PRINTER'S NO. 2250
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
256
Session of
2023
INTRODUCED BY HANBIDGE, CERRATO, SANCHEZ, MALAGARI, MADDEN,
FREEMAN, PIELLI, SCHLOSSBERG, KINSEY, BENHAM, HOWARD,
McNEILL, DELLOSO, HILL-EVANS, GUENST, KHAN AND GREEN,
NOVEMBER 2, 2023
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, NOVEMBER 2, 2023
A RESOLUTION
Designating the month of November 2023 as "Ukrainian Holodomor-
Genocide Remembrance Month" in Pennsylvania.
WHEREAS, Ninety-one years ago, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin
and his totalitarian regime committed an act of genocide through
the implementation of an engineered famine, confiscating all
foodstuffs from the Ukrainian people, resulting in the deaths of
7 million to 10 million innocent men, women and children; and
WHEREAS, This genocide, the Holodomor, meaning "murder by
starvation," was specifically designed by the Soviet regime to
punish independent-minded Ukrainians for their resistance to
Stalin's political, economic, cultural and social subjugation;
and
WHEREAS, Even as the Soviets continued to export Ukraine's
grain to the rest of the world, Ukrainian farmers who tended to
the farms in the breadbasket of Europe, were purposefully
starved in a slow and painful death; and
WHEREAS, At the height of the Holodomor in 1933, Ukrainians
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died at a rate of 28,000 people per day, with nearly one third
of its victims being children under 10 years of age; and
WHEREAS, Hundreds of archival KGB documents created during
this genocide detailed and described the Soviet regime's
intention and actions to destroy Ukraine's national identity by
deporting and executing Ukraine's religious, intellectual and
cultural leaders and prosecuting or executing others who dared
to speak of the Holodomor; and
WHEREAS, Through a recently released major motion film titled
"Mr. Jones," depicting Welsh journalist Gareth Jones who
witnessed and reported on the Holodomor, the world is afforded
an opportunity to understand the realities of this Soviet crime;
and
WHEREAS, The official recognition of the Holodomor as a
genocide by the Government of Ukraine represents a significant
step in adjudicating Soviet crimes and in reaffirming Ukraine's
national identity and the advancement of efforts to establish a
democratic and free Ukraine that is fully integrated into the
Western community of nations; and
WHEREAS, The current war in Ukraine has been identified as a
genocide and is yet another example of relentless Russian
aggression attempting to suppress a freedom-loving nation and
its social, cultural, historical, economic and national
development; and
WHEREAS, With striking parallels between the Holodomor and
the war in Ukraine, we cannot allow this history to be
overlooked or repeat itself; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate the
month of November 2023 as "Ukrainian Holodomor-Genocide
Remembrance Month" in Pennsylvania; and be it further
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives urge all
individuals, groups, organizations and institutions to remember
the Holodomor with appropriate activities designed to honor its
victims and educate the world about this tragic episode in the
world's history and to reflect upon the historical truth of the
heinous crimes of totalitarian regimes so that we may one day
eliminate tyranny from our world.
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