The Ukrainian American community has begun a letter writing campaign to revoke Walter Duranty's Pulitzer Prize. As you are all probably well aware, Walter Duranty received the Pulitzer Prize in 1932 for his dishonest reporting on the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide. Duranty, who at the time was writing for the New York Times, issued a series of reports on Russia and their Five-Year Plan in which he not only downplayed the famine but also denied its existence. At the same time he privately told British embassy personnel that several million people had died of starvation. As a result of his reporting, Mr. Duranty was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in the Correspondence category.
With the 70th anniversary of the Famine upon us, the community has begun a letter writing campaign to have the Pulitzer Prize Board revoke Duranty's award for immoral reporting. In an effort to effectively conduct this campaign we are asking that your letters be sent no later than February 28th, as this is the time the board begins to consider nominations for Prizes and therefore, members are in frequent contact with each other. Please pass this email around to as many Ukrainians and others as you know.
The more letters they receive the better chance we have of them revoking Duranty's Pulitzer Prize.
For your convenience, a sample letter you may use follows. You may also choose to email Mr Gissler directly. His email address is sg138@columbia.edu and should be active.
Mr. Sig Gissler, Administrator
The Pulitzer Prizes
Columbia University
709 Journalism Building
2950 Broadway
New York, NY 10027
Dear Mr. Gissler:
I am writing this letter to you in your capacity as Administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes. At issue is the 1932 winner of the Pulitzer Prize in the Correspondence category, Mr. Walter Duranty of the New York Times. During 1932-1933 the government of the Soviet Union forcibly requisitioned grain from areas of Ukraine and cordoned off the area to prevent food from reaching the population. Over 7 million persons are estimated to have died as a result of this deliberate policy of starvation. These actions were intended to force the peasants into collective farms and to break Ukrainian nationalism. This Soviet policy falls into the category of genocide as defined by the United Nations' Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Mr. Duranty received the Pulitzer Prize "for his series of dispatches on Russia, especially the working out of the Five Year Plan." In his reports, Duranty downplayed the impact of food shortages in Ukraine or simply denied that there was a famine, although he visited areas afflicted by famine in 1933. While other Western reporters reported on the famine conditions as best as they could (due to Soviet censorship and restrictions on visits to famine areas) Duranty acted more like a spokesperson for the Soviet government than an independent reporter for a Western newspaper.
As an American of Ukrainian descent, I abhor the 1932 decision and am writing to ask the Board of the Pulitzer Prizes to review their judgement of awarding Walter Duranty this worthy prize. As there is precedent for withdrawing the Pulitzer Prize, I am asking the Board to reconsider its decision and make amends with the Ukrainian American community by revoking Duranty's Pulitzer Prize this year on the 70th anniversary of Ukraine's Famine-Genocide.
Signed,
____________________________
With the 70th anniversary of the Famine upon us, the community has begun a letter writing campaign to have the Pulitzer Prize Board revoke Duranty's award for immoral reporting. In an effort to effectively conduct this campaign we are asking that your letters be sent no later than February 28th, as this is the time the board begins to consider nominations for Prizes and therefore, members are in frequent contact with each other. Please pass this email around to as many Ukrainians and others as you know.
The more letters they receive the better chance we have of them revoking Duranty's Pulitzer Prize.
For your convenience, a sample letter you may use follows. You may also choose to email Mr Gissler directly. His email address is sg138@columbia.edu and should be active.
Mr. Sig Gissler, Administrator
The Pulitzer Prizes
Columbia University
709 Journalism Building
2950 Broadway
New York, NY 10027
Dear Mr. Gissler:
I am writing this letter to you in your capacity as Administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes. At issue is the 1932 winner of the Pulitzer Prize in the Correspondence category, Mr. Walter Duranty of the New York Times. During 1932-1933 the government of the Soviet Union forcibly requisitioned grain from areas of Ukraine and cordoned off the area to prevent food from reaching the population. Over 7 million persons are estimated to have died as a result of this deliberate policy of starvation. These actions were intended to force the peasants into collective farms and to break Ukrainian nationalism. This Soviet policy falls into the category of genocide as defined by the United Nations' Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Mr. Duranty received the Pulitzer Prize "for his series of dispatches on Russia, especially the working out of the Five Year Plan." In his reports, Duranty downplayed the impact of food shortages in Ukraine or simply denied that there was a famine, although he visited areas afflicted by famine in 1933. While other Western reporters reported on the famine conditions as best as they could (due to Soviet censorship and restrictions on visits to famine areas) Duranty acted more like a spokesperson for the Soviet government than an independent reporter for a Western newspaper.
As an American of Ukrainian descent, I abhor the 1932 decision and am writing to ask the Board of the Pulitzer Prizes to review their judgement of awarding Walter Duranty this worthy prize. As there is precedent for withdrawing the Pulitzer Prize, I am asking the Board to reconsider its decision and make amends with the Ukrainian American community by revoking Duranty's Pulitzer Prize this year on the 70th anniversary of Ukraine's Famine-Genocide.
Signed,
____________________________
