ANNIVERSARY REVIEW

The story of The Ukrainian Weekly

by Stephen Shumeyko

The settlement of Ukrainian immigrants in the United States, and their adaptation to its life, culture, and progress during the past half century has been marked by many pioneering efforts by them, which have won them acknowledgment and laudatory comments from their fellow Americans of stocks other than Ukrainian. This pioneering spirit also explains the rapid growth and expansion of Ukrainian American life and all that it represents, spiritually and materially.

The Ukrainian Weekly is one of the more notable of Ukrainian American pioneering achievements, and, in its particular field, one of the most successful in comparison with those of the other ethnic groups which constitute American society.

Necessity for it brought about a demand for it, and the demand was met by the immigrants. For a long time they desired that their growing American-born youth have an organ exclusively their own, through which they could meet, exchange their thoughts and ideas; acquaint themselves with their Ukrainian background and heritage; impress them with their duties and obligations as native Americans; help their kinsmen in enslaved Ukraine to free themselves; come to a better understanding of one another; and finally, indicate those paths of endeavor which would lead them to a better and fuller life.

Essentially that is what the leading Ukrainian-language daily in this country, the Svoboda, had been doing for the immigrants themselves all the while. But its approach and language was that of one immigrant to another. Consequently the youth, although possessing some knowledge of Ukrainian, gained privately or at parochial schools, required for its needs a periodical in English.

In May 1933, the 18th regular convention of the Ukrainian National Association, held in Detroit, passed a resolution providing for the publication of an English-language supplement of the Svoboda.

The thought behind the resolution had been advocated by Dr. Luke Myshuha, editor-in-chief of Svoboda. There were a number of candidates for editorship of the new publication, and Stephen Shumeyko was selected for that post, which he has held to this day.

On October 6, 1933, the first number of The Ukrainian Weekly rolled off the press, and it has continued rolling off the presses without any interruptions for the past 20 years.

It must not be assumed, however, that The Weekly was the first English-language periodical for Ukrainian American youth. It was directly preceded by an interesting quarterly, the Ukrainian Juvenile Magazine, also published by the Ukrainian National Association, from 1927 to the middle of 1933. Its contents dealt with Ukrainian history, literature, art, culture, and contained news items of Ukrainian American youth activities, editorial comments on problems and issues confronting the young people, and various contributions by readers themselves. Its editor was Emil Revyuk, then associate editor of the Svoboda.

Not all of the young people depended upon the magazine for whatever it was able to give them. Beginning in the 1930s and up to the appearance of The Weekly, a growing number of them availed themselves of the space placed at their disposal in the Svoboda. Thus, practically every issue of the daily contained an increasing number of articles on various subjects as well as news reports and sport items submitted by the younger folk.

Among the contributions of a serious nature was the "Short History of Ukraine" by Stephen Shumeyko, which ran serially approximately every seven days for a period of about a year and one-half. Among the others who wrote in English for the Svoboda was Waldimir Semenyna, a fine translator of Ukrainian poetry. Among the other contributors were Alexander Yaremko, Thomas Flora, Katherine E. Shutock, Mary Kusy, Mary Ann Bodnar, Rosalie Hatala, Betty Kinash, Walter Chopyk and Gregory Herman.

Though comparatively few in number, they in a sense represented hundreds of young people throughout the land who were increasingly interesting themselves in Ukrainian American life and all the cultural clubs were springing up among them. An awareness of their Ukrainian cultural heritage was catching up with them. The songs they sang in the choirs and choruses, the folk dances they practiced and then exhibited before their own and non-Ukrainian gatherings caught their imagination and liking. More and more they flocked together and became quite group conscious as a result; quite more so, even at that early date, than did young American-born people of non-Ukrainian descent.

And thus, when The Ukrainian Weekly came into being there was a wide reading public among our younger generation waiting and ready for it.

Weekly objectives

To get started, chart its course and set up its objectives was not particularly difficult. Starting from the premise that The Weekly was to be in the words inscribed on its masthead, "Dedicated to the needs and interests of young Americans of Ukrainian descent," The Weekly set up as its main objectives the following: (1) to propagate among its readers the inspiring principles of Americanism; (2) to give them at least a rudimentary knowledge of their Ukrainian cultural heritage and of the centuries-old Ukrainian struggle for national freedom; (3) to inspire and support their organizational efforts; (4) to impress upon them the necessity of their becoming members of the Ukrainian National Association - the chief bulwark of American life; (5) to serve as a forum for their thoughts and views on the various important problems and issues confronting them; (6) to keep them abreast of the latest developments in Ukrainian American organized life; (7) to keep them informed on the current events in the land from which their parents emigrated; and (8) to generally provide them with a type of inspiration, information and reading material which they could not obtain elsewhere.

