February 18 was the sixth birthday of James Mace that we celebrate without his physical presence. However, all this time James has been with us. Observing life in Ukraine, one has no doubt that James was right, whether someone likes it or not. His truth is tough for Ukrainians. Realizing it is an extremely important goal for a post-genocidal society, it can be reached only by an effort of will. It’s clear that the energy for such an effort does not come from nothing. It requires continual training and preparation.
The Day’s Library Series published two collections of works by James: Day and Eternity of James Mace and James Mace: Your Dead Chose Me. His axiomatic The Tale of Two Journalists became the basis for The Day’s annual Summer School of Journalism. This initiative was followed by universities: Ostroh Academy, Zaporizhia National University, and Podillia University established special courses based on works by James Mace.
And last year, during the Holodomor victims’ commemoration days, The Day’s Civic Stand award in the sphere of journalism named after James Mace found its first laureate — Ihor Losiev.
All these are small steps on the way of bringing the Ukrainian society closer to the meaning of James’ works. And they have their results. Today among young people there is a wide circle of those who need no explanation who James was and what he wanted to tell Ukrainians. Obviously, the effort of realizing the problems of Ukrainian society is a duty of this very youth. Hopefully, this duty can be fulfilled.
The editor in chief and journalists of The Day laid flowers on the grave of James Mace.
Oleksandr KARPIUK, student, Zaporizhia National University:
“When I was a little child, according to my mother’s words, there was only one thing that could always sadden me — injustice. If a person was offended for no reason or something unusual happened, this could at least become a reason for a bad mood.
“While studying as a senior at the journalism department, I tried to actively work with juniors. I’ve always thought that journalism is a profession that must have its own traditions and ‘honor code’ — undisputable rules, neglecting which is equal to leaving the profession. I also suppose that beginning journalists should be just given the classics of journalism and simply good journalism texts for reading. It’s like a vaccine against the possible illness, unprofessionalism in this case, which can harm the society.
“This summer one more journalist joined those whom I respect for their thirst for truth. I feel very sorry when I learn about worthy people so late, when they are not with us any more, or when so many people know about them, and I was like aside from life of society and problems perturbing it. James Mace — that’s the name of this columnist who joined the list of my new journalistic interests.
“My acquaintance with Mace as a journalist began with The Tale of Two Journalists. It reminded me of my childhood and aspiration for human justice — two journalists-antipodes, one of whom was awarded a Pulitzer Prize, but wrote only what society and the ruling government wanted, but not the truth. At the same time, the other one lived a very short professional life and was literally buried for truthful materials about the Soviet government.
“This case, in the author’s opinion, should be considered at all departments of journalism without exceptions. One can write and talk a lot about professionalism and journalist’s ethics, but until the journalist himself faces the choice — duty and professionalism or glory and connivance, he will not realize the entire responsibility he bears.
“This material became a bridge between me and James Mace — an amazing author who was not afraid to speak controversial things that are still considered unique in our time. Despite his distinct position, the Tale has sound argumentation, which is a good example for beginners and current journalists. Words about the Holodomor in Ukraine were repeatedly heard before and after Mace published his material, but his material reads much better than words of many public and political activists. The reason is that it was written by a person who cared. An inspired journalist always writes better than a knowing journalist. The same is true in this case — caring Mace writes better and more interesting than those who are guided only by knowledge and facts.
“I’m glad that in journalist circles there have always been people who don’t fear to say what they think should be said and not what is required to be said. A human being has a wonderful gift — words. One can kill or save by it. I really hope that the work of this man who sought his truth will be worthily evaluated — if not now, then at least in the next century.
“I regret that I can’t talk to James Mace now, I guess it would be an interesting conversation, regardless of the fact whether I would agree with all his statements or not. Everyone has one’s own truth, but the verity is just one.”
Alisa HORDIICHUK, sophomore, Ukrainian Philology major, Ostroh Academy:
“James Mace’s contribution to the history of the Ukrainian people is of course difficult to overestimate. Largely owing to his efforts the Holodomor of 1932–33 was recognized as genocide directed at annihilation of the Ukrainian people. A Native American, he helped us, Ukrainians, understand this simple truth and defend our rights.
