GIFT OFFERS DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF HOLODOMOR HORRORS
LEARNING ABOUT THE HOLODOMOR
John Rennison, The Hamilton Spectator
Orest Steciw shows part of an information package he presented to Waterdown District High School's history department on the Holodomor, genocide by starvation, in Ukraine.
By Teri Pecoskie
Nov 1, 2013
Waterdown District High School has some new material to add to its soon-to-be-unveiled history museum.
On Thursday, students in the Grade 11 genocide class were presented with an exhibit of posters, books and videos about the Holodomor — an imposed famine in which as many as 10 million Ukrainians were starved to death by Joseph Stalin's regime in 1932 and '33.
"It will be good to learn more details about it," said 16-year-old Molly McCleary. "It's important to remember and reflect on the crimes that have happened."
The gift was presented by Orest Steciw, national president of the League of Ukrainian Canadians. He said the materials are part of a package the group, along with the Ukrainian Research Institute, is working to distribute worldwide.
"I think it's important to make sure that a genocide as horrific as the Holodomor with its many victims is taught at the high school level together with the other major genocides," he added. "I think students can learn a lot about the history of nations by studying genocide."
Much of the research about the Holodomor was suppressed and disjointed before Ukraine declared its independence, said Steciw. Since 1991, however, scholars have made strides in assembling information about the tragedy and making it public.
Still, the Holodomor — the word means death by starvation — isn't taught as extensively in high schools as other genocides, such as the Holocaust.
Robert Flosman, the assistant head of Waterdown's history department, plans to use the materials as a teaching tool in his genocide course.
"It's going to take a unit that we did in two days to two or three weeks," he said.
They'll also, however, be displayed alongside other Second World War memorabilia such as old military uniforms, helmets, grenades, arm bands and newspaper clippings, when the school's history museum opens in April.
While the genocide course isn't unique — it's offered at several other high schools in Hamilton as well as in the Toronto District School Board — the museum is one of a kind.
The items have all been donated, purchased through grants or gathered by Flosman over the past few years. And the eight glass display cases are being designed by students as part of their course work.
"I really believe that one of the worst things is the horrible tragedy of genocide. It represents to me the worst in humanity," Flosman said. "I think, if we teach our students how to recognize the worst in humanity, they'll be better people for it.”
"Even though it's painful to watch, they must see what we're capable of."
