BOOK REVIEW: "Thousands of Roads" details UPA member Marichka's life (04/29/01)

BOOK REVIEW

"Thousands of Roads" details UPA member Marichka's life

"Thousands of Roads" by Maria Savchyn Pyskir, translated by Ania Savage. Jefferson, N.C.; McFarland & Company, Inc. (www.mcfarlandpub.com), 2001. 243 pp. $29.95 (softcover).

by Roman G. Golash

I have always been interested in military history, particularly the role Ukraine played in World War II. The book "Thousands of Roads" provides first-hand insight into that period of Ukraine's past.

Maria Savchyn Pyskir - nom de guerre Marichka - takes a fascinating look at her partisan past. She is the heroine in the book who risked everything and finally, by taking thousands of roads, ended up in the United States in the spring of 1955.

"Thousands of Roads" is an account of the activities of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), but it is mainly an account of Marichka's life as it overlaps with her involvement in the underground. She joins the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists while in school and then joins the UPA, where she receives training in nursing, battle strategy and the handling of weapons. While in the UPA she marries Orlan, an UPA leader.

The book recreates the drama of everyday life in the underground.

While in the UPA, Mrs. Pyskir has a son, Zenon. When she is captured with her son in Poland she manages to escape by jumping out of a window, but her son stays in the hands of her enemies. On the way back to Ukraine, she manages to avoid capture by jumping off a train going at full speed.

In 1948, a second son, Taras, is born. Because of the constant threat of capture, she leaves him with a Ukrainian family. In total, Marichka was arrested three times.

At one point she is in a bunker with her husband, Orlan. They hear Russians digging near the entrance. Marichka looks at the three loaded pistols on the table and asks Orlan: "Do you want me to kill myself or will you do it ?" Calmly, he replies "However you wish." Both survived to live another day.

Throughout the book, Marichka shows a natural talent for detail; she is able to connect the dots and come up with very viable answers. It is interesting to learn how women were treated in the UPA. She states "I did not like to be a shadow, a person in the background, and only his (Orlan's) explanations and innate tact prevented me from rebelling publicly." In one part of the book she recalls how Orlan explained to her: "since you do not go out to make contacts and you don't build hideouts and you don't carry heavy loads - you do not have opinions." At the same time, Marichka is always treated with respect and during long marches is not criticized for being too slow. Partisans may not have allowed women into their inner circles, but women were treated properly and with dignity.

In February 1947 the UPA ambushed and killed the Polish Gen. Karol Swierczewski in the Carpathian mountains. This gave impetus to the start of Akcja Wisla, which removed the Ukrainian populace from Lemkivschyna, region that supported the UPA. More and more UPA groups were sent West to inform the free world of the struggles in Ukraine.

In the course of narration, a question arises for Marichka and the reader: Why did the UPA continue to fight beyond 1945? The UPA leaders felt that the West would come to Ukraine's aid. Marichka thought that resistance would delay collectivization, and thus delay a famine. She also felt that the resistance, though not militarily successful, would, and ultimately did, have an influence on the future of Ukraine. Marichka states: "As I look back over the years, I will argue that Ukraine would not have become independent in 1991 had it not possessed the memory of the bloody and bitter UPA war." This is a profound statement. (And, having been to Ukraine with the military, I believe this assertion to be true.)

The Ukrainian government to this day has not recognized the UPA as an organized fighting force that sought to gain Ukraine's independence. Perhaps this book has some lessons for the current leaders of Ukraine as the author states: "If a nation cannot stand up for itself and challenge the invader, then that nation will not rise out of slavery even when conditions to do so present themselves." The UPA wanted to leave a legacy for future generations - a compass pointing toward freedom from Moscow's bondage.

Although the 1950s proved to be difficult for the UPA's operations, thousands of leaflets were printed and distributed to educate the populace about the freedom fighters. The same year, Yaryi led UPA partisans into the Baltic states to get support and inform the people of events taking place in Ukraine. Also that year Marichka was injured by a letter bomb sent by the Russians.

Gen. Taras Chuprynka (Roman Shukhevych) met his death in combat with Russian troops on March 5, 1950. Lemish was named commander and Orlan was his deputy for Ukraine. During these years, Marichka spent as much time above ground as underground. She spent whole winters in bunkers deep in the forest. Each winter the experienced partisans were asked to take in new partisans to give them indoctrination classes as well as to get to know them.

In 1953, while on their way to meet Lemish, Orlan and Marichka were betrayed by their escort and fell in the hands of the KGB. During interrogation the author observed: "Language is the most accurate gauge of the political situation of a country. Those in power speak the language of the conqueror." After months of interrogation, Marichka noted that the KGB attempted to understand the abilities of the UPA to withstand so many difficulties, yet they could not understand their dedication. At one session she told her captors: "You wish you had people who would dedicate themselves to communism the way we dedicated ourselves to our cause."

Marichka made it to the United States in the spring of 1955. The KGB was hoping that her release would lead to the betrayal of others. That didn't happen. Marichka contacted the government in exile and then received political asylum in the United States. She remarried and has two children, Bohdan and Larysa.

The author states: "This book is dedicated to the men and women who fought and died heroically in the struggle for a free Ukraine. It is also dedicated to my family and my two oldest sons who were as much casualties of this struggle as those who bore arms."

This book was first written in Ukrainian as part of a series of Litopys UPA. It was subsequently translated by Ania Savage and is available from Amazon.com or Barnesnoble.com. This is an excellent book describing the fight against communism that continued way past the end of World War II. (Mrs. Pyskir has been invited to speak in Chicago on June 9-10).

Roman G. Golash is a major in the U.S. Army Reserve attached to the 801st Combat Support Hospital at Fort Sheridan, Ill. He has completed eight interpreter missions to Ukraine and is currently enrolled in the Command and General Staff College.

| Home Page |