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22 WWW.UNWLA.ORG “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, КВІТЕНЬ 2015 Members of Branch 3 during a Christmas party. Dr. Holian gave the historical perspective on the displaced persons in Germany after World War II, and specifically Ukrainian displaced persons. Ari- zona State University was well represented in the audience for the film showing, including the Di- rector of the School of Music, Dr. Robert Oldani, and two representatives from the Melikian Center for Russian, Eurasian, and East European Stud- ies. The Melikian Center also contributed some funding to bring the film to Arizona. A dinner, prepared by the women of UNWLA Branch 3, fol- lowed at the Ukrainian Cultural Center for the presenters, coordinators, and Orest Sushko. Members of UCCA of Phoenix helped prepare the hall, and Chrystia Boyko brought beautiful Ukrainian tablecloths for 10 tables and made the special bread kolach . The film showing was already the third major event in 2015, hosted and/or supported by UNWLA Branch 3. The first event was a New Year’s Eve Dance, which was attended by about 200 people, many of whom were Ukrainians from Canada wintering here. Another important event, planned by Mark von Hagen as part of a month-long focus on Ukraine, was a talk given on February 19th by Serhii Plokhy, Mykhailo Hrushevskyi Professor of Ukrainian History at Harvard University, Director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, and author of The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union . It was given at Arizona State Uni- versity to a crowd of over 70, comprising stu- dents, professors, and many members of the Ukrainian community. Some major points in Pro- fessor Plokhy’s book, which he communicated to the audience, were (1) that the West had mis- judged, misunderstood, or overinflated its role in contributing to the break-up of the Soviet Union and (2) that the West wrongly attributed the collapse to a recognition by the Russian government and people that their system could not work, and thus, that they wanted to establish a democratic gov- ernment. Furthermore, the West wrongly assumed that now we could all be friends. This wishful thinking from Americans is causing misunderstandings about the cur- rent Russian government’s goals and, thus, leading to mistakes in the American gov- ernment’s present dealings with Russia. However, Ukrainians have long un- derstood Russia’s desire that Ukraine should belong to them or at least be under their control. As the film Music of Survival showed, Ukraine has been a battleground for cen- turies. Efforts are being made to educate non- Ukrainians about the country’s plight and to solic- it their help in aiding the victims of the war in Ukraine. Donations will be collected at the Ukrainian Cultural Center’s future events. The next event in the Ukrainian commu- nity of Phoenix, organized by the local UCCA members, will be a dinner in honor of Taras Shevchenko on March 15th. The dinner is timely considering that statues of Taras Shevchenko are being erected in several cities in Ukraine in place of the Lenin statues. Perhaps also some senti- ments from Shevchenko’s poetry will become known to the English-speaking world now that there is a new and commendable translation of the Kobzar by Peter Fedynsky. A part of Shevchenko’s poem, “A Thought,” describes well what I imagine are the feelings of some Ukraini- ans in America regarding their homeland: “...Living orphaned on earth: My people ─They’re strangers. There’s no one to talk to, There’s no one to ask, Why the tears in my eyes; ...Nobody knows, nor does anyone hear... The orphan should cry...” The film Music of Survival boldly told the truth about what so many Ukrainians living in the diasporas have kept private for so long and what history books have all too often omitted. The film told their story, and it was good for the soul to hear it. Efforts are being made to show the film on television so that the general public can know something about the pain and suffering that the Ukrainian people have endured. This is the be- ginning of hope for a better future for Ukraine and its people. Kristina Efimenko, Branch 3
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