Historians of two countries carry out a joint project

July 1 marked Canada Day. The Ukrainian community has long played a most active role in building that unique multinational state. However, the complicated issues regarding the century-long connections of Ukrainian Canadians with their historical motherland has never been explored before. Their dramatic history has roots in the late nineteenth century (the conventional date of the start of Ukrainian emigration to Canada is 1891, when two Galician peasants, Iwan Pilipiw and Wasyl Yeleniak, first emigrated to the Canadian West).

However, until recently there was no book on Canadian-Ukrainian relations’ history published that was free of any ideological directives or political prejudices, being based on pure facts confirmed by scholarly research.

There is no need to say how necessary such a book was when it appeared. The Institute of Ukrainian History at the National Academy of Sciences, Alberta Ukrainian Heritage Foundation (Canada), History and Archive Administration of Ukraine’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Central State Archive of Public Organizations of Ukraine, Central State Literature and the Arts Archive Museum of Ukraine, and Central State Archive of the Higher Administrative Bodies have started a joint series of publications (five volumes are planned) titled Ukraine-Canada: History and Now. The first book, On the Tablets of History, has just come off the presses.

In connection with this outstanding event in Ukraine’s cultural and scholarly life The Day turned for comment to the head of the publication’s editorial council, renowned Ukrainian historian and public figure, Hero of Ukraine, Academician of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences Petro TRONKO.

“Academician Tronko, Could you say a few words on how the idea of the series was born, in part, of its first book, and what obstacles you had to overcome?”

“The over century of history of the Ukrainian community in Canada and its connection with the historical motherland has obviously left its trace in people’s memory as well as in historical documents. Incidentally, I’d like to point out that there is nothing better than documents that speak to the reader in the language of strict undeniable facts leaving no grounds for falsification.

“Speaking about myself, my participation at the EXPO International Exhibition in Montreal in 1967 (I was deputy head of the Council of Ministers of Ukrainian SSR at that time and headed the Ukrainian delegation) gave me a strong impetus for the idea of the future book. Mr. Pilipiw, a descendant of the first Ukrainian emigrant to Canada, approached me and said, “I can’t describe how much sufferings we came through here, and the world should know about this. You can’t imagine how hard it is to die in a strange land...” It was then that the idea of preparing a book that would tell both Ukrainian-Canadians and our compatriots about all the twists of our common history occurred to me. But to make it without any lacunas or dividing Ukrainians into progressives (i.e., Communists. — Ed.) and others, of course, became possible only in recent years, after Ukraine gained its independence.”

“What were the major principles of your work on the new series?”

“First, as I already mentioned, were the undeniable and original documents, which often speak for themselves. The first volume, On the Tablets of History, contains 266 documents many of which are unique. Among them are diaries of ambassadors and diplomats, interviews, reports by officials of all levels, materials of the Soviet secret services, etc. Our second principle was unbiased presentation of the Ukrainian community in Canada (previously it was strictly divided into “friendly,” and “progressive,” namely, the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians, and “nationalists,” that is, the Congress of Ukrainians in Canada, etc.).”

“How did the Canadian side participate in the project?”

“I’d like to stress that if it had not been for its active assistance, primarily by the Alberta Ukrainian Heritage Foundation in the person of Mr. Yury Moscal who is member of the editorial council and author of a fundamental introductory article on the history of Ukrainian Canadians, the book (incidentally, we started to work on it in 1997) would never have come out. Besides, Canadian politicians provided us necessary support: thus, Premier of Alberta Ralph Klein passed to us thoroughly verified lists of Ukrainian emigrants to Alberta.

“I also can’t help expressing my sincere gratitude to Ukrainian colleagues who immediately participated in publishing the first volume, its compilers Yury Daniliuk and Oleh Bazhan from the Institute of Ukrainian History at the National Academy of Sciences.”

“You have already mentioned the amazing power of the authentic historical documents collected in one book. Could you give some concrete examples?”

“It is one thing when we speak about Ukrainian-Canadian connections in general. But here is a real document: after World War II, in 1945, a ship came to Odesa bringing medicines from Canada (antibiotics so much needed).

“Another extremely interesting set of documents describes the history of erecting the first monument to Taras Shevchenko in North America (1948-1951) and the efforts of the Ukrainian community in Canada. Even Stalin, of course, proceeding from his own considerations, approved Mykyta Khrushchev’s report proving the need to erect this monument. It was placed in Palermo (Canada). For the first time we published KGB and Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine documents on the 1967 visit to Ukraine of a delegation of progressive Ukrainian Canadians (close to the [Canadian] Communist Party), about delegation members Petro Krawchuk, Vasyl Harasym, and others criticizing Russification in the spheres of education, science, culture, which was gaining momentum at that time.”

“This was only the first volume in the series. What are the editors and compilers’ plans for the future?”

“We hope to publish the remaining four volumes, which will, in part, illustrate the history of our connections with Canadian brethren in the 1920s and 1930s — a tragic and complicated issue, demonstrate the huge progressive role of the Ukrainian community oversees. Thus, we have much work to be done, and this will take more than one year. But this cause is much needed for and rewarding; such books unite Ukrainians of the whole world to help our common mother Ukraine.”

INCIDENTALLY

Presentation of On the Tablets of History, which took place on June 27 at the Institute of Foreign Relations of the Kyiv Shevchenko National University, served as graphic evidence of the public interest in this publication. Opening the presentation, director of the Institute of Ukrainian History Academician Valery Smoliy pointed out that the importance of the work by a large team of scholars could be described in a few words as returning to the sources. For the first time the complicated and in many ways tragic history of the ties between the transoceanic and “continental” Ukraine was presented in accordance with the true facts of the past, with no ideological prejudices or considerations of the moment.

The opinions of all speakers (Walter Macovecky, President of the Alberta Ukrainian Heritage Foundation, Councilor at the Canadian Embassy to Ukraine Walter Banks, former Ukrainian Ambassador to Canada Yury Shcherbak, renowned Ukrainian diplomats and historians, and Mr. Yury Moscal who actively participated in publishing the book) were unanimous in that the presented book is unique even if only because for the first time it demonstrates the history of Ukraine’s relations with one of the G7 countries. Not accidentally, Mr. Shcherbak, who has devoted many years to diplomatic work in Canada and the US, admitted that he found much new for himself when perusing the book. The interest to the On the Tablets of History abroad is so great that it is already planned to translate it into English. It is pleasant to understand that we still have four more books of the series ahead. Academician Tronko promised to consider all the relevant suggestions, in part, to make the human dimension clearer in selecting documents.