How far The Ukrainian Weekly has advanced towards these objectives which it set up 20 years ago, is not for the editor to say. However, we would like to point out a fact which has long been recognized by impartial observers, including a Yale University study, namely, that no other younger generation of Americans of Old World background is as group-conscious as is the Ukrainian American younger generation, and that no other generation has shown as much interest in its old-world cultural heritage and the valuable role it can and does play in the development of American life and culture as have our youth. Much credit for this has been given to The Ukrainian Weekly.

Among the first serious problems with which The Weekly had to contend and take a definite stand on, so that its readers could do likewise, were those encountered by children of foreign-born parents in their efforts to adjust themselves to American life. In this class are the conflicts within the family itself that result from the American ways of the children and the European ways of the parents.

Many think this problem will be solved as soon as these first-generation children, Americans, will be completely assimilated, although they doubt whether such assimilation can take place within the span of these children's lives.

The Weekly took a stand against rapid assimilation. Take this matter of conflict within the family, for instance. True, a part of this conflict arises from the already mentioned Old and New World conceptions of the parents and children, respectively. Yet, is this aspect of conflict within the immigrant family of any greater importance than the one which is to be found in practically every family, assimilated or not, wherein the parents strive (deliberately or not is beside the question) to impose their ways of thinking and doing things upon their children, who in turn are positive that their ways are better? Assuredly not. Furthermore, is not this latter conflict larger in scope than the former, and prevalent just as much in those families that date their lineage back to the Mayflower as in those whose minds still contain fresh memories of Ellis Island? The answer is obvious. And so the conclusion is inescapable, that the solution of the first generation American's problems will affect very little the greater problem of the age-old and worldwide conflicts within the family. Neither is it necessary then, to try to solve them by way of any accelerated assimilation, for such assimilation carries with it far worse consequences than those flowing from the maladjustments it would tend to displace. Such an assimilated person, for instance, usually knows and cares very little about his native background, traditions, and heritage, and as a result he lacks that solid basis upon which he can gain the poise and confidence necessary for his struggle with daily life.

The Weekly believes that not in assimilation, cultural or otherwise, but in the preservation of the finer elements of their native Ukrainian heritage and their adaptation to American life, can the children of Ukrainian-born immigrant parents look for a solution of their special problems of adjustment.

Literary heritage

Probably the first contact a Ukrainian immigrant's child here had with Ukrainian literature consisted of the adventure stories mother told in Ukrainian about the brave Kozaks of yore, of how they would cross the Black Sea in their frail craft, raid and plunder the rich Turkish cities and free the Ukrainian captives. The child's first acquaintance with Ukrainian poetry usually was his memorization of Shevchenko's "Last Testament" or "Learn, My Brothers." This education continued through the Ukrainian school, which the children attended in the evenings, after regular American school hours, and on Saturdays, when religious instruction was given. Graduation from the Ukrainian school, however, usually marked the end of learning of the three Rs in Ukrainian and with it of Ukrainian literature. Unless the parents spoke to their children only in Ukrainian, and not, as so often was the case, in broken English, the son or daughter soon lost whatever working knowledge of Ukrainian, especially written and printed, which they had possessed. And thus the rich argosy of Ukrainian literature was no longer within their reach.

Fortunately, to their aid came The Ukrainian Weekly, by offering them good translations of the best of Ukrainian stories, novelettes, novels, and poetry.

The first translations were those of simple stories for boys and girls, such as the popular Chaikovsky's "Za Sestroyu" (In Quest of His Sister), which, translated by this writer, ran serially for quite a while.

As, together with The Weekly, its readers grew in maturity, an entire galaxy of some of the finest examples of Ukrainian literature ran in their translated form on the pages of The Weekly. Outstanding among them were Kulish's full-length novel "Chorna Rada" (Black Council) which ran every week from August 8, 1942, through September 18, 1943, Kotsiubinsky's novelette "Tini Zabutykh Predkiv" (Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors), and a number of short stories by him, Franko, Stefanyk, Makovey, Martovych, Cheremshyna, Lepky, Lesia Ukrainka, Kobylianska, Pchilka, Samiylenko, Nechuy-Levytsky, Hrinchenko, Vynnychenko, and the more modern writers, such as Khvyliovy and Tychyna. Approximately 85 percent of these translations were by this writer, the remainder mainly by Andrusyshen, Cundy and Wissotsky-Kunz.