“But for me James Mace has always been associated exactly with The Day, because this person is directly connected with publishing the English-language weekly The Day. And it enabled Ukraine’s integration into the European information sphere. Unfortunately, a small part of Ukrainians accept the reality consciously and objectively; people can’t think; they can’t choose what they really need, and instead they obediently listen to not always correct and trustworthy information broadcast by television.
“The Day is like a light at the end of the tunnel. This is elite’s newspaper, and the elite is not a bank director, big cheese, or a TV star. The elite is everyone who thinks sound and critically assesses events around him. So James Mace joined the noble activity of the newspaper — bringing the truth to the people and leaving perception of this truth at people’s discretion. The newspaper in English is a brilliant idea. If we don’t want to read the truth about ourselves, let others read it.”
Olha BILOHOLOVA, student, Yurii Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University:
“My acquaintance with James Mace was very accidental. Watching television programs dealing with research on the 1932–33 Holodomor in Ukraine, I encountered archive records of this prominent Ukrainian citizen. At first, James seemed to me a bit weird, and his language with a specific accent attracted special attention. I started at once asking Mace about his life and research activity he began back when he was living in the United States.
“Later I found James’ book Your Dead Chose Me. And I was astonished at the direct meaning of the word. Not every conscious Ukrainian can boast of such patriotism and devotion to his case, let alone Ukrainian researchers. It was his materials that gave me the complete idea of the 1933 Holodomor. The genocide of Ukrainians, no doubt, can be listed among the two most well-known genocides in the history of mankind: the annihilation of Armenians by Turks, and the Holocaust of European Jews.
“Certainly, historians will have their say about him in the future. It seems to me that James’ attention to the 1933 Holodomor is also connected with the fact that he had the roots of freedom-loving Indians who were almost entirely annihilated by white colonizers. The phenomenon of James Mace, in my opinion, lies in his sympathizing with all human misfortunes. He first heard about the 1933 Holodomor from Ukrainians who had left their native land and had gone abroad. When he touched this topic, a question arose: Why hadn’t anyone written about these horrors? And he started speaking. And in such a way that no one could object to his facts and proofs. It was a triumph. The triumph of understanding and truth. I am sure that everyone is thankful for his work: those who are still alive and remember the terrible time of the Holodomor, and those who left us long ago, but their souls are silently thanking the American Ukrainian.”
Liudmyla PUTKALETS, student, Ivan Ohienko Kamianets-Podilsky National University:
“The personality of James Mace is especially important for the Ukrainian history, since professor Mace dedicated most of his life to historical research and proved that the famine in Soviet Ukraine at the beginning of the 1930s was a purposeful act of Stalin’s genocide. To assert this idea, James Mace made lots of efforts. Though Ukraine didn’t overcome the consequences of the Soviet oppression, however, in the opinion of Mace, it got a chance to become a strong, independent, flourishing, democratic, rule-of-law state.
“James Mace’s historical research will overcome all debates on the Holodomor, and hopefully Ukrainians will finally understand that they lost not only a prominent scholar, but also a patriot and friend of their country.”
Oksana KOCHUK, student, Ivan Ohienko Kamianets-Podilsky National University:
“At the beginning of 1990, the American professor James Mace arrived in Kyiv. Since that time he became one of the key figures in all activities dedicated to commemoration of the Holodomor victims, researching the reasons and consequences of the famine-genocide and political repressions in Ukraine.
“James Mace is a real patriot of our state, even though he was not officially a Ukrainian citizen. In my mind I remember him as the author of many works dedicated to the famine of 1932–33 in Ukraine and as a supporter and defender of his new motherland. It’s difficult to believe that a person from another country can sympathize so sincerely with the fate of another country. However, Ukraine was so close to James Mace.
“On February 18, James Mace would be 58. However, he has been gone for nearly six years now, and only his soul wishes to be worthily honored by the Ukrainian people.”
Tetiana LYKHODEN, student, Ivan Ohienko Kamianets-Podilsky National University:
“‘Our country’ — that’s how James Mace referred to Ukraine. He was a scholar of world renown, a writer, professor and journalist, whose motherland was the United States of America.
