TABLE OF CONTENTS
Members of the Commission on the Ukraine Famine………………………..ii
Table of Contents iii
Hearing, San Francisco, California, February 10,1987……………………..1
Commissioners, Staff, and Witnesses Present………………………………2
Proceedings .3
Opening Statement by Senator Dennis DeConcini………………………….3
Statement Presented by Ms. Ulana Mazurkevich…………………………..4
Statement Presented by Dr. Oleh Weres……………………………………4
Testimony of Mr. Mykola Kostyrko of Sacramento, California…………….5
Testimony of Mr. Ivan Kasiianenko of Los Angeles, California…………..10
Testimony of Mr. Oleksander Merkelo………………………………………14
Testimony of Mr. Oleksiy Keis of San Francisco, California………………19
Testimony of Ms. A. Butkovska of San Francisco, California…………….23
Testimony of Ms. Anna S. of San Francisco, California…………………..26
Hearing, Phoenix, Arizona, February 13,1987……………………………..31
Commissioners, Staff, and Witnesses Present…………………………….32
Proceedings……………………………………………………………………33
Opening Statement by Senator Dennis DeConcini………………………..33
Statement Presented by Ms. Ulana Mazurkevich…………………………33
Statement Presented by Dr. Myron Kuropas………………………………34
Statement Presented by Dr. Oleh Weres…………………………………..34
Testimony of Mr. Ivan M. of Tucson, Arizona……………………………..35
Testimony of Ms. Palashka Olefirenko of Phoenix, Arizona……………….39
Testimony of Ms. Ustyna Petrenko of Phoenix, Arizona………………….41
Testimony of Mr. Mykola Petrenko of Phoenix, Arizona…………………..42
Testimony of Mr. Leonid Petrenko of Phoenix, Arizona…………………..43
Testimony of Ms. Tamara Burda of Phoenix, Arizona……………………..43
Testimony of Mr. Max Harmash of San Diego, California…………………44
Testimony of Ms. Nadia Harmash of San Diego, California……………….47
Testimony of Mr. William Krewsun of San Diego, California………………52
Testimony of Mr. Jacob K. of San Diego, California……………………….52
Testimony of Mr. Ivan Pylypenko of Phoenix, Arizona……………………55
Testimony of Mr. Michael Kuzin of Phoenix, Arizona………………………56
Testimony of Ms. Halyna Kuzin of Phoenix, Arizona………………………56
Testimony of Ms. Tetiana Kysil of Phoenix, Arizona………………………57
Hearing and Meeting, April 30,1987………………………………………..59
Commissioners, Staff, and Witnesses Present…………………………….60
Proceedings……………………………………………………………………61
Opening of Hearing and Meeting by the Hon. Dennis Hertel……………..61
Testimony of Ms. Nina Strokata of Denton, Maryland……………………61
Testimony of Mr. Ivan Kononenko of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania………..68

Hearing, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 5, 1987………………………………………..107
Commissioners, Staff, and Witnesses Present…………………………………………….108
Proceedings……………………………………………………………………………………109
Opening Statement by the Hon. Benjamin Gilman…………………………………………109
Statement Presented by Ms. Ulana Mazurkevich………………………………………….110
Statement Presented by Ms. Anastasia Volker……………………………………………111
Testimony of Mr. Iwan Zinczenko of Cornwells Heights, Pennsylvania…………………111
Testimony of Mr. Yuri of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania………………………………………118
Statement of Mr. Danylo of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania…………………………………..121
Statement of Mr. Nicholas Chymych of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania……………………..125
Testimony of Mr. Ivan Oransky of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania……………………………130
Testimony of Ms. Anna P…………………………………………………………………….133
Testimony of Ms. Margarita Borzakivska of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania…………………135
Testimony of Ms. Larysa Donchuk of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania………………………..138
Testimony of Ms. Lydia A. of Cheltenham, Pennsylvania…………………………………139

HEARING
The commission met at 2:00 p.m.

Tuesday, February 10,1987
Federal Building, Room 13216-C, 450 Golden Gate Avenue
San Francisco, California

COMMISSIONERS PRESENT:
SENATOR DENNIS DeCONCINI, Chairman MS. ULANA MAZURKEVICH, DR. OLEH WERES
OTHERS PRESENT:
DR. JAMES E. MACE, Staff Director
DR. OLGA SAMILENKO-TSVETKOV, Staff Assistant and Interpreter/Translator
WITNESSES PRESENT:
MR. MYKOLA KOSTYRKO , MR. IVAN KASHANENKO, MR. OLEKSANDER MERKELO, MR. OLEKSIY KEIS, MS. A. BUTKOVSKA, MS. ANNAS.

PROCEEDINGS
Senator DeCONCINI: Ladies and Gentlemen, the Commission on the Ukraine Famine will conduct a hearing at this time.

On my right is Commissioner Ulana Mazurkevich, who is from Philadelphia and has joined us today for testimony, and I will defer to her in just a moment for any state¬ment that she has. On my left is Oleh Weres of Sonoma. He is also a Commissioner.

