Olya Soroka calls on diaspora schools to join Holodomor project

Students in about 250 Ukrainian diaspora schools, including Saturday and Sunday schools, have already received questionnaires and other necessary materials to participate in the 1932-33  Holodomor “We Remember” project,  said Olya Soroka, Head of the Global Holodomor Descendants Network, in an interview with the Ukrainian TV channel Suspilne. The HDN Head called on everyone to join this vital initiative. 

“This project is important because we want young people to remember the true story of the Holodomor genocide. And it is important today because Russia is again committing genocide against the Ukrainian nation for the same reasons it did in 1932-33. We have a rich history, and it [Russia] wants to steal it from us because it cannot be proud of its own. It should be ashamed of its history,” Olya Soroka emphasized the need to preserve the historical memory. 

As part of the project, students in grades 8-12 will work on a series of interviews with descendants of the Holodomor of 1932-33. The collection of recordings will be professionally edited and compiled. This fall, the KONTAKT Next Gen television program may air the interviews as part of the UWC global initiative to commemorate the 90th Holodomor anniversary. The interviews will be published on the Holodomor Descendants Network website. 

The deadline for applications is October 1, 2023.  Interested teachers, students, and parents can find more information on applying to the program on the Holodomor Descendants Network website. 

As previously reported, to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor-Genocide of 1932-33, the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) announces the launch of a unique project for students in grades 8-12 from around the world who will collect stories from the third and fourth generations of Holodomor descendants, and share their own memories of how they managed to escape the genocidal war unleashed by Russia last year. 

The Global Holodomor Descendants  Network initiated the “We Remember” project in cooperation with the Ukrainian World Congress International Educational Coordinating Council (IECC) and KONTAKT Next Gen, an independent Ukrainian television station in Canada.