Levko HOROKHIVSKYI
AT THE TURN OF AN ERA
A Chronicle of Civic and National Activation in Ternopilshchyna
(From occasional entries in my diary about the first steps in establishing the Ukrainian Helsinki Union in Ternopilshchyna. 1988–1989)
Against the backdrop of the burning challenges of the reality of that time, at the turn of an era, the national consciousness of Ukrainians was awakening and their civic position was becoming more active—a phenomenon that was to lead to inevitable changes in Ukraine.
In those circumstances, fickle fate once again intervened in the incomprehensible course of my existence. And so, in addition to my inner protest against the daily falsehood and injustice, as well as constantly listening to Radio Liberty, I was offered the chance to defend human and national rights against the repressive communist system.
By God's will, it all began (or rather, took on a more perfect continuation) on July 20, 1988, when Lidia Ivaniuk* and Oles Antonovych Anheliuk** visited me with Vyacheslav Chornovil's initiative to create a branch of the UHS in the Ternopil oblast. They gave me the statute and program of the UHS, and for communication, Oles Antonovych left me his home telephone number in Ternopil—5-15-57. It is true that, a little earlier, Mykhailo Horyn had also approached me in writing with the same initiative…
Later, on July 24, 1988, after returning at 8 p.m. from Potutory station in the Berezhany district, where my father had built a house in 1953, I found a note from Oles Anheliuk in the door—he wrote that he had visited me twice. So I immediately called him, but he wasn't home—some woman (his 93-year-old mother, as I later found out) answered the phone. And on July 25, at about 7:00 p.m., Oles Anheliuk visited me again—he brought works by Kostomarov and read some poems. Later, on July 31, Oles Anheliuk and Lidia Ivaniuk came again. We all went to the park together, where we sat on a bench to talk—Lidia Ivaniuk, acting as a liaison, informed us about the latest events in the UHS. After these meetings, I made my final decision, and on August 7, I wrote an application to join the Ukrainian Helsinki Union (UHS).
On the evening of August 11, at 9 p.m., I went to Oles Anheliuk’s. It was late because I had been held up at work—I had gone on a business trip to the village of Raikivtsi in the Khmelnytskyi oblast for pre-project work (there was a strict-regime prison there with 1,500 prisoners under the supervision of three hundred officers). I didn't find Oles Anheliuk at home—Lidia Ivaniuk was there. She had not visited Mykhailo Horyn when she went to Lviv, and she had gone to see Chornovil, but he wasn't there.
On August 19, I called and then visited Oles Anheliuk again at 7:15 p.m. We drank a few glasses of dry wine—his birthday had been two days earlier. He told me to call on August 22 at 7:00 p.m.—Lidia Ivaniuk was supposed to arrive from Lviv. She would have some news.
On August 22, I called Oles Anheliuk several times, but no one picked up the phone. And on August 23—he had not returned from his dacha. Finally, I went to his place around 7:30 p.m. Lidia Ivaniuk was there—I brought a cake. We chatted and agreed that I should call on August 29, or they would call me.
I listened to Radio Liberty, which on August 24 reported that Ivan Makar had not yet been released, although earlier on August 7, they had reported he was freed. A mistake, or something else?
Oles Anheliuk called me at work on August 26 about a trip to my home region, to Potutory, for apples. We agreed to meet the next day at 1:10 p.m. at the entrance to the railway station. In short, on August 27 at 1:26 p.m., we left with Oles Anheliuk for apples at Potutory station. My brother Slavko and his mother Nastia*** were there. We picked quite a few apples—my stepmother even offered us a treat, and Slavko treated us to Narayiv moonshine (distilled in the village of Narayiv, Berezhany district). After I brought the apples home by taxi, I found a notice for a registered letter in the mailbox. I picked it up at the post office right away on August 28. The letter was from Vyacheslav Chornovil—he sent application forms, the UHS statute, and a notice. I replied immediately and also sent it by registered mail.
After a meeting with Ihor Havdyda**** (a candidate for UHS membership) on August 30, I stopped by Oles Anheliuk's. Lidia Ivaniuk was there. Besides purely civic-political issues, we talked about Hryhorii Skovoroda, Erich Fromm, and Hegel's evolution of the Spirit… We were particularly troubled by a quote from the Polish writer Bruno Jasieński: “Do not fear your friends—at worst, they can betray you. Do not fear your enemies—at worst, they can kill you. Fear the indifferent. It is with their silent consent that both betrayal and murder exist on this earth.” Its meaning was very relevant. During the conversation, Lidia Ivaniuk informed me that I needed to go to Lviv to see Chornovil.
On August 31, after work, I met with Yaroslav Chyrskyi*****. He signed the public appeal for the defense of Ivan Makar. Then I accidentally dropped in on Yevhen Boyko (an electrician with whom I lived in a dormitory in the 70s) to call Petro Sviatenkyi (an engineer-builder, a designer)—he invited me to his place and asked me to bring all the documents related to the UHS. Using Chornovil's list, I tried to call Chubatyi, but I got Volodymyr instead of Vasyl—I need to look for him through the directory assistance.
I was getting ready to go to Lviv on September 2. But after work, I stopped by Petro Sviatenkyi's place (we worked together at the branch of the “Ukrsilhosptekhproekt” design institute). I borrowed 100 karbovantsi from Petro. From Sviatenkyi's place, I called Ihor Havdyda to arrange a meeting. I met with him later at 10:30 p.m.—for now, he refused to sign the UHS documents. However, he agreed to make the slab for the monument on my dad's grave in Saranchuky. I went to bed too late and therefore barely made the train to Lviv, which departed at 7:03 a.m.—I had planned to get up at 4:30 a.m.
(* Lidia Ivaniuk—
** Oles Anheliuk—
*** Nastia—my father’s second wife, after my mother's death;
**** Ihor Havdyda—a turner and metalworker at the Ternopil Cotton Combine, originally from the village of Saranchuky;
***** Yaroslav Chyrskyi—chief project engineer at the "Ukrzhytloremproekt" organization)
I arrived at Vyacheslav Chornovil's place at 10:40 a.m. There were many people there. Most of them were in a hurry to get to a wedding. I took some brochures from Chornovil, gave him my application and the signatures in support of Ivan Makar, and also gave 50 karbovantsi for the UHS. I was tasked with forming the Ternopil branch of the UHS, which was not easy since I was on my own. At the same time, at Chornovil's, I met Mykhailo Osadchyi* and some Yaroslav Ivanovych, whom I accidentally met on Sunday, September 4, the next day, on my way to the railway station. After leaving Chornovil, who gave me quite a few documents, I walked around the Lviv shops for a bit. When my legs got tired, I visited Bohdan Senkiv (a childhood friend) and went to bed. In the evening, I also called my brother in Potutory (Bohdan had booked the call for 9 p.m.). I let Slavko know that on Tuesday, September 6, Ihor Havdyda would come to them and make the formwork for the concrete slab for dad's monument.
In the morning, on September 4, after having breakfast at Bohdan's, I left Lviv on the Kharkiv train at 2:15 p.m. and arrived in Ternopil around 4:15 p.m. to continue my search for brave people who would not be afraid to join the UHS. True, by that time, Yaroslav Chyrskyi** (a close acquaintance and like-minded person of mine) and Anatolii Fedchuk*** (recommended to me by Mykhailo Horyn as his friend—they studied together at Lviv University and even considered creating a nationalist organization) had already become interested in my proposal. I was also supposed to meet with Leonid Drapak from the village of Konstantsiia in the Borshchiv district, who had written an application to join the UHS a little earlier. At the same time, I was looking for contact with former political prisoners whom Vyacheslav Chornovil had suggested to me, giving me a list with approximate addresses. First of all, through directory assistance, I started looking for Vasyl Chubatyi from Velyki Hayi. On Oles Anheliuk's advice, I also considered Oleh Herman (a design lecturer at the polytechnic institute).
In addition, on September 5, I called Bohdan Amrozhii (an acquaintance from the design organization) and asked when he was planning to visit his village of Velyki Lubianky. A former political prisoner, Yaroslav Perchyshyn (sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment), lives in this village. I decided to invite him over to get him involved in the UHS. And on Wednesday, September 7, he visited me and signed the appeal for the release of Ivan Makar. As for joining the UHS, we postponed it for later.
On September 8, I wrote a sharply journalistic note on the topic of language for Roman Hromiak (a professor at the pedagogical institute, Doctor of Philology) to read at a meeting of the Ternopil regional organization of the Union of Writers. The copy of the article, which I have kept, reads as follows:
“The Ternopil branch of the Union of Writers of Ukraine, lacking its own platform (a newspaper or an almanac), is deprived of its natural function (reaching the reader) and thus suffers from a lack of active civic positioning and participation in the process of perestroika.”
“Compensation for this situation could, by the way, be writers’ presentations of their creative works, cultural and educational lectures, and sharp journalism before the workers of various institutions and enterprises. It is well known that at industrial enterprises and in many institutions, apart from a superficial understanding of all Ukrainian literature, let alone that of Ternopil, and apart from debased (and simply consumerist) cultural and aesthetic criteria and a distorted concept of spirituality, all business and technical documentation, as well as various production meetings and public speeches (with some Surzhyk exceptions), are conducted in Russian.”
“Isn’t it time, finally, for the writers’ union, which should be feeding us with spiritual bread, to remind high- and mid-level managers, all sorts of conformists who build their careers by speculating on their native language, to remind them directly (without waiting for a book to be published) not only of their official duty but also of their sense of honor—to respect and communicate in the language of the people among whom they live and whom they govern!”
“And if an ordinary citizen can still cite the right to choose a convenient language for themselves, for the leadership apparatus this is considered a gross violation of Leninist national policy!”
“Therefore, to embark on the path of an honest, not a feigned, perestroika in the spiritual sphere, we must get rid of the Stalinist and Brezhnevist stereotype of thinking, in which the word ‘national’ was often replaced by the word ‘nationalistic’ and the Ukrainian language was relegated only to the sphere of fiction.”
“But what has changed? What is the civic position of Ternopil's leaders in promoting the Ukrainian word? In Ternopil, at every step, there are still abundant Russian-language names of streets, institutions, establishments, advertisements, signs, and even wall newspapers in kindergartens, names of settlements along roads and at stations. And at the bus station, they even ‘figured out’ recently, during perestroika, to replace Ukrainian names of settlements with Russian ones…”
“In artistic collectives, in colleges, technical schools, and higher educational institutions, education and the teaching of disciplines are predominantly conducted in Russian. And this is motivated by the claim that, supposedly, not all good specialists know the Ukrainian language. But as life experience has shown, they know it but don’t want to use it!”
“And although every language is the most delicate instrument for perfecting thought, an indicator of high culture, a part of spirituality, and a unique, inimitable beauty, we have to state that this is being ignored. Therefore, one of the measures to improve the situation will be the creation of a Society of Ukrainian Language Lovers, but an active Society!” (September 8, 1988).
After work, on September 9, having called in advance, I visited Oles Anheliuk at about 10:40 p.m. Lidia Ivaniuk was already there. There was nothing new, but I passed some things on to her for Chornovil—I still have to drop by on Monday, September 12, to give her the sheet with the signatures. I also gave her my address to the writers of Ternopil for Chornovil—I gave the second copy to Oles Anheliuk to give to Roman Hromiak.
On Saturday, September 10, I went to Anatolii Fedchuk's—he signed the appeal to citizens regarding the arrest of Ivan Makar. He is not in a hurry to join the UHS—he'll think about it. I left him the UHS statute. And on the next day, September 11, I decided to visit Leonid Drapak in the village of Konstantsiia. Therefore, I first went to Borshchiv, from where I also called Lidia Ivaniuk in Ternopil, because I caught myself having written a sentence incorrectly. Instead of “...not only an official duty, but a duty of honor”—I decided to write “a sense of honor.” Then I drove and walked to Leonid Drapak's place. We talked for about three hours. He hosted me and saw me off all the way to Ozeriany to catch a bus. When I returned home, I found another notice in my mailbox for a registered letter from Chornovil. On my way to Anheliuk's, I met with Yaroslav Chyrskyi for coffee, to whom I read my appeal to Roman Hromiak and the XII regional party conference. Then I visited Oles Anheliuk—Lidia Ivaniuk was already gone. Oles Antonovych told me about the meeting of Ternopil writers and that he had passed my letter to Roman Hromiak, who read my appeal to everyone present. The reaction to the article was sharp, but Hromiak was pleased.
I can't get in touch with Vasyl Chubatyi—everyone I've asked knows nothing about him.