The Commission on the Ukrainian Famine has a two-year mandate. That mandate requires that it submit to Congress a report on the great man-made famine of 1932-33 in Ukraine. That report is due by April 22,1988. Today’s hearing will gather material for that report from the testimony we will be hearing from persons who knew firsthand the human suffering caused by Stalin’s Soviet government.

It must be pointed out that our witnesses are courageous people. We commend them for their courage. Many others came here in order to flee the same tyranny, and they have decided that they cannot testify. I understand and respect their reasons. Their reasons are legitimate and above reproach. I mention this only in order to un¬derscore the gratitude we owe those who have agreed to come forward today. They must face the pain of remembering traumas most of us can scarcely imagine. They have accepted the responsibility of exposing Soviet lies with the truth. It is their courage and that alone which makes our work possible.

supported the creation of the Commission on the Ukraine Famine because it is im¬portant for all Americans to recognize and understand what Ukrainians suffered over half a century ago. For too long we have failed to listen to those who came here flee¬ing the oppression of inhuman regimes, whether from the far Right or the far Left. We as a nation can prepare ourselves for the challenges of dealing with those regimes only if we begin to listen to those people who are bearing witness.

Many people have suffered at the hands of tyranny. Sadly, many still suffer. Why, then, should we focus on this tragedy, which took place so very long ago and so very far away? One reason is that the very length of time makes it more urgent that we col¬lect testimonies before they are lost forever. But there are other reasons. The pas¬sage of half a century makes it possible to study this particular tragedy more deeply than we could with one more recent. We can learn from this tragedy. We can gain in¬sight into challenges we still must face.

The famine of 1932-1933 was the result of excessive state seizures of agricultural produce. It was really an artificial famine. Food was used as a weapon against a resis¬tant population. Today we see food used as a weapon by the Ethiopian government in the regions of Eritrea and Tigre. We also see the destruction of crops as a basic weapon in the Soviet war against the people of Afghanistan. The loss of millions of lives in Ukraine demonstrates the terrible potential of the use of food as a weapon.

There is evidence that the famine of 1932-1933 was focused against nations and groups that the government considered unreliable and resistant to its policies. It was accompanied by a deliberate campaign in Ukraine to destroy important cultural and spiritual institutions-to absorb large segments of the Ukrainian population. It was, in short, a campaign to neutralize the Ukrainian national culture.

In the 1940s the Polish jurist Dr. Raphael Lemkin coined a new word for this kind of policy, which tries to eliminate a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. He

called it genocide. It was his definition that was incorporated into the International Genocide Convention. That convention has been ratified by the Soviet Union, the United States, and many other countries. The Ukrainian Famine presents almost a textbook case of such collective victimization.

There was great lack of public awareness of exactly what took place in Ukraine over half a century ago, because of a campaign of disinformation. A number of Western correspondents stationed in Moscow were threatened or coerced into remaining silent At the same time, Stalin’s subordinates engaged in an aggressive campaign of denial. Today, when we read in the Soviet press that AIDS is a form of biological warfare developed by the U.S. military, when we read this and other absurdities, we realize that in this too, the past is prologue to what we see today.

Today’s hearing is an important part of the Commission’s effort to fulfill the Con¬gressional mandate. But it is by no means the only thing we are doing. The Commis¬sion staff has begun an oral history project that will document in much greater detail what happened to the Ukrainian nation over half a century ago.

Our mandate is not yet half over. There is much that the Commission has to learn. I am here today to listen and to learn from those who alone can teach us the true meaning of this crime against humanity. It is a privilege to be able to take part in that important task.

Let me please now yield to Commissioner Mazurkevich.

STATEMENT PRESENTED BY MS. ULANA MAZURKEVICH

Thank you. Some fifty years ago, seven million Ukrainians were forcibly starved to death and the world did not hear about it, and the world did not know. Today, we are here to focus on this great tragedy that happened many years ago. In recent weeks the American press has been writing about Gorbachev’s policy of ‘openness’. I wonder how far this ‘openness’ will go. So far, the press has not picked up on the artificial famine where seven million were forcibly starved, and the cover-up was so excessive and intense.

Today, the Ukrainian famine is still a footnote in history but hopefully, through hearings such as this, it will gain its rightful place in history, and the famine will be known as one of the great tragedies ever to have transpired.
Thank you.

Senator DeCONCINI: Thank you. Commissioner Weres?

STATEMENT PRESENTED BY DR. OLEH WERES

I, also, would like to thank the witnesses who have come here today because I real¬ize that it takes considerable courage for people who may have relatives in the old country to come and testify. I thank you for doing this because you are contributing to the documentation of one of the saddest but yet one of the major events of history in the Ukraine in the 20th century. It is an essential contribution to recording the history

of the Ukrainian people and the history of humanity. In doing so you will help prevent recurrences of the famine.

I would also like to thank the many people who have volunteered to help make this possible: the Ukrainian Orthodox Parish; the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America; Ukrainian-American Coordinating Committee; Americans for Human Rights in the Ukraine who have all contributed to putting this event together and, finally, to acknowledge the efforts of our staff to put together this hearing in fairly short notice in a land distant from their home office. I realize that San Francisco is hardship duty, but they are holding up.

