NEWS AND VIEWS
Plast's Burlaky mark 50th anniversary
by Jurij Kupchynskyj, Olexa Bilaniuk and Roman Hawrylak
NEW YORK - In 1996, the Plast Ukrainian Youth Association's Burlaky fraternity is marking its 50th anniversary.
To mark the occasion, a special "jubilee council" (Yuvileyna Rada) will be held in the Pidliute region of the Carpathian Mountains on August 17-19. Sixty members of the fraternity from North America are expected to join 30 neophytes from newly formed chapters (kolyby) in Ukraine.
This fraternity owes its guiding principles to the basic ideals of the founder of Scouting, Robert Baden-Powell, and its impetus to the experiences had and acquaintances made at the Ukrainian summer youth camps organized prior to the second world war by Plast and the Commission for Educational Resorts and Youth Hiking (KVOMM, established after the inter-war Polish government banned Plast in 1930) near the towns of Ostodir, Pidliute, Sokil and Brustury.
During the war, youth camps were organized by Ukrainian Youth Educational Societies (VSUM, formed after the Nazi authorities banned Plast in 1939 after a brief official revival) and held near the towns of Briukhovychi, Shklo and Nyzhniv on the Dnister River, and the Peredovi (Front-runners) fraternity was established.
A core of common values, similarity of world outlook and areas of interest germinated and matured at these camps, and lifelong friendships were forged.
Amid the horrors of World War II, some members of the Peredovi perished, while others were scattered throughout Europe. For a time, it seemed that their youthful dreams were no more.
Yet the need and urge to continue and renew old friendships and experience the kinship of ideas was stronger than all the adversities of those times. The Peredovi reappeared in a different form.
In February 1946, in the refugee and displaced persons' (DP) camps of post-war Germany, another fraternity, the Burlaky (Adventurers/Wanderers), arose. The places of lost friends were taken by new members who shared the original ideals and values. The wandering 18th century philosopher Hryhoriy Skovoroda was adopted as the fraternity's patron.
A salient quality of all Burlaky is a lighthearted approach to all of life's problems, best reflected in their marching song: "... For us, the sea is only knee deep/and the Mississippi reaches only our ankles." The fraternity's most pronounced characteristic is an unconditional tolerance of political and religious outlooks and forgiveness for human weaknesses.
Burlaky have a disdain for snobbery and self-importance, and an aversion to people who place their own interests above the welfare of the community, or who exploit the community for their personal gain. In general, the Burlaky shun zealotry, pretentious patriotism or demonstrative devotion to the scouting spirit, considering these to be evidence of shortcomings in personal character and integrity, and a cover for a lack of conviction.
True to their name, while in post-war Germany the Burlaky devoted themselves almost exclusively to mountaineering, hiking, camping and skiing. Within a short time after the fraternity was established, its members acquired a reputation for being experts in these areas of scouting endeavor, and many initiated and organized various Plast youth camps, hikes and tours, both in summer and winter.
Burlaky were instrumental also in the reactivation of the Carpathian Ski Club (KLK), and filled its membership rolls. They quickly achieved pre-eminence in skiing and swimming competitions, and registered a strong presence in track and field events.
In 1947, the fraternity participated in the World Scouting Jamboree near Paris, and from then on many of its members took on various tasks and positions of leadership within Plast.
As Ukrainians resettled from Europe's DP camps, mainly in Canada and the U.S., the Burlaky tried to hold together by settling in neighboring areas, in order to best maintain old friendships and community spirit; unfortunately, professional and family responsibilities largely thwarted this intent.
In order to maintain contact, a fraternity newsletter, Kometa (The Comet), was established in June 1950, and circulated, originally as a monthly, and recently as a biannual publication, whose editor was usually the fraternity's periodically elected "vatazhok" (chief).
From their arrival in their new countries of settlement, the Burlaky devoted themselves to their traditional endeavors: organizing hikes, tours, various youth camps for skiing and canoeing, and regular sporting events.
The fraternity's members also participated very actively in volunteer work for the benefit of Plast and a wide range of civic organizations. Many achieved prominent positions in their professional lives.
Three have been named members of Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences, two of the Ukrainian Academy of Engi-neering Sciences. The editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Ukraine (published by the University of Toronto Press) is a Burlaka.
Burlaky have served as leading corporate executives, technicians who participated in the U.S. moon landing effort, elite academics in the sciences and the humanities, senior law enforcement officials, and engineers who designed key elements in North America's transportation system.
As the years passed, the activity of the fraternity's older members naturally decreased. However, as senior members of Plast, they succeeded in rebuilding the junior troop of the Burlaky, the 1st Kurin of the senior order of Plast (USP).
Today, the senior members of the Burlaky look with great pride and satisfaction to the younger members, who continue to nurture the grand old ideas and traditions in new environments, both in the diaspora and in Ukraine, via new ways and methods.
Jurij Kupchynskyj (a.k.a. "Kuba"), Olexa Bilaniuk ("Trubka") are founding members of the Burlaky fraternity. Roman Hawrylak ("Svat") was a member of the Peredovi fraternity, and is also a long-time Burlaka. For more information about Burlaky, readers may visit their web page at http://soma.crl.mcmaster.ca/ukes/plast/burlaky.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, August 11, 1996, No. 32, Vol. LXIV
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