And on September 15, Anatolii Fedchuk visited me. Together we began to discuss the principles of the UHS. Anatolii Petrovych did not agree with the emphasis on the national question when, first and foremost, the whole world needed to be saved from the threat of war. He believed that a point on arms reduction should be included, as, in his opinion, this would be relevant. In addition, he noted that it was written very clumsily and that the beginning, where the right of nations to self-determination is mentioned, contradicts the subsequent presentation, which calls for a federation… Although, to be honest, even our opponents recognized the “Declaration of Principles of the UHS” as a well-structured and literate document. As for the call for a federation, there was no such thing; it spoke of a confederation. And that was taking into account the legal status of the communist regime at the time, which would not have allowed events to develop in the direction of independence. It was a tactic. Despite this, the document was not dogmatic, and within a short time, the word “confederation” was replaced by “full independence.” Still, Anatolii Fedchuk's motives regarding his attitude to the UHS were probably different, although, as a very decent person, he helped me a lot in the future.
Leonid Drapak visited me on September 16. He didn't stay long, as he was in a hurry to be somewhere by 7 p.m. He said he was going to see Vyacheslav Chornovil. We didn't come to any firm agreement. Immediately after Leonid Drapak's departure, I went to Oles Anheliuk's. Lidia Ivaniuk was there. We talked for a long time—she hadn't met with anyone in Lviv. She did, however, pass along the “Ukrainian Herald” and asked for poems by Holoborodko, a collection about prominent Ukrainian figures (especially about the bandurist Mishalov), and the annual “Science and Culture” (about the Antes).
September 17—a working Saturday. It's cold. It's been raining continuously for the second week—it's slushy. It wouldn't be so gloomy if they weren't reporting that it's +26 degrees in eastern Ukraine.
Later, on September 27, Oles Anheliuk introduced me to Yaroslav Hevko (who worked in the Union of Writers), who immediately agreed to sign the protest against the arrest of Ivan Makar.
On October 9, Yaroslav Perchyshyn visited me again. We talked for a long time—he told me about his case. He donated 30 karbovantsi to the UHS, and when he read in the “Ukrainian Herald” that help for the journal and the UHS was mentioned, he promised to give more. Immediately after Yaroslav Perchyshyn's departure, I called Yaroslav Hevko. He invited me over. The next day, October 10, I gave him the “Ukrainian Herald” for one day. He said he could reprint it. When I was meeting with Yaroslav Hevko, Ihor Hereta approached us unnoticed and put his hands on my shoulders. I conveyed greetings to him from Vyacheslav. “From which one?” he asked. “Chornovil…” “Yes, I visited him once…,” said Ihor. “He put you on his blacklist…,” I continued with my directness. “Ah, if it’s a blacklist, then it's bad.” I remained silent. Then we exchanged a few more words and he left, leaving us with Yaroslav Hevko. And at 6:30 p.m., I met with Petro Sviatenkyi and gave him the “Ukrainian Herald” to read for a while.
On October 13, I called Oles Anheliuk, but couldn't get through. I decided to go to his place. Oleh Herman and Yevhen Sobutskyi (a teacher at the technical college) were already there. I had wanted to meet Oleh Herman for some time… And now, unexpectedly, the introduction happened—Oleh arranged the next meeting after October 20, 1988. In addition, I contacted other acquaintances by phone regarding their attitude towards the UHS.
Besides searching for people willing to join the UHS and my project work, I had to finish installing the memorial headstone for my dad. So, when my brother Slavko called on October 14 to say I should come, I packed up in the evening and left for Potutory. The next day, together with Ihor Havdyda, Vasyl Dubchak from Lisnychivka (a hamlet of Saranchuky village), Vasyl Pukan, and Vasyl Horoshko (all guys from Saranchuky), who supervised everything and provided his own boards for the formwork, we finally made the slab under the headstone for dad. We took a sheet of metal from Volodymyr Petrovskyi, on which we mixed the solution, borrowed wheelbarrows from Roman Shevchuk, I carried water from Stiurok's (a street nickname—real name Fedir Horoshko), and Vasyl Dubchak did too. We brought 4 bags of cement in wheelbarrows. I worked so hard my leg swelled up and hurt badly. Sometime after 1 p.m., Slavko arrived on his bicycle and also got to work (he was a teacher in Narayiv). We finished around 4 p.m. On Monday, Ihor Havdyda or Vasyl Pukan will polish the walls of the slab with cement, and in 7 days they will install the monument.
In the evening of October 15, while still in the Berezhany district, I called Volodymyr Rokytskyi (a political prisoner sentenced to 5 years in a strict-regime camp under Article 62 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR). He replied that he was going to a holiday festival. But I heard some dissatisfaction in his voice. Nevertheless, at 4:10 p.m., when I went to Berezhany, I called him again—no one was there. After visiting the bookstores, I returned to Ternopil by bus. From Ternopil, I called Oles Anheliuk and Anatolii Fedchuk to arrange a meeting. Anheliuk and I agreed to meet on Wednesday, October 19, around 7 p.m., and with Fedchuk on October 17.
On October 16, a letter with two articles arrived from Vyacheslav Chornovil. The next day I visited Anatolii Fedchuk—he had an appointment with the first secretary of the Ternopil Regional Committee of the Communist Party, Valentyn Ostrozhynskyi—he is looking for a job. He has to go to see him again on October 19.
On October 18, right after work at 5:50 p.m., I took a bus to Berezhany. I arrived at 7:15 p.m., and the train to Ternopil departs at 8:47 p.m. Time was short, so I immediately called Volodymyr Rokytskyi. But he wasn't there—at least that's what his wife answered. Then I decided to visit Misko Svizinskyi, with whom I grew up and played in the village of Rybnyky, Berezhany district, from 1947 to 1953. When I went to his place, I found his sick mother, who was lying down and could no longer see. And Misko is in the hospital. The poor fellow has undergone two operations: on his stomach and on his heart. “He barely recovered…” his wife informed me. But, as a consequence, after all this, he developed epilepsy. I was in a hurry because I still wanted to meet with Rokytskyi. At 8:05 p.m. I called him and found him at home. Volodymyr drove up in his car and brought me Vasyl Stus's poems. We talked a little and agreed that I would bring the poems back in 2-3 weeks. We also agreed that I would write down the story of his trial and something about Meletii Kichura—a poet from the early 20th century, a native of the village of Nosiv, where Volodymyr Rokytskyi and I were born.
On October 19, I visited Yaroslav Hevko and brought him Vasyl Stus's poems. When I arrived at his place at 10 p.m., he had Polish guests, and I felt uncomfortable, although Yaroslav was hospitable. But I also felt uneasy because the next day Yaroslav Hevko was to be admitted to the hospital again—he suffered from asthma.
On October 20, I got permission to leave work at 1 p.m. to go to Terebovlia to see Mykola Pavlovych Brezden. Oles Anheliuk had previously introduced me to him as a participant in the liberation struggles when we visited him together. Now I wanted to pick up the documents I had left with Mykola Brezden for signing. After calling him, I arranged a meeting. Mykola Pavlovych returned everything to me—no one had signed anything or expressed any desire to join anything.
I was planning to meet with Bohdan Martsenkivskyi and Myroslav Mokrii—maybe they would have some suggestions…
On October 22, I visited Oles Anheliuk again. Lidia Ivaniuk was there, but she didn't have any news, even though she had been in Lviv for a long time—she was a bit sick. She couldn't meet anyone except Atena (Vyacheslav Chornovil's wife), with whom she left the list of what I wanted. Iryna Kalynets wants to meet with me regarding the journal “Yevshan-Zillia.”
In my searches, I also obtained the phone number of UHS member Yosyp Zisels from Chernivtsi (2-04-05; Chernivtsi, 15/23 Lesia Ukrainka St.) and the address of a possible UHS candidate, Mamus Mykola Stepanovych (Kozova, 33 Yuvileina St.).
Anatolii Fedchuk came to see me on October 25 and we again discussed the issue of joining the UHS, but he is still hesitant—he is supposed to start work on November 1, 1988. And on Thursday, October 27, Oles Anheliuk visited me with his acquaintance, Lviv artist Mykhailo Tverdun. Mr. Oles informed me that I was to be in Lviv on October 29 at 1:45 p.m. at the main entrance of the Polytechnic Institute.
On the morning of October 28, Yosyf Zisels called me at work, and we met at 1 p.m. at the main entrance of the “Ternopil” hotel. Yosyf Zisels gave me “Ukrainian Herald” No. 11 and No. 12 and some addresses. After the meeting, I invited him for coffee at the cooperative cafe “Zatyshok,” but as luck would have it, they put up a “No Coffee” sign right in front of us. I felt a bit awkward. In the evening, I also visited Oles Antonovych so that he could contact Lidia Ivaniuk in Lviv and clarify which building (old or new) I was supposed to meet at. When I returned home, I found a notice for a package from my sister Hania.
And on October 29, I picked up the package, had a coffee, got ready and went to the railway station. The train to Lviv was supposed to depart at 10:48 a.m., but it was delayed by 1 hour and 20 minutes. So as not to miss the meeting, I was forced to hire a taxi for 50 karbovantsi, which brought me to the Polytechnic Institute at 1:10 p.m. As agreed, at 1:45 p.m. I met Lidia Ivaniuk, who brought me to Vyacheslav Chornovil and Bohdan Horyn. Then everyone dispersed and went to Mr. Yaroslav's apartment somewhere in the area of Pushkin and Kyivska streets—from the very beginning, the Lviv residents were looking for the largest possible space.
At 2 p.m. the constituent assembly of the Lviv branch of the UHS began. There were 60 people present—both locals and visitors. Some districts of the Lviv oblast were not represented for security reasons. At the meeting, the speakers in order were Bohdan Horyn as the head of the Lviv branch of the UHS, Vyacheslav Chornovil, then Mykhailo Horyn, the secretaries, and a former member of the Helsinki Group, Zinovii Krasivskyi, as well as Zorian Popadiuk. I also added a few words of information about migration in Western Ukraine and about the "gradual evolution" of the UHS principles themselves (i.e., having fulfilled its tasks, the UHS will self-liquidate and transition to a qualitatively higher stage). During the meeting, they used two tape recorders and made a video recording. Lidia Ivaniuk was elected as the librarian. They talked about opening a bank account, about a printing press, about membership cards, about symbols (coat of arms, flag), about a coordinating council, and so on.
Right after the constituent assembly ended, I walked a bit with Mykhailo Horyn and went home (I had 5 karbovantsi left). Once in Ternopil, I called Oles Anheliuk—he invited me over for 10 o'clock on October 30, which I took advantage of. Yaroslav Hevko was already at his place, and he filled out an application to join the Ukrainian Helsinki Union (UHS). The first application!
After visiting Anheliuk, I went home to read a bit, but guests interrupted—I don't have enough time for reading…
On October 31, I met with Yaroslav Chyrskyi after work (I dropped by his office) and he lent me another 100 karbovantsi so I could buy paper for printing at the department store (5 boxes). Then I met with Petro Sviatenkyi—I took back the “Ukrainian Herald” from him. I looked for printing paper, but without buying any, I went to Yaroslav Hevko's place—I took him the “Ukrainian Herald” to print, and took the printed “Circulars”… Then, at around 8:20 p.m., I called Mykola Horbal in Kyiv. He is supposed to come to his mother's in the village of Letiache, Zalishchyky district, on November 8-10—I planned to visit him. I was planning to prepare an article for Mykhailo Horyn about Tumanov and the special hospital in Ternopil. Today, October 31, I also accidentally met Olga Vereshchynska's brother, Bohdan Komarnytskyi, in her bookstore. He is a priest in the Buchach district. He gave me his address—I'm supposed to visit him at the end of November.
And on November 1, I met with Yaroslav Chyrskyi—I gave him an application form for joining the UHS. He'll think about it until Friday. Then at 7:00 p.m., I went to Oleh Herman's place at the Polytechnic Institute. We talked for a long time. He said that the "Native Language Society" organization was holding him back. But he took the "UHS Declaration of Principles" with the addendum. For him, I need to find out: 1) the phone number of "Phoenix" and the contact information for Yurii Raikhman; 2) Roman Hromiak's attitude toward the "Native Language Society"—to tell him that Roman Ivanychuk is coming and that there are many who want to join the "Society..."; 3) what will Lidia Ivaniuk say about Roman Ivanychuk?
On November 2, I bought six reams of paper and took them to Yaroslav Hevko. His son was at home. Then I went to Bohdan Martsenkivskyi's place and left him the "UHS Declaration of Principles," since he wasn't there. At around 8:00 p.m., I also visited Anatolii Fedchuk—I gave him the addendum to the "UHS Declaration of Principles." We talked for a long time. He still doesn't agree with the "Declaration of Principles…," or more precisely, he wants to add another point about general disarmament.
