First service to remember Ukrainian famine at Canterbury Cathedrale

The Holodomor, as its known in Ukraine, was brought about by extreme policies by the Soviet Union. Oliver Leader de Saxe reports.

Transcript

00:00The Holodomor was one of the great tragedies of the 20th century, but for many in Kent,

00:06the famine imposed on Ukraine by the Soviet Union, that claimed the lives of millions

00:13of people in the 1930s, is something that very few would know about.

00:20Holodomor was a terrible tragedy, which was hidden from the West for many, many years.

00:27And when people came to welcome Ukrainians into their homes after the war started, one

00:34of the things that we started to learn about was the culture of Ukraine, and also this

00:39particular tragedy, and to stand up against traitors and tyrants that want to perpetuate

00:48war and famine.

00:50Now for the first time, the Ukrainian community in Canterbury have come together in the cathedral

00:58to commemorate the lives lost during the starvation, alongside faith leaders and local politicians.

01:06Having an opportunity to commemorate Holodomor in Canterbury Cathedral is very symbolic.

01:14Canterbury has been for centuries and centuries a place where people found refuge from various

01:22atrocities, and it is important to remember about these crimes so that we do everything

01:28possible and impossible to prevent these kind of tragedies happening in the future.

01:36Organized by Canterbury for Ukraine, the event did not just remember those who lost their

01:41lives during the famine, with the voices of children and women displaced by the Ukrainian

01:47war being the loudest of the night.

01:51Despite the candles of remembrance lighting both the reception and the cathedral, the

01:57shadow of that conflict lingered over the whole evening, with the Ukrainian ambassador

02:05who was scheduled to attend being pulled away as the war rages on in its third year.

02:12But none of this took away from the solidarity of hundreds huddled in the heart of the city,

02:19gathered in defiance of losses both past and present.

02:24For then, once in a lifetime, the longed for tidal wave of justice can rise up,

02:34and hope and mystery rhyme.

02:39And hope and mystery rhyme.

02:46Oliver Leader of the Sats for KNTV in Canterbury.