EXHIBIT NOTES: UPA documentation at the Ukrainian National Museum in Chicago (02/09/03)

EXHIBIT NOTES: UPA documentation at the Ukrainian National Museum in Chicago

by Orest A. Hrynewych

CHICAGO - The Ukrainian National Museum (UNM) here has been conducting a very vigorous fall program since completion of the new addition to its facility in early 2002. The main exhibit hall has been put to good use, staging seven major exhibits in the last six months. These included an exhibit of paintings by Irena Shuh, a Ukrainian-Moldovan artist; the new-age singing of the Telnyuk sisters from Kyiv; a concert by Miroslava Kuka; an exhibit of works by Wasyl Lopata, the designer of Ukraine's currency; an exhibit of photographs of children from an orphanage in Lviv, "Starving for Color"; and, most recently, an exhibit of documents marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of UPA, which was on view through the end of January.

In Chicago, as in every large city where Ukrainians live, there is a rapidly decreasing group of former members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. These old warriors have been busy writing books, preserving photographs, collecting old magazines and producing videotapes of the struggle of Ukraine to free itself from both the Nazi and Soviet occupation.

In their youth they fought with guns and explosives for an independent Ukraine. Now their struggle is with time, complacency and disinformation that even now, half a century after the fact, questions their motives and accuses them of collaboration with both the Nazis and Communists. The Ukrainian National Museum in Chicago was fortunate to be able to help these heroes of national liberation to exhibit historical documents of their sacrifice on behalf of Ukraine's freedom and to mark the 60th anniversary of the UPA's founding.

The anniversary celebration was held on November 17, 2002, starting with a commemorative mass at St. Nicholas Cathedral followed by a concert at St. Nicholas School auditorium. Dr. Alexander Strilchuk led the committee that organized this event. The assistant chair was Dr. Modest Ripeckyj and the honorary chair was Stefan Golash, both UPA veterans. Other committee members were Chrystya Wereszczak, Stephan Strilchuk, Petro Baran, Luka Kostelyna, Taras Drozd, Andriy Durbak, Ivan Pawlyk, Ivan Telvak, Irena Kaminska, Myron Lushchak and John Maksymczuk.

It is worth noting that the printed anniversary program contains a list of the 56 known UPA members in the Chicago area. Half of these warriors are deceased and the remaining 28 are all over age 75. In the coming years there will be even fewer. This sobering thought underscores the urgency of the task of preserving and protecting this most valuable historical record of Ukraine's 20th century struggle for independence.

Dr. Strilchuk officially opened the UPA 60th anniversary exhibit at the UNM on Sunday December 22, 2002, with over 100 persons in attendance. The main speaker was Dr. Ripeckyj, who provided the majority of documents and photographs from his private collection. A young Dr. Ripeckyj can be seen in a 1946 photograph of his UPA group of soldiers in the mountains of Slovakia.

The exhibit consisted of seven tables with books, documents, periodicals, underground mail stamps and photographs. The walls of the museum were lined with photographs of UPA groups and a superb collection of underground postal issues. Dr. Ripeckyj described the various exhibited documents and stated that these documents will be given to the UNM permanent collection for safe storage and as resource material for research and study.

The exhibit included copies of original underground documents from Ukraine, including rare 1946 correspondence from Roman Shukhevych to Stepan Bandera. Of special interest was a letter written by Shukhevych to his friend Bohdan Pidhainyi. The letter was dated two days before the heroic death, in March of 1950, of the leader of UPA in Ukraine.

Also part of the exhibit was a collection of the 38 volumes of the Litopys UPA (UPA Chronicle) a continuing monumental effort of two organizations of former members of the UPA and the armed groups of the OUN in Canada and the USA. Also included were four volumes of Litopys UPA - Biblioteka. There were various publications on the history of UPA and the military formations of the OUN, as well as many publications of individual histories of UPA soldiers, memoirs and fiction of the revolutionary struggles between 1942 and the 1950s.

Many miscellaneous documents, such as magazines and pamphlets relating to the activities and philosophy of the liberation movement of the UPA and OUN, were also available for viewing. Only a small number of these documents were shown; the museum has a rather large collection of these types of documents and all of them could not be exhibited.

A comprehensive collection of underground mail stamps from the collection of Mr. Golash and Ivan Maksymczuk was exhibited. Mr. Maksymczuk beautifully mounted the stamps. Dr. Ripeckyj explained that the driving force behind the publication of the underground stamps was Lubomyr Rychtytzkyj, a noted author of novels and short stories about the Ukrainian underground, who started this effort in Germany after the war. These stamps were printed in Germany for use by the OUN outside of Ukraine.

Non-Ukrainian visitors to the exhibit often asked why the UPA engaged in a seemingly hopeless struggle against the two greatest powers on earth. The answer is very simple. A nation's basis and justification for existence is measured to a large extent by the efforts made to gain independence and the struggles endured to win freedom. The American Revolution freed the colonies from British tyranny; the will of the people and the spilled blood of the revolutionary soldiers obtained this freedom. The history of Ukraine was written with the spilled blood of the Kozaks of the 15th century to the last UPA insurgent killed in the 20th century and the dissidents languishing in Siberia. Each death, each wound was another chapter in the long and weighty tomes that justified the Ukrainian nation's reason for existing. What justification would there be for the Ukraine nation if during these years of enslavement, by powerful neighbors, the people had passively accepted their plight without even trying to free themselves. Who would believe that Ukraine is worthy to exist as a member of the community of nations?

Even now, in the 12th year of its independence, Ukraine and its history are being questioned by former enemies who claim that Ukrainians collaborated with the Nazis, ethnically cleansed Poles living in Ukraine and assisted the German invaders in committing unspeakable crimes against Jews. The UPA documents and other materials in the museum's archives are an important resource to be used to set the record straight.

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