Leonid Drapak stayed overnight with me from November 3rd to 4th. He came from Lviv and brought some documents and letters from Chornovil. He didn't want to eat anything because he had a scheduled appointment at the regional hospital in the morning. By the way, he also paid his membership dues—10 karbovantsi. On the same day, after work, I immediately went to Yaroslav Chyrskyi's, but he was still hesitant… Then I dropped in on Yaroslav Hevko—he was at work. I had a long talk with Yaroslav's wife, Halia. She confessed a secret to me that she hadn't told anyone: Slavko would live for one more year at most. She cried and asked me not to overload him and, God forbid, not to tell him all this, because, she said, he had warned that he would take his own life… It was sad to hear all this, and also very unpleasant and painful, since Yaroslav had become a member of the UHS. Only one thing was left to do—to look for ways for Yaroslav to meet Kashpirovskyi—he still believes in him (the "Literaturna Ukraina" reported that Kashpirovskyi treats asthma). Kostiantyn Buteyko's method also treats asthma. Meanwhile, Yaroslav Hevko called from work, and I exchanged a few words with him. Before that, I had left him three sheets to reprint, from 10 to 25 copies each, for collecting signatures against nuclear power plants.
From Yaroslav Hevko's place, I called Oles Anheliuk, because Yaroslav had told me over the phone that Oles Antonovych really wanted to talk to me. But after my calls, I only heard a busy signal. Unable to get through, I went to his home. However, even after many rings at his door, no one opened it. True, it was already late—10:30 p.m. It wasn't until the morning of November 5 at 8 o'clock, as I was going to work, that I called Anheliuk. He was going to Lviv to see his wife, Lidia Ivaniuk. They plan to go to the theater or a concert together. And he also confessed to me that he had had a little to drink last night, and his mother had taken the phone off the hook (his mother is 92, and he is 67). In conclusion, he added that I should visit him on November 7.
On November 6, I visited Oleh Fedorovych Nechai (a political prisoner from the 1950s)—he gave me M. Hrushevsky's "History of Ukrainian Literature" to read. I left him the addendum to the "UHS Declaration of Principles," promising to bring the "Declaration of Principles" itself next time. On the same day, I called Roman Hromiak and introduced myself: "Horokhivskyi." To which Hromiak replied: "Perhaps, Levko?" He told me that the constituent assembly of the "Native Language Society" would take place on November 22, 1988, in the assembly hall of the pedagogical institute. I, in turn, am to work through Lidia Ivaniuk to ask Roman Ivanychuk to contact Roman Hromiak. Then at 5:00 p.m., I called Oleh Herman again. I gave him the address of the head of the self-financing association "Phoenix," Yurii Raikhman, and he gave me the addresses of some Ukrainian language teachers with whom I should talk about joining the UHS. Finally, we agreed to meet next week.
On the evening of November 7, at 6:20 p.m., I called Oles Anheliuk and immediately went to his place. Lidia Ivaniuk was there. We touched on various topics—Lidia Ivaniuk even wrote down some questions. We also had a discussion about Oleh Herman—I maintained the view that it was my duty to campaign for joining the UHS, and it was up to my interlocutor to decide whether to join or not. And it was then that I commanded myself: never to touch upon negative facts from the past of current UHS members in conversations, even among my closest circle! But it was not easy to adhere to this rule…
On the morning of November 8, a Tuesday, I called Yaroslav Hevko—he had just come from work and hadn't printed anything yet. We agreed that I would drop by tomorrow after work. I immediately went to see Stepan Pastukh—he hadn't found out anything, although he had talked to many people. I left him the addendum to the "UHS Declaration of Principles" and we agreed that I would visit him after November 13. After that, I went to Oleh Fedorovych Nechai's. And there I encountered a surprise. Oleh Nechai suspected me of collaborating with the KGB—that was essentially what he said. He told me that a KGB agent had visited him and warned: "They will try to recruit you into the UHS, but you should join..." He treated me to a drink and kept asking questions. And then I walked with him all the way to the Skhidnyi massif. And right away, I went to Bohdan Martsenkivskyi's. He seems ready to join the UHS—I'll visit again after the 13th. After all that, I had a coffee and went home. But the day wasn't over—in the evening, at 8:00 p.m., Anatolii Fedchuk came to see me. We had an interesting conversation for about 3 hours, but he is not in a hurry to join the UHS—something is holding him back... Finally, exhausted, without finishing my planned reading, I fell asleep sometime after one—off to work in the morning...
Anatolii Fedchuk called me at work on November 11 and told me that Mykhailo Horyn had contacted him and informed him that I needed to get ready to go to Kyiv for the Constituent Assembly of the Kyiv organization of the UHS. He added that the assembly would take place on November 20, and before the assembly, there would be a meeting of the UHS Executive Committee. In the evening, I visited Yaroslav Hevko. I took the brochures and gave him poems by Ronsard and Villon—Yaroslav will be speaking on November 13 at the meeting of the Union of Writers of Ukraine in Ternopil. After Yaroslav Hevko's, I immediately went to Bohdan Martsenkivskyi's (he worked as a surveyor in a design organization) and, although he wasn't there, I left him the brochures, as well as the signature sheet against nuclear power plants. Next, I dropped by Yosyp Tytor's, but he wasn't home. And finally, around 10:00 p.m., I went to Anatolii Fedchuk's. I returned Olha Horyn's article on religion (UOC) to him. I just didn't like that he constantly insists on adding a point about disarmament to the "UHS Declaration of Principles."
On November 12, I called the village of Verkhni Lubianky in the Zbarazh district and invited Yaroslav Perchyshyn to visit me tomorrow at 4 p.m. In the evening, I called, and then went to see, Oles Anheliuk—Lidia Ivaniuk was there. They are going to Moscow for a wedding on November 15, for Oles Antonovych's son. I also learned from Oles Anheliuk that he had called Mykola Brezden in Terebovlia (the elder of the Strusiv chapel of bandurists), who promised to come to Anheliuk's on November 26. I immediately decided to interview Mykola Brezden about the tortures in the Ternopil prison before the war in 1941 and record it all on a tape recorder, which Lidia Ivaniuk is supposed to bring me from Chornovil.
I attended a meeting of the Union of Writers on November 13, 1988. In the first part of the meeting, they discussed the issue of the constituent assembly of the "Native Language Society," which they decided to hold on November 23 in the assembly hall of the pedagogical institute. Roman Hromiak chaired the meeting. There was a representative from the regional committee of the Communist Party on cultural issues. Heorhiy Petruk-Popyk and Borys Demkiv were present. In our row sat: Lidia Ivaniuk, Oles Anheliuk, myself, Oleh Herman, Yevhen Sobutskyi, Yaroslav Hevko. On the opposite side sat students.
I was also given the floor and I told a story about Uzbek students who complained to the Verkhovna Rada that they did not understand the Ukrainian language, thinking they would be sent back to Uzbekistan. But they were allowed to stay. Only, lecturing in Ukrainian was forbidden.
"If you don't stop lecturing in Ukrainian, we will close this institution," Tumanov threatened. I then turned to the audience: "What would you call this?" The students responded in unison: "Chauvinism!" Then I touched on a few other relevant problems—I supported a student who had written an essay about the Russification of villages in their roadside names. I suggested that the older generation of writers write memoirs about the Stalinist era in Western Ukraine. And finally, I raised the issue of the official status of the Ukrainian language. I couldn't restrain myself and, in front of the whole room, I admonished an unfamiliar speaker. I asked how long he had lived in Ukraine. To which he replied: "I was born in Ukraine." "So why are you speaking in Russian?" I asked. The hall came alive—there were objections and support. But he replied: "I can speak Ukrainian too…" And I said: "By speaking Russian, you are showing disrespect to everyone present here." And someone added: "We also know Russian and could speak it…" And the speaker continued his remarks in Ukrainian. And one more thing: during the meeting, I collected several signatures against the construction of nuclear power plants.
After the meeting, a student, Serhiy (Yaroslav Hevko's son), approached me and informed me that the students wanted to meet and talk with me. They wanted to arrange a time for the meeting right away, but I said that I would meet with them after I returned from Kyiv. When I get back, I'll let them know through Yaroslav Hevko.
On November 14, another candidate, Yaroslav Chyrskyi, an engineer-designer, signed up for the UHS. Right after him, I visited Myroslav Mokrii—he signed the appeal against the construction of nuclear power plants. He told me about old streets—toponyms. He added that he could provide true information about the extermination of 1500 people in the Ternopil prison before the arrival of the Germans in 1941. The next day, I visited Myron Radyshevskyi, my nephew, and left him the "Appeal against the construction of nuclear power plants"—he assured me he would collect signatures. And on November 16, I called Oleh Herman about collecting signatures—he said he would inform me on November 21. Even before my trip to Kyiv, on November 17, I visited Yaroslav Hevko—there I accidentally met Anatolii Fedchuk. But I had come to Yaroslav Hevko to have him read the article about Borys Demkiv, which I had prepared for the "Herald." I asked Yaroslav to print another 10 copies each of the "UHS Declaration of Principles," the "Appeal against the construction of nuclear power plants," and other materials.
On Friday, November 18, I left for Kyiv—the train departed at 10:42 p.m. Before leaving, Yaroslav Hevko's son Serhiy visited me and brought the poems of Vasyl Stus typed on a typewriter. Anatolii Fedchuk also came by—he brought his amendments to the "UHS Declaration of Principles"…
I arrived in Kyiv at 8:00 a.m. and immediately bought a return ticket to Ternopil. I walked around the shops: visited the bookstores (children's and "Poeziya"), was in the "Dytiachyi Svit" on Darnytsia, where I bought sandals for Solomiyka (my daughter). Before that, I called Mykola Horbal. He had just arrived from Moscow and had not yet returned home. When I called an hour and a half later, Mykola was already home. He answered my call very emotionally and jokingly, saying he had been waiting for me for a long time and didn't know where I had disappeared. I bought a bouquet of yellow-and-blue flowers and books (poems by Semenko, Filianskyi, Braichevskyi's "The Establishment of Religion in Rus," Serbo-Croatian proverbs) and went to Mykola Horbal's by high-speed tram No. 3 to the Romain Rolland stop. I barely found his building. Only Mykola's wife, Olya Stokotelna, was at home. Mykola had gone to the stop to meet me—we missed each other. I returned to the stop, where I met Mykola, who had been waiting for me. We had lunch together at his place, had a celebratory drink, and went to the meeting of the Culturological Club. They were holding an evening in honor of Oleksandr Oles. An engineer, Anatoliy Nahirniak (a member of the CPSU), spoke, though somewhat listlessly—he was probably unprepared. Then Oles Shevchenko, Serhiy Naboka, and Mykhailo Horyn arrived from Moscow. They told us a bit about their meeting with Senator Hoyer, who headed the Helsinki Commission in the US Congress (it seems that it was thanks to that commission that Ivan Makar was released from custody). Mykhailo Horyn read out the conclusion regarding the "UHS Declaration of Principles" from an Estonian candidate of philosophical sciences, a member of the CPSU. It turned out that the Estonians had been publishing such things in the official press for a long time.
In the evening, Mykola Horbal and I returned to his apartment. We drank coffee, talked, and I went to bed and fell asleep around one in the morning. I woke up at eight. Orysia Sokulska came, and together we went to the meeting of the UHS Executive Committee at 10 o'clock. Mykhailo Horyn was the first to speak at the meeting, giving a general overview of the human rights movement and comparing it with the Helsinki Union (he read some documents). Then Stepan Khmara spoke about the amendments to the Constitution. At the end, they discussed the speeches, but before that, everyone stood up and briefly introduced themselves. Present at the meeting were: Vyacheslav Chornovil, Mykhailo Horyn, Bohdan Horyn, Mykola Horbal, Stepan Khmara, Oles Shevchenko, Stepan Sapeliak, Volodymyr Tytarenko, Orysia Sokulska, Pavlo Skochok, Meletiy Semeniuk, Mykola Muratov, Vasyl Ovsienko, Hryhoriy Hrebeniuk, and the host, Dmytro Fedoriv. As well as myself, Levko Horokhivskyi. Two issues were discussed: 1) how to organize a protest against the elections; 2) which proposals to consider as additions to the "UHS Declaration of Principles." At around 2 p.m., everyone dispersed for lunch.
At 3 p.m., the Constituent Assembly of the Kyiv branch of the UHS began. Oles Shevchenko gave a short introductory speech. Then Vyacheslav Chornovil spoke at length, recounting his trip to Moscow. After that, they discussed the names of the sections proposed by Oles Shevchenko. Heads of each section were appointed immediately—Yaroslava Danyleiko became the head of the library.
