A special event is to be held in the Senedd on May 12 to honour the contribution of late Welsh journalist Gareth Jones who reported on the genocidal Great Famine in Ukraine, mid-1930s tensions in Europe and the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany.
Jones’ exposé on the Holodomor in Ukraine, which was made deadlier by a series of political decrees and decisions, was based on his own eyewitness testimony after travelling in the region. He revealed the scale and horror of the Holodomor to an international audience. Th Senedd event, organised by the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, is being held to honour the contribution made by Jones to journalism and international affairs. It will also celebrate the conclusion of the digitisation of much of his archive held at the National Library. Key to completing this digitisation project was generous financial support provided by the Ukrainian National Women's League of America, Temerty Foundation, the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation, the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium (HREC) and Russ and Karen Chelak. Jones was a gifted researcher, journalist and author who was murdered by supposed Chinese ‘bandits’ in Inner Mongolia in August 1935, on the eve of his 30th birthday. A selection of his papers is now digitised and can be viewed at https://www.library.wales/garethvaughanjones Following the murder, former British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, for whom Jones previously worked as Jones Private Secretary for Foreign Affairs, told the London Evening Standard: “That part of the world is a cauldron of conflicting intrigue and one or other interests concerned probably knew that Mr Gareth Jones knew too much of what was going on. “He had a passion for finding out what was happening in foreign lands wherever there was trouble, and in pursuit of his investigations he shrank from no risk... I had always been afraid that he would take one risk too many. “Nothing escaped his observation, and he allowed no obstacle to turn from his course when he thought that there was some fact, which he could obtain. He had the almost unfailing knack of getting at things that mattered.” Pedr ap Llwyd, the library’s chief executive and librarian, said: "I am very grateful for the financial support we received to digitise Gareth's archive as part of the library's digitisation strategy. “It is an extremely important archive and can now be shared with historians and researchers across the world. We also owe a great debt to Gareth's family for depositing the papers with us in the library." Lubomyr Luciuk, Professor of Political Geography at the Royal Military College of Canada, added: “Gareth Jones paid with his life for being a truth-teller, one of the first journalists to break the story about the genocidal Great Famine of 1932-1933 in Soviet Ukraine, the Holodomor. “This brave Welshman's commitment to reporting on the horrors of what was happening, even as the Soviets, their fellow travellers and even Western governments covered up the truth, needs to be remembered and hallowed, particularly at a time when Ukraine is again a victim of war, invasion and the genocidal agenda of Vladimir Putin and his KGB confederates." Oksana Lodziuk Krywulych, officer-at-large of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America (UNWLA), said: "The UNWLA is honoured to be a sponsor of the digitisation of Gareth Jones’ diaries. “The UNWLA remains steadfast in its commitment to be a vehicle of awareness and education about the Ukrainian genocide, known as the Holodomor. The Ukrainian nation owes a debt of gratitude to Gareth Jones, a great man who was not afraid to accurately report on the horrors of the Holodomor. “He deserves to be honoured and remembered for documenting the truth when it was denied by many in the west. His reporting is especially telling today as Ukraine is once again suffering a genocide at the hands of the same perpetrator, while the world watches in real time." Sponsored by Mick Antoniw MS, the event will include presentations by Professor Lubomyr Luciuk and journalist Martin Shipton, together with readings of extracts from Jones’ diaries and letters by Julian Lewis Jones.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
April 2020
March 2020
November 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
January 2018
December 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
Categories |