FACES AND PLACES: Return of the natives (01/24/99)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

Return of the natives

Hardly noticed in the U.S., the 32nd national convention of the Ukrainian National Federation (known by its Ukrainian acronym, UNO) of Canada last June was another defeat for the increasingly irrelevant OUN(M), the so-called "Melnykivtsi."

By a vote of 64-49, a slate consisting primarily of Canadian-born delegates defeated a ticket composed almost exclusively of OUN(M) adherents. It was a momentous occasion, denoting the return of Canada's natives and the end of political dogma.

The return, according to reliable sources within UNO, was precipitated by a rumor that OUN(M) Chairman Mykola Plawiuk, now a bit player in Ukraine, was pushing for the sale of UNO assets in Canada so as to fund his sinking fortunes abroad.

The tone for the return was articulated in a speech by Andrew Gregorovich, son of UNO's first president. Mr. Gregorovich emphasized the initial Canadian character of UNO, suggesting that its erosion over the years was a catastrophe.

Founded in 1932, the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada has a long and distinguished history. Sympathetic to the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) initially headed by Yevhen Konovalets, UNO was ultimately predicated on seven core beliefs: faith in Canada and its future; faith in the dignity of the individual; faith in the democratic way of life; faith in the moral principles of Christianity; faith in Ukrainian cultural traditions and their integration into Canadian culture; faith in liberty as the right of every nation; faith in the liberty of Ukraine.

These same ideals were later adopted by the Ukrainian National Youth Federation (MUN - Molodi Ukrayinski Natsionalisty), an UNO youth affiliate founded in 1934. Nominally nationalists, the MUN leadership remained fiercely loyal to Canadian democratic principles.

When OUN was split between the "Banderivtsi" and "Melnykivtsi" in the 1940s, UNO's sympathies remained with Konovalet's duly elected successor, Andrii Melnyk. With the arrival of thousands of OUN members to Canada following the second world war, the Melnykivtsi gravitated to UNO, while the Banderivtsi established their own, separate organizations loyal to Stefan Bandera. For the next 50 years the two OUN's denigrated and undermined each other's initiatives in North America, leading to one of the most idiotically counterproductive, teapot tempests of the post-war era.

Back during the 1950s, however, newly arrived OUN(M) members, some of whom had served in the Ukrainian underground, were welcomed as heroes. Taking advantage of the goodwill showered upon them, but continuing to maintain their ties and loyalty to OUN(M) in Europe, they formed a secret network within UNO for the purpose of taking over the organization and its many large UNO halls throughout Canada. The shift in emphasis from Canada to Europe had a negative effect upon members of MUN, who, as they became older, felt estranged from their parent organization and drifted away. By 1960, UNO and its house organ, New Pathway, were firmly in the hands of the new group, the Melnykivtsi.

Alarmed by the shift, the Winnipeg and St. Boniface branches, as well as the Dominion honorary president, established a committee to defend the original aims of UNO. The immediate reaction of the UNO Dominion executive and the presidium was to expel the members of the defense committee. Purged were Dr. (later senator) Paul Yuzyk, one of the founding members and first Dominion president of MUN; Michael Pohorecky, founder and editor-in-chief of New Pathway for 30 years; Walter Klymkiw, school principal and former Dominion president of MUN; W. Topolonycky, a former member of the UNO Dominion executive; and Ivan Hewryk, another former member of the UNO Dominion executive. The venerable Wolodymyr Kossar, an UNO stalwart, was eased out of a leadership role a year later.

A similar takeover was engineered within the OUN(M)-affiliated Organization for the Rebirth of Ukraine (ODVU) in the United States. After decimating MUN in America, ODVU's new leaders turned to an American-born - yours truly - in hopes of turning the organization around. Explaining MUN's return to its American roots in The Ukrainian Weekly of October 8, 1960, I denounced the tirades of "displaced politicians" who "chatter about the 'ivtsi' and the glory that once was Ukraine ... The kind of government Ukraine will adopt will largely depend upon the choice the people over there make. The harangues of ghetto politicians in America will not matter one iota."

Was I prescient in 1960 or what???

Concerned with developments within MUN in Canada, I traveled to Toronto that same year and met with Mr. Plawiuk, then the eminence grise of the OUN(M) operation. My trip accomplished nothing, Mr. Plawiuk and his people continued to dominate UNO until 1998.

As might be expected, Mr. Plawiuk was not amused by stories about the 1998 UNO remake that appeared in Ukrainian News, an Edmonton newspaper, under the headline "UNF returns to its roots." In a response published in the August 1-8 issue of New Pathway, Mr. Plawiuk took umbrage with the Ukrainian News report, arguing that UNO's roots had never changed. Sinking to a new level of hypocrisy, Mr. Plawiuk praised people like Sen. Yuzyk and Myhaijlo Poherecky, UNO pioneers whom he helped purge from UNO.

Mr. Plawiuk now lives in Ukraine and is apparently still committed to purges. Recently he attempted to wrest control of the journal Smoloskyp from its long-time editor, Osyp Zinkewycz. At one time, both Mr. Zinkewycz and Smoloskyp were affiliated with OUN(M), but that relationship ended decades ago. While still living in Maryland, Mr. Zinkewycz became the voice of Ukraine's dissidents in the diaspora. Now a resident of Kyiv, Mr. Zinkewycz has devoted his life to working with talented young writers in Ukraine.

My dad once told me that there were two types of Ukrainian organizational leaders: those who actually lead, the "providnyky" (ÔÓ,¥ÌËÍË), and those who merely head "ocholiuyut" (Ó"ÓÎÚ¸) an organization, the "nachalnyky" (Ì¦"¦Î¸ÌËÍË). The former get things done; the latter feed on the laurels of the institution. The former promote and energize excellence; the latter seek out excellence in order to stamp it out. Mr. Zinkewycz is a "providnyk." Mr. Plawiuk is a "nachalnyk," a little man who has created big trouble over the years, both in North America and Ukraine.

Myron Kuropas' e-mail address is: [email protected]

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