Thank you all

Senator DeCONCINI: Thank you very much.

We will now proceed with our first witness who will be Mykola Kostyrko of Sacramento, California. Would you like to take a seat over here, please.
Dr. SAMILENKO-TSVETKOV: At Mr. Kostyrko’s request, a translation of his tes¬timony will be read in English.

TESTIMONY OF MR. MYKOLA KOSTYRKO OF SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

I was born and lived in the large port city of Odessa. In those days, I worked as an engineer-economist, overseeing the planning and manufacturing division of the Union of Workmen’s Associations, which was created forcibly to unite craftsmen and artisans of various specialties. This was one form of the collectivization of the ‘remnants of capitalism’ in the cities.

Already in the 1930s, shortages of consumer goods had begun. I then worked in the city of Pervomaisk, which was the administrative center of the region, in the Central Workers’ Cooperative. This organization, with its network of stores, was a substitute for private trade, which had been forced out by legitimate and illegitimate measures. Shortages of consumer goods from Kharkiv, then the capital of the Ukraine, were al¬ready apparent A ration card system was implemented for the sale of sugar, bread, and other products. Why sugar and bread? Because these were the Ukraine’s primary commodities. Later I learned that all of this was exported as ‘surplus’.

One time I was called to a secret meeting of the city council, where we were told to immediately designate one of the stores for the exclusive use of the workers of the Central Committee of the Party, the N.K.V.D., and the city and regional councils. They later gave us a list of those with special cards. It was also specified that the store should appear outwardly closed, that an entrance should be constructed in the rear, and that a policeman would be designated to stand guard. In practice, those consumer goods which arrived in the city to supply the population went first to this ‘closed dis¬tributor*, as it came to be known. Toward the end of that year, I was lucky enough to quit that job and to return to Odessa. I say ‘lucky’ because then no one had the right to resign without the permission of the director of the institution, and one could be tried for it

Before the summer was over, I had the opportunity to witness the following: in the village of Novo-Arkhanhelsk, there was opposition to collectivization. The village resisted collectivization and the high grain taxes. A few activists were killed, and the

police were unable to quell this revolt A detachment of the N.K.V.D, was sent out to put down the revolt How many peasants were killed on the spot, I don’t know; but every day, toward the evening, I went down to the railroad depot, and, with an aching heart, observed as groups of peasants from the village were loaded into freight cars— whole families with their small children—headed for Siberia.

Returning shortly thereafter to Odessa, I saw that the city was experiencing even more difficulties supplying provisions. The ration-card system was not equipped to supply the needs of the population. The black market reigned supreme. The ‘dekulakization’ of the urban population was under way. The more or less ‘wealthy’ persons, such as doctors, lawyers, and former merchants, were rounded up at night and taken to jail. There, through intimidation and torture, they were forced to give up all the valuables that they might have. Those who didn’t want to surrender their valu¬ables, and those who had none, were crammed into cells like sardines, in such a way that they could not even sit but were forced to stand. An acquaintance of mine stood in that manner for two weeks. His legs swelled up and he remained an invalid for the rest of his life.

This ‘initiative’ of the secret police was justified by the need to have hard cash to buy tractors, especially Fords, to ensure that the new collective farms had the neces¬sary equipment. As a joke, the people called these victims ‘tractor drivers’, and called this process of extracting gold — ‘zoloto’ in Ukrainian—lzolotukha\ or ‘mumps’, after the childhood illness of that name.

The village, wrestling with collectivization and not wanting to give up all its live¬stock and tools to the collective farms (in effect, to the State), slaughtered cattle and brought the meat to market. As a result, the Ukraine was left barren. Even after the man-made famine was over, problems with the supply of meat appeared. Then Stalin advised the new collective farms to raise rabbits for meat, relying on their rapid and copious reproduction. Nothing came of this, but the rabbits were nicknamed ‘Stalin’s bull’.

The famine started—that is, when they took away all the meager reserves from the Ukrainian peasants. Those who had some clothing or other articles came to the city, to the market, to sell it and buy bread. But bread was sold by ration cards. A black market emerged, and the high prices did nothing to resolve the hunger problem. Starving, ragged peasants staggered through the city. On the streets, especially on the outskirts of town, lay the bodies of those who died of starvation.

The government did all it could to make sure no one saw this, because many foreign vessels came to Odessa’s ports to take the ‘surplus’ Ukrainian grain and other mer¬chandise abroad. They exported everything in order to get foreign capital for the ‘needs of the state’—to buy tractors and for propaganda abroad, among other things. The city ‘cleaned up’ the corpses every morning. A special club was created for foreign sailors to prevent them from going into the city and seeing what they could not have missed. At the club they were entertained and distracted, even with girls.

I also had the opportunity to witness the ‘show of prosperity’ staged to pull the wool over the eyes of the French minister Herriot, who was invited to the Ukraine to con¬vince him that there was no famine. (He was undoubtedly convinced when he received a number of rare paintings from museums.) As proof that life was absolutely normal, they escorted him along streets that had been especially prepared for him.