The House of Representatives of the US Congress recognized Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian nation

11 December 2018

The resolution was adopted unanimously. Thus, both chambers of the US Congress now recognize Holodomor as the genocide of Ukrainians.


The document is based on the findings of the US Commission on Famine in Ukraine. It states that “Stalin and his entourage committed genocide against Ukrainians in 1932-33”, and condemns systematic violations of human rights, including the right to self-determination and freedom of speech, committed by the Soviet government against the Ukrainian people. The resolution expresses deepest condolences to the victims, those who survived the Holodomor and their families, and calls for the sharing of information and awareness in the world about the artificial nature of this event. The co-authors of the document were the co-chairmen of the Senate Ukrainian Caucus, as well as senators Robert Portman and Richard Durbin.

 

Recall that on October 3, this resolution was approved by the Senate (the upper house of the Government of the United States), and, after approving it by the House of Representatives of the US Congress (lower chamber), the US Parliament at the federal level supported the recognition of the Holodomor as the genocide. It is also important to accept the relevant documents in each state of the United States. Till now, 19 states, including Washington, Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, Ohio, Virginia and North Carolina, have adopted relevant decrees to recognize the Holodomor as the genocide, while Michigan, Pennsylvania, California and Oregon have also proclaimed Holodomor Victims Memorial Days.

 

In addition, there are four monuments to the Holodomor victims in the United States: Washington, Parma (Ohio), Los Angeles and Chicago. The Ukrainian Embassy in the United States and the Ukrainian Diaspora hold educational exhibitions to spread the facts about the Holodomor.  Recently, the students of the historical faculties of the US universities started to study the Holodomor. In Harvard there is an entire Holodomor study project.

 

“Recognizing the Holodomor as the genocide by the United States shows that they share Ukraine’s attitude to this tragedy, from the historical, political and human point of view,” said Ambassador of Ukraine Valeriy Chaly in an interview to the Voice of America.