In putting Ukrainian-born John Demjanjuk on trial, Germany has laid itself open to accusations of double standards over pursuing perpetrators of the Holocaust. Demjanjuk's lawyer Ulrich Busch argues that the case is a farce because German SS members at the Sobibor death camp, where he is accused of being a guard, were acquitted in earlier trials. "How can it be that those who gave the orders can have been found...

Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic, the Hon. Bob Rae, passed a unanimous Resolution in Parliament today to commemorate the victims of Europe's totalitarian regimes. "Millions of Canadians of Eastern and Central European descent whose families have been directly affected by either Nazi or Communist crimes have made unique and significant, cultural, economic, social and other contributions to help build the Canada we know today," said Mr. Rae. "We must unequivocally condemn the crimes against humanity committed by totalitarian Nazi and Communist regimes and offer the victims of these crimes and their family members' sympathy, understanding and recognition for their suffering. "Every victim of any totalitarian regime has...

Standing before a monument dedicated to the millions who perished from the Great Famine of the 1930s, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko marked the famine's anniversary with a fresh appeal for the world to recognize the tragedy as an act of genocide by then-Soviet leader Josef Stalin. The ongoing effort by Mr. Yushchenko to revive a history long suppressed by the Soviet Union, and still dismissed by many in Russia, could well define his presidency. "We did almost the impossible," the leader told a large crowd...

The “Father Of The Genocide Convention,” Dr. Raphael Lemkin, coined the term “genocide” by combining the root words – geno – which is Greek for family or race and – cidium - which is Latin for killing. He was also instrumental in having the United Nations adopt a Convention on Genocide, over 60 years ago. He described the “destruction of the Ukrainian nation” as the “classic example of Soviet genocide.” He further added that: “the Ukrainian is not and never has been a Russian. His culture, his temperament, his language, his religion, are all different...to eliminate (Ukrainian) nationalism...the Ukrainian peasantry was sacrificed...a famine was necessary for the Soviet and...

The bells have tolled in sombre tone to commemorate one of Ukraine’s darkest chapters. In the capital Kiev, thousands joined political leaders on the anniversary of a famine over 60 years ago that killed between seven and ten million people. The 1932-33 Holodomor – or death by starvation – is seen by many in the country as a national tragedy. Today allegations by Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko that it was a deliberate genocide by the Soviet leadership under the dictator Josef Stalin have angered many Russians. “We know for a certainty...

John Demjanjuk once was the focus of the world's attention for the bloodcurdling crimes of which he stood accused. Today, he's attracting notice for being the lowest-ranking person to go on trial for Nazi crimes in World War II. The latest chapter in a 32-year legal saga brings the retired Ohio autoworker to a court in Munich in a case opening Monday that breaks new ground in Germany's pursuit of alleged Holocaust perpetrators. If successful, it could significantly lower the bar for who is considered important enough to go to jail for being part of the Nazi apparatus. In the 1980s, Demjanjuk stood...

Ukrainian nationalists hurled red paint at a restored monument to Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin moments after it was unveiled yesterday, sparking a street brawl and revealing the bitter divisions over the legacy of communism in Ukraine. The nationalist group Freedom said the protest was inspired by persistent debate over the Ukrainian famine of 1932-33, a major irritant in Kiev's relationship with its former Soviet overlord, Moscow. It was the second time this year that vandals had targeted the more than 11-foot-tall granite statue of the Russian revolutionary on Kiev's central Shevchenko boulevard. In July, it was taken down for restoration after nationalists smashed its face with a hammer and tore off an arm. A communist rally was held...

This essay deals with the basic issues related to a legal assessment of the genocidal nature of the Ukrainian Holodomor of 1932–33 in the light of the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The main emphasis is to prove the intention of the totalitarian Communist regime to partially destroy the Ukrainian nation by using an artificial famine as an instrument for exterminating its major constituent part, the Ukrainian peasantry. The machinery for carrying out the Holodomor is explained and issues related to the responsibility of its ideologists, organizers, perpetrators and accomplices are raised....

Recently the entire world heard about the notes of the “man who knew too much” about the Holodomor in Ukraine. Trinity College, Cambridge has opened an exhibit in its library of the diaries written by Gareth Jones (1905–1935), a British journalist who, unbeknown to the Soviet authorities and secret police, wrote reports and notes about the man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine in 1932–1933. Recognized today as a British national hero, Jones reveals through his diaries the truth about Stalin’s atrocities against Ukrainian people and conveys it to the Western public and the entire world...

SBU prosecutors may send the criminal case on the 1932-1933 Holodomor in Ukraine to court by the end of 2009, SBU Director Valentyn Nalyvajchenko said Nov. 27, speaking on the 5th Kanal. “We will publicize the names of those officials who orchestrated the crime of genocide against Ukrainians,” the SBU director said. SBU prosecutors point to top officials in the Ukrainian Bolshevik party as organizers of the Holodomor, he said. The prosecution allowed me to release the names of suspects, Nalyvajchenko assured. 1. Stanislav Kosior, the Bolshevik party of Ukraine secretary. 2. Pavel Postyshev, who was...