Ukrainian-Americans had an opportunity to see a piece of their history at St. Nicholas Cathedral, where a movie from their homeland called "Famine-33" made its Chicago debut.

They left the event Friday night talking about what the film might mean for Ukraine's future.

"Famine-33" chronicles one family's plight during the Soviet-imposed famine that killed more than 7 million Ukrainians during the early 1930s. Josef Stalin ordered confiscated all the region's crops, livestock and seed stores, primarily to force collectivization of the land and to raise hard currency.

The famine was hidden not only to the outside world, but also within Ukraine itself. Not until January 1990, when the Soviet Union began to crumble, did Ukraine's Communist Party admit that the famine occurred and was artificially induced.

The film's anti-Soviet message has helped spark nationalist fervor among Ukrainians around the world. It premiered on Ukrainian television on Nov. 30, 1991, only hours before the republic voted overwhelmingly to break from the Soviet Union.

And those who saw the movie at St. Nicholas Cathedral, in the heart of Ukrainian Village on the West Side, were clearly shaken by its blunt portrayal of the horrors inflicted on their homeland. Though most Ukrainians in Chicago are from western Ukraine, which was not affected by the famine, they are staunchly opposed to any future ties with Russia.

"I am very thankful (for the movie)," said Stefan Golash, 72, a Palatine resident who came to the United States in 1951. "We need that film to see what it means to stay together with the enemy.

"The time right now is not so clear. There are still some Communists in power. The only way for the Ukrainians to survive is real independence."

Golash said his family, which lived in western Ukraine, knew of the famine but was powerless to help.

"My godmother is from eastern Ukraine," said Andrew Atanowsky, a Park Ridge resident who came to the United States in 1949, when he was 7 years old. "I remember her telling us about eating bark from trees. There was absolutely nothing to eat.

"As a boy, I just couldn't believe it."

Atanowsky said he never thought a Ukrainian would be allowed to make a movie like "Famine-33."

"The communications medium, in my opinion, is the thing that made the Soviet Union fall apart," he said.

Though the Chicago showing was a one-time-only event, director Oles Yanchuk is trying to promote the movie's worldwide distribution.

"With Ukrainian-Americans, there's a very strong reaction," Yanchuk said through an interpreter Friday night. "I'd like to see it become more visible, to let the world know about the throes of death we were in, and basically to make sure it never happens again."

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