And back in Ternopil on November 23, at 6 p.m., in the assembly hall of the pedagogical institute, the constituent assembly of the Ukrainian Language Society took place. Roman Hromiak (very reservedly) and Oleh Herman spoke. I also wanted to speak and sent a note to the presidium. But when they announced those who wished to speak, my name was not read out… Petro Kukurudza gave a very good speech. At the meeting, I collected many signatures on the "Appeal Against the Construction of Nuclear Power Plants." By the way, before the meeting, I gave two forms to Yaroslav Velyshchuk to collect signatures for this appeal.
On Saturday, November 26, 1988, we gathered for the first time in my apartment as UHS members (Yaroslav Hevko, Yaroslav Chyrskyi, and I). We consulted from morning until almost 4 p.m. I instructed Yaroslav Hevko to print the appeals and signature forms by Tuesday, and Yaroslav Chyrskyi to visit the people whose names were on the signature list against nuclear power plants—maybe someone would want to join the UHS. After 4 p.m., I also visited Oles Anheliuk. There I found Ihor Hereta, Lidia Ivaniuk, Mykola Brezden, Stepan Mokhovyk (an engineer), and the host Oles Antonovych. Together, with concern for the state of the Ukrainian awakening, we discussed the influence of the "Ukrainian Language Society" and the UHS on this process. Ihor Hereta invited me to a concert by the "Ne Zhurys" ensemble, which was to take place at the pedagogical institute. But I couldn't go, because I had to speak separately with Lidia Ivanivna—she had brought me a tape recorder from Lviv.
On November 29, Yaroslav Hevko visited me (I had called him). But he only brought 5 copies each of the "UHS Declaration of Principles," the "Appeal..." and the signature lists.
After work on November 30, four students visited me (Serhiy Hevko, Ihor Lysak, Oleh Shvydetskyi, Barabash). They arrived around 7:15 p.m. and stayed until 11 p.m. We talked about the UHS and everything related to its activities and history of origin. They showed great interest in the history of Ukraine. The boys are interesting: three are from Ternopil, and one is from the Lviv region, it seems from the Brody district. They will think more about joining the UHS.
On December 1, I visited the artist Mykhailo Nikolaichuk—he had not yet returned from work, but his wife was there. I decided to visit them later. But, having crossed the threshold, I met Mykhailo Nikolaichuk on the stairs and returned to the room. I gave him the "UHS Declaration of Principles," signature sheets, the "Appeal…," "Our Immediate Tasks," and "Ukrainian Symbols." I told him a bit about the UHS and left, leaving my address and office phone number. The first family (both wife and husband) who listened with interest to the story about the UHS. Thus, there was hope that the ranks of the UHS might be replenished.
Suddenly on December 2, Yaroslav Hevko called me at work to ask me to come to his garage. When I arrived, he told me that his son Serhiy and all the students who had been at my place had been summoned by the KGB. It turns out that a KGB representative had come to the institute and warned those students that if they joined the UHS, they would be expelled from the institute. I left Yaroslav the tape recorder, for which I had bought batteries, and he promised to record everything about the incident with the students.
From Yaroslav Hevko's, I called Anatolii Fedchuk—he informed me that the environmental rally had been postponed to December 18, 1988. Although someone had placed an announcement in "Vilne Zhyttia" that there would be no rally at all. We also agreed with Yaroslav Hevko that during the week he would introduce me to the head of the "Noosphere" club, Ihor Pushkar, and the head of the "Hromada Podillia" club, Anton Subchak. Afterwards, I visited Myroslav Mokrii, to whom I gave the signature sheets and the "Appeal..."—he invited me on December 4 to visit the grave at the cemetery of those tortured in the Ternopil prison in 1941 (before the arrival of the Germans).
After staying at Myroslav Mokrii's for about twenty minutes, I immediately visited Oles Anheliuk. It was already about 8:30 p.m.—I still found Lidia Ivaniuk there, who was supposed to leave for Lviv on December 4. I exchanged the latest news with them.
On Saturday, December 3, I had to go to work—we still hadn't finished designing the brickyard. I worked until 2 p.m. After work, I decided to go for coffee—our manager Mykola Poliovyi went with me. When I finally got home, I found a notice in the mailbox: "Urgent: pick up registered letter." But I was too late—the post office closes at 5 p.m. on Saturdays. I immediately called Yaroslav Perchyshyn to come to me on December 4 and bring all the necessary documents. I also called Yaroslav Chyrskyi and Oleh Herman, but they weren't there.
In the morning of December 4, Yaroslav Hevko returned my tape recorder and admitted that he hadn't recorded anything about the students—they were afraid for their son Serhiy, who could have been expelled from the institute. After that, I went to the post office and picked up a registered letter from Chornovil—he had sent me the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights." Then I called Myroslav Mokrii to say that we wouldn't be able to go to the cemetery at 1 p.m.—it had been postponed to December 18 (maybe Mykola Kots would be there too). Myron Radyshevskyi came. He didn't collect any signatures, but he signed it himself. He told me that one of his colleagues from the Cotton Combine, an electrician named Ostap Zhmud (who even goes to church), wants to join the UHS. Later, Yaroslav Perchyshyn arrived and also brought the aforementioned "Appeal…" with 18 signatures and press sheets. He donated 20 karbovantsi to the UHS and said he would continue to collect signatures.
On December 5, I called everyone to whom I had distributed UHS documents. And to Yaroslav Hevko as well—he's coming to my place tomorrow at 8 p.m. I also gave signature sheets to Mykola Pysmennyi (a design engineer at the Combine Harvester Plant), Tamara Hutsal, and collected some myself. I gave one to my neighbor Stepan from apartment 43, and yesterday I gave one to the Oliinyks from apartment 29 in the neighboring building.
At work, at the Project-Design and Technological Institute (PKTI) at the Combine Harvester Plant, on December 6, I was summoned by the chief engineer, Ihor Danylovych Kichma. The chief designer of PKTI, Liubomyr Mykolaiovych Mudryk, was with him. I told them that I am a member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union (UHS), and about the goals our union pursues. I immediately warned them to think about their statements, otherwise the whole world might learn about them… The conversation was civil—I explained that we adhere to organized public opinion and do not tolerate anti-Russian exclamations or statements. After work, Yaroslav Hevko and Yaroslav Chyrskyi came to see me—already as UHS members. I finally gave the signature sheets to Chyrskyi, and Hevko read a letter to the KGB—he read it and said he would print it. I felt unwell—my temperature had risen.
On Wednesday, December 7, at work, I was informed that I needed to go on a business trip to Kharkiv and Kyiv immediately. But I refused. After work, Myron Radyshevskyi and Ostap Zhmud visited me. We talked for a long time and finally Ostap Zhmud wrote an application to join the UHS (the ranks are growing!), and I still had to go to Bohdan Amrozhii, Yosyp Tytor, and Anatolii Fedchuk. But it later turned out that Ostap Zhmud had not filled in the address field, and I took the application form to Myron Radyshevskyi, who worked with Ostap Zhmud at the same place. From Myron's, I went to Bohdan Amrozhii's—he wasn't there. I left him the signature forms and immediately went to Yosyp Tytor's. He was already asleep, but the noise woke him up, and I gave him the "UHS Declaration of Principles" to read. I also left him forms for collecting signatures. Then I went to Anatolii Fedchuk's. It was already a bit late—10:10 p.m. But Anatolii Fedchuk gave me the text of an appeal to the regional party conference, and I copied from him the addresses of all the Ternopil bosses and their phone numbers.
On December 8, I was again summoned by the chief engineer of the automation department of the Combine Harvester Plant, Ihor Kichma, who also urged me to go on the business trip. But I refused again. After work, I immediately went to Bohdan Martsenkivskyi at the Agro-industrial complex—he had collected as many as 200 signatures. Then I went to Yosyp Tytor's because I had forgotten the application forms at his place. I also visited Myroslav Mokrii, but he had only collected four signatures. Finally, I approached the "Zatyshok" cafe at 8 p.m.—Oleh Herman was already there. He was in a hurry, but he told me many interesting things—he and Roman Hromiak had been summoned to the KGB regarding Petro Kukurudza's speech at the constituent assembly of the "Ukrainian Language Society." The speech itself was quite resolute, but it could have been provocative. I also, of course, visited Mykhailo and Maria Nikolaichuk.
On Friday, December 9, I was preparing for Lviv for a rally dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights." On this day, I was planning to go to Yaroslav Hevko's, but students were supposed to come, so I waited for them. Later, Oksana (Myron Radyshevskyi's daughter) brought Ostap Zhmud's corrected application.
On December 10, 1988, having gotten up at dawn, at 4:30 a.m., I still managed to catch the train that arrives in Ternopil from Kyiv at 6:04 a.m. Upon arriving in Lviv, I immediately went to Chornovil's (16/53 Levitan St.), but he was not home. I then returned to the city center and called Lidia Ivaniuk—she advised me to go to Bohdan Horyn's. It was impossible to get through to him—the phone must have been taken off the hook. I barely reached his block on trolleybus No. 9 (for some reason, these trolleybuses did not run along 17th of September Street). Arriving at the "Oktiabr" stop, I walked along Kulchytska Street to Bohdan Horyn's apartment. He was in a great hurry—preparing for a speech, as the rally had been abruptly canceled, or rather, reclassified due to the period of mourning for the earthquake in Armenia. A student named Ruslan was also with them. I did not stay long and left, only asking where we would meet and how to find Mykhailo Horyn. But it turned out that Mykhailo was in hospital No. 5—a kidney attack.
When I was walking down Myru Street and decided to have a coffee, I was seized by three KGB agents right in the cafe. They pushed me into a car, accusing me of stealing a suitcase from some woman who was supposedly on the same train with me. What a vile lie!! On the way to the train station, I addressed them: "Guys, the rally has been canceled." But they remained grimly silent. True, I demanded they give me their last names, but one of them flashed a red ID and said: "Sydorchuk." And he added: "What, you don't believe me?" But I didn't believe him and didn't press further, shocked by the suspicion of theft—after all, you could expect anything from them. They took me to the train station, held me until the train bound for Ternopil arrived, and sent me on my way. It was only later, when I replayed the Lviv events in my memory, that I vowed to be more assertive, so that this would not happen again.
After returning home, I slept for a long time and woke up at 10 a.m. on December 11. But after two weeks of sleep deprivation, it didn't help... Despite this, I started to get ready to go to the hospital to see Yaroslav Hevko. I didn't find him at the city hospital and called Oles Anheliuk, to whom I told about my Lviv adventure. Anheliuk informed me that Yaroslav Hevko was in the "ENT" department, and as they told me at the city hospital, this department is in the regional hospital. When I finally met Yaroslav at the hospital, we sat together and talked—they had removed two abscesses, his temperature had dropped, and he even looked quite well. He read me a letter from a fourth-year student at Kyiv University who was asking who had initiated the UHS in Ternopil. Yaroslav will be discharged on Tuesday.
Anatolii Fedchuk and three students were waiting for me at home: Serhiy Hevko, Ihor Lysak, and Oleh Shvydetskyi. They told me how they had been summoned to the KGB and how they suspect Barabash, who had previously come to my place with them.
On December 13, after work, I met with Stepan Mokhovyk, having called him beforehand. For now, he is afraid to join the UHS—he said to call him in a week. I immediately called Oles Anheliuk, and in the evening, I called Yosyp Tytor to ask him to come over. At around 8:30 p.m., Yosyp Tytor visited me and brought an application to join the UHS—the union is growing… Tytor brought another application from his neighbor, though without a last name.
December 14 turned out to be a bit of an unsuccessful day. However, a correspondent from the "Vilne Zhyttia" newspaper, Mykhailo Ivashchuk, interviewed me. He started at 12 o'clock and asked me about the UHS until 2 o'clock. He was looking for some compromising moments: whether I was in favor of building a monument to Stepan Bandera, or how I became a member of the UHS—did someone drag me into it by any chance? I replied that I went to Lviv myself, wrote an application, and asked to be accepted as a member of the UHS. We discussed points from the "UHS Declaration of Principles"—those points that I remembered. He promised to bring me the document of the "Declaration…" the next day. Then I called Ihor Hereta. He didn't have time—asked me to call tomorrow. I wanted to visit Oles Anheliuk as well, but he warned me that he had guests… I felt a bit sad, but I overcame it and decided to call tomorrow, December 15. As it later turned out, Lidia Ivaniuk had arrived and had suddenly fallen very ill.
