Rochdale remembers Holodomor victims

A commemorative service to mark the 79th anniversary of the ‘Holodomor’ genocide in Ukraine was held in Rochdale’s memorial gardens today (Friday 23 November).

Jointly organised by the Rochdale Friends of Lviv and The Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, the service honoured the millions of Ukrainian men, women and children starved to death by Joseph Stalin in 1932-33.

Rochdale has strong links to Ukraine through immigration and being twinned with Lviv since 1992, and is the first town in the UK to have a memorial stone dedicated to the ‘Holodomor’ victims.

The event started with a gathering at the town hall before a procession to the memorial stone and the laying of wreaths, followed by a one minute silence.

In attendance were the Mayor and Mayoress of Rochdale, Cllrs James and Jane Gartside; Simon Danczuk MP and Bohdan Ratych of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain.

Following the service, a film produced about the purge called “Holodomor: Ukraine’s Genocide” was shown at the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in Mere Street.

The famine was caused by Stalin’s refusal to allow Ukrainian-produced grain to be used by its peasants until international quotas were met, but was concealed by the Soviet Government until the 1980s.

The UK still does not recognise it as genocide, but Rochdale became one of the first metropolitan boroughs in the country to acknowledge it as such after passing a Motion to the Council in 2008.