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НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ —OUR LIFE £ EDITOR, MISS MILDRED MILANOWICZ— 151 Hopkins Avenue Jersey City $ New Jersey YOUTH AT THE THIRD CONGRESS OF AMERICANS OF UKRAINIAN DESCENT, WASHINGTON, D. C Тії ere was a fine, healthy representation of young Ukrainian. Am erican organizations at the recent Ukrainian Congress w hich took place at the Alm as Tem ple Auditorium in W ashington, D. C., on M ay 31st. and June 1st. F ew .of; these young delegates were initiates to national con claves sudh' as these, for a majority of them were recognized as. leaders and “doers” of past Ukrainian Youth Conventions. This time, however, these delegates wore a different look. W hether this new determ ined seriousness was put on their faces by their recent experiences during the war years — the discharge em blem glittered from so m any lapels — whether it cam e from the acceptance by one and all present, of the gravity of. Ukraine’s and Ukrainian’s present predicament, or whether the presence of the older-generation dam p ened their natural youthful exuberance, — that is a m oot question. The fact remained that the young people knew be-forehand. that they would not be participating this time in the usual m entally-stiim ilat- ing “sport” of Youth' Conventions, in discussing abstract theories. They -knew they cam e for serious work, prompted by their earnest desire to help in a; cause they firmly and deeply believed in. E yeing the younger set prior to and during the first session of the Congress, one could not help but thrill to the fact that here at least Am erican Ukrainian Youth was m eeting on com m on ground. W ithout the old bugaiboo of religious prejudices and jealousies that have been the bane of former youth conventions, which have ham pered our Ukrainian com m unity life, here youith would be in accord and would be concerned with one com m on goal — Ukrainian parti cipation in Am erica’s Peace Effort. The Congress proceedings unfolded and w e noted with satisfac1. tion that besides the address by Mr. Stephen. Shum eyko, the brilliant and able president of the Congress, who is highly esteem ed by his fellow young-Am ericans, w e, would also hear tw o new voices of young Am ericans of Ukrainian descent. Friday afternoon, we listened to young .Mr. Lev Dobriansky of N .Y .U ’s faculty deliver an address 011 “Our Youth and the Ukrainian Cause.” U sing as his keynote the admonition “W e want action 1” Mr. Dobriansky contended that past Ukrainian Congresses had done nothing at all. W e of the younger generation present, for whom he presum ably was spokesm an, were hardly in complete accord with the speaker and eagerly awaited an opportunity ait least to refer the speaker to the Ukrainian press of the past four years, IF, in his academic ivory tower com pletely out of touch with Ukrainian activities, he also had failed to see the re ports of the Ukrainian Congress and Relief Com m ittee activities in the Am erican Press. No opportunity came. The second voice of the younger set was that of ex-Capt. Joseph Lesawver. H is talk of his experiences with Ukrainian Displaced P er sons would have been given added significance in a discussion with the other veterans present. We would have welcom ed a discus'sion then on what youth could do concretely here in Am erica to help the youth a'bVoad. There was no discussion. The com plete bewilderm ent and disillusionment of the youth at the close of the Congress, resulting from the split and impasse in the Congress elections, calls for a good measure of probing and ex planation. Y oung Ukrainian Am ericans who have -been exhorted to help the Ukrainian Cause and will be called upon again and again for their aid, deserv-e to know the facts. They deserve to know that the leadership of the Congress rests in the good hands of indi viduals expending every effort to shield the good nam e and the fur ther usefulness of the Congress from the dangerous aspirations of petty and outm oded political cliques or of ambitious and selfish in dividuals. Lesson Number One learned at the Congress by the younger set is that never again can youth attend such an important national con gress w ithout being prepared beforehand w ith com plete .knowledge of the political aims of all parties and individuals concerned, this knowledge garnered from incessant reading of our Ukrainian press, - from speeches, from deeds, and from num erous questions asked. If youth is to follow the. older generation in com m unity