On December 15, the "Vilne Zhyttia" correspondent, Mykhailo Ivashchuk, visited again. I gave him the "UHS Declaration of Principles," and he questioned me on all points of the document. Although I could have refused to answer, I was interested in testing myself. And indeed, I misinterpreted two points, about the elections and serving in the army on one's own territory, a little unclearly, even though yesterday I had simply stunned him with those points. At the end, he stated that he felt deep down that I disagreed with some points of the "UHS Declaration of Principles." I immediately replied: "You are mistaken—I agree with everything." As he was leaving, I saw him off with some parting words: "Don't dig into personal affairs and don't call us 'zeks,' because if the current amendments to Articles 62 and 187 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR were projected onto yesterday, we were illegally repressed, and it was not us who should have been tried, but those who falsified our cases." But he kept asking: and have you read "Interview from Under the Counter"? However, I didn't calm down even after he left. Quickly, summarizing our polemic, I called him to add a final word. And I said: "What we are striving for is a constitutional right, and therefore not anti-Soviet, so whether we achieve our goals or not will depend to some extent on the Soviet and party bodies. And finally, the 'UHS Declaration of Principles' is not some kind of dogma, but is currently under discussion. If someone disagrees with something—let them give their remarks."
I also called Yaroslav Hevko—his son Serhiy answered the phone. His father is still in the hospital and will be there until December 18. On the same day, in the evening, I also went to Oles Anheliuk's—Lidia Ivaniuk was ill. We discussed the latest events for a long time. It turns out that yesterday on Radio Liberty they even mentioned how the KGB had detained me in Lviv during the rally on December 10.
On December 16, I was waiting at home for the first members of the UHS. The ones who came were: Yaroslav Chyrskyi, Ostap Zhmud, Yosyp Tytor, and two other new hopefuls whom Yosyp Tytor had recruited (Yaroslav Chornomaz and Volodymyr Skakun). I gave them signature sheets against nuclear power plants, since an environmental rally was scheduled for Sunday, December 18, at the "Vatra" Palace of Culture, as Anatolii Fedchuk had informed me. Yosyp Tytor and Volodymyr Skakun volunteered to go to "Vatra"—I couldn't, as I was supposed to be in Kyiv. But when I called them on December 19, it turned out that Tytor hadn't gone because he had been in the village. And Volodymyr Skakun's wife scolded him severely—I just don't know what to do… Yaroslav Chyrskyi also only went to three people to collect signatures…
On December 16, Vyacheslav Chornovil called me and informed me that on Sunday, December 18, in Kyiv, there would be another meeting of the All-Ukrainian Council of the UHS. I wasn't there at the time, and later I called Chornovil back from the transport department, and after work, I immediately bought a ticket to Kyiv. On December 17, I spent the whole day writing an article but didn't finish it, as I had to deal with household chores. But I got ready and left for Kyiv at 10:45 p.m.
I arrived in Kyiv on December 18, 1988, at 8 o'clock. I immediately bought a return ticket and, using a map, went to 10 Olehivska Street (Dmytro Fedoriv's apartment). On the way, I had a coffee, and when I entered the house, Vyacheslav Chornovil and Vitalii Shevchenko were already there. Soon others began to arrive. Vyacheslav Chornovil presided, although according to the schedule, it was supposed to be Stepan Khmara. But Khmara had not yet served his 15 days of arrest—he was imprisoned for being too active in preparing for the rally. Mykhailo Horyn was absent—his kidney disease had worsened and his heart was apparently not well either. Present were: Vyacheslav Chornovil, Mykola Horbal, Ivan Sokulskyi, Vasyl Ovsienko, Oles Shevchenko, Vitalii Shevchenko, Yevhen Proniuk, Volodymyr Tytarenko, Olha Heiko, Serhiy Naboka, and Zinovii Melnyk, who gave me his address and offered me a place to stay for the night—he is from the Zboriv district himself. Also present were Dmytro Mazur, who had just been released from prison, and a dark-haired woman from the Ivano-Frankivsk region (possibly Diana Bidochko). Absent were Meletii Semeniuk from Volyn, Stepan Sapeliak from Kharkiv, and Hryhoriy Hrebeniuk from Kramatorsk.
First, Mykola Horbal spoke, telling about his trip to Latvia, his speech at their rally, about the Ukrainian society in Riga, which is run by a young woman. Regarding Mykola Horbal's report, the All-Ukrainian Council of the UHS decided to maintain contacts with the Baltics to have an idea of what is happening there… Then they discussed the work done in the regions—each regional representative spoke and reported on affairs in their area. And finally, Chornovil laid out the UHS's position on the elections: whether to boycott them or go to the polling stations and conduct explanatory work. But no resolution on the proposed solution was adopted—Yevhen Proniuk and Vasyl Ovsienko doubted the effectiveness of a boycott. After the meeting, one of the members of the UHS Kyiv branch invited us to his wife's birthday party.
Mykola Horbal walked me to the train. On Saturday, December 24, I have to be in Kyiv again for the establishment of the society "For Civic Rehabilitation." I don't know if I can go—it's a working day at our design bureau.
I returned to Ternopil on December 19 at six in the morning without any incidents. At work, I was rewriting and finishing an article. I felt very tired. In the evening, Anatolii Fedchuk visited me, and I finished rewriting my article while he was there. He agreed to go to Lviv on December 20 to deliver my article. I gave him money for the trip, but he only took three karbovantsi.
On December 22, after work, Yaroslav Chyrskyi and Ostap Zhmud came over. I told them about the meeting of the All-Ukrainian Council of the UHS in Kyiv and gave them the press service newsletters of the UHS. After meeting with them, I went to see the priest Bohdan Komarnytskyi once more—it was already around 9:30 p.m. He wasn't there—they had gone for the Feast of St. Anne. I told his children that I would come again on Monday at the same time.
Having applied for a day off on Saturday, I began to get ready for Kyiv on December 23. I bought a ticket for the night train at 3:10 a.m. Anatolii Fedchuk called me, and a little later he came over. He brought his speech and a newspaper announcement from "Vatra" about the environmental rally. He read some of it. And I, having packed, walked to the train station at 2 a.m., covering a distance of four kilometers.
On December 24, at about 12:30 p.m., I arrived in Kyiv—the train was late. I immediately bought a return ticket, but for the Poltava–Khmelnytskyi train. On Khreshchatyk, I visited the "Poeziya" bookstore, where I bought poems by Mykola Filianskyi and Mykhail Semenko for Oles Anheliuk and Yaroslav Hevko. On the way, in an underpass, I bought four books of poetry by Yevhen Pluzhnyk. Then at 4 p.m., I went to Yevhen Proniuk's. I was worried about being 10 minutes late, but only Petro Sichko, Ivan Kandyba, Volodymyr Marmus, and Oleksa Mykolyshyn were there. Then two older people arrived: a man and a woman—victims of Stalinist repressions. Mykola Horbal also appeared.
We agreed to hold the Constituent Assembly of the "For Civic Rehabilitation" Society on February 11, 1989. They distributed the draft statute of the Society to everyone and informed us about what we needed to do. There, during the gathering, a participant from the Ternopil region, Volodymyr Marmus, wrote an application to join the UHS. Another significant achievement for our UHS branch—after all, Volodymyr is a former political prisoner. I returned to Ternopil with Marmus—in Khmelnytskyi, we got a bit lucky and managed to transfer immediately to the Lviv train. On the way, we agreed that on Thursday, December 29, Volodymyr Marmus would come to my place—other guys would be there too. I gave him a book of Yevhen Pluzhnyk's poems. We arrived in Ternopil on December 25 sometime after 10 a.m.
As soon as I got home, I was about to go to Oleh Nechai's, but the student Ihor Lysak came. He told me how the KGB had summoned Yuriy Klymchuk: a "Zhiguli" car pulled up and there, near the "Pizzeria," they asked if any other students had been at my place. Ihor said he would come again and asked about the Constituent Assembly of the UHS—when would it take place? And Oleh Nechai, when I visited him, also asked about the Constituent Assembly of the UHS... On my way home, I met the "Vilne Zhyttia" correspondent Mykhailo Ivashchuk in the city center and asked him when the article would be out. And in the evening, Anatolii Fedchuk and I went to Dmytro Piasetskyi's. I left him the "UHS Declaration of Principles" and the statute of the "Civic Rehabilitation" society. He said he would familiarize himself with them, and I should call him after the New Year—maybe he'll join the UHS.
On December 27, I went to Oles Anheliuk's. Lidia Ivaniuk was there. I had bought two books for them in Kyiv: "Poems" by Yevhen Pluzhnyk and Mykola Filianskyi. We talked for a long time—Lidia Ivaniuk read me poems by Yevhen Malaniuk. We discussed the article about Yevhen Pluzhnyk and the speeches of Mykola Zhulynskyi and Ivan Drach.
On December 28, in the morning, they called to say I should go to the city prosecutor Vasyl Bavoliak's office tomorrow at 10 a.m. And after work, I visited Myroslav Mokrii and returned his books. Then I visited the Nikolaichuks—they weren't there. Finally, I went to Anatolii Fedchuk's. He had been to see the first secretary of the regional committee for ideology, Mykhailo Babiy. To be honest, I didn't like that he kept talking about the UHS, saying they don't have their own platform, they don't know what they want, etc. I returned home at 11:30 p.m.
On the morning of December 29, I went to work, and then to the city prosecutor's office (on Kotliarevskyi Street, on the 3rd floor in the first office). The KGB had forced the student Yuriy Klymchuk to write that I had supposedly "worked him over" in a nationalist spirit. I spoke with the city prosecutor—he had been studying our "UHS Declaration of Principles." And after work, the guys came to my place: Yaroslav Chyrskyi, Yaroslav Hevko, Yaroslav Chornomaz, and Volodymyr Marmus. Hevko told how his son was persecuted at the institute. The dean summoned him and then took him to a separate office with two KGB agents. He recounted how his wife Halia was summoned at work and "advised" to influence her husband so that Yaroslav would not support the UHS. After our meeting, Volodymyr Marmus stayed overnight at my place. I gave him the "UHS Declaration of Principles" and other documents for Chortkiv.
On December 30, Bohdan Kryvyi came to my work and filled out an application to join the UHS, and after work, I called Chornovil in Lviv and told him about the summons to the prosecutor's office. We agreed that I would go to see him in Lviv on the morning of December 31. I also wrote New Year's greetings to everyone, and sent a telegram to the Kyiv branch of the UHS via Oles Shevchenko. Then I went to the Nikolaichuks'—they were preparing a Vertep (Christmas nativity play). I invited them to a UHS meeting on Thursday, January 5, 1989. Maybe they'll come, but their membership is uncertain—they want to, but they don't sign applications. I told them about the UHS Constituent Assembly, which should not be held at my apartment, as suspicions have arisen that it is being bugged. I asked if anyone could offer their room for the meeting—they remained silent (as if they agreed, but did not give a concrete answer). From the Nikolaichuks', I went home and wrote them New Year's greetings, and then started getting ready for Lviv.
I left for Lviv at 6:14 a.m. on train No. 91. I immediately bought a return ticket for 2 p.m. I was at Vyacheslav Chornovil's—I told him about the summons to the prosecutor's office and about Yaroslav Hevko, who was being blackmailed. When I got home, no one was there. I met the New Year in my dreams…
January 1, 1989
I stayed at home almost all day. I only went to see Ostap Zhmud to ask him to go to Leonid Drapak's. Ostap agreed. His wife even treated me. And the next day, January 2, I called Yaroslav Hevko and met with him. He didn't want to give all the details about his son and wife—one can understand him…
On January 3 at work, the secretary of the party organization of the Combine Harvester Plant, Vyacheslav Mykhailovych Pereyaslavets, called me in for a talk. Mykhailo Ivanovych Nikolyshyn and Volodymyr Mykolaiovych Leontiuk, his deputies, were present. The secretary of the PKTI party organization, Yaroslav Ivanovych Madarash, had summoned me to Pereyaslavets by phone. And before that, in the morning, around 10 o'clock, there had been a meeting of the plant's party committee, at which Vyacheslav Pereyaslavets mentioned me as the head of the Ternopil UHS. He also added that we wanted to hold a constituent assembly on January 14. By the way, he mentioned the number 20—as if there were already that many members of the Ternopil branch of the UHS. Someone is informing…
When I entered the office of the party committee secretary, Vyacheslav Pereyaslavets, around 4:30 p.m., everyone began to address me obsequiously: "Please," "Excuse me," "I beg you," etc. Mykhailo Nikolyshyn asked if we really use the "Voice of America"? I answered that we transmit information to Radio Liberty. They also asked about the "Ukrainian Helsinki Union," about nationalism… In the end, they admitted they were unprepared, so they apologized and I left because I was in a hurry.
