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In Memory. In the Ukrainian cemetery in Bound Brook, NJ, in the section where many individuals who were soldiers in the Ukrainian Insurgent Army have been laid to rest, there is a new grave, that of Daria Hnatkivsky-Lebed’. This ourageous woman was also an active participant in the fight for freedom for the Ukrainian nation. She died February 28, 1989. Daria Hnatkivsky was born in 1912 in Ukraine. She went to school in Lviv during the latter part of the 1920’s, a time of nationalistic self awareness. During these years the city celebrated the 10th anniversary of the liberation struggle of Ukrainians and that glorious day in 1918 when the Ukrainian flag flew proudly from the tower of the city hall building. But the 1920’s and 1930’s were difficult times for Ukrainians living under the Polish rule. It was a time marked by severe oppression of the peasantry by the Warsaw government with the aim of depriving them of what little land they had left. In the cities, people active in Ukrainian national affairs were constantly persecuted, harassed, arrested and imprisoned. Everywhere in Haly- chyna, Ukrainians were beaten, denied their national identity in their own homeland. Unemployment, despera tion, oppression were companions riding high during those years. Nevertheless, amid the outward reign of chaos imposed by the Poles, Ukrainians found order and sanctity in their unshaken loyalty to the ideals of a free, independent Ukrainian state. Daria became a member of Plast (Ukrainian Scout Organization), as well as a member of the newly found Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). When Plast was disbanded in 1930 by the Polish government and went underground, Daira chose to work within OUN, which was a strictly disciplined, underground, ideological-revolutionary group. In 1934 Daria Hnatkivsky was tried for being an accomplice in the assassination of the Polish minister Pieracki, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. She was one of 12 defendants in this case. Her composure and courage during this much publicized proceeding in Warsaw, as well as her calm acceptance of the sentence testified to the strength of her character. In prison she married Mykola Lebed’ who was sent enced to life imprisonment in the same case. In prison the iron determination and strong feelings of nationalism of Daria Hnatkivsky denied her the privilege of letter writing and visits from her family. She refused to use the Polish language in speech or on paper. The German occupation of Poland created a chaotic environment. During a forced march from her prison camp Daria was able to escape. Through underground contacts she was reunited with her husband, settling in Krakow until 1941. Their fist child, a son, died shortly after birth. Following this tragedy, Daria moved to Lviv and went underground after several arrests. The Gestapo was conducting a manhunt for her husband, Mykola Lebed’, a prominent member of OUN at that time in western Ukraine. IN 1942, under an assumed name, Daria gave birth to a daughter and settled in a small house on the outskirts of Lviv with some members of her family. Luck and peace was not Daria’s lot in life. In 1944 the Gestapo raided her home, arresting everyone. She and other female member of her family were placed in Ravensbrook concentration camp, in a section for violent and special prisoners. She was constantly threatened with death. The most difficult thing to bear for Daria was the fate of her daughter Zoya. In her memoirs she wrote: “Each night, every time the door to a cell opened, someone was led to his or her death. Then I would think when my time comes how should I hold Zoya: Should I hold her in such a way that the bullet would hit her first, or should I shield her somehow"? But Daria, her daughter and her mother survived. Through an underground network the small group reached Italy, having been reunited with Mykola, her husband along the way. They remained in Rome until 1948, then through Germany they came to the United States in 1950. Daria Hnatkivsky Lebed’ went through numerous hard ships in life with heroic demeanor. She was a patriot and a woman of great principals. Though her nature was gentle, there was iron in her convictions. Until the day of her death the concern for the fate of her beloved Ukraine was paramount. Daria Hnatkivsky-Lebed' sentences in the Warsaw court in 1934. Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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