'History is repeating itself': Calgarians commemorate Holodomor as war continues in Ukraine
'History is repeating itself': Calgarians commemorate Holodomor as war continues in Ukraine
Calgarians gathered Saturday to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor, known as the terror-famine in the Soviet Union that killed millions of Ukrainians from 1932 to 1933.
The day of remembrance comes just over nine months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Catholic Church Counci's Christine Moussienko said this year is more emotional than ever as she compared Stalin’s atrocities to the acts of current Russian president Vladimir Putin.
“History is repeating itself," Moussiendo said. "It’s been very emotional and the Ukrainian people are now in a genocide once again."
“I mean you can’t imagine what happened with the famine, but now with the war in Ukraine and what's happening, we’re having people come here now, it’s just like we're living through it.”
Moussienko added that food in Ukrainian culture has been cherished ever since the Holodomor.
“To this day, we still do things like kiss our bread before we eat it just out of respect that we have it and that others unfortunately didn’t.”
SPECIAL CEREMONY
A few hundred people packed into the cultural centre at St. Vladimir’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church for a special Holodomor ceremony.
Anna-Mariya Zagirska sang and danced in honour of the millions of victims alongside members of the local Ukrainian Youth Association.
The 18-year-old moved to Calgary from Ukraine just a few years ago and worries now for the safety of her relatives back home.
“It’s just terrifying to hear the news that my friends are sick, they’re without electricity, no water in some places and they don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow,” she said.
“The Holodomor has left a mark on our history, our culture and our country and it’s especially difficult with what’s happening now as we gather here today.”
Several other recent evacuees from Ukraine also attended the event and are still in the process of adjusting to a new life.
Ihor Chernov just moved to Calgary from Ukraine seven months ago with his wife and daughter. He said he has nothing but respect and love for his family and friends back home.
“They are such brave people, those who fight for the freedom of Ukraine,” said Chernov.
“We were hiding in the cellars, in the bomb shelters before we left. I hope that it’s all going to end in the next six months, but I’m not actually sure because I didn’t believe Russia would start this in the first place.”
On #HolodomorMemorialDay we remember those who were killed under Stalin’s regime. It also serves as a reminder that the past will repeat itself if we do not stand united against Putin’s illegal & immoral attack on Ukraine. #StandWithUkrainepic.twitter.com/vwaB7sSflO
Among the speakers at the Holodomor commemoration included Bohdan Romaniuk, a local Ukrainian activist who called this year’s anniversary, a day of "mixed emotions and cognitive dissonance."
He spoke about more than half of Ukraine’s population now displaced from their homes, while those who remain in the country face Russian bombings and the threat of freezing to death without heat during the winter months.
“We're at the intersection of the unthinkable and the unspeakable,” said Romaniuk.
“The unthinkable was the starvation of millions upon millions of peasants almost 90 years ago. These kinds of things had never happened, not on that scale in history, not with such ferocity, not with such predetermination, such malice and aforethought. The unspeakable is what's happening today.”
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek also attended the event alongside Member of Parliament George Chahal and Alberta Minister of Justice, Tyler Shandro.
The Biden administration is considering a plan to shoot down a large Chinese balloon suspected of conducting surveillance on U.S. military, by bringing it down once it is above the Atlantic Ocean where the remnants could potentially be recovered, according to four U.S. officials.
The Arctic air that descended on the Northeast on Saturday brought dangerously cold sub-zero temperatures and wind chills to the region, including a record-setting wind chill of minus 108 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 78 C) on the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire.
Convicted murderer Daniel Jolivet, in prison for the past 30 years, has maintained his innocence since the day he was arrested. W5 reviews the evidence he painstakingly assembled while behind bars. W5's documentary 'Buried Evidence' airs Saturday at 7 p.m. on CTV.
The massive white orb drifting across U.S. airspace has triggered a diplomatic maelstrom and is blowing up on social media. A look at what's known about the balloon crossing the U.S. and what isn't.
The oldest preserved vertebrate brain has been found in a 319-million-year-old fossilized fish skull that was removed from an English coal mine over a century ago.
A man who took part in four traffic-stopping protests in Metro Vancouver in an effort to save old-growth forests has been given a conditional sentence and six months' probation by a provincial court judge.
Vancouver Canucks faithful have seen it all during yet another disappointing season - and several say they're frustrated not only with the on-ice performance, but with a lack of answers from the team's front office.
The first North Atlantic right whale to be entangled in connection to Canada’s lobster fishery in over five years has been successfully rescued by marine mammal rescue responders in the United States.
A man who took part in four traffic-stopping protests in Metro Vancouver in an effort to save old-growth forests has been given a conditional sentence and six months' probation by a provincial court judge.
A spokesperson for the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) says Metrolinx began cutting down historic trees at Osgoode Hall in Toronto on Saturday before the Ontario Superior Court could hear an injunction to prevent their clearing.
Joey Votto has been coming to the Annex Chess Club (ACC), just north of Bathurst and Bloor streets, every week for a few months now, according to Supol.
Residents from Quebec to Newfoundland and Labrador are waking up this morning to more extreme cold weather. Emergency officials warned people to seek shelter and monitor for frostbite if they had to be outside overnight, as the temperature across much of Eastern Canada was expected to feel like -40 C to -50 C with the wind chill.
Another property reportedly belonging to a family member of Tony Accurso was the target of an arson attack in Laval early Saturday morning. The Laval fire department responded to a call at 3:22 a.m. about a fire at the building located at 1410 Jaffa Street in the Saint Rose district in the northern part of Laval.
The suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that was found floating over sensitive military sites in the western United States had been tracked by Canada's government since last weekend as it passed through Canadian airspace, sources tell CTV News.
An investigation that lasted almost two years has resulted in moose hunting violation convictions for six people and a lodge in Red Lake in northwestern Ontario.
Convicted murderer Daniel Jolivet, in prison for the past 30 years, has maintained his innocence since the day he was arrested. W5 reviews the evidence he painstakingly assembled while behind bars. W5's documentary 'Buried Evidence' airs Saturday at 7 p.m. on CTV.
The owner of Radical Gardens, a restaurant in Timmins said she's experienced nineteen robberies over the last eight years; with the most recent one taking place in the early morning hours Friday.
WINNIPEG -- An Indigenous organization is spearheading efforts to develop a system that could make it easier to flag when a person experiencing homelessness is missing.
Winnipeg police released a new image of a 31-year-old woman who has been missing since early last year on Friday in the hope it may generate new information on her whereabouts.
Saskatchewan is reacting to the removal of controversial amendment G4 to Bill C-21 by the federal Liberals, which banned certain semi-automatic rifles and shotguns.