The Weekly also offered its readers some of the finest selections of Ukrainian poetry, translated into English, especially works by Taras Shevchenko, Ivan Franko, Lesia Ukrainka, Kotliarevsky, Shashkevich and Lepky, with the translations by Voynich, Semenyna, Manning, Cundy, Livesay, Gambal, Coleman and Hunter.

In addition, The Weekly ran "A Short History of Ukrainian Literature," by the Rev. Max Kinash, translated by this writer, which appeared regularly from February 9, 1934, through April 18, 1936. Briefer surveys of Ukrainian literature, which ran serially, were by this writer and Arthur P. Coleman of Columbia University. Clarence A. Manning, also of Columbia, wrote a number of articles for The Weekly on the subject.

Combined, all of the above are sufficient for a very thick volume of Ukrainian anthology, which the UNA plans to have published.

By reading these outstanding examples of Ukrainian prose and poetry in their English translation, the young Ukrainian American strongly strengthened his attachment to his Ukrainian cultural heritage. He perceived in it, too, a mirror of the turbulent and heroic national life of the Ukrainian people, one which reflected their many trials and tribulations, as well as their thoughts, strivings and aspirations. At the same time, he gained an insight into the effects that history left upon the Ukrainians, upon the masses and the individuals, upon a people of over 40 million in number, who have not been able within the past several centuries to become a master and director of their fate, who have been doomed to undergo every form of humiliation and enslavement, and yet who have held firm to their resolve to keep on struggling and fighting for that opportunity when they can strike off the shackles that bind them.

To this it should be added that a noteworthy result of the publication by The Weekly of the best in Ukrainian literature has been that persons of non-Ukrainian extraction have been attracted to read and admire them, with the further result that some of them were encouraged to learn Ukrainian, read its literature, translate it and write about it.

Ukrainian literature, however, is but a portion of the Ukrainian cultural heritage of our younger generation. Consequently, the pages of The Weekly are replete with studies and descriptive articles dealing with Ukrainian music, folk dance, the arts of the Ukrainian home, architecture, painting, etchers and illustrators, moral and legal heritage and religious life. Religious holidays as they were observed by the immigrants back in the old country are fully described, just as are some of the home arts and handicrafts. Ukrainian ethnography, including birth, marriage and funeral customs, the quaint beliefs and superstitions, also are covered by a large number of descriptive articles. The writings and researches of Fedir Vowk and of the more modern ethnographers served as source material.

Historical tradition

The story of Ukraine, too, has been told and retold, with ever new and fresh details and approach to it. The pomp and circumstance of the Kyyivan kingdom in the Middle Ages, when in civilization and power Ukraine rivalled the leading powers of Europe; the heroic and adventurous times of the Kozak republic, whose daring warriors saved Europe from being overrun by the Asiatic hordes and who then wrested their national independence from the Poles and Russians; the period of decline when in Tsarist Russian thralldom the Ukrainian people seemed to have reached the end of the trail as a national entity; the valiant upsurge of the Ukrainian national spirit culminating in the rise of the Ukrainian National Republic; the period of suffering and underground struggle in the post-World War II years; and the present spirited resistance on all fronts of the Ukrainian people, spearheaded by their underground Ukrainian Insurgent Army - all these facets of what constitutes the Ukrainian historical tradition, without which no nation can long live, have been illuminated in issue after issue of The Weekly.

The Weekly also featured special articles dealing with particular periods or institutions in Ukrainian history such as the Zaporozhe, and also of the great Ukrainian historical figures, leaders, liberators, scholars and patriots. In addition, the events in Ukrainian history, like the November 1, 1918, declaration of independence by Western Ukraine, or the January 22, 1919 union of all of Ukraine in the Ukrainian National Republic, are commemorated on their anniversaries by The Weekly by editorials and special articles.

And thus readers of The Weekly are ever reminded of the glories of what was and is Ukraine, and their selfless determination to bring closer the day of Ukrainian national freedom ever grows stronger as a result.

Organizational value

And now let us consider the organizational value of The Weekly. To put it in a nutshell, as one reader once wrote: The Ukrainian Weekly and Ukrainian American progress are well nigh synonymous.

When The Weekly first made its appearance, it was but a bare month and a half after the formation of the Ukrainian Youth's League of North America, in August 1933 in Chicago.

There was brave enthusiasm among those founders of the league. After all, they were trodding a virgin field, and the rising sun of Ukrainian American youth activity was warming their ardor and desire to strive for accomplishments. One formidable obstacle, however, loomed before them. It was the vast distance which separated their clubs throughout this great country. Communication by mail, of course, was of some value, but far from enough. And certainly the league was in no position to have a gazette, a bulletin or any kind of a publication of its own at all. It was here that The Weekly stepped in, offered its services and rendered them.

