Invasion Day +41 Today Hoggy seeks to encourage and expand the blog. There is a lull in global attention, even the relatively insignificant sale of a TV channel has pushed Ukraine to the inside pages of the press. But in Ukraine there can be no lull, no slackening of attention: the bombs still rain down, the missiles fall, the barbaric butchery continues. The suffering of the innocent prolongs the agony of the apocalypse.
But the world has been here before as we see in the post about the 'Holodomor' of 1933 and the insight provided into history and its relevance to the present by modern Ukrainian art.
Overnight we have received the video diary of a twenty-two year old daughter still in Ukraine who records the bombardment of Kharkiv, moving live testimony of what it has been like to live in a family apartment as missiles shatter their lives all around them. And the anguish of the refugee's flight is poignantly told. If we can reproduce it sufficiently well, we will post it as soon as we can. The young woman presents the fear for herself and her family in heart-rending reality. Please do see it when we post it tomorrow. We must all work to stop this war. Please write and write again.
Meanwhile, this is the 'almost-calm' before the storm. Ukraine knows it must face fresh onslaughts soon in the east, and the west is implored to help meet this threat. Our position at Hoggy is one of peace; this is a creative writing blog in support of Ukraine and always in support of peace. But the only way we can envisage peace happening at this moment is for the war to end. And history tells us that this will only happen if Putin stops it himself. If he will not, or probably now cannot, as warmongers have a tendency to feed off their own lies, then the world must stop Putin. For all our sakes.
We at Hoggy, our team, together with you all - our amazing correspondents and our equally amazing readers, will continue here, and wherever, to strive for justice, for truth and for peace. Whatever it takes. We salute you all for all your endeavours. Only by the world meeting the threat to its existence that it now faces, by whatever means it can, will peace return. Once this threat is removed then we can work for peace in the other conflict zones of the world and the world can get on with sorting out the climate. If we do not sort Putin's threat out, there will be no need to address climate change, for there will be no climate left to worry about. Hoggy.
Today's Letters:
From writer and poet H.E. London, Devon
Dear Hoggy,
I have this thought I felt compelled to write down for the blog today.
The Wall
How is a strong wall built?
Is it with bricks and mortar, or with closed minds and oppression?
Do we heap the ideals of imperialism row upon row, cementing them with fear?
Or do we combine the thoughts and actions of individuals to form a drystack?
The wall of regimented strength will eventually fall foul to the elements, as there is no space for the winds of change to pass through.
The force of that wind will eventually wear the wall away, and the bricks of oppression along with the mortar of fear will crumble.
The drystack pattern may be more diverse, but the strength is formed from the linked stones of freedom and democracy. The winds of tolerance and peace passing through each generation.
This wall will stand against the elements for thousands of years if it is built well with strong foundations.
With best wishes,
H.E London
Devon
April 2022
Dear Miss London,
This is a moving analogy for Ukraine, thank you for it.
Every day we can here, we walk in the grounds of the office amongst the dry stone walls that surround us, and marvel at the strength of their construction and at the skill of the builders.
And some have been here for thousands of years, we have Saxon, Roman and ever earlier constructions still visible in the fields and by-ways of this beautiful land.
And so it will be again in Ukraine. A plan will emerge by popular consent that will re-build the shattered houses, the flattened apartments, and the damaged lives. The linked stones of freedom and democracy will once again stand firm against the bricks and mortar of oppression.
Thank you again for such an inspiring prose poem, please keep writing and sending your brilliant work to the blog.
Slava Ukraini!
Hoggy
From Ann Cumberland, writer and poet, Northern Ireland.
Dear Hoggy
Thank you for all the inspiring words in this site, they are important for me and my family as we struggle to understand this terrible war.
I have written two poems about loss that may resonate with the readership?
Best wishes for the blog Hoggy, and long may it continue to help the lives of many. Destruction
I did not see it coming…
Such anger aimed directly at my face
Random emotions playing havoc.
No room to breathe or give me space.
Not making sense of what is before me
My so-called friend hides his head in shame…
These worthless words and acts hurt deeply
Surrendering loyalties whilst delivering blame.
Unanswered questions linger in the void
Not put to bed this lifelong trust...
Feels like a death…you have gone forever
Remaining silent… if you must…
Farewell
The last run, the last day,
with your head above ground.
The last drive for the last time,
you last spoke, made a sound.
The first time, the first day,
I can still see your face.
The first smile, the first kiss,
the first warm embrace.
The last time is like the first time,
in my memories of you
Recalling the last time that we last spoke,
time will not undo.
Ann Ann Cumberland, Writer
Northern Ireland.
Dear Ann,
Your words as ever in the blog continue to uplift and to resonate with all the horror of loss and the many farewells that have and are taking place in Ukraine.
I fear time will not undo the memory of all Ukrainians to this, their latest tragedy in a history of tragedy at the hands of the seemingly insatiable imperial monster that is the Russian state of the Czar Putin.
