Q&A with US lobbyist and art collector Morgan Williams
Morgan Williams is the director of government affairs for the Washington, DC office of the SigmaBleyzer Emerging Markets Private Equity Investment Group, the president of the US-Ukraine Business Council and member of President Viktor Yushchenko’s Committee for the 75th Commemoration of the Holodomor 1932-1933.
Over the years, he has collected artwork depicting the Holodomor. He lent 350 works that are part of an exhibit of art, declassified documents, testimonies, statistical data and other archival materials that are on display at Ukrainian House until Dec. 5. When it comes to the Holodomor, Williams told the Post that numbers are less important than efforts to raise awareness, educate, and research the subject.
KP: Why is a foreigner at the forefront of raising awareness on this topic in Ukraine?
MW: I come from Kansas, a major agricultural state, and grew up learning about agriculture. Later I worked for US Senator Bob Dole in Washington on agricultural and food policies. I knew that in the late 1800s there was a massive exodus of German and Ukrainian emigrants from Ukraine who came to seek a better life in the US and Canada. Many came with hard red winter wheat seeds sewed into their jackets and coats. Kansas is indebted to them for this. Plus I have worked internationally in the development of food systems, from field to table, producer to consumer. Agriculture is also very political with price caps, production controls and support programs. Politicians have always been concerned about the price of bread in the cities – it’s a crucial economic and political indicator.
KP: So your background set the stage for your interest in the Holodomor?
MW: One could say that, although I hardly knew anything about Ukraine prior to coming here first in 1992 since for me the country was just lumped together with the rest of the Soviet Union. When one works in agriculture, one learns and studies famines and food shortages. So when I lived in Kyiv for four years starting in 1997 and really discovered what Ukraine went through in its collective history, especially about the 1932-33 Holodomor – induced famine, death for millions, genocide – I took an immediate interest. I sought out specialists and met Dr. Jim Mace who was the leading US scholar on the Holodomor and living in Kyiv.
KP: Your Holodomor art collection numbers 350 works and you are an advocate for the erection of a Holodomor Memorial Complex, something many government officials, despite countless promises, have failed to deliver. Why is it taking so long?
MW: Keep in mind that the artistic community was totally stifled and controlled in the Soviet Union from 1918 until the Perestroika period. Many people knew little about the famine – their grandparents were afraid to speak about this period with their grandchildren out of fear of being sent to the Gulag. This all changed in 1989-1993, when Ukrainian artists were really free to express themselves – a first in 70 years. Artists began organizing their own exhibitions and were not afraid to touch upon such topics as the Holodomor, the Chornobyl nuclear disaster, destruction of culture, the Great Terror of 1937 and other such topics. I decided I could contribute by telling the world about the Holodomor by finding artistic works that depicted the Holodomor – a visual continuation of the storytelling about what transpired. You have to remember that work on this subject was somewhat dated outside of the Soviet Union. In addition, many visuals were wrong as most of them were photographs from the 1921-22 famine along the Volga River in Russia taken by international relief agencies.
KP: Have any actual photographs of the Holodomor surfaced since?
MW: This I took upon myself. I offered every collector and antique dealer I met $100 if they could provide me with an authentic or authentic copy of a photograph of famine victims in Ukraine. I still have yet to give out $100. There are only around 25 documented photographs and they were taken in Kharkiv.
KP: How far does your collection go? Are you only raising awareness? Is that the end-goal?
MW: You have to understand the Holodomor is the central event of Ukraine’s history. The Diaspora used it as the main focal point in their protests against the Soviet Union – the Soviet occupation of Ukraine, as it was called. It is the apex event to tell people. I’m for continued research, education, and telling the true story about the entire Soviet period and not just about the number who died. As Jim Mace said, millions died, it was a great human tragedy, let’s not argue over numbers.
KP: Why just ‘millions?’
MW: The period of 1918-1938 was entirely a genocidal action against Ukraine. Private wealth and businesses were completely wiped out. Seven thousand churches were destroyed. Millions were murdered, sent to the Gulag. Private education was abolished and educational institution leaders were vanquished. The same goes for cultural, artistic and religious leaders. Language and culture were repressed. We should not just talk about 1932-33. What happened to this country over a 20 year period was absolutely shocking. The number of 10 million victims includes auxiliary and other deaths from repression during this period. We shouldn’t only include starvation; many who escaped died of poor health or suffered traumatically. Besides, a lot of records were destroyed so it is hard to have an absolute number.
KP: What if Moscow opened up its archives for research? It has refused to do so thus far.
MW: In general, I support the opening of archives anywhere in the world – the truth about a lot of tragedies needs to come out. Nevertheless, this is why I support the new National Institute of Memory because it is supposed to set up a research center, a single place where a history of Ukraine under the Soviets could be written. There are many different books out there with various viewpoints on Ukraine’s history. In this sense, all the archives available could be located under one roof. The Institute of National Memory, over time, is to tell the story of what happened in the Soviet period in Ukraine. The Holodomor was not an isolated, accidental event.
KP: Recently, President Yushchenko and SBU Chief Valentyn Nalyvaichenko called for criminal responsibility for those culprits who deny the Holodomor and the Holocaust. What is your opinion?
MW: There’s no question that President Yushchenko and first lady Kateryna Yushchenko are leaders in raising the issue of the truth about Ukrainian history, that is, it’s visibility in Ukraine and on the global stage whenever they visit a foreign country.
He’s certainly doing and has done a lot. He’s serious about the topic and has made a great contribution to the issue of historical truth. One difference here is the criminal issue. I don’t agree with criminalizing actions related to what people say regarding historical issues. I am for protecting free speech and freedom of the press in Ukraine and anywhere else in the world.
KP: Would it put closure to the matter if Russia as the legal successor state to the Soviet Union publicly apologized to Ukraine for the Holodomor as for example, Bill Clinton did when he apologized to Native Americans or to African Americans for America’s past treatment of them?
MW: I welcome societies, governments, or entire nations who take responsibilities for their historical actions. President Yushchenko has stated his work is not to blame present-day Russia.
The Russian government still has a very difficult time acknowledging the crimes against humanity that happened during the Soviet period. This will probably continue for many years. Take for instance their reaction when Estonia moved a single Soviet-era statue. The Communist government and leaders in the Soviet Union were out of control, and millions suffered and millions more were murdered.
