Soyuzivka resort hosts a three-day conference on UPA (08/14/05)

Soyuzivka resort hosts a three-day conference on UPA

by Christina Kotlar

KERHONKSON, N.Y. - "My uncle was in UPA," "I had no idea of the magnitude of this army" were among the comments heard during the three-day conference, "A Day in the Life of the UPA - Ukrainian Insurgent Army" held on July 29, 30 and 31 at Soyuzivka, the Ukrainian National Association's estate in Kerhonkson, N.Y.

The event, based on the Litopys UPA (Chronicles of the UPA), was kicked off on Friday evening with registration, a wine and cheese reception and the opening of an UPA exhibit. The exhibit was graciously lent by Nadia Skop, executive administrator for the Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Center (UCRDC) of Toronto, and financially supported by the Self Reliance (N.J.) Federal Credit Union of Clifton, N.J.

At the entrance, a sign reading "Slava Ukraini - Heroyam Slava" (Glory to Ukraine - Glory to Our Heroes) welcomed visitors into the world of the Ukrainska Povstanska Armia (UPA) with archival photographs, maps, personal artifacts, graphics and a selection of books from the Litopys UPA, which publishes primary-source documents and materials from the World War II era with each volume or series of volumes devoted to a specific theme, a given time period and/or region.

Conference participants arrived from as far away as Toronto, Rochester, N.Y., and Chicago, with others driving from distances along the northeastern seaboard, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Saturday morning's program opened with a documentary presentation, "Between Hitler and Stalin," the work of filmmaker Slavko Nowytski in conjunction with the UCRDC.

Taras Hunczak, professor emeritus of history at Rutgers University, a sought-after conference speaker and renowned writer, editor and lecturer on topics pertaining to Ukraine's struggle for independence, provided an insightful overview of the beginnings of the UPA.

He spent several years researching, interpreting and translating German archives and is one of the few Western researchers permitted to delve into the proverbial labyrinth of the Soviet KGB archives.

Audience members remarked on Prof. Hunczak's ability to capture the essence of pivotal historical moments and concisely present the historical context for a movement that encompassed the entire Ukrainian nation.

As seen later in the documentary "A Daughter's Journey," Prof. Hunczak presented several social and political points that set the tone for the film's structure. In a personal comment, he recalled that, at the age of 10, he was a courier for the UPA and usually managed to duck any kind of suspicion by being a young upstart.

Following Prof. Hunczak's seminar, the audience was escorted to the outdoor interpretive program - a "bunker site" exhibit. Petrusia Paslawsky and Nadia Dubanowitz led a group walk of approximately 50 people to Soyuzivka's Studio, where groups of 10 were escorted into a below-ground, dark and dank room where a bunker might have existed. Artifacts from World War II silently represented what it would have been like for UPA soldiers spending time in hideaways such as this.

One of the most telling artifacts was a chess set made out of bread, shedding light on how, despite the unexpected and uncontrollable forces of war, these young soldiers attempted to maintain a scrap of normal, everyday life.

The afternoon session began with a panel discussion on "Relevance and Recognition" that introduced interrelated topics and points of view. Peter J. Potichnyj, professor emeritus of political science at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, moderated the panel discussion that included a question and answer period.

Panel topics were presented chronologically as Prof. Hunczak discussed the historical catalyst for the UPA's establishment and mobilization in the "Beginnings of the Ukrainian-German Confrontation." On June 30, 1941, Ukraine announced its independence, unequivocally thwarting Hitler's planned German colonization and enslavement of Ukraine's population. The Nazi high command's immediate response was mass arrests, executions and internment in concentration camps.

Prof. Potichnyj followed with a presentation on "Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency in Ukraine," an overview of the years 1941-1954. As one of the youngest members of the UPA (at age 14), Prof. Potichnyj, is internationally known for his lectures at conferences regarding Ukraine's independence and UPA's relevance. A longtime activist in the Ukrainian and academic community, his works include countless publications as author, editor, contributor and reviewer.

The Peter J. Potichnyj Collection on Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency in Ukraine officially opened at the University of Toronto Library, one of the leading research libraries in the world in 1997. The largest collection of its kind in North America, it holds materials from Soviet, Polish, German, U.S. and Ukrainian underground archives on insurgency and counter-insurgency in Ukraine during the years 1941-1954. The collection is part of the Petro Jacyk Resource Center, which was created to support the activities of the Center for Russian and East European Studies and the department of slavic languages and literatures.

Prof. Potichnyj gave a comprehensive explanation of the political forces such as the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) that were necessary for the UPA's existence. He ended with comments on the question of the UPA's official recognition in present-day Ukraine.

While political groups jump-started and established a firm political footing toward Ukraine's independence, the establishment of the Ukrainian Supreme Liberation Council (known by its Ukrainian acronym as UHVR) provided a governing body for the political arms and military legs of the UPA. Yevhen Stakhiv, an activist and member of the External Representation of the UHVR, gave a personal account of tactical changes necessary for the movement's survival and continuing efforts in the contemporary political realm.

The final presentation, "International Perspective on the UPA," noted how the world watched from a distance during the UPA's wartime struggle and pointed out that now the struggle continues for official recognition by today's Ukrainian authorities. The speaker was Dr. Anatoly Kaminsky, professor emeritus of international relations and international law at the Ukrainian Free University, a lecturer and guest speaker at conferences and seminars worldwide, and a writer and editor of countless books and articles on the subject.

Dr. Kaminsky, who was active in both the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Supreme Liberation Council, was a researcher and officer at the New York-based Prolog Research Corp., director of Radio Liberty's Ukrainian service, editorial board member of the journals Suchasnist and Ukrainskyi Samostiynyk, and contributor to many newspapers and magazines.

