Northeastern Illinois University, in collaboration with the Consulate General of Ukraine in Chicago, will host an exhibit to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor, a genocide that occurred in Ukraine from 1932-1933.
Ukrainian Consul General Serhiy Koledov will preside over the official opening of the exhibition at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 28 on the first floor of the Student Union on the Main Campus. The exhibit will be open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-10 p.m. through Dec. 7. It is free and open to the public.
Holodomor, means “murder by starvation.” Millions of Ukrainians died due to man-made famine caused by the Soviet Union. The Consulate General of Ukraine in Chicago put together the exhibit using materials from the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide in Kyiv, Ukraine. The exhibit at Northeastern will consist of 12 informational panels, to commemorate this tragedy.
Professor of Political Science Martyn de Bruyn and Professor of History Charles Steinwedel welcomed the opportunity to share the exhibition with the University community and general public. They worked with the Consulate General of Ukraine to bring the exhibit to Northeastern.
“It is important to remember the attempted destruction of the Ukrainian people in the 1930s,” de Bruyn said. “Their resilience in the face of remarkable odds is not unlike what it is today. It is a part of their identity as a people.”
Steinwedel also noted that the events of the 1930s resonate in the challenges facing Ukraine today.
“Holodomor is a part of history that too few people outside of Ukraine know about,” Steinwedel said. “In order to understand the Ukrainian response to the existential threat posed by the current war, it is important to understand that Ukrainians faced such a threat 90 years ago.”
Top photo: "Holodomor twilight II Vertical - The memorial part of the National Museum of the Holodomor- Genocide. Kyiv, 2009." Source: Jocelyn Pantaleon Hidalgo. Courtesy of the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide.
