A ceremony held outside the legislative building in Regina honoured those who perished during the Ukraine famine, an annual tradition in Saskatchewan every November to celebrate Holodomor Memorial Day.
Holodomor Memorial Day is a national holiday that falls on Nov. 28 this year, and a private memorial took place earlier today.
Saskatchewan-Ukraine relations liaison Nadine Wilson laid flowers in honour of the victims at the foot of the memorial state in Wascana Park, which is a copy of Petro Drozdowksy’s “Bitter Memories of Childhood” that was erected in 2015.
“It is important to recognize historical tragedies like Holodomor, to honour those who have suffered and those who were lost,” said Wilson, in a press release. “By remembering the history of Ukrainians and shining light on their stories, we grieve the mistakes of the past and move forward embracing the Saskatchewan value of inclusion.”
“Holodomor” means “extermination by hunger” in Ukrainian, and refers to when the Soviet Union imposed a man-made famine in 1932-33 that led to the deaths of an estimated 10 million people.
Saskatchewan was the first place in North America to recognize this event as a genocide in 2008, after passing The Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (Holodomor) Memorial Day Act.