He underscored that, structurally and legally, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army functioned in accordance with all the rules and regulations of international law in order to be recognized as a legitimate national army.

An invigorating question and answer period followed the presentations. Of particular interest was the topic of the UPA's quest for recognition by the current government in Ukraine - a situation not easily explained or understood. The comments came from a wide sampling of the standing-room-only audience - from former veterans of the UPA, first generation Ukrainian Americans, second-generation grandchildren and students of history. Among the audience were many non-Ukrainian participants, whose interest in the topic overcame all language barriers.

After the panel discussion, Ms. Paslawsky introduced documentary filmmaker Christina Kotlar's work-in-progress, "A Daughter's Journey," based on the memoirs of her father, Julian "Levko" Kotlar, during his time with the UPA. Ms. Kotlar earned a master's degree in producing for film and video from American University in Washington, where she wrote and produced documentaries as well as an independent feature film in the Washington-metro area. She also worked on several short dramatic film productions with students at American University as a writer, line producer and teacher's assistant.

The narrative of her latest documentary comes from a daughter's perspective - opening a chapter in her father's life relatively unknown even to the people closest to him. Employing a handheld camera, available light and ambient sounds from remote locations, interweaving montages that bridge historical facts with real-life experience, the film aims to create a distinct ethnographic mood. Their journey follows the map of Mr. Kotlar's memories from the village where he was born and reared to the places he trained as a soldier - forests outside of villages in and beyond his homeland, Lemkivschyna, where fighting and destruction was the fiercest on all fronts. The 15-minute work-in-progress will become a one-hour program intended for the film festival circuit.

UNA Treasurer Roma Lisovich commented on the event, noting that recording oral history is extremely important. She emphasized: "We should be teaching our children in schools of Ukrainian studies about Ukraine's modern history, including such crucial periods as that during which the Ukrainian Insurgent Army was active."

She amiably invited the audience to "meet and greet" the panelists, former "Upisty" (as UPA members are known) and the filmmaker at a UNA-sponsored cocktail reception prepared on the Vorokhta lawn. Semi-hidden by surrounding pines - and thus reminiscent of the way Upisty themselves would gather for holidays and celebrations - all generations of the families and friends of the veterans connected or became reacquainted with their counterparts. Conversations were lively as introductions were made, group photos taken and contact information exchanged to plan future reunions and gatherings.

After dinner, while guests at Soyuzivka readied for evening dancing and socializing, the UPA veterans and their families strolled down the dusty road toward the Lviv villa, where a vatra was already waiting with potatoes tossed in and roasting the way the Upisty used to do. Their voices blended from one song to the next - the songs of "Ukrainski povstantsi - Ukrainski partisany" that include bold depictions of freedom fighters on the move, as well as sad but beautiful tributes to their fallen brothers and sisters.

On Sunday morning, while several Upisty left for their long journey back home, the remaining veterans gathered for church services with their identifying hats, commemorative medals and badges and memorial flags. A panakhyda (memorial service) for the souls of all who died while fighting for what they believed in ended with a salute. The congregation watched a moving tribute and recognition by UPA veterans of the immeasurable sacrifices made by their fellow Upisty, their brothers and sisters, extended families, freedom-fighter partisans from other oppressed nations and the dwindling, surviving veterans of Ukraine's own "Greatest Generation."

The program for Sunday afternoon included a second viewing of the bunker exhibit and an encore presentation of "A Daughter's Journey," followed by a brief question and answer and a general overview on how to interview Upisty.

Informal discussions during the weekend with UPA veterans brought surprising revelations from just about every person. While some visitors expressed awe at the magnitude of this fighting force, which has been studied by countless army strategists, others found an outlet to tell stories they had heard as children about uncles who never returned home, grandparents and extended family members imprisoned or deported, and courageous acts of the UPA.

The concept for this educational reunion weekend began with the initiative of a committee organized to maintain the UPA veterans memorial section at St. Andrew's Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery in South Bound Brook, N.J. Dr. Michael Lewko, president, Ms. Kotlar, vice-president, and Mary Stec-Zubaly, secretary, discussed ways to organize a family gathering with the goal of becoming acquainted with one another and their UPA connections.

They decided to hold such a reunion at Soyuzivka and, after their initial discussions, decided to take the event a step further and expand it to include a planned program open to the general public.

Nestor Paslawsky, general manager, noted, "I was pleasantly surprised at the turnout and how the event was run. The Ukrainian community truly embraced this event, and it just goes to show that Soyuzivka is not only for social events but is perfect for educational and professional conferences."

The exhibit captured the imagination of well over 100 people during the three days it was on view; many inquiries were made about where it will be shown next. UCRDC Executive Administrator Skop and the UCRDC board of directors agree it should be made available as a traveling exhibit throughout Ukrainian communities that will be open to the general public. Plans are in the works for a tour schedule.

Michael Celuch, chief financial officer of Self Reliance (N.J.) Federal Credit Union, had the foresight to understand the project's value. He and the credit union's board of directors supported the project with a generous donation that made it possible to transport the exhibit from Toronto to Kerhonkson.

Ms. Lisovich of the UNA upheld the idea to further develop this exhibit into an educational project.

Walter Kozicky, president and chairman of the board of SUMA (Yonkers) Federal Credit Union, and the board of directors supported the project with a donation, as did the Organization of Veterans of the UPA in the U.S.A. and Canada, and the New Jersey/New York branch of UPA veterans, whose faith in the project spurred on Ms. Kotlar, chairperson for the event, to work with her father, Julian Kotlar, in developing and implementing this event with the help of her sisters, Nadia Dubanowitz, Petrusia Paslawsky and Lesia Kozicky.

During the final moments before the doors of the UPA exhibit were closed, one of the last visitors had tears in his eyes and exclaimed, "I'm so lucky to have been here to meet real life heroes."

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