“Bridges of Memory”

Lviv recently hosted an intergenerational dialog meeting, called “Memories of the Totalitarian Past: Young People Meet Political Prisoners.” Its co-organizers were the Foundations for Freedom NGO and the Territory of Terror Memorial Museum. Representatives of these organizations Halyna Bunio and Liudmyla Levcheniuk served as coordinators of the dialog, which involved 10 students from several regions of Ukraine and 5 former prisoners of the Nazi and Soviet regimes now living in Lviv: Yaroslava Melnychuk (born in 1929), Stepan Horechy (born in 1929), Hanna Ivanytska (born in 1925), Onufrii Dudok (born in 1926) and Iryna Shul (born in 1918).

“A 20-YEAR-OLD STUDENT AND A 90-YEAR-OLD FORMER POLITICAL PRISONER COMMUNICATE AS EQUALS”

“We wanted to provide an opportunity for young undergraduates to learn about the unique experience of witnesses to the totalitarian past and compare it with their own experience of direct participation in or observation of history, to draw conclusions for the future,” Bunio said. “While talking in small groups, the former political prisoners have overcome their fears regarding modern youth in general and many of their stereotypes about people from other regions of Ukraine,” she told us.

Co-organizer representing the Territory of Terror Memorial Museum Levcheniuk shared her thoughts: “The course of such a dialog was difficult to predict, because the age difference of almost 80 years could become an obstacle, just as the participants’ opinion differences. They became acquainted with each other with the help of maps of Ukraine, Europe and the world, where everyone marked personally important locations, like the birthplace or the place their family came from. Then, people shared communicative and individual memories of historic significance in small groups, presented their stories in general.”

“We were a bit worried about the former political prisoners, being unsure whether they would be strong enough to endure six to seven hours working in such an intensive regime. As it turned out, they were. And, they said, if not for the time limit, they would be happy to keep talking. As our oldest participant, 97-year-old Iryna Shul, said, ‘I thought that young people were only thinking of making money and doing business, but I see now that there are patriotic young people who want to know their history and work for their country.’ Meanwhile, all the students noted that talking to witnesses who had experienced history first-hand turned out to be very different from what is written in books,” Levcheniuk added. “When a 20-year-old participant from eastern Ukraine and a 90-year-old former political prisoner of the Soviet regime communicate as equals, discovering the truth about each other and beginning to understand each other better via their experiences, one realizes how important such events are, and regrets a little that so few of them have taken place in Ukraine to date.”

Now is the time for the young people to speak for themselves.

“SUCH OPTIMISM IS ONLY RARELY FOUND AMONG MY GENERATION”

Kateryna KOVALENKO, student of Chernihiv National University of Technology:

“When I was covering the great distance of hundreds of kilometers to the place of our meeting, I thought that it would be difficult to carry on a conversation, because the age difference between us was more than 70 years! However, from the very first minutes of the meeting with the older generation, we realized that we were dealing with people who had the same feelings at heart. Nonetheless, such optimism, patriotism, and sincerity are only rarely found among my generation.

“The most sincere and touching for me was the dialog with Hanna Ivanytska. She told us about her role in organizing the People’s Assembly rally in Lviv in 1988, her arrest and brutal torture... Despite all this, she said with extreme sincerity: ‘I love Ukraine more than my life!’ When I looked in her eyes, I knew that Ukraine would survive as long as there are people who love it so much! I was impressed by the dedication and fortitude of the woman, because she had been hit with electric shock 33 times by her torturers!”

“THE DIALOG ENRICHED ME MORALLY TO A GREAT EXTENT”

Anton LYTVYNENKO, student of Zaporizhia National University:

“Before the meeting, I only heard some bits of information about political prisoners and had not given a thought to the consequences of the totalitarian regime for the people. I am very impressed by the fact that these people, whom the Soviet and German authorities severely punished for their pro-Ukrainian position, endured all torments and torture and stayed firm in the face of mortal danger, remaining true to their beliefs until the end. I am very happy that these political prisoners managed to survive and see the independent Ukraine, but is this Ukraine the one for which they fought? While talking with former political prisoners, I was impressed by their activity, seeing that despite their age, they did everything they could for this country. I realized that my thoughts on the future of Ukraine matched the opinions of others. There were people there who shared my views, while I do not enjoy such an environment in my hometown. When you see that many people from your environment have a pro-Russian stance, and many are ready to go over to the enemy side for a couple of hryvnias, it is very difficult to tolerate it and live with it. The dialog enriched me morally to a great extent. These people lived through a great era!”

“WE NEED TO VALUE PEOPLE WHO FOUGHT FOR OUR FUTURE”

Pavlo KHOMIUK, student of the Ukrainian Academy of Trial Lawyers:

“Before the event, I was in a somewhat confused state. I did not know whether I would be able to tell anything of value to the people who had such life experiences. However, all my misgivings disappeared after we were split into groups and asked to share stories from the lives of our family members who had the bad luck to spend part of their early years under the yoke of the Soviet Union, in the struggle for survival in a concentration camp. Each had a story of their own. Stefan Horechy was in my group. I saw no sadness in his eyes, just optimism. His stories about life in the camp inspired me. Horechy passed through several concentration camps, participated in the Norilsk uprising, and was spiritually strong enough to remain faithful to Ukraine and keep living. He said he did not like pessimists and believed that we should look for the positive in everything. For example, he said, if not for the camp experience, he probably would not have lived to become 87, because it made him strong and hardened to life circumstances. I felt the strength of his spirit, and it influenced me greatly. I realized that one should be able to recover from defeats despite everything, and value people who fought for our future. They are our heroes!”