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The Toronto Sun, Canada
April 28, 2011 Thursday
FINAL EDITION
Politics of genocide threaten museum
by PETER WORTHINGTON
Winnipeg's $310 million Canadian Museum of Human Rights (CMHR) is once
again in the centre of a controversy over whose human rights should
get the most attention.
A full page in the National Post in the form of a letter signed by 105
prominent Canadians, urges two Ukrainian organizations "to stay out of
the debate about the Canadian Museum of Human Rights" (CMHR).
The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA) and
Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), representing some 1.2 million
Canadians of Ukrainian origin, are miffed that the CMHR plans to have
a Holocaust gallery, while lumping the Ukrainian Holodomor in another
gallery with other historical genocides.
The Holodomor (death by starvation) imposed by Stalin in 1932-33 to
bring Ukraine to heel, resulted in some 4 million deaths (some
estimates are 7 million) that scar the psyche of all Ukrainians.
The UCCLA and UCC feel all genocides should be confined to one portion
of the museum, but if the Jewish Holocaust gets special treatment, so
should the Holodomor.
A Nanos Research poll indicates 60%of Canadians favour all genocides
commemorated in one galley, with 25% favouring a Holocaust gallery,
and other genocides grouped together. Some 15% of were unsure which
they favoured.
There's been considerable debate about the CMHR ever since it was
proposed by the late Izzy Asper, founder of CanWest and the former
owner of the National Post. Stephen Harper's government pledged $100
million towards the museum; the province of Manitoba $40 million; the
city of Winnipeg $20 million; private donations $125 million. That
leaves about $25 million still to raise. Annual costs (paid by the
feds) are estimated at $22 million.
It's ironic that a human rights museum would cause such controversy.
BITTER, NASTY LETTER
The "letter" published in the Post is bitter and nasty towards
Ukrainians. It says the UCC "has, at times, inflated the number of
(famine) victims to seven or even 10 million; the implication is
obvious: Seven or 10 million is more than six million; the Holodomor
deserves more attention than the Holocaust."
That is somewhat unfair, if not paranoid.
The letter also recalls that the Organization of Ukrainian
Nationalities (OUN) and Ukrainian Insurgent Army (APA) cooperated with
the Nazis, as well as opposing Soviet Communism, and indulged in mass
murders of civilians. Not all Ukrainians, but some.
Holocaust victims were largely innocent of everything except being
Jewish, and the signatories of the letter and CMHR feel their fate
stands as unique lesson to all. Victims of Stalin starving Ukraine
into submission are no less innocent than Holocaust victims.
Unless the issue of how to commemorate genocides can be resolved, it's
hard to see the CMHR being anything but a divisive symbol of
controversy.
And not only the Holodomor. There is the Armenian genocide, the
Cambodian genocide by the Khmer Rouge, Rwanda and Darfur as genocidal
victims. The Holocaust, which should be an example to all, is often
ignored when other genocides occur.
When passions are involved, compromise does not come easily.
If it were up to me, I'd be inclined to commemorate all genocides in
one gallery, with perhaps special attention to the Holocaust which was
planned and perpetrated by evil people, and was not by impulse or hot
blood. The same applies to the Holodomor-- which may have given Hitler
the idea of a "final solution."
But I'm neither Jewish nor Ukrainian, so the issue seems clearer.
From: A. Papazian
April 28, 2011 Thursday
FINAL EDITION
Politics of genocide threaten museum
by PETER WORTHINGTON
Winnipeg's $310 million Canadian Museum of Human Rights (CMHR) is once
again in the centre of a controversy over whose human rights should
get the most attention.
A full page in the National Post in the form of a letter signed by 105
prominent Canadians, urges two Ukrainian organizations "to stay out of
the debate about the Canadian Museum of Human Rights" (CMHR).
The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA) and
Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), representing some 1.2 million
Canadians of Ukrainian origin, are miffed that the CMHR plans to have
a Holocaust gallery, while lumping the Ukrainian Holodomor in another
gallery with other historical genocides.
The Holodomor (death by starvation) imposed by Stalin in 1932-33 to
bring Ukraine to heel, resulted in some 4 million deaths (some
estimates are 7 million) that scar the psyche of all Ukrainians.
The UCCLA and UCC feel all genocides should be confined to one portion
of the museum, but if the Jewish Holocaust gets special treatment, so
should the Holodomor.
A Nanos Research poll indicates 60%of Canadians favour all genocides
commemorated in one galley, with 25% favouring a Holocaust gallery,
and other genocides grouped together. Some 15% of were unsure which
they favoured.
There's been considerable debate about the CMHR ever since it was
proposed by the late Izzy Asper, founder of CanWest and the former
owner of the National Post. Stephen Harper's government pledged $100
million towards the museum; the province of Manitoba $40 million; the
city of Winnipeg $20 million; private donations $125 million. That
leaves about $25 million still to raise. Annual costs (paid by the
feds) are estimated at $22 million.
It's ironic that a human rights museum would cause such controversy.
BITTER, NASTY LETTER
The "letter" published in the Post is bitter and nasty towards
Ukrainians. It says the UCC "has, at times, inflated the number of
(famine) victims to seven or even 10 million; the implication is
obvious: Seven or 10 million is more than six million; the Holodomor
deserves more attention than the Holocaust."
That is somewhat unfair, if not paranoid.
The letter also recalls that the Organization of Ukrainian
Nationalities (OUN) and Ukrainian Insurgent Army (APA) cooperated with
the Nazis, as well as opposing Soviet Communism, and indulged in mass
murders of civilians. Not all Ukrainians, but some.
Holocaust victims were largely innocent of everything except being
Jewish, and the signatories of the letter and CMHR feel their fate
stands as unique lesson to all. Victims of Stalin starving Ukraine
into submission are no less innocent than Holocaust victims.
Unless the issue of how to commemorate genocides can be resolved, it's
hard to see the CMHR being anything but a divisive symbol of
controversy.
And not only the Holodomor. There is the Armenian genocide, the
Cambodian genocide by the Khmer Rouge, Rwanda and Darfur as genocidal
victims. The Holocaust, which should be an example to all, is often
ignored when other genocides occur.
When passions are involved, compromise does not come easily.
If it were up to me, I'd be inclined to commemorate all genocides in
one gallery, with perhaps special attention to the Holocaust which was
planned and perpetrated by evil people, and was not by impulse or hot
blood. The same applies to the Holodomor-- which may have given Hitler
the idea of a "final solution."
But I'm neither Jewish nor Ukrainian, so the issue seems clearer.
From: A. Papazian