An appeal to the Ukrainian community (10/03/99)

An appeal to the Ukrainian community

Our famous poet and novelist, Christian philosopher and patriarch of modern Ukrainian literature, Wasyl Barka, requires the help of all good people.

Wasyl Barka - almost a coeval of this century, that is about to end - has lived the life of an ascetic, offering the fruits of his labors on the altar of Ukraine, even though Ukraine often turned away from him during the Soviet era. Only today is Ukraine re-discovering the name of Wasyl Barka, reprinting his early works, awarding him the Taras Shevchenko Prize, holding exhibitions and evenings dedicated to him, and honoring him via television and radio programs.

As perhaps his greatest reward Wasyl Barka regards reports about the great influence that the film "Famine-33," based on his novel "The Yellow Prince" and shown on Ukrainian television, had on the results of the referendum held on December 1, 1991.

The French press wrote of this novel that in its humanism and religiosity it surpassed the works of the writers who were awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in recent years. Wasyl Barka has been nominated for the Nobel Prize twice and perhaps, had Ukraine supported him, he would have become the first Ukrainian Nobel laureate. But the necessary effort proved too great for us.

The effort we need to make today is not great: to help Wasyl Barka, in the twilight of his life, to feel himself a member of a caring family. The poet is currently in a nursing home - without a home of his own, without personal care, without the Ukrainian environment in which, and for which, he lived so many years with little concern for bodily comforts. He yearns to return to his Verkhovyna.

"The Ukrainian community has always been cold, indifferent and heartless towards its emissaries from God. Recall the age of Ivan Franko, Oleksander Oles, Vasyl Stefanyk! Talent, unpretentiousness, unselfish labor and courageous steadfastness - these have always been worthless 'shares' on the all-Ukrainian stock exchange. ... For centuries, the Ukrainian people have been sinking under the weight of the debts of their conscience! The debt to the chronicler of our age is unpayable! ..." This grave condemnation of the Ukrainian community was made by Yosyp Hirniak in connection with the tragic fate of Todos Osmachka. Do not these words apply equally to Yosyp Hirniak himself, and to Oleksa Stefanovych, and to Vasyl Stus?

People of good will, let us not wait to see these words applied to our contemporary Skovoroda, Wasyl Barka. Let us help make possible a dignified life for him at his beloved Verkhovyna under personalized care. Send your donations to provide him with this kind of care to the following tax-deductible account: Account No. 8040-01 "The Foundation to Help Wasyl Barka" at the Ukrainian Orthodox Federation Credit Union, 215 Second Ave., New York, NY 10003.

Oh Lord, reward Wasyl Barka with a joyful life for all his labors!

August 24, 1999

The above appeal is signed by: Anthony, archbishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the U.S.A.; Basil Losten, bishop of the Stamford Diocese of the Ukrainian Catholic Church; Vera Andrushkiv, director of the Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute, Roman Andrushkiw, vice-president of the Shevchenko Scientific Society; Svitlana Andrushkiv, director of the Shevchenko Scientific Society Library; Oleksa Bilaniuk, president of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the U.S.; Taras Bilchuk, artist; Bohdan Boychuk, poet; Prof. Zirka Voronka; Prof. Roman Voronka; Slava Hunchak; Ivan Danylenko; Lubov Drashevska; Eugene Federenko, director of the Educational Council of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America; Prof. Vitalij Keis; Kateryna Kindras, journalist; Albert Kipa, vice-president of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the U.S.; Valentyn Labunsky, journalist; Wasyl Omelchenko, vice-president of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the U.S.; Larissa Onyshkevych, vice-president of the Shevchenko Scientific Society; Maria Petrivska; Ivan and Praskoviya Prasko; Oksana Radysh, secretary of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the U.S.; Dr. Roman Rychok; Vsevolod Salenko; Prof. George Shevelov; Nadia Svitlychna; Uliana Starosolska, writer; Sofia Temnytsky; Mykola Francuzenko-Virny, writer.

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