Organization for the Defense of Four Freedoms for Ukraine elects Koziupa as president (10/16/05)

Organization for the Defense of Four Freedoms for Ukraine elects Koziupa as president

by Marko Suprun

EAST HANOVER, N.J. - The Organization for the Defense of Four Freedoms for Ukraine (ODFFU) held its triennial convention, on October 2 here at the Ramada Inn.

Michael Koziupa, 54, of Cedar Knolls, N.J., was unanimously elected president of the ODFFU. The convention also elected Ivan Burtyk, Zenon Halkowych and Bohdan Chypak, MD, as vice presidents, Anna Kerda as financial director and Osyp Rozhka as general secretary.

An additional 17 members were elected to the executive board representing members from across the United States including chapters from Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other states.

Spanning 59 years of community activism in the United States, the ODFFU was founded in Newark, N.J., in 1946 by Eugene Liakhovych, an engineer by training and a Ukrainian patriot at heart. It acted as a voice for Ukraine's liberation movement, which fought against both Nazi and Soviet aggression. The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) led this two-front war and continued to fight the Soviet occupation up until 1952 when the struggle for Ukrainian independence moved underground.

"Today the ODFFU unites Ukrainians, Americans, men and women of all faiths that recognize the principles of a sovereign and united Ukrainian state," said Mr. Koziupa during his acceptance speech. Ukrainian Americans united with the post-World War II Ukrainian immigration and assumed the responsibility to defend the four freedoms for Ukraine, outlined by President Roosevelt as the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from fear and freedom from want. Following a lengthy remodeling, the National Archives in Washington now includes a copy of President Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" speech alongside the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.

Mr. Koziupa highlighted history's continuity, noting that "Ukraine's Orange Revolution continued to defend these freedoms on the 'maidan,' or Independence Square, in Kyiv during the November-December 2004 presidential elections." According to Mr. Koziupa, "There are many Ukrainians throughout the United States, from various immigration waves, who joined together during the last year to help defend democracy in Ukraine."

Reaching out to new generations of Ukrainian Americans, as well as new Ukrainian immigrants, Mr. Koziupa declared, "Today, our goal is to extend an open hand to all Ukrainians, new and old immigrants, and all those with Ukrainian ancestry, to inform and remind the United States of Ukraine's struggle to defend their four freedoms, and Ukraine's continuing efforts to join the family of democratic states of the world."

According to Mr. Koziupa, "we must work together with all Ukrainian organizations with similar goals and aspirations." Borrowing a phrase from President Viktor Yushchenko, Mr. Koziupa concluded that "united we stand, together we cannot be defeated."

Mr. Koziupa has a long and distinguished career of community service. He is the branch manager of the Selfreliance Ukrainian American Federal Credit Union in Parsippany, N.J., a subsidiary of the SUAFCU, in Chicago; vice-president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) New Jersey Coordinating Council, president of the UCCA Morris County Branch. He is also on the board of the Ukrainian American Youth Association (SUM) chapter in Whippany, N.J., is a member of the building committee constructing the new Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey in Whippany, and is the president of the ODFFU Branch 1 in Newark.

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