Fifty years ago, on November 1, 1968, Ukrainian communities around the world commemorated the 50th anniversary of the proclamation establishing the Western Ukrainian National Republic. Three months later, the western republic would join the Ukrainian National Republic in a move that reunited all Ukrainian lands in one sovereign state (known today as the Day of Unity of Ukraine or Sovereignty Day). This year marks the 100th anniversary.
In New York, observances were held on November 2-3, that included an informal meeting of Ukrainian veterans (many of whom had served in the Ukrainian military at the time), as well as a divine liturgy at St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church, followed by a golden jubilee program at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Other anniversary events were held in Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Syracuse, Newark, New Haven and others.
Presidential candidate Richard M. Nixon sent a telegram to Svoboda newspaper on the occasion, conveying greetings “to all who are participating in the 50th anniversary observance of the birth of the Western Ukrainian Republic. …May the day be near when all men enjoy the liberty which is theirs by birthright.”
An editorial of that issue noted: “It was not a paper declaration, for the people of Western Ukraine, like their brothers in the east, were willing to fight for their freedom. It was the famed unit of the Ukrainian Sichovi Striltsi that constituted the first formation of what became the Ukrainian Galician Army, which defended the newly born state.”
Although the hard-won liberty was not to survive for long after the Act of Union of January 1919, “…the spirit that gave birth to the Ukrainian declaration of independence had remained a cherished legacy for generations of freedom-loving Ukrainians. It has sustained our people in the darkest hours of slavery, oppression and Russo-Communist tyranny. Herein lies the meaning of the great deed that was November First – a blood-spattered legacy of freedom won and waiting to be reclaimed again on the rubbles of a hideous order destined to fall.”
Sources: “Ukrainian communities to mark November first anniversary,” and “The great legacy of November First,” The Ukrainian Weekly, November 2, 1968.