A postscript to Canadian writers' autumn visit to Kyiv (02/04/96)

A postscript to Canadian writers' autumn visit to Kyiv

The article below appeared in the December issue of The Writers' Union of Canada newsletter, Prof. Henry Beissel is a well-known Canadian poet, playwright and lecturer at Concordia University in Montreal. He was a member of a group of writers who visited Kyiv for a week last autumn before the official opening of some 600 Canadian books, donated to the Vernadsky Library of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

by Henry Beissel

Kati Rekal, Sonja Dunn and Doris McCarthy have already shared official and personal accounts of our Ukrainian experiences with The Writers' Union of Canada members in the October Newsletter, and there is no need for me to repeat what I am in total accord with. Their enthusiasm is fully justified with regard both to the warm camaraderie that developed between all the members of the delegation and to the success of our mission. Everywhere we were received in a spirit of genuine and generous friendship.

All of which more than made up for any discomforts we suffered; they were not, in any case, due to any negligence on the part of our hosts, who went out of their way to make our stay as pleasant and fruitful as possible. Our discomforts were a pale reflection of the hardships that are part of daily life for most Ukrainians at this difficult time of their rebirth as a nation.

The enthusiasm for Canada which we encountered at every step was not surprising in view of the close and long-standing ties between our two countries established by the many Ukrainian immigrants.

The national poetry award with which Lydia Palij was honored during our stay is one of many concrete demonstrations of how far-reaching these ties are.

When I gave a lecture-cum-reading that focused on Canada at one of the universities, I was promptly declared an "honorary professor" by the vice-rector and invited to return for a series of lectures next May.

And there was the stranger at the bus stop in a small town a two-hour boat ride down the Dnipro who recognized Sonja as the host of a TV show for children; he came from Sudbury to marry a Ukrainian girl in a traditional - wedding to which we were all spontaneously invited. So many touching human gestures.

There are, of course, also political and economic dimensions to the interest of Ukrainians in Canada. We have well-established democratic traditions and, at least as compared to them, a sound economy, whereas Ukraine has suffered Polish and Russian tyrannies in various forms throughout its history, and has only recently become an independent democracy. It needs models, and help, as it slowly and painfully emerges from three score and 10 years of Soviet dictatorship that have left the country devastated.

For one thing, it suffered a holoc; as brutal and murderous as any. Six million Ukrainians were systematic; starved to death by Stalin between 1931 and 1933 alone, in one of history's n appalling, deliberately engineered famines. The total number of Ukrainians killed by the Soviet regime is estimated to be between 10 million and 16 million

Many Ukrainians are bitter that West has ignored their people's horrendous suffering, which included barb tortures, wholesale executions, deportation to Siberia and the most inhuman treatment in concentration camps.

Entrenched power is always hard dislodge, especially when it has ruled fear. Unaccustomed to the ways democracy, the Ukrainian body politic still operates too often according to mechanics of dictatorship. Too man, the old Soviet functionaries are still power, with but a perfunctory change of hats. They continue to enjoy their privileges by exploiting the authoritarian mindset they so firmly implanted in people during almost three generation.

The Soviets attempted to eradicate every trace of Ukrainian nationalism; culture, with the object of turning country, which has vast grain-grow capacities, into Russia's breadbasket.

Even the Ukrainian language was ruthlessly suppressed; so that many Ukrainians today have never learned it. School textbooks are in Russian, and there has been enough time, nor is there enough money and expertise, to replace them.

Ukrainians consequently, find themselves in the ironic situation of having to debate and promote their national culture and language through the medium of the Russian language for which, understandably, they have no affection. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that about 25 percent of the people of Kyiv are native Russians.

The economic problems are at least as complex. The forced collectivization of Ukrainian farmers and farms was a complete disaster, and along with the deliberate underdevelopment of its industrial base has left its economy in shambles. In fact, the country is bankrupt.

Our "guide" - a woman with a university degree, a single mother with a 14-year-old daughter, fluent in several languages, assistant director of the Central Library of the Academy of Science and in charge of its international affairs, with 37 librarians working under her - earns the equivalent of $25 per month, half of which she needs for fares to get herself to work and her daughter to school. Except that she hasn't been paid for the last three months; neither have the other employees. There is no money in the treasury. It remained an enigma to us how she, and the thousands like her who refuse to surrender their integrity, manage to survive.

Not surprisingly, corruption is widespread. Policemen, for instance, regularly stop cars on the road for the sole purpose of exacting a bribe. Perhaps this is their only source of income. Of course, bribery, embezzlement, nepotism and the like were long-established practices of the Soviet administration.

These are now augmented by the nefarious strategies of a new class of "entrepreneurs" who consider a free market to be the playing field for business, mafia-style. This malaise seems to be epidemic now in all the former Soviet states and republics. To experience it in the real world, as we did, was a considerable shock and raised some nagging questions about the viability of capitalism. Unfortunately, the need to protect innocent people does not allow me to go into the details of our encounters.

For all that, we enjoyed our visit thoroughly. We were treated with embarrassingly generous hospitality by a people suffering severe deprivations graciously. And Kyiv, situated as it is on the banks of the Dnipro river, is a beautiful city. It harbors many cultural treasures, including several magnificent cathedrals and monasteries. Our tireless guide made sure that we saw as many of them as possible.

Most memorable were the 11th century Lavra (Cave) Monastery with its collection of fine, golden-roofed buildings, and the Byzantine St. Sophia Cathedral with its incredible frescoes from the same period. We also learned about some of Ukraine's great artists, such as the 19th century composer Mykola Lysenko and the poet Taras Shevchenko whose "Testament" I was privileged to recite in the house in which he lived, which is now a museum.

One afternoon, we were able to relax on a hydrofoil boat ride down the Dnipro. Looking back at the city built against and up over a steep and high embankment, its skyline dominated by the spires and golden domes of many churches, one got a sense of more illustrious ages now gone by. It is reassuring to know that in the new, independent Ukraine there is a growing number of energetic and committed people determined not only to make democracy work, but also to restore the country's former glory. They have a long and rocky road ahead of them.

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