Turning the pages back... March 23, 1946 (03/18/01)

Turning the pages back...

March 23, 1946

Back in 1946 The Weekly reported on a speech before the House of Representatives delivered by Congressman Michael J. Bradley (D) of Pennsylvania, who turned his colleagues' attention to the situation facing Ukrainian displaced persons.

The congressman prefaced his remarks by speaking of the "deplorable situation which exists in Europe today with regard to the Ukrainian people," who "are being subjected to a relentless persecution on the part of the Soviet authorities which is unparalleled in the history of Europe." He said that "the Red authorities have been systematic in their efforts to liquidate the population of this region or to force the Ukrainian people to accept communistic ideologies. Hundreds of thousands of persons have been deported as slave laborers into the depths of Siberia. Wanton cruelty has been practiced, characterized by the absence of consideration for even the elementary principles of humanity."

He then proceeded to note: "... there is another serious problem confronting the displaced people of Ukrainia who were seized by the Nazis when they made their drive to the east through Poland and across the Russian border. The German military authorities made captive hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and placed them in labor camps in Germany and the occupied countries. Thousands of others fled from Ukrainia to escape the horrors to which they were subjected by both the Nazis and the Communists. They are now scattered throughout France, Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The Soviet government is demanding that the United States and our Allies, who are in control of the various localities where these people have sought refugee, forcibly return these poor people to territory under the domination of the Russians. To force them to return to Ukrainia or to any territory under the domination of the Communists is to condemn them to a fate worse than death."

"Neither our government nor our Allies should be a party to such an arrangement," Rep. Bradley argued. "To do so would be negative to everything for which we fought. ... They [Ukrainians] should be allowed to determine their own future and not be forced to accept the alternative of a firing squad or of an imprisonment from which death would be but a welcome relief. The American government has a responsibility at least for the Ukrainians who are present in the zone occupied by our troops and under no circumstances would we be justified in turning them over to the Soviet authorities or forcing them to return to Ukrainia under conditions presently existing there," said Rep. Bradley.

"... There are over 1,000,000 Americans of Ukrainian birth or descent, thousands who have served in the armed forces of the United States and have fought for liberty and democracy. They have the right to expect that our government will make every effort to assist those of their blood who are resisting an aggression that is just as despicable and reprehensive as were the practices of the Nazis. I sincerely hope that the American government will continue to resist the demands of the Soviet that the Ukrainian refugees who are in American-controlled areas be returned to Russian-dominated territory and that our government will use its good offices with other nations to the same end."

Source: "Forced Repatriation of DPs Protested in Congress," The Ukrainian Weekly, March 23, 1946; also reprinted in "The Ukrainian Weekly 2000," Volume I (1933-1969) Parsippany, N.J.: The Ukrainian Weekly, 2000.

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