By reporting all of the league activities, both national and local, by publicizing them to the fullest extent, were they club meetings, rallies or national conventions, by editorially counselling, urging and exhorting the youth to continue their progress, The Weekly performed a very substantial service to the Ukrainian American youth. For example, the success of the annual national youth league conventions, attended by young people from all over the country, featuring interesting programs, colorful pageants, sport events, and manifesting the solidarity of Ukrainian American youth in pursuit of the finest American and Ukrainian ideals and principles, was considerably due to the publicity and other forms of aid furnished by The Weekly. Acknowledgment of the same was publicly made by youth league officers as well as by the rank and file of members.

War service

If ever The Weekly proved its worth it was during the war preparedness period and the years of World War II themselves. Any compiler of the pre-war and war record of Ukrainian Americans can hardly dispense with the systematic reporting of the same by The Weekly. Practically every number of it features such reports together with pictures of the serviceman who distinguished himself by some heroic deed, or who was wounded or who made the supreme sacrifice for his country. And there certainly were a great many of them.

The Weekly, however, did not limit itself in coverage of the war to reporting only. Editorially it took a stand, one in consonance with American war interests and the right to be a free nation, in connection with the succeeding developments of the war and the various international conferences and decisions.

When, for example, the Russians by virtue of the Hitler-Stalin pact overran and occupied Western Ukraine, their liquidation of thousands of Ukrainian patriots and intellectuals evoked from The Weekly strong protests which reached the sight of such dailies as The New York Times, which commented upon them.

When further on that pact was abrogated and Ukraine found itself between the devil and the deep red sea, The Weekly clearly expressed its stand. It refused to regard the alliance between the British and the Soviets as creating a dilemma for Ukrainian Americans, and refused to become less intransigent in its attacks upon "Uncle Joe" and his minions in the Kremlin. It called upon all Americans to realize once and for all that their enemy was not Nazism but Communism as well. And it prophetically wrote (July 28, 1941) "...To help Stalin win the war between Nazism and Communism, would be to strengthen Communism not only in Europe but even here. If Stalin wins a clearcut victory, it will be he, not our Roosvelt or England's Churchill, who will dictate the peace terms; and they will be as bad as Hitler's terms."

When, however, Pearl Harbor forced America into the war, The Weekly called upon all Ukrainian Americans to "concentrate all their energies and activities upon helping our country win this war. Make it the main purpose of our present existence. Let nothing else take precedence over it; for all else, no matter how fine, noble and worthy it may be, is in these crucial times, secondary to it." Concluding, The Weekly expressed the devout wish that, "May our country's ultimate victory over totalitarianism and aggression, therefore, be Ukraine's victory as well."

As the war dragged on and the Ukrainian Americans were doing more than their bit to help their country win it, they became victims of unbridled vilification by the Communists who were then in their heyday. The Weekly did its share in exposing "What's Behind the Smear Campaign," (October 3, 1942) noting, among other things, that, "The Communists have always had it in for us, not only because we are supporters of the idea of a free and democratic Ukraine, not only because of our churches, fraternal associations and the various other resources at our command for which they lust, but also because we have always preferred to look for leadership not to Moscow but to Washington."

With victory in sight, and Stalin becoming more overbearing in his attitude toward the Allies, the latter became perturbed over the post-war fate of Western Ukraine, which the Russians once more were occupying on the heels of the Nazi retreat. At about then a number of American commentators hotly espoused the Polish claim to Western Ukraine, invoking all the Atlantic Charter for which the war was presumably being fought. It was then (January 13, 1945), that The Weekly observed that, "It is this specious resort to high principles that makes any fair-minded person to smile wryly. For if they really cared to see the Atlantic Charter principles triumph, they would champion the cause of the people most vitally concerned in the Soviet-Polish dispute - the Ukrainians. They would be the first to say, 'Let there be a plebiscite there...' "

Then came the Yalta Conference and subsequent concessions made by the Western powers to Russia, which dashed all hopes even among the naive of any lasting reign of peace and justice after the war. The Weekly noted this (February 17, 1945) with the following: "Now with all of Ukraine under the Kremlin rule, the Ukrainian problem is definitely a Soviet internal problem, to be dealt with in any manner that Kremlin sees fit ... Behind the impenetrable barriers which the Red rulers have erected between their domains and the outside world, they will once more, as they did before the war, liquidate, purge, imprison and starve those Ukrainians who aspire to national freedom." Nevertheless, "this time the traditional anti-Ukrainian policies are likely to encounter far greater opposition than was possible before the war. For, as Edgar Snow recently wrote from Kiev in the Saturday Evening Post, though the whole titanic struggle in Eastern Europe is dismissed by some as "the Russian glory," still "in all truth and in many costly ways (it) has been first of all a Ukrainian war." The Ukrainians have fought too much and sacrificed too much not to have emerged from it a tougher and more determined people ... And when he (Ukrainian) returns home ... he is not likely to submit to Moscow dictation and liquidation.

