Two new books by Taras Hunczak launched at Shevchenko Society (10/08/06)

Two new books by Taras Hunczak launched at Shevchenko Society

by Denys Sohor

NEW YORK - The presentation of two new Ukrainian-language books by Prof. Taras Hunczak took place at the New York headquarters of the Shevchenko Scientific Society (NTSh) on September 23. The publications were "My Life - Reminiscences" and "Ukraine - 20th Century." Both books were published by Dnipro in Kyiv. The NTSh conference auditorium was filled with attendees who came to hear about the latest works by Dr. Hunczak, a renowned scholar and community leader.

The presentation was made by Prof. Roman Voronka. At the beginning, he underlined that he was a witness to the many events described in "Reminiscences" and was pleased to speak about them. Prof. Voronka spoke for 40 minutes outlining the many achievements of Prof. Hunczak, especially those that occurred in the decade beginning in 1988.

Prof. Voronka concentrated on Prof. Hunczak's role in the events prior to and those in the first years following the declaration of independence of Ukraine in 1991. The audience learned that Prof. Hunczak was the only Ukrainian American present at the founding conference of the Rukh organization in Kyiv in September 1989. At one point Prof. Hunczak read the moving and eloquent speech he made at the Rukh conference.

Upon his return from Kyiv in the fall of 1989, Prof. Hunczak initiated the founding of the Rukh Fund (RF), the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund (CCRF) and the umbrella organization "Narodnyi Fond Dopomohy Ukraini." He headed the three organizations until the founding of the Coordinating Committee to Aid Ukraine in January 1991. Most of the local "aid to Ukraine" organizations joined the CCAU.

The listeners heard of the immense amount of technical equipment, computers, copiers, faxes, dictaphones that were shipped to Rukh by the RF; they learned about the colossal planes full of medicines and medical equipment shipped to Ukraine by CCRF.

In his presentation, Prof. Voronka analyzed the reasons for the success of the RF and CCRF. He explained why the existing diaspora organizations were not prepared to funnel the much-needed help to Ukraine.

The description of historic events at the Verkhovna Rada was highly informative. Profs. Hunczak and Voronka were both present at the Verkhovna Rada during the declaration of independence on August 24, 1991.

Later in the presentation, Prof. Hunczak took the podium. He spoke about "Ukraine - 20th Century." The leitmotif was "I was there," and, thus, "as a historian, I wrote about events that took place before my eyes." Later, the audience had the opportunity to hear an audio recording of the speech Prof. Hunczak made in Kyiv on the occasion honoring Maksym Rylsky, 20th century Ukrainian poet.

Following Prof. Hunczak's comments, there was a lively question-and-answer period. When the presentation ended, the listeners joined the presenters at a wine-and-cheese fête.

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