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Roman Krutsyk Speaks at New York University

Source: UCCA Bulletin Dec. 2011

A UA Historical Encounters Series Special Event

The People’s War/National Liberation Struggles in E. Ukraine (1917-1933)

Roman Krutsyk Speaks at New York University

On November 10, at New York University”s Torch Club, scholars, community leaders and the general public had an opportunity to hear, perhaps for the first time, that following WWI an active liberation movement existed not only in western Ukraine but also in the eastern half of the country. The special Ukrainian Historical Encounters Series event, entitled “The People”s War: National Liberation Struggles in Eastern Ukraine (1917-1932)” was opened by Dr. Walter Zaryckyj who provided a brief overview of the Series and then introduced the evening”s guest speaker Mr. Roman Krutsyk, President of the Kyiv Memorial Society and Director of the Museum of Soviet Occupation.

L to R: Stepan Kaczurak, Walter Zaryckyj, Tamara Olexy, Roman Krutsyk, Yuri Symczyk, Adrian Dlaboha

Accompanied by a slide show presentation, Mr. Krutsyk opened his remarks with the compelling assertion that following renewed independence in 1991 Ukraine began its new life without a political history. He explained that generations of Ukraine”s citizens had been raised on a history that was written by their occupiers, and that most archival materials pertaining to Ukraine”s resistance to Soviet occupation were banned and marked “secret.”

Reviewing thousands of documents convinced Mr. Krutsyk that the armed national liberation movement in eastern Ukraine was proportionally just as large and widespread as the activities of the OUN and the UPA.

Based on years of research and archival material located in the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Mr. Krutsyk resolutely refuted the Soviet myth that Ukraine “voluntarily” joined the USSR, stating that “the seizure of Ukraine was carried out exclusively by force.” Concentrating his remarks on insurgency movements in Soviet Ukraine from 1918-1933, Mr. Krutsyk concluded that resistance to Soviet rule in eastern Ukraine was Stalin”s primary motive for ordering the Holodomor of 1932-1933.

The event was sponsored by: American Conference in Support of Ukraine, Organization for the Defense of Four Freedoms of Ukraine, Women”s Association in Defense of Four Freedoms of Ukraine; Ukrainian American Youth Association, Society of Veterans of UPA, National Tribune, and the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.