The Edmonton Journal (and to a lesser extent the Edmonton Sun) ran articles of the Holodomor Remembrance Flame coming to Edmonton as part of its Canadian, American and World Tour of 33 countries. The day prior the Flame was in Vegreville. Presenting the flame in Canada is 87-year old Holodomor survivor Stefan Horlatsch who was 12 during the famine:

“There were many sad moments,” Horlatsch said, addressing students at Balwin. “I hope I can awaken us about what happened 75 years ago.”

Horlatsch spoke of the agony of losing 11 family members during the famine, while eating anything he could find in the woods to survive.

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“When I one day visited the house, there were three dead bodies already in the house and nobody was even planning to bury them because they were not strong enough,” said Horlatsch, who now lives in Toronto.

read on…

The tour continues on to Red Deer and Calgary tonight.

UPDATE: The flame double-backed to Edmonton on Saturday, being presented at the Alberta Legislature. Pictures are available here and here (thanks CyberCossack).

UPDATE #2: Pictures from Calgary are here!

UPDATE #3: Found some more pictures from the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton on Flickr.

The Holodomor Remembrance Flame wrapped up its toured through the prairies this week. The Regina Leader Post posted an article on it with an interview with Stefan Horlatsch, a Holodomor survivor who has been representing the flame in Canada:

Horlatsch was 12 in 1932 and has vivid memories of the famine. When the famine-genocide began, Horlatsch and his family were living in Zaporizhia in the eastern region of Ukraine near the Black Sea. His family’s land, livestock and grain were seized by Soviet authorities. His father was sent to Siberia like most of the men during this time.

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress estimates that one-third of Holodomor victims were children. In that short period of time, one-quarter of the Ukrainian population died. The genocide policy introduced by then-Soviet leader Joseph Stalin included confiscation of all food both inside and outside the homes. Ukrainian people were forced to stay within their communities, therefore making it impossible to search for food.

The tour now heads to Alberta over the weekend, and then off to the US.

UPDATE: Click Here for pictures of this event

UPDATE: More details have been added for cities

The Holodomor Remembrance flame was in Winnipeg on Sunday and got its first mainstream media coverage. There was no mention anywhere when it made its debut in Toronto last Friday. The Flame will be escorted at these events by Holodomor survivor Stefan Horlatsch (bio). If you know of any pictures, please let us know in the comments! Here are the dates for the rest of the tour in Canada:

• Apr. 28 – Yorkton, SK – 7pm at City Centre Park
• Apr. 29 – Regina, SK – 12pm at Saskatchewan Legislative Building
• Apr. 29 – Saskatoon, SK – 7pm at Saskatoon City Hall Square
• Apr. 30 – North Battleford, SK – 12pm at North Battleford City Hall
• Apr. 30 – Vegreville, AB – 8pm under the Pysanka
• May 1 – Edmonton, AB – various schools
• May 2 – Red Deer, AB – 9:15am at high School
• May 2 – Calgary, AB – evening
• May 3 – Edmonton, AB – 9:30-10:30am north steps of the Alberta Legislature