Events of note in 1978 (12/31/78)

Events of note in 1978

Probably the single most important community event this past year was the convening of the Third World Congress of Free Ukrainians in New York City over the Thanksgiving Day weekend. Some 500 delegates from the United States, Canada, South America, Europe and Australia met to plot the future course of the Ukrainian community in the free world. Despite Soviet hopes and attempts to subvert the congress, the Third WCFU concluded successfully in a spirit of harmony, tolerance and brotherhood. Mykola Plawiuk of Canada and Ivan Bazarko of the United States were elected to the presidency of the WCFU on a rotational basis. In addition to the plenary sessions, the delegates and guests had the opportunity to attend a large concert in Carnegie Hall, a congressional banquet and a demonstration in defense of the rights of Ukraine. Photo above shows the opening ceremony at which Msgr. Basil Kushnir, outgoing president, is seen at the podium delivering the opening address.
1978 saw the arrival to the United States of yet another Ukrainian human rights activist. Nadia Svitlychna and her two sons, Yarema, 9, and Ivan, 8 months old, landed at New York's Kennedy Airport on Wednesday, November 8. Her arrival raised the number of former Ukrainian political prisoners now residing in the West to three. Leonid Plyushch was the first to leave the USSR in 1976. In 1977 Gen. Petro Grigorenko was given permission to come to the United States for medical treatment. In early 1978 the Soviet government announced the Gen. Grigorenko has been stripped of his Soviet citizenship and has been barred from re-entering the Soviet Union. Since their arrivals, Mr. Plyushch, Gen. Grigorenko and Ms. Svitlychna have continuously spoken out in defense of human and national rights in Ukraine.
Following up on a similar event held in May of 1977, the Ukrainian National Association, with the cooperation of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, again held a Human Rights Day on Capitol Hill on October 5. Hosted by Sens. Robert Dole (R-Kan.) and Daniel P. Moynihan (D-N.Y.), some 50 U.S. senators and congressmen spoke out in defense of human rights in Ukraine and scored the Soviet government for violating these rights. Photo right shows, left to right, Dr. Myron Kuropas, UNA Supreme Vice-President; Gen. Petro Grigorenko, who was the keynote speaker, and his wife, Zinayida, Sen. Dole, and Dr. John O. Flis, UNA Supreme President.
The year 1978 brought major changes in the life of the Ukrainian National Association. At the 29th Regular Convention in Pittsburgh, Pa., May 22-27, a new Supreme Assembly, headed by Dr. John O. Flis, was elected. In addition to Dr. Flis, 10 other persons were elected for the first time to new posts. Photo above shows the Supreme Assembly posing for a group picture at Soyuzivka prior to their first joint meeting on September 8. First row, left to right, are: John Hewryk and Dr. Bohdan Futey, Supreme Auditors; the Rev. Anthony Pawluk, pastor of the Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church; Walter Sochan, Supreme Secretary; Mrs. Mary Dushnyck, Supreme Vice-President; Mrs. Ulana Diachuk, Supreme Treasurer; Wasyl Orichowsky, Supreme Organizer; Anthony Dragan, Svoboda editor emeritus; the Rev. Protopresbyter Stephan Bilak, Dr. Bohdan Hnatiuk and Prof. John Teluk, Supreme Auditors. Second row, left to right, are: Supreme Advisors Taras Szmagala, Michael Soroka, Mykola Chomanczuk, Mrs. Anna Haras, Mrs. Helen Olek, Wasyl Didiuk, Anatole Doroshenko, Roman Kuropas, Myroslaw Kalba, Eugene Repeta, Dr. Askold Lozynskyj, Andrew Jula and Mrs. Tekla Moroz. Missing from the photo is Sen. Paul Yuzyk, Supreme Director for Canada.
Participants of the International Plast Jamboree '78 at the beginning of their exhibition of pioneering skills, marching and synchronized exercises in Hawrelak Park in Edmonton, Alberta. About 1,000 Plast members from around the world attended the jamboree held August 4-17 in Alberta, Canada. The program included camping in the Edmonton area at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, attendance of the XI Commonwealth Games then being held in Edmonton, visits to the area's first Ukrainian settlements, and hiking and camping in the Canadian Rockies.
In recent years many people have written off the Lower East Side of Manhattan as a lost cause. But Ukrainian Americans in the Big Apple have done their utmost to preserve their community in that part of town. On East Seventh Street, local Ukrainian Americans held in May of this year the third annual Ukrainian Street Fair. Many thousands of passers-by sampled Ukrainian foods, heard Ukrainian music and saw Ukrainian dances. The fair's grandstand is located opposite the new St. George's Ukrainian Catholic Church, built by the community at a cost of some $3.8 million and dedicated in April. It is the first new Ukrainian Catholic Church built in Manhattan this century by the largest Ukrainian community in the United States. Another feature of this part of town is the street sign visible in the above photo which was taken during the fair. The New York City Council approved a request by local Ukrainians to have a small street, adjacent to the new church, between Sixth and Seventh streets and Second and Third avenues named Taras Shevchenko Place.
In 1978 many communities across the United States observed the 45th anniversary of the Kremlin-made famine in Ukraine which took the lives of some 7 million persons. The culmination of the observances was held at the Ukrainian Orthodox Center in South Bound Brook, N.J., on October 22. Some 3,000 Ukrainians from the northeast attended the observances which included a Liturgy, requiem and speeches by eyewitnesses to the famine. Photo above shows two youths carrying the wreath at the head of the columns of mourners from the St. Andrew's Church Memorial to the monument in honor of the famine victims.

| Home Page |