Schoolchildren from Brovary made memorial candles at the master class in the museum
On November 17, 2017, an open interactive lesson “Let’s not extinguish a candle of memory” took place at the National Museum “Holodomor Victims’ Memorial”, the participants of which, besides schoolchildren, were representatives of the state’s leading mass media.
Students of the 5th grade of Brovary firstly were told about the role and place of candles in the traditional Ukrainian culture, the traditions of beekeeping, the technology of candle making, the rituals and customs in which they are used.
Children actively participated in the discussion, talked about the use of candles nowadays and shared their family traditions. Also, a museum employee Olha Vyhodovanets explained to schoolchildren that the main symbol of the Holodomor Victims Memorial is the Candle of Memory, which symbolizes the memory of Ukrainian generations about the genocide – the Holodomor of 1932-33.
Not a lot was needed to make a candle – wax, wick, and skilful hands of children. Students began to work with enthusiasm, quickly developed necessary skills and listened to the advice of a museum employee. The students promised to light the original candle made in the master class with their parents at 16:00 on the Holodomor Remembrance Day, which fell on November 25 this year.
As it is known, since 2003 the All-Ukrainian Action “Candle in the Windo”” has been suggested by American historian, researcher of the Holodomor James Mace. On the fourth Saturday of November, when Ukraine commemorates the Holodomor victims’ memory, it is a custom to light a candle and to put it on the windowsill, in memory of everyone from more than 7 million Ukrainians who became victims of genocide.