Kholodny Yar commemorated
CHERKASY — Last weekend people in Cherkasy oblast paid homage to the heroes of the Kholodny Yar [national liberation] effort at the start of the 20th century. This time the festivities gathered over 3,000 enthusiasts from various parts of Ukraine.
The project offered a diversified program, starting in the morning, paying homage to Kholodny Yar’s Chief Otaman Vasyl Chuchupak and his General Osavul [a senior Hetmanite Cossack Army officer] Yurii Horlis-Horsky (author of the documentary novel Kholodny Yar), followed by Mass for the Dead celebrated by the heroes’ common grave. The visitors were guided to the site by the huge thundering drum of the “Black Zaporozhian Cossacks,” with men clad in dark clothes pointing the way.
Closer to noon, another important event took place at the village of Melnyky when the writer, Vasyl Shkliar, was conferred the people’s version of the state Taras Shevchenko Prize.
After he turned down the official award, the NGO Kholodny Yar Initiative supported Yurii Andrukhovych’s idea of collecting the sum equivalent to that of the government prize from corporate and individual supporters. This project proved a success. Yurii Yusov, one of the organizers, noted later that money would keep being sent to the Kholodny Yar Initiative bank accounts even after the award ceremony. In an interview with Den (March 30, 2011), he assured that all money thus collected would be channeled into the budget of Ukraine’s first blockbuster movie based on
Shkliar’s novel Chorny voron (The Black Raven), saying that this project could save Ukraine and its people from falling apart.
After his novel appeared in print and proved a major success, the author was often invited to run in the next presidential race. Each time he refused, saying, “I am honored by your confidence in me, but I have my profession. God willing, I will be able to write another couple of books that will accomplish more than all our previous heads of state have been able to do.”
Remarkably, the book launch at Kholodny Yar was attended by ex-President Viktor Yushchenko with his retinue, and people stood in line to have him sign a copy of Shkliar’s Black Raven.
A reconstruction battle between Kholodny Yar insurgents and Bolshevik troops was held in the ravine of Kreseltsi, with Bolsheviks plundering a village home and then attacked by Kholodny Yar forest brothers, with rifle and machinegun fire, imitation grenade explosions, smoke screen, leaving “dead” and “wounded” on the battlefield. All this was closely watched by some three thousand spectators. The battle ended with Kholodny Yar’s victory (as corroborated by historical accounts) and a black flag with the inscription “Freedom For Ukraine Or Death!” (borrowed by the UPA after WW II) was unfurled over the ravine.
The festivities ended at the village of Buda where the cornerstone of the Kholodny Yar Museum was ce-remoniously placed.