On January 4, after work, I visited Oles Anheliuk. He had fallen ill. He asked me not to tell Lidia Ivaniuk. He wants to help us somehow… So he should get a book on the history of Ternopil from Ihor Hereta and clarify Oleh Nechai's promise of a donation to the UHS. I immediately went to Anatolii Fedchuk's, where I had a long talk with his son Slavko (his other son's name is Bohdan) about history and philosophy. Soon Anatolii Fedchuk arrived—he had been at a meeting of the socio-ecological club "Noosphere." I gave him Yevhen Proniuk's address for Dmytro Piasetskyi and a description of the work in the sections, so that if a constructive idea ripened, he could add something.
On January 5, after work, only Yaroslav Chyrskyi, Yaroslav Chornomaz, and Yosyp Tytor came to see me—no one else was there, though they had promised. I wrote on cards for them where we were to meet on January 14 at 12 o'clock, to then go to the UHS Constituent Assembly. I myself did not yet know where the assembly would take place. And Yaroslav Chornomaz told me that yesterday a certain Yurchenko from the Ternopil Regional KGB Administration had a conversation with his wife.
On the morning of January 6, I gave the "UHS Declaration of Principles" to the secretary of the party committee of the Combine Harvester Plant through Yaroslav Madarash, as Vyacheslav Pereyaslavets had asked for it yesterday. And before that, our chief designer Liubomyr Mudryk called and said that they were demanding I go on a business trip in connection with our constituent assembly. They were scared… I replied that it would be coercion on the part of the administration and a violation of human rights. And, of course, I refused. This morning Bohdan Kryvyi called and said he wanted to meet with me and also to let me know why he didn't come to my place on Thursday at 7 p.m., as had been arranged. We agreed to meet after work at 5:20–5:30 p.m. near the No. 16 bus stop. But for some reason, he wasn't there. I had, in fact, warned him that I still had to go for a talk with the party committee secretary Vyacheslav Pereyaslavets. But for some reason, I wasn't called in again. And at home on Christmas Eve, I shared kutia with my family…
On Christmas Day, January 7, I visited Ostap Zhmud and told him where we were meeting on Saturday, January 14, for the New Year, to hold the UHS Constituent Assembly. Ostap informed me that he had been home and was with a priest who once served in the village of Potutory and is now seriously ill. Mykola Kots arrived late in the evening, but we still talked for a long time. And on the morning of January 8, we left for Potutory station. We went to the cemetery to visit my mother and father in the village of Saranchuky, to light candles. Then we walked to the village of Kotiv, and later to Rybnyky, where Mykola photographed the churches and the Catholic church in Kotiv. At 4:45 p.m., we left via Berezhany by train for Ternopil—there were a terrible number of people. Back home in the evening, Roman sang a very beautiful carol. And I convinced Mykola Kots to stay one more day…
On January 10, there was another meeting (or session) of party bureau secretaries at work, where they read some points from the "UHS Declaration of Principles." After work, I went to the museum to see Ihor Hereta (he works as a senior researcher at the museum), but he had taken the day off. The next day, I went to see Ihor Hereta again with the initiative to start a local history circle, and I also asked him if he had any books about the Ternopil region. He didn't… He did, however, tell me who I could get one from. But it was already late. I also went to see Anatolii Fedchuk—we agreed that he would come to my place on January 12 regarding the invitation to the UHS Constituent Assembly.
On Thursday, January 12, Leonid Drapak called me at work—we agreed to meet at 5:30 p.m. near the church. Then, at 4:30 p.m., Borys Ivanovych Ivasiv (head of a department at the pedagogical institute) and Oleh Varfolomiyovych Ostrovskyi (director of a haberdashery and Tytor's son-in-law) unexpectedly came to the Combine Harvester Plant with their wives, where entry was strictly by pass. They demanded that I return Yaroslav Chyrskyi's and Yosyp Tytor's applications to join the UHS. Ostrovskyi was particularly harsh in his attacks on me, accusing me of nationalism and the ideological contortions of the "UHS Declaration of Principles." But when I gave them a categorical refusal, they started to plead, citing their high positions. However, I replied that I would not return the applications unless Yaroslav Chyrskyi or Yosyp Tytor themselves came for them…
On the same day, I met with Leonid Drapak. He told me that the head of the Borshchiv KGB, Captain Ilchuk Volodymyr Antonovych, had come to see him and offered to help with admission to the medical institute, and also promised to help with treatment abroad, if only he wouldn't listen to the Lviv and Ternopil agitators from the UHS. After meeting with Drapak, I immediately returned home. At home, Volodymyr Marmus, Yosyp Tytor, Yaroslav Hevko, Yaroslav Chornomaz, Yaroslav Chykurlii, and Volodymyr Skakun were already waiting for me. At the meeting, we agreed that we would hold the Constituent Assembly at Yosyp Tytor's apartment at 4/47 Pustovarov St. Then, after nine in the evening, Anatolii Fedchuk came, through whom I passed an invitation to the Nikolaichuks for the UHS Constituent Assembly.
On January 13, Vyacheslav Chornovil called—clarifying when Mykhailo Horyn should arrive. I was preparing my report for the Constituent Assembly of the Ternopil branch of the UHS, but in the evening I also called Yaroslav Perchyshyn. I woke him up with that call, but he agreed to come to the Constituent Assembly.
On January 14, at 11:30 a.m., Yaroslav Perchyshyn arrived and we took a taxi first to the "Zatyshok" cafe to have some coffee. Then we walked to the building where Yosyp Tytor lived. Just in case, I left a note at my home with the address of where we were. But the assembly didn't happen. Mykhailo Horyn was delayed; he arrived sometime after 3 p.m. Many were not allowed to come, others didn't come because they didn't know where to go (Ostap Zhmud and Leonid Drapak). Yaroslav Chornomaz wasn't let in—they did an inventory at his apiary. Yaroslav Chykurlii was called to work at the poultry farm in Petryky, even though it was his day off. And Yaroslav Chyrskyi asked for his application back—he came in the morning and told me about the tremendous pressure being put on him through his wife and mother. Skakun also didn't come. Only the following were present: Yaroslav Hevko, Yosyp Tytor, Pavlo Verbytskyi (a Baptist), Yaroslav Perchyshyn, Yaroslav Uhryn, and myself. Then Volodymyr Marmus arrived. Three policemen came in and demanded, then begged, us to give our names. But their efforts were in vain—no one was going to confess to them. When Yaroslav Hevko, Pavlo Verbytskyi, and Yaroslav Uhryn went home, Mykhailo Horyn and Zinovii Krasivskyi finally arrived. But it was already too late. However, they did bring some literature and the "Ukrainian Herald" No. 8. They told us about the events in Lviv and that the resolution of the "Native Language Society" conceptually coincided with the "UHS Declaration of Principles." After those conversations, Mykhailo Horyn, Zinovii Krasivskyi, and I also went to Anatolii Fedchuk's (by the way, his phone was disconnected). And then Anatolii Fedchuk and I saw our guests off, with whom I agreed to meet in Kyiv on January 21.
I stayed at home on January 15, only meeting with Ostap Zhmud at 5 p.m. near the "Yuvileinyi" shopping complex, and he told me how they "broke" and detained him. I gave Ostap Zhmud the "Ukrainian Herald" No. 8 to read. The next day, Leonid Drapak called me at work from Borshchiv. He informed me that he had come on January 14 at 12 o'clock near the philharmonic hall, but no one was there—he had been summoned to the police and the village council at 10 o'clock that day.
On January 17-18, I prepared a press release about the events of January 14. I wrote part of it during work. On January 18, for some reason, the general director of the Combine Harvester Plant, Mykhailo Hryhorovych Danylchenko, called me. At first, his secretary informed me that he wanted to talk to me, but then, it seems, he changed his mind. For some reason, the timekeeper called me from the checkpoint and asked for my plant pass number. And then a doctor called (this had never happened before) to ask me to come for a check-up. And I went to the clinic, where they measured my blood pressure, offered me a trip to a resort, and then advised me to undergo some procedures for a week with a sick leave certificate.
On January 17, after buying a ticket to Kyiv for January 20 on train No. 688, I went to the "Orion" cafe at 7:30 p.m., where I had a meeting with the head of the PKTI laboratory, Yaroslav Khromyk. We drank coffee, and then Khromyk told me that he had seen PKTI engineer Ihor Chubko in the military registration office at the Combine Harvester Plant with a KGB curator. In addition, he, Yaroslav Khromyk, was allegedly offered a job with us to spy on me. But it's good that Chubko was exposed.
On the morning of January 19, the chief engineer of PKTI, Ihor Danylovych Kichma, summoned me. But, as it turned out, he wasn't interested in the foundation project; he had to take me to see Mykhailo Danylchenko. At first, they talked about some overpass that needed to be designed, and then Ihor Kichma left me with the general director, who immediately asked about the UHS. I informed him exhaustively. He listened without interrupting. He only once mentioned that Vyacheslav Pereyaslavets qualifies our actions as hooliganism, but he (Danylchenko), supposedly, defended me. In the end, he thanked me for the conversation and I left. However, I couldn't immediately understand what was going on. It wasn't until Friday that Mykhailo Vasylyk (head of the technical re-equipment sector) informed me that Mykhailo Danylchenko was running for the regional council. Today, Oleksa Mykolyshyn (secretary of the "Civic Rehabilitation" society) also called me from Kyiv and said that this society was merging into the Kyiv "Memorial." Then Mykola Horbal called to say that I should visit him when I arrive in Kyiv.
On January 20, I was getting ready for Kyiv. Myron Radyshevskyi, my nephew, visited me and helped me rewrite the second copy of the press release.
On January 21, at 7 a.m., I arrived in Kyiv. I immediately bought a return ticket—for train No. 91. I stood in line for an hour. Around 8:40 a.m., I arrived at Mykola Horbal's. Ivan Makar and Vasyl Barladianu were already there. We had breakfast. At 11 a.m., we were at 10 Olehivska Street. The UHS meeting dragged on. They argued when the new composition of the UHS Executive Committee was announced: Mykhailo Horyn, Vyacheslav Chornovil, Mykola Horbal, Yevhen Proniuk, Stepan Khmara. They discussed the appeal from "Solidarity" with a call to unite with Hungarians, Czechs, Poles, Bulgarians, Lithuanians. Yuriy Badzio, who was at a UHS meeting for the first time, gave an interesting speech. We reviewed our work and preparations for the elections. I remarked that next time everything should be recorded. Meletiy Semeniuk from Volyn, Volodymyr Tytarenko from Vinnytsia, and Hryhoriy Hrebeniuk from Kramatorsk were not at the meeting. During the exchange of opinions, differences arose regarding the ultimate goal: whether Ukraine should be in a confederation (Mykhailo Horyn and his supporters) or become independent (Ivan Makar, Yuriy Badzio, and others). These issues are to be resolved at the conference scheduled for March.
On January 22, I returned to Ternopil at 6 a.m. I was tired. After a short rest, I visited Anatolii Fedchuk. I exchanged thoughts with him and his son Slavko for a long time about the joint prayer service on January 22 in Lviv in honor of the reunification of Western Ukrainian lands with Greater Ukraine. And on January 23, I was still feeling unwell and went to the clinic in the morning, but the doctor, Karpova, was afraid to give me sick leave for one day. She examined me and declared that I was healthy, even though she had called me on Wednesday and suggested I take a vacation. I had to go to work. After work, Ostap Zhmud and Yaroslav Chykurlii were supposed to come to my place, but only Yosyp Tytor came. It turned out that he was being pressured and blackmailed at work… I also went to call Yaroslav Chyrskyi to ask him to tell Yaroslav Uhryn to come to my place on Thursday. I also called Ostap Fedyshyn right away—he said he would come to my place on Thursday and maybe even tell the Nikolaichuks to come too.
On January 24, after work, Yaroslav Hevko and Ostap Zhmud came to my place—we arranged to meet on January 26. In the evening, after 9 p.m., I called Yaroslav Perchyshyn, but a neighbor said he wasn't there. The next day, after work at 9 p.m., a student named Yuriy Lysak came. We agreed that he would come to my place on January 26. And on that same evening, I called Yaroslav Perchyshyn again—he assured me he would come tomorrow. And I began to prepare for the Constituent Assembly.
