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ing conspired with each other to keep Ukraine subject and partitioned. The rich lands of Ukraine have been a cov eted prize to its neighbors as far back as the Principality of Kiev in the tenth century. I heard Professor Clarence Manning mention at Columbia University a few years ago that there seems to be in existence a conspiracy among all neighbors of Ukraine, regardless of their enmity to each other, to keep the world completely in the dark, as to even the very existence of a distinct Ukrainian language and national character; all for the sake of each of them to be able to retain and exploit chunks of this rich land. Light will seep through, however, and even Voltaire caught a glimpse of it when he wrote almost two centuries ago that Ukraine has always aspired to be free. The Ukrainians’ fight for freedom had not stopped for one moment, nor against one aggressor. The biggest offender is Russia, which has alternately fought, cajoled, starved, and banished to Siberia millions of Ukrainians. And still Ukraine is not quite conquered. The reason why the Soviet Union so badly wants “the eastern half of Poland,” Bessarabia, Bukovina and possibly Carpatho-Ukraine, is that Russia would then have all Ukraini ans in her own big jail with never a chance of some Ukrainians breaking out of a smaller Polish or Romanian jail and helping their 35 million brothers imprisoned in the Soviet Union. The question of permanent peace in Europe can only be answered in the affirmative if a stop can be put to trading countries and peoples like cattle. Ukrainians will again refuse to be put under foreign rule; therefore, one sure way of paving the future peace is to realize the necessity of a free Ukraine. A free Ukrainian state, as a guaran tee against future wars, is surely as interesting a subject for conjecture to Americans unwilling to underwrite more wars in Eastern Europe as a free Poland. Poland is gallant, but Poland is also incurably dominant; therefore in any discussion of Poland’s eastern boundaries, the people who constitute a majority in these territories, that is Ukraini ans, must invariably be taken into consideration. The handing over of 6 or more millions of Ukrainians without any reservation, either to Russia or again to Poland, will certainly not contribute towards the establishment of peaceful conditions in Eastern Europe. Believing you to be as much of an idealist in international affairs as unobscured thinking permits, I venture to say that a study of Ukrainian problems may produce a revision of some of your concepts about Poland and cause some feeling of sympathy for Ukraine, the champion underdog of Europe. Knowing what influence you have on the political thinking on a large number of your countrymen, I am inclined to believe that your attitude towards the problems of Ukraine might, at the proper time, add much to a just solution of relations among European countries. Ukrainians have been fighting for their freedom for so long and against such odds that they have long since stopped counting on outside help. Ukraine’s greatest poet, Taras Shevchenko, wrote exactly one hundred years ago: “Ukraine will yet be blessed with its own George Washington.” This liberator is still being awaited. In the meantime, the greatest aid this martyred land can have from the American people is the breaking down of the awful conspiracy, which hides or denies Ukraine’s existence. Very truly yours, Claudia Olesnycky May 10,1944 letter from Representative Luce to Claudia Olesnycky Dear Mrs. Olesnycky: Thank you for your kind and interesting letter of May 8 in regard to my Polish Constitution Day speech. I did not, in my speech, make any definite recommendations about the future of Ukrainians, nor, on the other hand, did I make a definite recommendation for the geographic site of the post-war Polish Boundary. My rea son for avoiding such a recommendation was my belief that these questions, dealing as they do with millions of human beings, are far too big for any individual or any single nation to settle or try to settle. All I asked for is all that I believe the great majority of Ukrainians (yourself included) and the great major ity of Poles would want—a just settlement of this question can only be reached calmly over a peace table at which all the groups concerned have a chance to speak and all the United Nations have some say in the final question. I am sure you will agree that such a method of handling the Ukrainian question, the Polish Boundary question, and all similar matters is the only possible way to guarantee a durable peace. Under separate cover I am sending, for your possible interest, the full text of this speech. Sincerely, Clare Booth Luce
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