Inside: l U.N. Security Council discusses situation in – page 8 l Review: National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine – page 11 l Ambassador calls on Ottawa to support Ukraine – page 14

ThePublished U by thekrainian Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal W non-profit associationeekly Vol. LXXXV No. 7 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2017 $2.00 Holocaust Memorial Museum to digitize Kyiv in “wait and see” mode Ukrainian Museum-Archives’ DP collection over Trump policy toward Ukraine by Mark Raczkiewycz Ukraine’s presidential office didn’t com- ment on the interview, while Mr. Trump KYIV – Ukraine is still “watching and vowed to learn who “controls” the forces waiting” when it comes to U.S. President attacking Ukraine’s east despite an abun- Donald Trump’s policy towards its strategic dance of evidence pointing to Russia. partner and his stance towards the Donbas Until President meets war that Russia has stoked since April with Mr. Trump during the second half of 2014. this month, Ukrainian political scientists Being gauged in every world capital for refrained from commenting on what, and his unorthodox policy views and governing how, America’s policy will change toward style, the 45th American president said he Kyiv. wasn’t taken aback when Kremlin-backed “Uncertainty is a big factor here because forces escalated fighting in eastern Ukraine you don’t know what to expect,” said Iryna within 24 hours of his phone conversation Bekeshina, director of the Democratic with Russian President on Initiatives think tank. “Historically, as stra- January 28. tegic partners, policy was always more or Asked by Fox host Bill O’Reilly, “Did you less anticipated. Now it’s unclear. But take that as an insult?,” Mr. Trump respond- Russia also doesn’t really doesn’t know ed: “No, I didn’t because we don’t really what to expect [from the U.S.].” know exactly what that is. They’re pro forc- Yaro Bihun A positive sign is that Mr. Trump chose es. We don’t know if they’re uncontrollable. to speak with Mr. Poroshenko instead of Holocaust Memorial Museum Collections Director Michael Grunberger (left) and Are they uncontrollable? That happens Ukrainian Museum-Archives Director Andrew Fedynsky congratulate each other delegating the task to a subordinate. after signing a cooperation agreement in Washington to digitize the Cleveland-based also. We’re going to find out. I will be sur- Museum-Archives’ post-World War II collection of documents and stories about non- prised, but we will see.” (Continued on page 15) Jewish victims of Nazism.

by Yaro Bihun Museum to preserve and share such histor- ical items with the world. WASHINGTON – The U.S. Holocaust Among those attending the signing cere- Canadian military mission in Ukraine Memorial Museum (USHMM) in Washington mony were representatives of Sens. Sherrod and the Ukrainian Museum-Archives (UMA) Brown and Rob Portman, Rep. Marcy Kaptur, planning ahead despite deadline, says MP of Cleveland have signed a cooperation Orest Deychakiwsky of the U.S. Helsinki agreement to digitize UMA’s collection of Commission, Jurij Dobczansky of the by Christopher Guly archived materials from post-World War II Shevchenko Scientific Society and the Library Special to The Ukrainian Weekly Displaced Persons (DP) camps. of Congress, Bohdan Kantor of the Library of OTTAWA – Although the Canadian gov- The agreement was signed on February Congress, who is a DP camp researcher, and ernment has yet to announce an extension 6 at the Holocaust Museum in Washington Ukrainian National Information Service to Operation UNIFIER in western Ukraine, by UMA Acting Director Andrew Fedynsky Director Michael Sawkiw Jr. Canadian soldiers who have been training and USHMM Collections Director Michael In May 2016, a Holocaust Museum dele- their Ukrainian counterparts there since Grunberger, as witnessed and applauded gation visited the UMA to assess the scope 2015 are planning well into 2018, accord- by representatives of their museums, the and quality of its DP camp collection, and in ing to a Canadian member of Parliament U.S. government, and Ukrainian American September it proposed this cooperative dig- who was in Ukraine last month. and other interested organizations. itization project. As noted by its internation- Former Conservative Cabinet Minister Opening the event, Mr. Grunberger al outreach officer Jaime Monllor, one of the Peter Kent, who now serves as the Official noted that digitalizing UMA’s collection – Holocaust Museum’s collection goals is doc- Opposition foreign affairs critic, said in an “one of the world’s most important collec- umenting non-Jewish victims of persecution interview that Lt. Col. Wayne Niven, who tions of Ukrainian history and culture” by the Nazis and their collaborators: commands the Canadian military mission focusing on the post World War II period – “The UMA’s collection of Ukrainian DP in Ukraine, and Roman Waschuk, Canada’s will help “ensure that our collections docu- camp serials, of rare published victims’ ambassador to Ukraine, told him that they ment the stories of non-Jewish victims of memoirs and of other related personal have received “no instructions” to conclude Nazi persecution as well.” And having that paper collections are of great importance the operation despite a March 31 deadline. Office of MP Peter Kent information digitalized will make it avail- for, and a significant complement to, the “They have no plans to leave and contin- able “to anyone, anywhere and anytime.” study of the Jewish Holocaust, and we Member of Parliament Peter Kent. ue to make plans with Ukraine and with Also focusing on the importance of hav- believe that to understand these events other democratic countries involved there Canada’s military training mission falls ing this information available to all, Mr. fully, this primary evidence should be pre- to continue their work through the year under the mandate of a joint task force that Fedynsky stressed that it is needed by peo- served for future generations of scholars, and into next year. I was pleased to hear includes Ukraine, the United States and the ple and nations as well. students, genealogists and others.” they would be there for some time to United Kingdom. “If you don’t have a past, you don’t have The actual work on the collection will be come,” said Mr. Kent, a member of the However, the Canadian Armed Forces a future,” he said. “That’s why we have a conducted by Archival Data Systems (AIS), House of Commons Standing Committee on always do “contingency planning for vari- Holocaust Museum. That’s why we have a based in Kyiv. Over the past decade, AIS has Foreign Affairs and International ous scenarios, both at home and abroad,” Ukrainian Museum-Archives – it’s to pre- digitized more than 10 million pages of cul- Development, who was in Kyiv in January said Jordan Owens, a spokeswoman for serve the evidence of the past.” tural-historical documents, working with with his committee colleagues as part of a Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan, in Mr. Fedynsky noted that the Ukrainian institutions like Ukraine’s Central Archives, an e-mail to The Ukrainian Weekly. “It is government has already signed an agree- 12-day, fact-finding mission to Ukraine, ment with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial (Continued on page 16) Latvia, Poland and Kazakhstan. (Continued on page 14) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2017 No. 7

ANALYSIS

Merkel-Poroshenko meeting shows deep freeze Senators seek veto power on sanctions Trump discusses Ukraine with NATO chief WASHINGTON – A group of U.S. sena- WASHINGTON – The White House says of “Normandy” format negotiations tors has introduced legislation that would President Donald Trump has discussed the hamstring any effort by President Donald conflict in eastern Ukraine during a call with