Skip to content
Call Us Today! 212-533-4646 | MON-FRI 12PM - 4PM (EST)
DONATE
SUBSCRIBE
Search for:
About Us
Publications
FAQ
Annual Report 2023
Annual Report 2022
Annual Report 2021
Initiatives
Advocate
Educate
Cultivate
Care
News
Newsletters
Sign Up For Our Newsletter
Join UNWLA
Become a Member
Volunteer With Us
Donate to UNWLA
Members Portal
Calendar
Shop to Support Ukraine
Search for:
Print
Print Page
Download
Download Page
Download Right Page
Open
1
2-3
4-5
6-7
8-9
10-11
12-13
14-15
16-17
18-19
20-21
22-23
24-25
26-27
28-29
30-31
32-33
34-35
36-37
38-39
40
LITERARY EVENING FOR CAMILLA HUK UNWLA Branch 18 Commemorates Chornobyl by ULANA KOBZAR, Branch President Time cannot erase the memory of an evening spent two years ago at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Mohuchi in Nutley, New Jersey. The occasion marked the publica tion of Camilla Huk’s Hollyhocks, a collection of poetry and prose dedicated to the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America’s Chornobyl Fund. The evening, sponsored by UNWLA Branch 18 (Passaic-bergen Coun ties), was attended by most of the Branch members as well as by members of the UNWLA New Jersey Regional Council. After an introduction by Branch 18 president Euge nia Cikalo, Ms. Huk, also a member of Branch 18, explained the motivation behind this publication as a desire to record various aspects of Ukrainian history in the diaspora. The stories and poems in the collection are based on personal accounts the author heard from many immigrants to this country, survivors of the Nazi concentration camps as well as the history of those who lived under the Bolshevik terror, in the hope that the next generation would better remember the heroic Ukrainian victims of the holocaust and the gulag. Ms. Huk gave special thanks to Christina Holowchak DeBarry whose woodcut of hollyhocks illustrates the book jacket. The author had adopted hollyhocks as a symbol for the new Ukrainians — “those who are no longer ‘red pop pies’ but are now like hollyhocks, sturdy and tall, able to withstand all forms of devastation, to prosper and spread their seed everywhere.” Reading from her book, Ms. Huk began with “ Birth day Party”, an artist’s account of surviving Auschwitz, in which vivid images give voice to the brutality expe rienced by the innocent victims of those times. The second selection was “Schlachta,” a poem dedicated to the memory of the late editor of America, Bohdan Czaj- kowsky, a Ukrainan nationalist who survived several Nazi camps. The tale, based on the memories Mr. Czaj- kowsky’s widow Luba, is also an intimate account of the reunion of husband and wife after many years of se paration. On a lighter note, Ms. Huk read her short story “Women Who Spits Through Her Teeth,” a tale of a Ukrainian-American women living through the Great Depression. A particular favorite of the evening was "Dido’s Tale,” based on the true life experiences of Simeon Chernenko who witnessed the Chekist invasion in his village of Bila Zirka in Dnipropetrovsk. Ms. Huk’s final selection was “To Hanya Sverstiuk, March 19, 1990,” an account of a young child’s funeral, a reminder to the audience that the evening was dedi cated to the children of Chornobyl. Following the readings, Mrs. Olha Hnateyko, former National Vice President of the UNWLA, addressed those gathered, citing Ms. Huk’s UNWLA activities as former member of the UNWLA National Board and later as national Secretary of the National Council of Women of the United States. She quoted reviewer Mark Pilinski who called Ms. Huk’s work a “love story of a woman and her people.” The evening closed with an elegant buffet dinner prepared by Branch members. Since that evening, Hollyhocks, now part of the U.S. Holocaust Collection in Washington, D.C., has brought in donations of over $1,615.00 to the UNWLA Chornobyl Fund. Copies of the book (donations of $10.00 or more) and prints of Ms. DeBarry’s illustrations from the book (donations of $25.00 of more) may be obtained through UNWLA Headquarters and will be available at the XXIV Convention to be held in Philadelphia during the Me morial Day Weekend. Camilla Huk with members of UNWLA Branch 18 НАШЕ Ж ИТТЯ”, КВІТЕНЬ 1996 25
Page load link
Go to Top
1 
2-3 
4-5 
6-7 
8-9 
10-11 
12-13 
14-15 
16-17 
18-19 
20-21 
22-23 
24-25 
26-27 
28-29 
30-31 
32-33 
34-35 
36-37 
38-39 
40 