“Surely, he deserves to be honored by each of us; he deserves to be recognized and remembered. Because he impressed us as someone who could serve as an example for Ukrainians — an example of patriotism, sincere love for Ukraine, and an example of courage in elucidating horrible facts of our country’s history. When everyone kept silent, he spoke up about the Holodomor in our country; he was very surprised and upset by Ukrainians’ indifference to their native language, history, and state.”
Anastasia SAMOSHYNA, student, Institute of Journalism, Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University:
“Benjamin Disraeli once bravely and paradoxically defined the notion of lie. In his opinion, ‘there are three kinds of lie: a lie, an impudent lie, and statistics.’ And when it deals with the truth? It seems to be a more open and transparent category that shouldn’t have any ambiguity, variations and vagueness, any division into types. After all, there is a saying that everyone has one’s own truth. However, if everything were so simple and evident, a paradise on earth would probably come.
“Therefore, when there is a range of isotopes of lie, and, according to the cosmic order, everything must be balanced by corresponding oppositions, so there must be a few types of truth. Exactly here, when one is at the cobweb-like crossroads of lie and truth, in my opinion, one of the main and most complicated questions one can ask oneself appears: Which road should we choose? Depending on the choice-response, your fate is formed somewhere there in heaven — for lifetime and after death. However, one or another scenario of one’s living is chosen individually by each person, by their thoughts and deeds.
“Therefore, I’m especially fond of personalities who not just spiritually managed to raise their flags in the name of truth, indivisible truth as the only possible way of life, but did it despite the hardest pressure — the pressure of society: the regimes and gregarious crowd.
“James Mace is, of course, one of such personalities. I’m already lucky. I learned at school about the person who fought and opened to the world already even not just Ukrainian, but human truth about the horrors of 1932–33. Later they talked about him in the institute. However, in my opinion, the value of such talks lies in their mostly informative character. Owing to it we just learn new information about a man who for some reason disagreed with the official position of the former Soviet empire and its explanation of the famine in the south of this country and told the truth of the people who suffered from the Holodomor, as his research showed.
“This is, of course, useful information one should know, at least for historical awareness which every civilized and knowledgeable person should have. However this information is just a sprout. Without proper care and taking roots in fertile land, it can fail to grow into a conscious idea and understanding of the universal meaning of what James Mace did. In other words, one shouldn’t rely only on others who could tell you about it, but work individually on oneself and make personal efforts, looking for answers, creating one’s own view and attitude.
“I suppose that for Ukraine globally, besides the recognized help with the word of truth and saving thousands of lives by means of it, the extreme importance of James Mace is also in the fact that he proved once again to the oppressed the real possibility for one person to change something and turn liars’ face to the truth and bring them nearer to it. To some extent he also acted as a catalyst for the future development of active public rebellion as a sign of struggle for truth and justice.
“Personally for me James Mace is one of the best examples of what influence journalism can have on historical and social processes and, moreover, one journalist who just possesses the proper sense of good and evil, lie and truth, conscience and humanity. It is desirable that journalists at the crossroads of lie and truth choose the right way and answer their own questions, remembering such great predecessors in their profession and being guided by the corresponding moral qualities.”
Diana LIOLIA, 11th-grader, Zhmerynka school No. 4:
“Ukraine is a country abundant not only in fertile fields and flowering groves, but also in people. No wonder there is a proverb that the soul of any writer is his works, and the soul of any country is its people. All of us, different people, live in the world with our own special traits and thoughts, but we are all united by one but very important thing — the Ukrainian state.
“But look at how much strength it took our ancestors to struggle for the native land! Looking deep into historical books and reading them, as they say, between the lines, one can see many tragic pages which can’t be just turned over or forgotten. It hurts that the real history of Ukraine is written in bloody ink on the blood-colored land. But it hurts even more that even after we won our independence, we don’t know the real truth.
“Our nation has its history, its thorny way of development. And we met different people on this way: those who tried to advance our nation among others, and those who, on the contrary, oppressed the nation that was not yet subdued. It seemed to our ancient relatives that when Ukraine would be independent, all our problems would vanish on their own and we would prosper and flourish! Unfortunately, this was not the case. It turns out that even this is too little for us. The economic crisis in the state, enmity in the society, people’s fear for their future, despair in families, etc. As we see, everything is infected with a horrible virus, and it is progressing.
