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Mostly Cloudy Vigil in Glen Cove calls for peace in Ukraine
A large crowd of roughly 400 gathered on Sunday in front of the Killenworth mansion in Glen Cove to protest the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Owned by Russia, Killenworth is used as a retreat by diplomats and their families, although it was not clear if anyone was there on Sunday.
People came from all over Long Island, with some from as far away as New Jersey to peacefully condemn the actions of President Vladimir Putin. They were also there to share their solidarity and express support for the Ukrainian people. For two hours, what was referred to as a “vigil,” included uplifting, powerful speeches by elected leaders and Ukrainian-Americans.
The crowd was diverse, with some waving Ukrainian flags and holding sunflowers, which has become a symbol of the Ukrainian struggle. Others raised signs bearing slogans like “Stop the Bloodshed” and “Putin is a Murderer,” written in English and Ukrainian. Many had yellow tape wrapped around their arms, a show of support for the citizen-soldiers fighting for the country’s safety and democracy.
“We just want peace, we are a peaceful people,” said a Ukrainian woman who asked not to be identified for fear of endangering her family in Ukraine. “We just want to live, to raise our kids, like here, like everyone.”
There were several children at the vigil who participated by holding up signs.
“Now we have children who are shivering in shelters, who are fleeing for their lives, who are scared,” one of the vigil organizers, Jolanta Zamecka said. “We stand here in solidarity, for the children.”
The event was organized in part by Zamecka, a vice chair of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County, which is in Glen Cove. Of Polish descent, she said the idea of a vigil culminated from a conversation she had had with her grandson prior to the invasion. He asked what would happen to the children in Ukraine if Putin invaded. When the invasion began a few days later, she knew she had to do something but wasn’t sure what.
She said she spoke to her friend, Fred Nielsen, a retired Marine Corps major and leader in Glen Cove, who told her, “You need to stop asking, ‘What can I do?’ and start asking yourself, ‘What can I do?’” And thus, the idea of the rally was born.
The event began with Zamecka and Nielsen leading a moment of silence for the people of Ukraine. Then the many Ukrainian-Americans who were at the vigil led the crowd in singing the National Anthem of Ukraine.
Glen Cove’s Father Varcilio Basil Salkovski, of St. Josephat’s Monastery, led everyone in prayer in Ukrainian and English, serving as a reminder of the vigil’s spiritual support of the Ukrainian people.
“For the millennium history of Christianity and Ukraine, we have withheld many, many invaders, many invasions from our neighbor from the East,” he said. “And once more … we will withstand.”
Gaitley Stevenson-Matthews, a former Glen Cove councilman, then led the crowd in an updated rendition of “We Are Standing Here Together.” The song was originally sung during the Civil Rights Movement. Some of the words were changed to directly refer to the current crisis in Ukraine.
The next speaker was Mitya Wycoff, a Jewish Ukrainian-American Holocaust survivor from Glen Cove. He spoke of his experiences in a concentration camp, where he was among the only 127 survivors out of 54,400.
“We can see today the suffering in our Motherland, where I grew up, went to university,” he said. “These are murderers coming to Ukraine, to take the lives of the Ukrainian people.”
He made it clear that he was not condemning any ethnic or cultural group. “We’re not against nationalities,” he said. “We’re against the war.”
When U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi spoke, he wished a good morning in Ukrainian. He asked that everyone be peacemakers, and to stay unified.
“We can’t let this become cause for division, both here in the United States and with our allies in NATO,” he said.
Nassau County Legislator Joshua Lafazan, a grandson of a Holocaust survivor, condemned Putin’s claims that Ukraine is run by Nazis. “I’d like to remind Putin that Ukraine is the only country in Europe with a Jewish prime minister and Jewish president,” Lafazan said.
Volodymyr Tsyalkovsky, a Communications Liaison for the organization Ukrainian Americans of Long Island, spoke of Ukraine’s history, and how Putin’s attempt to destroy the country has failed to destroy its people.
“There have been many invasions in the history of Ukraine, they’ve tried to divide and weaken us,” Tsyalkovsky said, “but Ukraine has never been as strong as it is today.”
When State Assemblyman Charles Lavine spoke, he reminded people that the battle against authoritarianism does not stop at the Ukrainian border.
“I was reminded of when Haile Selassie, emperor of Ethiopia, called on world leaders to stop the Italian invasion of Ethiopia,” Lavine said. “He told them, ‘It’s us today, it’s you tomorrow.’”
