BOOK REVIEW: A memoir recalling the Cold War years (03/08/98)

BOOK REVIEW: A memoir recalling the Cold War years

by Wolodymyr T. Zyla

"Memoirs," by Michael Terpak, 1996, 215 pages.

The perception and understanding of beauty in art and life are inseparable from the truth. In answering the question "Why does this book of memoirs appeal to you?" readers, in most cases, point to the truth in the book. Others answer that they liked the book because it is interesting and it is interesting because it depicts life. No matter how difficult life was, life was good.

Events in "Memoirs" writes the author, Michael Terpak, "are not historical facts, chronologically organized with authenticated data. They are, rather, living examples of what I lived through."

In addition to the chapter titled "General Remarks," there are 49 brief chapters in this book and two supplements: one that deals with the Voice of America and the other containing Mr. Terpak's verses.

The author introduces the reader to Zakarpattia, his native village, Gaidosh, and to the splendid peak Makovytsia, a part of the Carpathian Mountain chain that stretches from Bratislava, Slovakia, almost to the Black Sea. The Carpathians were volcanic and one may point to a hump, called the "rib," of cooled lava that sticks out, like a rib, from the Mount Makovytsia.

In 1935, during a summer evening, writes the author, "we sang, listened to fables, when something shook us to and fro and, after a few seconds, chimney bricks fell onto the roof and we realized that it was an earthquake."

No less interesting was wintertime when "stories about dragon-serpents, robbers, wolves, sorcerers, etc., forced the children and teenagers to hold their breath as they pulled their legs underneath them on a chair or a bench so that no one could grab them by the legs and carry them into that enchanted world."

The villagers were very religious. They went on pilgrimages to Chernecha Hora (Monk's Hill) on the banks of Latorytsia River near the Transcarpathian city of Mukachiv. For the author pilgrimages were "an extraordinary religious affair. This was the grandeur of the human spirit, this was dedication to one's faith, the sacrifice of time, body and soul."

Life in the Carpathians was difficult. The climate was moderate, but the land was not very productive. This caused living conditions that forced youth to wander from town to town in search of work. They also searched for a better life in the distant unknown of America, which is where the author's father decided to go. Since he had no money, he borrowed money, giving his house as collateral. He began his journey to far off America by walking to Gdynia on the Baltic Sea, from where he sailed to the U.S. However, when he arrived he was told he was actually Canada. A helpful farmer, who charged him $2, took him across the border to America. Traveling on foot, he reached Pennsylvania and settled near Pittsburgh. In 1911 the author's father brought his wife and little daughter to Pittsburgh.

While in America, the author's mother was never happy. When World War I ended, she became homesick for her small house and her village. So the family of Michael Fedorovich Terpak, returned in 1921 to Zakarpatia, to their native Gaidosh, where life was more difficult.

The author's father had a hard time accepting these difficulties and returned to America a second time. However, the Depression had begun and he could not find work. So he informed the police that he had come to the U.S. in 1910 illegally, and American imigration authorities immediately deported him to a European port and from there to Prague. From Prague to Gaidosh, he had to pay his own way. Disappointed with his lot, he considered himself to be a great failure because he had returned not only without money, but also with debts.

The author writes with respect about his father, whom he loved, and he highly treasures his mother, who gave birth to 10 children, taught her daughters how to cook, bake, embroider, dance and sing, and supported the family with her sewing while her husband was in the U.S. "She could do everything and she did everything," he underlines.

The author writes about his studies at the gymnasium (secondary school) and his desire to go to university. He worked for a short while as a teacher and a principal. However, life under the Hungarian occupation was very difficult, and he began to think about the country where he was born: America.

He decided to return, though this was not easy. On April 1, 1940, he left Gaidosh and, traveling through Budapest and other European cities, he came to the land of his birth. In New York he was met by his sister, from whom he had been separated when both were very young.

Working for some time at various jobs, he then volunteered for the U.S. Army. After the war, he worked for a steel factory until the G.I. Bill was approved. He then immediately enrolled at New York University, where he received a B.A., and later received his M.A. from Columbia University. His studies opened opportunities for him to work in international radio.

