LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (08/08/99)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Commendations for article on librarians

Dear Editor:

Just a few words to express commendations for the article in The Ukrainian Weekly (July 11) written by Jurij Dobczansky.

The thoughts expressed by Mr. Dobczansky of the Ukrainian American Library Association deserve a lot of kudos. However, there must also be an organized outfit that would include heritage centers that are being established in our communities, and such heritage centers must include museums.

Here in New Haven, Conn., the Heritage Center has been in existence since 1984. It includes an exhibition of regional dress, artifacts related to the settlement of Ukrainians in New Haven and a 5,000-volume library.

Earlier this year the Heritage Center hosted over 100 high school students, who were apprised of the availability of books regarding Ukraine's history, literature and music. Students from Yale University visit the Heritage Center for detailed historical facts, while students from Ukraine attending Yale are astounded at the collection of books not available in the Soviet Union.

Kudos to the UALA, for its meeting in Washington. Let's hope that the conference to be held at Stamford's Diocesan Research Center in June of next year is successful.

Wasyl Gina
New Haven, Conn.

Ukraine's visa system: back to the USSR?

Dear Editor:

Is it "Back to the USSR" at Ukrainian consulates?

In the past month Ukrainian Consulates have not only been demanding the usual letter of invitation to Ukraine, but also proof of where you are staying. If that happens to be a hotel, this means a voucher or fax confirming one has paid for accommodation. If its from relatives or friends then they have to prove who they say they are by going to a notary and then sending you the letter stating you will be staying with them.

The letter of invitation is in and of itself only a reflex response to the insistence by Western countries, such as the United Kingdom, of a letter of invitation from a local host. This new demand of proof of where one is staying in Ukraine smacks of a return to the Soviet era and has led to many people either being turned away from consulates or having to queue for hours on end because their papers are not in order. As anyone who has traveled to Ukraine will know, hotels in Kyiv are abysmal and over-priced. Therefore, this certainly is not the way to drum up business.

This "Back to the USSR" approach is also not the way to encourage Western tourism and foreign investors. Ukraine is again shooting itself in its foot. Why can't Ukraine follow the example of the three Baltic states and abolish visas for Western visitors as a way of proving that it wants to really re-join Europe?

Taras Kuzio
London

Thanks for letters on Church issues

Dear Editor:

Thank you for publishing very interesting and informative letters to the editor, particularly on Church issues.

Valentina Poletz
Minneapolis

Researchers seek former forced laborers

Dear Editor:

The Montreal Holocaust Memorial Center is assisting a group of Austrian historians, headed by Oliver Rathkolb, Ph.D., LL.D., of Vienna, who are currently investigating the fate of Ukrainian forced laborers during the Nazi period in Austria in 1938-1945. The purpose of the research is to clarify possible claims for compensation.

The group is looking for:

1. Ukrainian former forced laborers (slave laborers) working in the Hermann Goering Steel Works in Linz, Austria, and in electric power-building throughout Austria (e.g. Kaprun, Tauernkraftwerke, Draukraftwerke, Ybbs-Persenbeug); and

2. Ukrainian former displaced persons (DPs) who lived in the area of Linz, Austria, after 1945.

Please contact the head of the research group: Dr. Oliver Rathkolb, Institute for Contemporary History on the University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria, Spitalgasse 2, Hof 1 (telephone: 011-431-545-7535, ext. 32; fax: 011-431-545-3097; e-mail: [email protected]).

Wolfgang Mueller
Montreal

Fraternal thanks for festival coverage

Dear Editor:

A special fraternal thank-you to Taisa Welhasch for fine reporting on the Ukrainian Fraternal Association's Youth Festival, which was held at the Verkhovyna Resort, Glen Spey, N.Y., in mid-July.

Roma Pryma-Bohachevsky, her student dancers, all the performers and all the volunteers who planned and worked to make the thousands of guests happy, appreciated being noticed and given credit and applause in the press for a job well done.

Festivals like this - and there are others held in other parts of our country and Canada - give our activist community a chance to preserve our Ukrainian culture, our music, our very exciting dances, as well as our Ukrainian art, and to share with our coming generations and American and Canadian neighbors and friends.

A very special thank-you to the editors of The Weekly for devoting a full page to coverage of this event. "Diakuyu."

Joseph Charyna
Stoughton, Mass.

The Ukrainian Weekly welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typed (double-spaced) and signed; they must be originals, not photocopies.

The daytime phone number and address of the letter-writer must be given for verification purposes.

| Home Page |