“It looks evident that we must struggle ourselves, but in reality there is the exact opposite. James Mace is a vivid example of this — the person whom I’ve never seen in my life, but whom I deeply respect. I think that not every Ukrainian is able to be imbued with the problems of his own, let alone a different state, as James Mace did. Owing to him the Holodomor was recognized as genocide against the Ukrainian people on the world scale. I am writing confidently about it, since I used his works in many of my works which got awards. The book Day and Eternity of James Mace under the overall editorship of Larysa Ivshyna helped me a lot, since it touches upon those problems and elucidates those themes about which I always wanted to know more.
“James Mace is a devotee who will always remain in our memory. It seems to me that thanks to such people as he was, we have things to fight for and win. Whatever they say now, I think that Mace is a motive power that tried to put Ukraine among the best countries of the world. Even if not everything is perfect, we’ll manage to do it, especially if we are helped by people like him, who are now planting the seed of good, truth, and justice in our heads. And believe me, the harvest will not be poorer, and the ‘good glory, glory of Ukraine’ will revive!”
Natalia VOLOSHYNOVYCH, teacher, Faculty of Romance-Germanic Philology, Lesia Ukrainka Volyn National University:
“Any communist ideology is evil for the whole world. There does not seem to be crimes that the Bolsheviks were not capable of committing, as they tried to raze everything to the ground and create a society of soulless zombies indifferent to everything.
“Concealing and distorting real events, the ideologists of Stalinism stated that there were no artificial famines in the country and that the entire nation was busy building the socialism in the whole world. It was the time of degrading morality, godless and anti-humane practice of the repressive regime, since morality per se in the Country of the Soviets was considered an unnecessary rubbish.
“On Feb. 18, 2010, the famous historian and publicist James Mace would become 58; he stigmatized the criminal activity of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union/Communist Party of Ukraine which organized genocide of the Ukrainian people, and thanks to him the world learned about the horrible tragedy.
“When our contemporaries remember his bright name, the following words are used most often: ‘This American, who had not one drop of Slavic blood in his veins, was more Ukrainian than many of those who were born and grew up here.’
“Horrible, impressive facts, accusatory documents presented in the book Your Dead Chose Me is a warning to whole mankind, so that the Holodomor, concentration camps, and the sufferings of the Ukrainian people are never repeated again.”
Zoryna KORABLINA, teacher, Faculty of Romance-Germanic Philology, Lesia Ukrainka Volyn National University:
“For each country and each nation there are themes that can be called eternal. These are landmarks of memory which prevent us from forgetting one’s origin and make a nation, rather than just population or electorate, out of people. These themes emerge through the wormwood of oblivion; they hurt and bleed like old wounds. They can be uncomfortable; they can be ‘politically incorrect.’ But to get rid of them would mean to lose a part of one’s past, lose one’s face as a nation, be transformed into a timeserver that catches an appropriate moment and tries to speculate on the current political situation.
“For Ukrainians one of such ‘uncomfortable’ themes is our relatively recent history, the Holodomor of 1932–33, everything that directly preceded it and what became its direct consequence. How many lances were (and maybe still will be) broken in political battles over what the 1930s were for Ukraine! Researchers, politicians, observers, and simply interested people will evidently repeatedly try to define the horrors done by people (were they people after all?) on our land. Regretfully, the descendants of thousands of lost Ukrainians still don’t want to see farther than their nose. The blood of innocent victims doesn’t appeal to them. No ashes are knock at the doors of their hearts. Indeed, ‘no man is a prophet in his own country.’
“For some reason it was always so in our land that prophets came from faraway. Today I want to remember so much a prophet, as a Person, Citizen, and Voice — an American by birthplace and a Ukrainian by his heart’s appeal — James Mace, whose birth anniversary we celebrate on February 18.
“Avoiding general notions (professor Mace’s biography is actually in itself a very interesting object for reading), I want to remind you about the main moments which made him closer to Ukraine.
“Back when he was a student, Mace became interested in researching the history of the totalitarian regime in the Soviet Union. Working on his dissertation dedicated to the national communism in Ukraine in the 1920s, he met the famous British political writer Robert Conquest. The cooperation on a book about the terror in Ukraine during the Stalinism developed into what eventually became the cause of Mace’s whole life.
