Jonathan Peri, Ph.D., J.D., is the President of America's only Ukrainian Heritage institution of higher education, Manor College in Jenkintown.

by Christine Wolkin

In one of his first moves as Chairman of Pennsylvania's Council of Higher Education, Jenkintown's Manor College President Jonathan Peri, Ph.D., J.D., lent copies of Ann Applebaum's new book,“Stalin's War on Ukraine: Red Famine,” to all members of Pennsylvania's State Board of Education. (Dr. Peri lent the books to uphold the Governor's Executive Order that bans accepting gifts.)

Peri, 43, who is the President of America's only Ukrainian Heritage institution of higher education, Manor College, distributed Applebaum's book in support of and response to the Board of Education's recent committee work ensuring that Holocaust, genocide and human rights violations are included in Pennsylvania's basic educational curriculum, along with appropriate resources, according to a release from the college.

While there are a number of books on the Holodomor, “Ann Applebaum’s book came out most recently…there’s been a lot of new information that’s been uncovered, and that’s largely through her research. So that is sort of becoming known as the next big credence or sourcebook on the Holodomor,” said Peri, who was recently appointed to the role of council chair by Governor Wolf.

The Holodomor, which literally translates as “to kill by starvation,” formed part of Stalin's campaign to eliminate small landowners and farmers who stood in the way of his effort to collectivize agricultural lands throughout the Soviet Union during the 1930s. It is estimated that between seven and 10 million Ukrainians might have perished during the famine that soon followed Stalin's collectivization of Ukrainian agricultural lands.

“Because it was so well contained by Russia, knowledge about the Holodomor didn’t really start to emerge until around the late 1940s,” said Peri. In fact, he added, we didn’t even begin to start seeing English sources on the topic until the 1980s.

Professor of History at Manor College, Matthew J. Smalarz, echoed Peri’s remarks on Manor College’s unique role in increasing awareness about the Holodomor and other examples of human rights violations. “I think the Manor College community plays an important role in openly discussing the broader implications of the Holodomor on the Ukrainian-American community,” said Smalarz.

In his class, “Global Patterns in the Making of Modern Word,” Smalarz actively addresses the impact of the Holodomor on contemporary world affairs, especially in light of the tensions between Ukraine and Russia over the last few years. He emphasizes the comparative qualities of the Holodomor to other genocides that transpired in the early 20th century against ethnic and religious minorities across Europe and parts of Asia, especially the Armenian genocide during the latter stages of the Ottoman Empire's decline in World War I and the Jewish Holocaust during World War II.

It’s important for students to gain a thorough understanding of how and why such large-scale tragedies were able to occur, both Smalarz and Peri stress. “Because international actors and organizations did not consistently and clearly hold these totalitarian regimes up to the standards that they had first envisioned for all countries following World War I, ethnic and religious minorities found themselves easily subjected to state actors who disregarded the ‘legitimacy’ and ‘authority’ of international conventions to prevent these atrocities from unfolding within their national boundaries,” said Smalarz.

Moving forward, several sources on the Holodomor will be available for teachers to incorporate into their classes. “They’ll become things that teachers can draw upon to say, ‘We’ve learned about these various topics that relate to the Holocaust, genocide and human rights violations; here’s one we should look at that happened in Ukraine,’” said Peri.

“It’s crucial for our world to be able to say ‘never again’ about the Holocaust and all genocides. Whether it’s America or any other state, we collectively as a global population have a duty to not allow it to happen in other countries.”

Since Peri took over his leadership position at Manor College a little more than two years ago, the college has increased its profile concerning the need for social justice and advocacy against human rights violations.

Ed.note: Manor College was founded in 1947 by the Byzantine Ukrainian Sisters of Saint Basil the Great. It is a two-year institution offering career-oriented and transfer programs to traditional age and adult students. For more information, visit https://manor.edu.