Category Archives: usa

‘So you think you can dance’ labels the Hopak as Russian

August 8, 2008 Andrew 1 Comment

Last night, the very popular FOX TV show “So You Think You Can Dance” (watched by millions and millions of viewers) featured two of this year`s top male dancers wearing Ukrainian folk costumes and dancing a hopak while presenting it as a Russian dance “trepak.” The lame excuse that such a dance was used by Tchaikovsky in his ballet “The Nutcracker” does not justify such a glaring misinformation on the part of the producers and, in particular, a Russian choreographer who prepared this dance!

The League of Ukrainian Canadians have provided a petition to sign and are encouraging viewers to write to FOX tonight to have them acknowledge the error before tonight’s finale. Already available is a clip from last night’s dance.

Continue reading ‘So you think you can dance’ labels the Hopak as Russian →

holodomor, usa

Binghamton makes a day for genocide

May 20, 2008 Andrew 2 Comments

May 21 will be known as Ukrainian Genocide Remembrance Day in the City of Binghamton, NY, declared by Mayor Matt T. Ryan today at City Hall. The announcement was made at a commencement ceremony awaiting the Holodomor Remembrance Flame, but it was held up in Yonkers (which has a Ukrainian Heritage Festival June 13-15). Binghamton (the 9th greenest city in the US) already has Ukrainian Independence day on August 24, and has over a century of Ukrainian history.

Here’s a video from NBC-34:

UPDATE: I noticed that the article used awaiting the Flame was first titled ‘Genocide remembrance ceremony planned’, but now ‘Genocide’ has been removed.

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Ukrainian siblings separated by Nazis to reconnect after 66 years

May 18, 2008 Andrew Leave a comment

From CBS3’s news wire:

PHILADELPHIA (AP) A Philadelphia woman separated from her family by the Nazis is preparing for a reunion with a brother she hasn’t seen in 66 years.

Irene Famulak was 17 when the Nazis invaded the Ukrainian Catholic family’s home in 1942. Famulak was sent to be a cook in Germany and never saw another family member again. But that’s about to change.

The Red Cross says the 83-year-old’s youngest brother Sevelud has turned up in Germany trying to trace his sister.

Irene Famulak’s daughter says the family will now plan a reunion.

Video coverage is available here, here, here and here, as well as a slideshow.

Interestingly enough as this article was re-published across various news sources, only the Associated Press maintained in their article that the family was Ukrainian Catholic. Why would so many news sources leave this fact out?

Out of the 11 million Hitler killed, six million were Jews but the rest are commonly forgotten as ‘the others’; Christians (Protestant and Catholic), Hungarians, Czechoslovakians, Ukrainians, Russians, Dutch, French and even Germans. Ukraine lost up to 7 million people during the War (roughly 17% of its population), following a plan to re-populate Ukraine with the Aryan Race (although not the first time this type of event has happened).

holodomor, usa

Holodomor Flame tours East Coast

May 16, 2008 Andrew Leave a comment

Last weekend, the Holodomor Remembrance Flame made its way to Chicago (pictures here) after receiving little media attention from the West Coast. Unfortunately there was no mention in the Chicago media, such as the Times or the Tribune, despite the large population of Ukrainians there.

During the week the Flame made its way to Parma, Ohio where it received some media attention (video here).

Off to Pittsburgh next where I couldn’t find any reports on its passage there. The day after that on Thursday it headed to Buffalo where a local news station covered it (even calling it a genocide!). The Flame was presented there by a Holodomor survivor, Mrs. Dranka. Last night the flame was in Rochester, no reports have popped up yet.

Today the Flame heads to Connecticut where it is receiving a very good amount of press anticipating its arrival. UPDATE: A newspaper article covering the event.

UPDATE #2: Pictures from the Holodomor Torch and Walk Against Genocide in Battery Park NY May 27 2008

holodomor, usa

Holodomor Flame tours the USA

May 2, 2008 Andrew 1 Comment

May 4 – Seattle, WA – 1pm at Univ. of Washington along with a Holodomor Exhibit (Newspaper Article)
May 5 – San Francisco, CA – 7:30pm at St. Mary’s Cathedral
May 6 – Los Angeles, CA – 3:30pm Holodomor victims monument; 7:30pm at Hollywood Blvd and Highland Street
May 8 – Salt Lake City, UT
May 9-10 – Chicago, IL – 11am at Millennium Park at Wrigley Square
May 12 – Warren, MI – 1pm at Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Catholic School
May 13 – Cleveland, OH – 5pm at Parma City Hall and then St. Vladimir Orthodox Church (Newspaper Article)
May 14 – Pittsburgh, PA (Newspaper Article)
May 15 – Buffalo, NY
May 16 – Rochester/Syracuse, NY
May 17 – Hartford, CT – 1pm at St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, then 3 2pm at State Capitol (Newspaper Article)
May 18-19 – Boston, MA
May 20 – Yonkers, NY
May 21 – Binghamton, NY
May 22 – Albany, NY – The Ukrainian Club then St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church
May 24 – Sviato Vesny; Plast Camp, Ohio
May 25 â€“ Zlet; CYM Oselia, NY (9am) and Kerhonkson, NY – 1pm at St. Volodymyr’s Chapel on Soyuzivka
May 26 – South Bound Brook, NJ – 7pm at St. Andrew Memorial Church
May 27 – New York City, NY – 3pm walk from Battery Park up Broadway to City Hall Park
May 28 – Philadelphia, PA
May 29 – Baltimore, MD – 6-8pm War Memorial Plaza in front of City Hall
May 30 – Washington, DC

Courtesy UkraineGenocide.org’s calendar

UPDATE: Added some newspaper articles going into more details of upcoming tours in various cities. Also follow the Flame on Google Maps!

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