“The theme of terror and the Holodomor was a top secret for long decades. What made Mace dedicate his life to researching issues which some two decades ago were considered ‘uncomfortable’ and could cause lots of problems for the scholar? The answer can probably be found in what we call the historical memory of a nation. Mace, a Native American, learned what ethnocide was on the example of his own ancestors. Migration of his native tribe from fertile lands to a reservation many hundreds of miles away remained in the family narration of Cherokee Indians about the ‘Way of Tears.’ Hunger, cold, and diseases took away thousands of lives. I suppose this became the stimulus that determined Mace’s further way as a historian, political writer, and simply a human being.
“Long before the topic of the man-made famine stopped being a taboo on the territory of the former totalitarian Soviet empire, Mace became the voice which told us about what many would prefer not to know. Those who knew preferred to keep silent. But hundreds of thousands of innocent tortured Ukrainians spoke through this American Indian to awake our conscience and memory and, most importantly, prevent us from losing the way of our own statehood after we just found it.”
Yana TSAPUK, sophomore, Lesia Ukrainka Volyn National University:
“A native American ‘with Ukraine in heart’ who wasn’t aside from the constantly hushed-up issues of genocide, impressed me with his self-denial for the goal he set: ‘open the world’s eyes to the purposeful, conscious annihilation of the Ukrainian nation that took place in 1932–33.’
“Analyzing the current political situation in Ukraine, we realize that today not everyone is able to dedicate the bigger part of one’s life to researching the painful issue of the extensive crime against people, since it’s easier to be covered by ‘democracy,’ ‘stability,’ inefficient reforms and ‘harmony’ (although it is not quite clear between whom and under what conditions) than fight for the truth. But he managed to do it, and moreover, he did it thinking not about his native people, but about the future of Ukrainians who live under the threat of remaining ‘just a national minority in our own country’ (James Mace, Your Dead Chose Me).
“I completely agree with the statement of this prominent journalist that the problem of bilingualism in Ukraine ‘is more of a political character than a cultural one.’ Choosing, as some people believe, a more modern and fashionable language, we consciously agree to genocide of our culture, dignity of Ukrainians, while living in an independent state at the same time. Meanwhile, one should research, study, and analyze our history and understand mistakes of the past in order not to return to it.
“One of James Mace’s most favorite phrases ‘I haven’t begun the struggle yet’ proves his foresight, points to the tremendous plans and projects he had in mind, and is a kind of a call for action for the future generations that respect themselves, their culture, and the land where they live.”
Larysa IVSHYNA, editor in chief, The Day:
“Today is the case when we feel the justice of James’ warnings even more. His bitter words about the fact in the 1990s it was the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic that received independence and about the post-genocidal condition of Ukrainian society echo in the results of the presidential elections.
“Unfortunately, the Ministry of Education, having classified the books from The Day’s Library Series, which include two collections of works by James, as ‘Recommended for use in the educational process,’ did not do at least one step further and failed to send letters about it to schools’ administrations. This should have been done in order to provide them with reference points so that they could be guided by them in the process of education. For it is very important that those who develop curricula, school principals, and teachers understand the necessity of rapid learning from the experience of previous generations and the things James talked about.
“Today, on James’ birthday, we need thank him and his American parents for him and for what he did for Ukrainians and think about finding a way to make him heard.”
Ihor LOSIEV, Ph.D. in philosophy, assistant professor, Department of Cultural Studies, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, laureate of The Day’s James Mace award:
“Despite his American origin, his personality taught us what real Ukrainian patriotism is. If at least the majority of our politicians were such patriots of their country, as this American, we would live much better in our own state. James Mace is a model of a person who treated every pain of humankind with great attention; not only concerning his own state, but also ours, accepting it as his own pain. James did a lot to help Ukrainians get rid of the ‘atrophy’ of historical memory and our connection with the past and ‘the dead, the living, and those yet unborn.’