The annexation of Carpatho-Ukraine by the Reds on June 29, 1945, was, as The Weekly noted, long expected, "in the light of the long evident Soviet intention not to allow any sizeable Ukrainian territory to remain outside Soviet rule which might serve as a springboard for the establishment of a Ukrainian state."

The setting up in San Francisco of the United Nations organization evoked considerable editorial comment as well. Although The Weekly did not expect that the Ukrainian question would have the slightest chance of being placed on the agenda of the deliberations, The Weekly hoped that, "the least that could be done for the Ukrainian people, as well as for other peoples, is to provide measures whereby the proposed international security organization would be empowered to safeguard their national rights. This could be done by amending the Dumbarton Oaks proposals...so as to include in the proposed charter of the international organization a Bill of Human Rights or a Bill of National Rights. One with teeth in it."

Post-war interest of the young in the Ukrainian cause

As the years went by the post-war way and Ukrainian Americans began to play an increasingly important role in propagating the Ukrainian cause and gaining sympathizers for it, The Weekly kept apace with these developments, including Ukrainian American representation at the Paris Peace Conference in 1946 and at the United Nations meeting in New York. This, in turn, stimulated the younger generation to take a greater interest in the Ukrainian liberation movement. American isolationism, The Weekly told them, is a thing of the past. It recalled to some of them their pre-war sentiments concerning European affairs. Then they were inclined to ignore them, as "being none of my business." Yet, a couple of years later, when they were fighting on the beachheads of Normandy or through the hedgerows of the French countryside, they suddenly found out that European affairs were very much their business. And now that the war was over that "business" was even more pressing. Upon it depended the present and future peace and security of their country. And closely tied with it all was the fight their kinsmen were waging for national freedom. A free and independent Ukraine, The Weekly reminded them, would help to stabilize the situation in Eastern Europe, would deprive imperialist Soviet Russia of its war potential, would provide America with a true and loyal friend in the form of a democratic Ukrainian republic, and would at the same time help prevent America from being plunged into another hot global war.

Fortunately for all and everyone concerned, the young people heeded this counsel, and began to take appropriate steps in the direction indicated by The Weekly. At their rallies and conventions they deliberated upon the Ukrainian cause and its importance to the Ukrainians and Americans. Their interest caught the attention of their elders and secured their support when they ran for office in such national organizations as the Ukrainian National Association, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, and the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee. Today their accomplishments within the frameworks of these organizations is a matter of a good record.

The newly arrived

Glancing through the bound volumes of The Weekly for the past several years one cannot help but notice strong reflection of another new phase and development in Ukrainian American life. That is the arrival here of close to 100,000 new Ukrainian immigrants, formerly displaced persons, victims of the war and Nazi and Russian persecution. Their arrival here brought in its wake many fresh problems and issues of adjustment, understanding and general orientation. The Weekly took them in its stride. It emphasized the importance of their coming here and called upon the American-born young Ukrainians to do everything to make them feel at home here - their new home. The response was gratifying, although due to the initial difficulties inherent in the process of adjustment, the progress made thus far has still far to go before the desired results are achieved.

One, however, has already been achieved. Originally proposed by The Weekly, it took the form of a resolution passed by the 15th convention of the Ukrainian Youth's League of North America. It empowered the league to take the initiative to bring about a coordination of activities of national Ukrainian youth organizations in America and Canada, and to include within its orbit organizations composed of new immigrants as well. This is what the UYL-NA did.

At the present time, on this, its 20th anniversary, The Weekly is setting its sights on fast rising new problems. Among them, and a very important one it is, is that of increasing the youth membership of the Ukrainian National Association. Before the war it was steadily increasing. The war dammed that flow of fresh blood into the association, and the post-war years have not seen much improvement in the situation. It is believed, however, that the lull is of a temporary nature, for it is becoming evident that the young people are beginning to realize that no matter to what worthy organization they belong and are active in it, the important thing is to belong and be active in the Ukrainian National Association, the bulwark of Ukrainian American organized life and activities, and the embodiment of the hopes and ideals of Americans of Ukrainian birth or descent.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, October 10, 1993, No. 41, Vol. LXI

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