At work on January 26, Ihor Chubko tried to talk to me—he said something about honor, about Yaroslav Madarash, and so on. But I didn't want to communicate with him. After work, I ran to my nephew Myron's place (he wasn't there), and then to my cousin Vladyk's, to pick up Solomiyka from kindergarten. When I got home, I found Mykhailo Horyn waiting for me at the entrance. We went into the house, had coffee. People began to arrive. Leonid Drapak, Yaroslav Hevko, Ostap Zhmud, Yosyp Tytor, Yaroslav Chykurlii, Volodymyr Skakun, the student Yuriy Lysak (who did not join the UHS) came, and from Chortkiv came: Volodymyr Marmus, Roman Shkrobut, Yaroslav Vovk, Ivan Balabukh (who also did not join the UHS).
I have preserved a record of my speech, which I delivered at the Constituent Assembly of the UHS in Ternopil on January 26, 1989. It was as follows:
“Dear friends! Until today, we were an initiative group, and today we are granted the status of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union—its Ternopil branch. Therefore, allow me to begin the Constituent Assembly with the words of our great poet Vasyl Stus:
Дай, Україно, гордого шляху
Дай, Україно, гордого лику!..
“Appealing to our sacred heritage, as if in prayer, purifies us, and we must admit: without pride and national dignity, our language, and therefore our people, are doomed to disappear. The Ukrainian people, who are facing the threat of ruin (since the eastern regions are almost 80% Russified), are in urgent need of a revival, which must begin with psychological liberation.”
“Therefore, by becoming members of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union, we take upon ourselves a feasible and, at the same time, the most responsible and noble duty—to protect our Ukraine from denationalization, ecocide, from economic and political centralism, from everything that Stalinism and Brezhnevism have left us as a legacy.”
“The UHS allows for pluralistic views, but these views must be united by a common goal—the revival of Ukraine through statehood.”
“While supporting all that is positive in perestroika, we must at the same time admit: for now, there is no firm certainty that it will end successfully—the forces of reaction are masking themselves and are always ready to defend their own interests and privileges. Therefore, how our future destiny unfolds depends on ourselves, on our activity and our influence. After all, our greatest strength of influence lies in competence and mass participation, and our prospect lies in selfless work.”
“Now the Ukrainian Helsinki Union performs the following functions: it stimulates party and state bodies, forms and activates public opinion, and carries out certain work.”
“Regarding stimulation, though not as we would like, we observe it in our as-yet short history: the interview with the correspondent of ‘Vilne Zhyttia’ (for reconnaissance, of course), the summonses to the prosecutor (for intimidation), the conversations with the party committee secretary and the directors of enterprises of many of our UHS members, persecution both at work and on the street… And although in every case, the UHS and the ‘Declaration of Principles’ are approached with prejudice, with a certain aim to attach labels of vulgar nationalism or to link us with the OUN, nevertheless, there have recently been notes about the inevitability of a discussion with the Union. Such issues were touched upon at the party committee meeting (at our Combine Harvester Plant) and in the newspaper ‘Vilne Zhyttia’ on January 24, where it was said: ‘A real political force that must be taken into account is informal associations. A deep analysis of their programs and a dialogue are needed.’ This, ultimately, is the only correct path to understanding, as opposed to the persecution and arbitrariness that the authorities in Ternopil still resort to today.”
“As for the educational aspect, active participation in UHS actions awakens national consciousness and develops political culture, which obliges us to spread and promote our ideas and principles.”
“Our work will be distributed among sections—we will discuss the structure of the Union later. There will also be public events, such as the current preparations for the elections (regarding the elections, we will convene a separate Coordinating Council, where we will exhaustively discuss what we should do).”
“In addition, in order not to isolate ourselves, we must take the most active part in spreading our ideas in all Ternopil societies. This concerns, first of all, the ‘Ukrainian Language Society,’ the socio-ecological society ‘Noosphere,’ and ‘Hromada Podillia.’ We must maintain close contact with the branch of the Culture Fund to clarify and gather information, as well as to make remarks to them. In the autumn, an archaeological society is being created, which will give us a lot for the historical and search section…”
After my speech, the Secretary of the UHS Executive Committee, Mykhailo Horyn, gave a welcoming and encouraging address. Questions were asked during the speeches. Sections were created: Volodymyr Marmus and Yosyp Tytor joined the historical-search section, Yaroslav Hevko headed the literary-artistic section, Ostap Zhmud headed the language section, and Volodymyr Skakun headed the ecological section. And finally, Mykhailo Horyn proclaimed the Ternopil initiative group a branch of the UHS, and I was elected chairman of the Ternopil branch of the UHS…
The assembly ended at 10:30 p.m. Leonid Drapak and I saw Mykhailo Horyn off to the railway station, but no trains were running. Mykhailo Horyn took a taxi and went to spend the night at Anatolii Fedchuk's. Leonid Drapak stayed overnight with me.
At last, the Constituent Assembly had taken place!
On January 27, after work, I attended a meeting of the Council of the "Ukrainian Language Society." Representatives from some districts (Berezhany and Husiatyn) spoke. In his speech, the poet Stanislav Chernylevskyi proposed creating the "Halfilm" film studio, and also recited three of his poems. I also spoke, reading the text of the "Ukrainian Language Society" resolution. Thanks to Petro Kukurudza, I learned about the "Ukrainian Language Society" at the Combine Harvester Plant. Then I spoke with Bohdan Savka and Yaroslav Kutnyi—delegates of the Kopychyntsi and Berezhany "Societies." I gave Yaroslav Kutnyi the "UHS Declaration of Principles" and my address. Kutnyi said that he is not afraid, but wants to get his poems published. The teacher Bohdan Savka from Kopychyntsi also gave me his address. At the end of the meeting, I also spoke with Roman Hromiak—he is being nominated as a candidate for deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on February 1 in the house of political education. He even took our program—the UHS program. I also walked with Anatolii Fedchuk and dropped by Ostap Zhmud's place to ask him to campaign for Roman Hromiak at his work.
On January 28, when I was going to Oles Anheliuk's, I met Ivan Balabukh on the way, who had been at the Constituent Assembly of our UHS branch. He was heading to my place for his application—I returned it to him. He detained me for more than 1.5 hours. I immediately went to Oles Anheliuk's. Lidia Ivaniuk was at his place. She told me about UANTI (the Ukrainian Association of Independent Creative Intelligentsia, initiated by Mykhailo Osadchyi—the editor-in-chief of the journal "Kafedra"), and wrote down a few questions for Mykhailo Horyn (she will go to see him on Thursday, February 2). They treated me to soup and herring.
I also went to Yosyp Tytor's and asked him to invite Volodymyr Skakun. We talked for a long time—I convinced them to campaign for Roman Hromiak at their workplaces, and also to collect signatures against nuclear power plants… I came home at night by taxi because the trolleybuses were no longer running.
On January 29, I went to Berezovytsia. After some searching, I found Bohdan Hnatyshyn's house and talked with him for a bit. I left him the "UHS Declaration of Principles"—he said he would come to my place on February 1 (unfortunately, he didn't come).
The next day, January 30, Yaroslav Hevko came to see me after work. He brought the reprinted resolution of the Lviv "Ukrainian Language Society." I paid him 35 karbovantsi for the printing. And before that, I met with Yaroslav Chyrskyi, who donated 60 karbovantsi to the UHS.
At work on February 2, I learned from the radio, and then from Anatolii Fedorovych Humeniuk, that for the Ternopil electoral district No. 516 (out of six contenders: Shmorhai, Yurkevych, Siromskyi, Ihor Vorobel, Svitlana Hurarie, Roman Hromiak) Roman Hromiak was elected yesterday as a candidate for deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and Svitlana Hurarie as a candidate for the regional council.
And after work on the same day, Yaroslav Hevko, Ostap Zhmud, Yosyp Tytor, and Yaroslav Perchyshyn (although he was not a member of the UHS) visited me. A regular meeting of the Council of the Ternopil branch of the UHS took place. We talked about preparations for the elections, about our work, and paid our dues. A certain Viktor Bryhadyr from Kamianets-Podilskyi came. He was sent by Viktor Fedorchuk from Kyiv, who, like Bryhadyr, had been in a psychiatric hospital. He came to me for help in going abroad. I did not have such possibilities, so I gave him Vyacheslav Chornovil's address and Bohdan Horyn's phone number for consultation. Or maybe I should have tried to persuade him to become a UHS support point in the Khmelnytskyi oblast? At the end of our meeting, Yosyp Tytor informed me that he could take me in his car to Kozova and Berezhany to recruit new people to the UHS.
On Friday, February 3, I called Yosyp Tytor—Yaroslav Chykurliy wouldn’t be able to give me a ride to either Kozova or Berezhany… I’m feeling somewhat tired today. I received a letter from Kyiv from Viktor Fedorchuk. A little too late, or else I would have spoken differently with this Bryhadyr… I could have gathered material for a press release.
On February 4, at 1 p.m., I met with Oleh Herman at the Polytechnic Institute. He promised to give me a list of all the heads of the district organizations of the “Ukrainian Language Society” (I had called and arranged it with him beforehand). He also added that he was going to Kyiv for a four-month preparatory course. In the future, he will be teaching the history of Western Ukrainian culture. At the same time, he will be assisting with shoots at the “Halfilm” film studio. He couldn’t say anything about a person who could lead “Memorial.” After him, around 2 p.m., I called Oles Angelyuk and visited him right away—I thought I would run into Lidia Ivaniuk. She had, in fact, called from Lviv and reported that she had been to the Horyns’ but only found Olya there—Mykhailo was on a business trip. I stayed a little while at Oles Angelyuk’s—I was very unpleasantly struck by his information. It turns out that Yaroslav Hevko’s wife had called him and was cursing me (even calling me names) and also making threats. Furthermore, he told me not to meet with Ihor Hereta or Mykola Brezden. On Oles Angelyuk’s suggestion, I had wanted to recruit Mykola Brezden into the Ukrainian Helsinki Union (UGS). That was why we had previously traveled together to see him in Terebovlia, to establish a UGS chapter in the Terebovlia district. As Oles Angelyuk later recounted, Mykola Brezden and Ihor Hereta were under immense psychological pressure from the KGB. After those conversations and this news, I went home.
On Sunday, February 5, I was planning to meet the leader of the “Podillia Community,” Anton Subchak. We arranged by phone to meet at 3:40 p.m. in the “Druzhba” residential area near the “Kalyna” restaurant. We walked the streets of “Druzhba” for a long time—mostly, he spoke, and I listened. For example, he insisted that the river should be called “Siret,” not “Seret.” He cannot stand the name “Nadzbruchchia”—he thinks it should be called “Podillia.” He gave me some documents about the renovation of the church in the village of Bile, as well as about moving the Taras Shevchenko monument back to its old location. He believes that the recent name of the city of Zhdanov should not be changed to Mariupol, but that the city should be called what the Cossack winter settlement was called—“Domakha.” He agreed to cooperate with the UGS and to collect signatures against the construction of new nuclear power plants.
After this meeting, around 5 p.m., I also stopped by Anatoliy Fedchuk’s place. His wife, Halyna Yukhymivna, promised to find a typist for our UGS chapter, and Anatoliy Fedchuk agreed to go to Kamianets-Podilskyi to gather information about Viktor Bryhadyr, who had appeared so unexpectedly at our UGS Council on February 2. Fedchuk also informed me that he was going to Kyiv for a conference of the “Ukrainian Language Society,” which would take place on February 11. Right after leaving him, I called Oleh Herman—he didn't have the lists yet. He promised to give them to Yaroslav Hevko on February 6. Then I called Ostap Fedyshyn, but he told me not to come over due to a certain circumstance. What that circumstance was—he would tell me tomorrow.
On February 6, after work, as arranged, I called Yosyp Tytor about the trip to Kozova. He suggested I stay home tomorrow—if a car became available, we would go. Chykurliy’s carburetor had apparently broken down. At home, after listening to a few Radio Liberty broadcasts, I went to Ostap Fedyshyn’s. On the way, I met Hanya, Ostap’s wife. When I got to their place, I handed Ostap the “UGS Declaration of Principles,” and he took two more applications—one for himself and one for Volodymyr Sobkiv. He said he would join the UGS—he promised to come to the UGS Council meeting on Thursday, February 9, at 7 p.m. We would talk there. And on the way back, on the bus, Ihor Medynskyi, who was riding with an acquaintance, unexpectedly joined my conversation. I gave him the “UGS Declaration of Principles,” and he promised to come see me after he read it. He said he worked in the chief technologist’s department at the Combine Harvester Plant.
On the morning of February 7, I went to the clinic—Solomiyka was sick. And after work, along with Yosyp Tytor and Yaroslav Chykurliy, we drove to Kozova to see Mamus and to Berezhany to see Volodymyr Rokytskyi, to recruit them into the UGS. We drove in Yaroslav Chykurliy's friend's “Zaporozhets.” In Kozova, we barely found 33 Yuvileina Street—Mykola Mamus wasn't home. His son was there, and I gave him the “UGS Declaration of Principles” and my address. When we arrived in Berezhany, I called Volodymyr Rokytskyi—only his wife was home. She informed me that Volodymyr had gone to Irshava on a business trip. She invited me over, but I declined. I only asked if I could call later from Ternopil—she agreed. So the trip was almost for nothing—I didn't find anyone and didn't achieve anything...
