BOOK REVIEW: Telling the story of Ukraine through postcards (08/20/00)

BOOK REVIEW: Telling the story of Ukraine through postcards

"In Memory of Native Land: Ukraine in Old Cards" by Mykhailo Zabochen, Oleksander Polishchuk and Volodymyr Yatsiuk. Kyiv: Krynytsia Publishers, 2000 (printed at the Polygraf Printing House, Priashiv, Slovakia). 505 pages, over 100 pages of color photos/reproductions, 400 pages of black-and-white miniatures, hardcover. ISBN 966-7575-02-0.

by Marta Kolomayets

Close to five years in the making, "Ukraine in Old Cards" is more than just a 505-page coffeetable book about Ukrainian postcards. It is a unique catalogue of close to 8,000 Ukrainian cards, dating from the 1890s to 1990, depicting Ukraine and its people as they struggled for independence over the centuries. The encyclopedia is divided into four sections: Ukraine and Ukrainians; Ukraine in the Struggle for Independence; Taras Shevchenko: Poet, Artist, Symbol of Ukraine; and Ukrainian Culture. Although the introduction is written in four languages - Ukrainian, Russian, English and German - the comprehensive narrative is provided only in Ukrainian.

Compiled over many decades by Mykhailo Zabochen, 75, who has been called a genius and a gentlemen by his collector colleagues, it chronicles the history of the Ukrainian postcard from both the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the times of the Russian Empire, as well as the Soviet period.

Painstakingly researched by Mr. Zabochen and his team, the postcards not only tell the history of Ukraine, they fill in the blank pages of the Soviet era, picturing monuments and churches that were destroyed during Communist times. Published in April, the album is dedicated to the well-known Ukrainian collector and benefactor Vasyl Tarnovsky (1837-1899) and brings to the fore the names of a number of Ukrainian artists and ethnographers whose works were destroyed during the Stalinist period of repressions, but whose postcard images survive to the present day.

A collector for more than 50 years, Mr. Zabochen told the Kyiv Post that his hobby was no easy task during Soviet times. But what started out as a hobby turned into a passion. In his essay on the history of postcard collecting, he recalled the period from 1932 to 1957 when collections of printed material were strictly forbidden and the year 1967, on the eve of the Soviet World Youth Festival, when the ban was lifted as Soviet authorities were embarrassed to find that there was no literature on stamp and postcard collecting in the USSR.

It was then that Mr. Zabochen, who had illegally collected postcards throughout the decades, emerged as an expert collector. By the early 1970s he began publishing articles on postcard collecting. By this time, his collection was quite impressive. His colleagues agree that he perhaps had an easier time collecting Ukrainian postcards in Moscow, where he resided, than he would have if he had lived in Ukraine.

And, all agree that the publication of such a jewel of a book would have been impossible in Soviet Ukraine.

"We could not have even dreamed of something like this before Ukraine became independent," said Volodymyr Yatsiuk, who spent thousands of hours picking, choosing, researching and investigating the myriad postcards for the publication. According to American Morgan Williams, an avid collector and friend of the authors, the three men have pulled together 15,000 additional Ukrainian postcards showing Ukrainian towns, villages, buildings, markets, most of which are pre-Russian revolution and did not make it into the first book; they already have plans for a companion to this volume.

In addition, Mr. Yatsiuk, who is an expert on Shevchenkiana, bemoans the fact that only 1,000 postcards picturing Shevchenko made it into a book of 8,000 cards.

"You don't understand, Shevchenko's image on a postcard is unrivaled by any other literary figure in history, because for Ukrainians he is a literary figure, an artist, a symbol of national identity, a hero," he underscored. Mr. Yatsiuk is already planning an extensive volume on postcards relating to Taras Shevchenko, many of which are on exhibit at the Shevchenko Museum in Kyiv until the end of August.

But the problem of financing such professional ventures remains. Thanks to Oleksander Polishchuk, enough money was raised to publish 1,000 copies of this wonderful treasure, but such a small print run will deprive so many who want to learn more about Ukraine, its people and culture. And, unfortunately the high cost and low quality of printing in Ukraine remains a problem, as this volume had to be printed in Slovakia. Curiously, many of the postcards that deal with Ukrainian developments through the last century also were printed beyond the borders of Ukraine, in such cities as St. Petersburg, Vienna, Krakow and Stockholm, precisely because of low-quality printing facilities in Ukrainian cities at the beginning of the 20th century.

"It's wonderful that there is something for everyone in this book, in this encyclopedia," said Mr. Yatsiuk, one of the authors of the book during a recent interview. "The audience is broad - historians, Ukrainianists, artists, architects, teachers, ethnographers, museum curators, political scientists, journalists, publishers, book lovers, people interested in the history of printing - the list goes on," he noted.

Although the book itself is exceptional, the real phenomena are the three authors - Messrs. Zabochen, Polishchuk and Yatsiuk - who managed to compile such a vast collection of both color and black-and-white postcards, trace their origins and history, catalogue their findings and secure money for the publication of this historic work.

"Here you have three men, three different talents, all true collectors, all very committed and dedicated to the project, all in love with Ukraine - for without this love the book would never have been completed. This book was a labor of love for these three men," explained Mr. Williams, who describes himself as a cheerleader for the project. Mr. Williams and 20 other collectors contributed to this book, but the bulk of the postcards come from Mr. Zabochen, whose collection numbers over 140,000 postcards.

Mr. Williams explained that this project was monumental in scope and he has yet to hear of any authors in any other country who have even attempted to produce a book of such magnitude.

In the foreword to "Ukraine in Old Cards," Pedro Pablo Villanueva, United Nations resident coordinator and U.N. Development Program resident representative in Ukraine, whose fund helped promote the book, noted: "This book is important not only because it promotes Ukraine's history and culture, but because it brings out true Ukrainian identity, which has often been overlooked. This is a wonderful way to continue the integration process necessary for Ukraine in regard to the international community. For the UNDP this project is part of larger comprehensive efforts in supporting the continuous development of Ukraine. This book has captured the spirit of Ukraine, and the UNDP is proud to be a part of it."

"I think the postcards and photographs from Ukraine are especially interesting as historical documents in light of all the turmoil Ukraine has experienced in the last 100 years. One can experience history in a special way as it marches by when one discovers photographs and postcards both for the image on the card and for the message written on the card," said Mr. Williams.

Readers of The Ukrainian Weekly will come upon names familiar in the diaspora, such has Jacques Hnizdovsky, Yaroslava Surmach-Mills, Sviatoslav Hordynsky, Edward Kozak and Mykhailo Moroz, whose works of art contributed to the history of the Ukrainian postcard so splendidly documented in this volume.

Mr. Zabochen said there is no other book like this in Ukraine, and that it will probably remain the only one for years to come.

The book can be ordered in the United States for $100 (postage included) from E. Morgan Williams, P.O. Box 2607, Washington, DC 20013; telephone/fax, (703) 241-7881; e-mail, [email protected].

In Canada it may be ordered for $100 (U.S.) from Irena Fotieva, 8-4258 Maywood St., Burnaby, British Columbia V5H 2J3; telephone, (604) 439-9577; e-mail, [email protected].

In Ukraine it may be purchased for $75 (U.S.) from Lena Marina (in Kyiv) at: telephone, 380-44-494-07-46; e-mail, [email protected].

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