The freedom gene
On Nov. 22 the National Writers’ Union of Ukraine held a soiree in Kyiv commemorating the noted American scholar James Mace. The event, an initiative of his widow, Natalia Dziubenko-Mace, was emceed by Academician Mykola Zhulynsky, a friend of the late Mace. The book Day and Eternity of James Mace of The Day’s Library Series was also presented.
The book about Mace, who revealed to the world the horrible truth about the 1932-1933 Holodomor in Ukraine, was published in Ukrainian and English in early September as a result of the efforts and financial support of journalists at The Day, where Mace worked as an English consultant in 1997-2004.
The book instantly was a resonant event at this year’s publishers’ forum in Lviv. Book launches were also held at National Mining University and the National University of Dnipropetrovsk in early November, and one week later at the Book World exhibit in Kyiv.
Among those present at the soiree at the National Writers’ Union of Ukraine were researchers, archivists, librarians, parliamentarians, and college teachers. Eugenia Dallas, Holodomor eyewitness, flew from the United States to attend the event. Her testimonies were included in Mace’s book Oral History/Usna istoriia, consisting of several volumes and published in 1990 in Washington. This work has not yet been translated into Ukrainian or reprinted in Ukraine. Eugenia Dallas also sent her memoirs to The Day. “I could not avoid writing for this book,” she says. “I met Mace in 1990. He asked me about my past experiences and then convinced me to write about my childhood at boarding school, which coincided with the famine, arguing that this is the history of Ukraine.” Initially, her English-language book One Woman, Five Lives, Five Centuries was published and several years later, the Ukrainian version Ne vmyraie dusha nasha (Our Soul Doesn’t Die). She is now traveling to various countries, giving lectures on the horrible genocide against the Ukrainian people.
“The publication of Day and Eternity of James Mace is an extremely important event for us,” said Larysa Ivshyna, editor- in-chief of The Day. “James diagnosed our society, identifying it as a postgenocidal one. This phrase is enough to make us reflect. We are still unaware of how difficult it is for the survivors to struggle out from under the debris. Sometimes we think too little of important changes that have taken place here. November 22 is also reason enough to marvel at what happened a year ago. A gene of freedom was realized, which remained unscathed by, among other things, the Holodomor... For me James’s arrival at the newspaper was tantamount to the opening of a ‘second front.’ On Jim’s suggestion, after the newspaper published his article ‘A Tale of Two Journalists,’ we published a message urging readers to pressure the Pulitzer Committee to rescind the prize conferred on Duranty. Unfortunately, only a handful of our colleagues supported our campaign. What has changed since then?
“I’m grateful to Slovo, Prosvita, and Literaturna Ukraina for carrying materials dedicated to James. Ukrainian politicians, diplomats, and journalists must be especially consistent with regard to important issues. Depending on this attitude, the international community will know about the Holodomor or the Diaspora will be the only one to disseminate information about the tragedy, and it will remain a small island of knowledge in Ukraine. The greatest reward for James would be to know that Ukrainians are aware of their history. Living memory represents much stronger roots for such a tragedy and for the immortality he has earned from Ukrainians. When Viktor Yushchenko declared at James’s funeral that Mace would be a Hero of Ukraine, I don’t think that this calls for a referendum. Even if he doesn’t hold this title officially — and not all the current recipients can measure up to James — Mace shall forever be a Hero of Ukraine in our hearts.”
Another Holodomor eyewitness, Anatoly Dimarov, was the first Ukrainian author to describe the events of 1933. “We are very fond of the dead and don’t like the living,” he began, “especially when some of the living are prophets. Then these people prevent us from living quiet lives. The Day accomplished a feat by publishing a collection of Mace’s works. I lived through the famine of 1932-33. I ate pancakes made from acacia flowers, because there was nothing else to eat. I remember that after the famine all 30 teachers of the school in my large village in Poltava oblast left because there were no students left; all the children had died.”
Morgan Williams, the noted American collector of paintings and prints dealing with the Holodomor, recounted how in the mid-1990s James and he began to look for works depicting the events of 1932-1933 in Ukraine. This proved to be easier said than done, as artists were afraid even to broach the subject. Today, his collection numbers some 2,000 canvases and posters. The book includes his correspondence with Mace. Williams is still the caretaker of Mace’s archives. In fact, James’s widow, in keeping with his last will and testament has already donated his library and some of the documents that he brought to Ukraine to Kyiv-Mohyla Academy National University.
Parliamentarians Stepan Khmara and Hennadiy Udovenko, and Vasyl Marochko of the Association of Holodomor Researchers spoke during the commemorative soiree.
Natalia Dziubenko-Mace said in conclusion, “On Nov. 22, 2004, when thousands were standing on the Maidan, several of us gathered at the commemorative plaque to the victims of the Holodomor on Mykhailivska Square, with wheat ears and flowers. At the time the International Association of Holodomor Researchers was holding a convention. I remember thinking that there were few of us left and we aren’t taking proper care of each other. I had not written about this phenomenon of the Holodomor curse in vain. I was friends with Volodymyr Maniak and Lidia Kovalenko. I was James Mace’s wife, so I know how abysmally difficult this subject is. When you study it, you have to wring the slave from yourself and others, so that a true human being can see the light. This liberation process has just commenced.”
In November many Christians traditionally pray for the dead. Since 2003 the last Saturday of this month has been set aside to mark the Day to Commemorate the Victims of the Holodomor and Political Repressions. Apparently this year’s ceremony to remember the millions of innocent victims has started unofficially with the presentation of Day and Eternity of James Mace. An exhibit of Morgan Williams’s collection of posters and prints on the Holodomor, which he brought from the United States, will open at the Ukrainian House on Friday. November 26 is the date on which to light candles in windows. This energetically concentrated project was also launched by James Mace.