“It is absolutely clear why James Mace was loved and respected by representatives of the Ukrainian community, unlike officials, politicos, and dubious characters who are still hindering Ukraine from normal development. James Mace was a living reproach for the latter; by his own life and his personality he flung this reproach into their faces, and looking at Mace, they felt who they really were — miserable scoundrels who didn’t want to work for their people and lived as beings isolated from the nation, taking care only of their own welfare. We are very lucky that in recent Ukrainian history there was such a personality like James Mace.”
Stanislav KULCHYTSKY, doctor of historical sciences, professor, deputy director for research. Institute of the History of Ukraine, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine:
“James Mace called Ukrainian society ‘post-genocidal.’ Many people who communicated with him gave hostile reception to this definition. Perhaps in recent years the number of those who disagree with this statement decreased. Since the Soviet times we got used to looking into the future with optimism and often even sang the song with the lyrics like this: ‘Tomorrow will be better day than yesterday!’ We should get used to the fact that tomorrow can be worse.
“James Mace understood much better than his American colleagues with what strength Stalin’s totalitarian regime had ruined Ukrainian society, for centuries hit the nation in the head, i.e., its intellectuals, and when this turned out to be insufficient, it hit the peasantry with the Holodomor. This horrible past always remains with us. It should be realized in order to be ready to face the challenges that time always brings.
“James Mace’s intellectual heritage hasn’t become fully accessible to us — it remains in manuscripts to a much degree. It should be processed and published, because it is topical. This heritage can become another brick in the civil society we are trying to create in order to influence the government permanently and not only during elections (withoutevident success even then though).”
Natalia DZIUBENKO-MACE, writer, journalist, poetess:
“I slowly start my shopping — after all, James’ birthday is coming soon. My broken hand wouldn’t heal, and that is why I carry food in one hand. The birthday is approaching. February 14 is my sister Liudmyla’s birthday. I can’t dial the number to tell her happy birthday. But after a short while she called me herself, it was 2 p.m. soon. My father died. On Feb. 18, 2004 I returned from Lviv. James was crying as he let me go to the funeral. He was worried when I returned, but he was too sick, preparing for another surgery, and couldn’t go with me.
“It was a black day in my life; I remember all the details and all the moments very well. They are somewhere in the subconscious, stashed away, even from myself. I know that sometime in the future they’ll appear on paper — and nothing should be created, no words selected to tell the hard truth about the last days of my husband’s earthly life. Not now, not at the moment. I still feel the horrible vibration of the incredible loss, still there in 2004 I’m standing over the open grave and listen to the clods of soggy soil hitting the casket.
“Then, when I came back from Lviv, James told me wise and soothing words. Listening to the sad voice of my beloved husband, I suddenly heard the frightful ringing of silence. At night I woke up and until morning looked at his calm face. I absorbed each line, each shade, and was thinking that morning was soon and I wouldn’t have time to look enough and admire enough, because there would be no time for anything. That was the last James Mace’s birthday. I’m not sure whether anyone, except for Tetiana Nykytiuk, came in the evening to wish him a happy birthday. Grief is grief, but James was to be honored. Of course, that’s what I want to believe. Happy birthday wishes like that were few that winter — friends honored my sorrow.
“I overcame myself then. I saw what horror my tears provoked in James. I was unable to bring back my father, but I could lose my husband. I saw it, felt, apprehended it, but James was burning out because of scorching anxiety before my eyes. He repeated many words to me every day. So many words. ‘How skillfully they are sweet-talking Ukraine.’ This was about politicians who promised so much and spoke so eloquently. ‘And nobody, nobody tells the truth.’ The truth was that Ukraine was on the edge and the time for getting ready is over; it was time to gather stones and start building the state.
“I return every time to that winter in my mind, to that tragic spring, and I’m burned by the feeling of guilt and anger, because we again are caught in the vicious circle of an idol, as James figuratively put it. Because we want a strong hand and a strong fist again.
“For some reason exactly these days James Mace’s ‘geographical’ settling in entire Ukraine is taking place. Earlier in different publications I read mostly slander about James, lots of mythology and fabrications. But now I receive publications from the most remotest corners of Ukraine: Truskavets, Drohobych, Poltava, Chernihiv, Donetsk, and the Crimea, where articles published by James in The Day and his pieces from the book, are being discussed. There is very special attention to his publications precisely now.”
