world will
pay tribute to the tragic developments in Ukraine.