With the advent of the Cold War, the Voice of America (VOA) began to develop short-wave programming in 1947 in the Russian language and two years later in Ukrainian. VOA programs broadcast the official position of the U.S. on various problems around the world, among them problems facing the peoples of the USSR. In addition, the U.S. began to broadcast programs on Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberation.

A serious attempt was made to study all aspects of political activities in the Soviet Union. The Harvard University Project, then the East European Fund, Radio Free Europe and later the American Committee for Liberation of the Peoples of Russia, the Institute for the Study of the USSR and Radio Liberation were created.

The U.S. also created the Committee "Free Europe" that included members of the satellite countries of the Soviet Union which declared that the sovereign borders of their countries were based on the principles adopted September 3, 1938, at the time of the Munich Arbitration.

Because Mr. Terpak succeeded in collecting the best information about the scholars and intellectuals as well as the intelligentsia among the émigrés, he became an advisor at the American Committee. During the early Cold War period, work with émigré groups and U.S. representatives was challenging and frustrating, and the author provides a detailed portait of the activities of this time, including the splintering of the Ukrainian emigration into "easterners" and "westerners."

It might be useful to mention that the most important and most numerous Ukrainian émigré organization was the Ukrainian nationalists led by Stepan Bandera. The committee had contacts with members of the Ukrainian National Council; Mykola Livytsky was the council's liaison with Radio Liberation" at that time.

"Almost a whole year had passed," writes Mr. Terpak, "but the Ukrainian staff was not complete. Those whom Mr. Livytsky recommended and who were hired for work were not capable of preparing programs."

In connection with this, Mr. Terpak was dispatched to Munich with a mandate to organize the Ukrainian desk of Radio Liberation. The author expressed his convictions in his talk with Mr. Livytsky.

"Since radio programs in the psychological war are an all-Ukrainian matter, my intention is to search for talented candidates and not for people who belong to those factions that are members of the Ukrainian National Council.

"As long as a person is of democratic conviction, is talented in journalism with experience or has the proper education and has a firm anti-Communist spirit, I would recommend such a person for work regardless to which party he belonged or whether or not he was from eastern Ukraine."

When Mr. Terpak reached the age of 47, he moved from New York to Washington and became supervisor of the Ukrainian Service of the Voice of America. After many attempts and tenacious work, the program became "free from indefinite broadcasts to unidentifiable listeners." The Ukrainian Service became the seventh out of 38 as to daily air time at VOA and the service became one of the best of the daily programs and "the pride of their superiors and staff." This truly was a great achievement.

It would seem that the chief should continue his work, but this was not Mr. Terpak's style, who believed that the older generation should vacate its positions for the benefit of the younger generation. So, on his 65th birthday, Mr. Terpak retired with a feeling of great satisfaction due to his achievements in New York and Washington.

Mr. Terpak says he has written his memoirs for his children and grandchildren, and also for "those who might be interested." The book is written candidly and sincerely throughout without any artificiality or fantasy. It is written from the point of view of a person around whom interesting events happen.

The narrative is saturated with a wealth of detail, that is both clear and profoundly significant. In addition, it is filled with a light, pleasant and gentle humor.

The author feels deeply that "not many in this world were able to join the ranks of those who won and observed how the seed of freedom, honor and respect sown years ago became rooted and sprouted in the way a person deserved it."

"I feel very fortunate, and I remain forever grateful to my guardian angel who gave me the opportunity to live long enough to see the victory of good over evil," writes Mr. Terpak.

"Memoirs" will be precious for anyone who wishes to see the world through the eyes of the author and experience a feeling of participation in his emotions during such an interesting period of history.

Mr. Terpak's "Memoirs" are valuable because they are distinguished by keen observations and a new approach to the issue of psychological warfare - a new discipline in the struggle against Bolshevism - conducted on the air waves, not with a sword, but with a sharp word. Democracy won the struggle without firing one shot.

According to the author, "The greatest satisfaction remains the fact that Ukraine, almost united, became free. Her future is in her hands. She stands as an equal among equals, in peace as well as in her readiness to defend the world's and her own peace."

The book is available by writing to the author: Michael Terpak, 3605 Country Hill Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030.

The above is translated and abidged version of the review originally published in Svoboda on October 15-17, 1997.