And we should not forget either, as we have forgotten in the past, or perhaps never even cared enough to know about in the first place? Under your inspiration through these two poems, we at Hoggy have put together a brief insight into a past tragedy of Ukraine, The 'Holodomor' of 1932-1933. And no, we didn't know about it either.
Thank you for being the catalyst Ann.
With all wishes,
Hoggy
An Inspired Insight in Ukraine: 'The Holodomor'
The Holodomor
The Holodomor ('To kill by starvation') and also called the Terror-Famine or the Great Famine, was a famine in Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 that killed millions of Ukrainians, estimated now to be between 3.5 -5 million people by current analysis.
The term 'Holodomor' emphasises the man-made character of the famine with the alleged intentional aspects such as rejection of outside aid, confiscation of all household foodstuffs, and the restriction of movements on the Ukrainian population.
The Holodomor famine was part of the wider Soviet famine of 1932–1933 which affected the major grain-producing areas of the country. Ukraine was home to one of the largest grain producing states in the USSR and as a result was hit particularly hard by the famine. Millions of inhabitants of Ukraine, the majority of whom were ethnic Ukrainians, died of starvation in a peacetime catastrophe unprecedented in Ukrainian history. Since 2006, the Holodomor has been recognized by Ukraine and fifteen countries as a genocide against the Ukrainian people carried out by the Soviet government. They of course, as ever, deny this version of it.
'Whether the Holodomor was a genocide or ethnicity-blind, was man-made or natural, and was intentional or unintentional are issues of significant modern debate. The event is considered a genocide by Ukraine, a crime against humanity by the European Parliament, and the lower house of parliament of Russia condemned the Soviet regime 'that has neglected the lives of people for the achievement of economic and political goals'. (Wikipedia entry quoted with acknowledgement.)
On 10 November 2003 at the United Nations, twenty-five countries, including Russia, Ukraine, and United States signed a joint statement on the seventieth anniversary of the Holodomor with the following preamble:
'In the former Soviet Union millions of men, women and children fell victims to the cruel actions and policies of the totalitarian regime. The Great Famine of 1932–1933 in Ukraine (Holodomor), took from 7 million to 10 million innocent lives and became a national tragedy for the Ukrainian people. In this regard, we note activities in observance of the seventieth anniversary of this Famine, in particular organized by the Government of Ukraine. Honouring the seventieth anniversary of the Ukrainian tragedy, we also commemorate the memory of millions of Russians, Kazakhs and representatives of other nationalities who died of starvation in the Volga River region, Northern Caucasus, Kazakhstan and in other parts of the former Soviet Union, as a result of civil war and forced collectivisation, leaving deep scars in the consciousness of future generations.'
The Ukrainian parliament first recognized the Holodomor as a genocide in 2003, and criminalized both Holodomor denial and Holocaust denial in 2006. In 2010, the Kyiv Court of Appeal ruled that the Holodomor was an act of genocide and held Joseph Stalin, Vyacheslav Molotov, Lazar Kaganovich, Stanislav Kosior, Pavel Postyshev, Mendel Khatayevich, Vlas Chubar and other Bolshevik leaders responsible.
The intentional impediment of relief supplies to attack civilians, depriving them of food crucial to their survival, is present in Russia's war against Ukraine in 2022. The comparison to the Holodomor's weaponized starvation can be seen in humanitarian aid convoys being blocked from accessing Mariupol, to unleash great suffering.
We are grateful to Adam Jones for this work taken from his 2016 book,, Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction (Holodomor – the Ukrainian "famine-extermination" of 1932–1933 at the hands of Stalin's Soviet regime.') and to current affairs writers in today's press for these observations and to Wikipedia for the sourcing.
One of the most telling pieces of art of the Holodomor is '1933- The Way Home' by Viktor Tsymbal.
‘1933 The Way Home’
Image courtesy of the Ukrainian Institute and Museum of Art in New York
Ukrainian Arts: Viktor Tsymbal
Viktor Tsymbal is a graduate of the Ukrainian Studio of Plastic Art in Prague and the Prague Art-Industrial School. He was born in the Cherkasy region of Ukraine. During exile in Argentina, Tsymal did not break contact with Ukraine and is considered by many to the one of the most influential modern Ukrainian artists. He deeply experienced the ‘Holodomor’, the Great famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine which prompted him to paint one of the most expressive works of what many consider to be the genocide of Ukrainians, ‘The Year 1933’.
The painting by the artist is considered to be his greatest achievement in combining a deep historical and philosophical content with a mature artistic form.
This canvas is the verdict of the Ukrainian people to the inhuman Bolshevik regime. Victor Tsymbal portrayed the theme of the Holodomor not as an illustration, but symbolically: the painting shows a starved mother and baby ascending to Heaven. The images express a sense of flight and the majesty of eternity as well as the horror of man’s inhumanity to man.
Hoggy
Please keep your writing coming in to Hoggy: it is reaching many people both in Ukraine and, as you can see from the many locations of our correspondents, across the world. Thank you all. Hoggy.
We will endeavour to load up the video diary from Kharkiv for tomorrow's post. It is over three hours long and we need to edit it to fit the site.
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