life t'hey need to choose the right path. The fault for failure of the young delegates to bring hom e de- Next F e b r u a r y 2 is the date booked by Mischel Piastro, Don na Grescoe's famous teacher for her Town Hall debut recital at .New York’s Town Hall. The ex citing news greeted the 18 year old Canadian violin virtuoso on her return home to Winnipeg on June 14th, ,after several su ccessV ful appearances at Ukrainian con certs, notably at tile third Uk rainian Congress at WasHington, D. C., on May 31st and at the Ukrainian Canadian Congress at Toronto, Canada, on June 5th. Audiences at both concerts were thrilled by her apparent ar tistry and both were equally driven by their eager appreciation to applaud half-way through numbers. It was merely their sheer delight in acknowledging a;fine artist with'a. brilliant future ahead of her. The Washington audience be came spellbound from the very first bars of her ''interpretation of" Chopin’s “Noeturn-e”1 ~ (Milstein arrangement), then grew enrap tured and delighted with her “Gypsy Airs,” by Sarasate. En core followed encore after that and reluctantly the 'audience al lowed'the attractive young artistл to retire. The Toronto audience was greeted to a moving rendition of Shu'bert’s “Ave Maria”, to the difficult yet beautifully executed “’Introduction et Rondo Cappric- cioso” by Sain Saens. Miss Gres- coe also played “Gypsy Airs” for her countrymen and so completed a performance that' won high0 praise from the Toronto critics, notably in the Toronto Evening Telegram. • | Accompanying Miss Grescoe at Washington and also at Toronto, as she has at several other recent concerts, was Miss Olga Dmyt- riw of Jersey City, who gave, as fhe Toronto papers reported/ “sympathetic and understanding accompaniament.” Young-Artists Also Heard Made memorable by its intro duction of young Ukrainian American artists to an eager pub lic, the Washington concert be came a triumph for two more singers, Miss Mary Polynack and Mr. Myron iSzandro’wski (Sands). Miss Polynack, opening with sev eral light Ukrainian selections, “Oh Lord” and “When I sing,” both Hayvoronsky songs and Ouglitzky’s “I Tread the path,” which called forth enithusia!stic demands for an encore, neverthe less hit her musical stride in her operatic offering, “Uno voce po* co fa” from Rossini's “Barber of Seville.” Miss Polynack has won a new following with the Wash ington performance. A comparative newcomer to the Ukrainian concert stage, Mr. Szandrowsky pleased his a.udi- ence with his potpourri of Uk rainian songs, but won them over ccnVpletely with his amusing in terpretations of Bridge’s “Oh that it w e re so*' and Head’s “When I thihk upon a maiden.” A. charmingly romantic duo was formed by Mr. Szandrowsky and Miss Polynack to sing the duet (Continued on page 6) finite directives, suggestions and incentives to further work, may rest, in all probability, with the youth themselves.. But they at least have the double excuse., of inexperience and the} lack of time to, or ganize cooperation after, the too-recent wind-up. of war efforts. Be that as it may, Lesson Number Two for young Ukrainian. Americans is to insist on a voice, beforehand, in matters that will call for youth participation. The insistance for a vbice, of course, must be backed up by the willingness to produce results, from the concerted efforts of all Ukrainian American youth, organized immediately. Another but none the less important lesson gleaned from the Con gress experience is the realization of the need among us, for a little more selflessness — both in individuals and in organizations. At this crucial time when leadership is sorely needed, both of the individual and organizational types, we are confronted writh,the utter selfis'hness of those who mask their personal ambitions and love of linielight with the pious mien of “patriotism.! Fierce denials1 (of. their selfish ness to the contrary, these “patriots” were easily recognized and are now forced into the position of “put iup or shut up,” as youth so apt ly phrases it. However, because all the delegates, young and. old, were agreed (not a single dissenting voice, was beard) on the ainis of the-future of the Congress, it is fairly certain that youth will carry on the good work of the Congress. It would be a pity not to utilize their Amer ican business efficiency'to get more done for the, Ukrainin people in less time. Junior Leag uc ^Section UKRAINIAN CONGRESSES GET PREVIEW OF DONNA GRESCOE’SBOW AT TOWN M i
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