February 8, 1989. Tired after work. Couldn't get through to Yaroslav Perchyshyn. Then I called Oles Angelyuk about tickets for the Halfilm charity concert. But Ihor Hereta hadn't given them to him yet—and I had intended to distribute them among our UGS members on Thursday, at the UGS Council…
At work on February 9, I prepared questions for the UGS Council meeting. After work, the following people came to the Council: Yaroslav Hevko, Ostap Zhmud, Yaroslav Chykurliy, Roman Shkrobut, and Yosyp Tytor with four of his acquaintances, who would probably join the UGS. Leonid Drapak was also there; he was in a hurry and stayed for about half an hour. Only Ostap Fedyshyn was absent. I suggested that everyone should gather information and even contacts in their district regarding the “Ukrainian Language Society” in order to cooperate with them. I assigned Ostap Zhmud the Monastyrskyi district, so he could find the head of the “Ukrainian Language Society” there and tell him about the UGS. We also discussed how to act during the elections. I had also drafted an appeal to all candidates running for deputy, and I distributed these appeals among the UGS members. At the end of the meeting, we paid our dues.
After work on February 10, I called Lviv. Vasyl Barladyanu was on duty. He advised me to read the article in the newspaper “Pravda Ukrainy” (an interview with Viacheslav Chornovil and Mykhailo Horyn), as well as an article in the newspaper “Radyanska Ukraina” about him, Vasyl Barladyanu. He told me that Mykhailo Horyn had gone to Kyiv for the conference of the “Ukrainian Language Society.” For my part, I told him about our Council meeting yesterday and how we plan to approach the elections. After that, I immediately called Yaroslav Perchyshyn—he promised to come on Sunday at 1 p.m. I also called Ostap Fedyshyn and asked why he hadn’t come yesterday. He said he had been traveling in the district. In addition, I met with Yaroslav Hevko in the Skhidnyi residential area at 5:40 p.m. and picked up the printed appeals to the candidates for People’s Deputies from him.
On Saturday evening, February 11, I visited the reading room of the Ternopil Regional Library. I was looking through the “Rovesnyk” newspapers from 1972 and 1974 to continue my work on the article “The National Face of Ternopil.” But I found nothing about the Pushkin monument in Ternopil, although I was advised to look for information about it there (I soon found out that the monument to Alexander Pushkin in Ternopil was erected in 1959 by sculptors M. Vronskyi, O. Oliinyk, and O. Skoblikov on the occasion of the 160th anniversary of the Russian poet's birth, who had never been here). Afterward, I stopped by Oles Angelyuk’s place—Lidia Ivaniuk was there. She handed me the retyped 33 letters from Mykhailo Horyn. However, we again spoke about everything in general terms.
On February 12 at 1 p.m., as promised, Yaroslav Perchyshyn arrived. We exchanged thoughts about the elections. He finally declared that he would not become a member of the UGS. We agreed that on February 25 I would come to Nyzhni Lubianky, and we would decide about their candidate for deputy, Mykhailo Starytskyi.
After work on February 13, I met with Yaroslav Hevko—I gave him a list of tasks he needed to take care of in Lviv (he will go there on February 16). And I gave him 10 karbovantsi. We are supposed to meet on February 17. At home, I heard a report on Radio Liberty about our Ternopil UGS Constituent Assembly of January 26, 1989.
Today, February 14, they congratulated me on my birthday at work, although my mother told me I was born on February 15. But in my passport, it was recorded a day earlier. After work, I stopped by Anatoliy Fedchuk’s. He told me the details of the Kyiv conference of the “Ukrainian Language Society.” His wife, Halyna Yukhymivna, hadn't found a typist for our UGS chapter. The one who had wanted to type for us can no longer do it because her son returned from Afghanistan and started drinking heavily.
On the morning of February 15, I sent a letter to Chortkiv to Volodymyr Marmus regarding a specific position on the candidate for deputy, Mykhailov from Buchach, who was registered from a public organization (DOSAAF). After work, I called Yaroslav Chyrskyi and invited him for coffee. Yaroslav is optimistic, though he doesn't want to get involved with the elections just yet. And at home, congratulatory telegrams from my sisters, Hanya and Halia, were waiting for me, as well as one from Lviv from Bohdan Senkiv.
On the evening of February 16, a young man from “Vatra” came to see me—originally from the village of Romanivka in the Terebovlia district. He wants to join the UGS, but a little later. In addition, he promised to recruit someone else from Terebovlia. Then Anatoliy Fedchuk (who still hadn't officially joined the UGS) and Ostap Zhmud came to the Council meeting. For some reason, Yosyp Tytor and Ostap Fedyshyn didn't come, though they had promised to. Mykola Mamus was also absent—I’ll have to go see him again.
After work on February 17, I attended a council meeting of the “Ukrainian Language Society.” Oleksandr Holyachenko, a professor and Doctor of Medical Sciences, was speaking. He informed those present about the results of the conference in Kyiv. After him spoke Roman Hromyak, who was a little late but supplemented the professor’s speech about the “Ukrainian Language Society” conference in Kyiv. Ihor Hereta also gave a speech. When the conversation turned to the elections, I also spoke briefly—first of all, I touched upon the article about Hurarie in the newspaper “Vilne Zhyttia.” I disputed its thesis that the economy should be the main focus. Not the economy, but the person. I refuted its assertion that economic problems should be solved centrally. When everyone knows that it is precisely centralism that is the cause of all our economic woes. I touched a little on Roman Hromyak's speech. I noted that he should have emphasized the priority of culture over all other spheres. Because the cause of economic troubles and the polluted environment is the lack of spirituality and culture among the ruling elite. Anatoliy Fedchuk also spoke, proposing his own version for creating sections within the “Ukrainian Language Society,” as did Viktor Lytvynchuk, who supported the previous speaker.
It was Saturday, February 18. A workday. It's slushy outside—no snow. Warm. Right after work, I went to my nephew Myron's for his birthday—his fortieth. One of his guests, a fellow electrician named Hirchak (Yaroslav, I think), told me that his brother was killed by the KGB.
And on February 19, after the reading room, I visited Oles Angelyuk. He was in trouble: his son Myroslav was ill with prostatitis. I got five tickets for the charity concert from him. I also ordered tickets for March 20—bandura players will be performing. Oles Angelyuk had gone to the village of Bila and gathered a lot of information about the local church for my article “The National Face of Ternopil.” He also found out a few things about the Pushkin monument in Ternopil. We also went together to see the architect Yaropolk Ivashkevych. Oles Angelyuk thought Ivashkevych might join the UGS. But we didn't find him at home. Then I went home and waited a long time for Yosyp Tytor, who promised to come at 7 p.m. but didn't show up for some reason. I called Ostap Fedyshyn one more time.
After work on February 21, I visited the Writers' Union and signed up in the notebook for members of the “Ukrainian Language Society.” I called Ostap Fedyshyn again, and then Volodymyr Skakun, to ask him to photograph the grave where the repressed are buried. I was trying to find B. Brylinskyi’s phone number. And the next day, Vasyl Kohut from the youth group came to see me at work. They want to establish contact with the UGS. Right after work, together with Myroslav Mokriy and Yaroslav Hevko, we went to the Mykulynetskyi cemetery. Mokriy showed us the graves of the Sich Riflemen (8 graves) and the grave of those murdered in the Ternopil prison (1,500 people) before the Germans arrived in 1941. After this, I also called Anton Subchak, but couldn't get through…
On February 23, after work, a meeting of our UGS Council was held at my home. Those who came, albeit late, were Yaroslav Hevko, Yosyp Tytor, and Volodymyr Marmus. Yosyp Tytor began to demand that the Ternopil UGS chapter be registered with the First Secretary of the Regional Committee, Valentyn Ostrozhynskyi. I replied that no one has yet gone anywhere with such a request. And no one will. However, if we remain inactive, we will be useless to anyone. Therefore, firstly, we must gather information about public and social events, and secondly, we must show our own initiative. Also, call Lviv ourselves or call me or other UGS members if some important event requires it. I also asked Yosyp Tytor about Yaroslav Chornomaz, whom he had proposed for the UGS. And Yaroslav Hevko informed everyone that he was going to Lviv tomorrow.
At noon on February 24, Bohdan Kryvyi came by—we met downstairs at the SiITO (the “Special Tools and Technological Equipment” department) at the Combine Plant. He informed me that he had turned in his storeroom duties and was returning to the UGS. He gave 10 karbovantsi for the entrance fee and said he had called me yesterday—he wants to introduce me to another person who wants to join the UGS after work today. He took the “Appeal to the Candidates for Deputy” and will go to see him (Ihor Danyliuk) in Kamianky, Pidvolochysk district.
At 6:30 p.m., as arranged, I went to Ostap Fedyshyn's workshop. But he wasn't there again. This isn't serious. It's probably not worth wasting any more time. After this, hurrying to the railway station, I met Bohdan Lekhniak on the way, who also wants to join the UGS. He accepted my proposal, and we went together to the Medical Institute for the Constituent Assembly of the “Ukrainian Language Society.” Roman Hromyak and Oleksandr Holyachenko presided there. The lecturer Yuriy Vikalyuk spoke, proposing that we address each other not as “tovarysh” (comrade) but as “pane” (sir). Although, according to him, the proper Ukrainian form should be “dobrodiyu” (a very respectful sir/gentleman). As for “pane,” he said this: “We are all masters, not slaves.” In addition, he appealed to the teachers to prepare textbooks in the Ukrainian language. There was also an appeal from the “Ukrainian Language Society” chapter that all departments switch to Ukrainian, stating that the institute has 40 departments and only 5 of them teach in Ukrainian.
On the morning of February 25, Yaroslav Hevko came to see me and told me about his trip to Lviv. When Mikhail Gorbachev was there, they detained everyone—placing them under house arrest. Mykhailo Osadchyi offered Yaroslav Hevko a collaboration on the journal “Kafedra,” and Viacheslav Chornovil gave 100 karbovantsi to the Ternopil UGS chapter for an “Optima” typewriter. Mykhailo Horyn was not there, and Pavlo Skocho wants to come to visit me in Ternopil. Their homeopath, Anatoliy, consulted Yaroslav Hevko in Lviv—he said the illness is curable. After that conversation, I barely made it to the “Sliven” manufactured goods store, where Mykola Bohiv was waiting for me in a brown jacket—I was 5 minutes late, even though I took a taxi. We walked and talked for two hours. The youth group he leads doesn't know where to align itself: with the Lion Society or with the UGS. They want to publish a journal, “Prosvita,” by rewriting the history of Ukraine from old books, and to collect folklore. But such an activity is still premature for them. For my part, I told him about the UGS and promised to give him the “UGS Declaration of Principles” next time. We arranged to meet again on February 26, near the “Komsomolets” cinema at 5 p.m. After this meeting, I also dropped by Anatoliy Fedchuk's, and then at 4 p.m., I attended a charity concert at the Financial and Economic Institute. There, together with Lidia Ivaniuk, we collected signatures for the People's Movement. The ensemble “Ne Zhurys” performed at the concert. Viktor Morozov and Andriy Panchyshyn sang about Kaganovich and the General Secretary; Nina Matviienko and others also performed.
On Sunday, February 26, Yaroslav Perchyshyn came to visit. He didn't stay long, as I didn't have time—I was in a hurry. And at 5 p.m., as arranged, I met with Mykola Bohiv again. I brought him the “UGS Declaration of Principles,” the journal “Ukrainian Herald,” and many press releases and other documents. We are to meet again on March 6 near the “Komsomolets” cinema at 7 p.m. I also called Oles Angelyuk, but he wasn't feeling well. So I didn't want to go to his place, and I asked Lidia Ivaniuk over the phone to visit Mykhailo Horyn when she's in Lviv. After that, I went home.
I wanted to get out of work early on February 27 to take care of some things, but I couldn't. After work, I went to the “Komsomolets” cinema, where at 7 p.m. I had a meeting with Volodymyr Yatsyshyn (an engineering designer). He promised to ask about a typist. Then at 7:30 p.m., Yaroslav Hevko came over—I gave him my research “The National Face of Ternopil” to type. I also called Oles Angelyuk—Lidia Ivaniuk hadn't called yet. And when I called Yosyp Tytor, they said he was building some kind of balcony in Petryky. Finally, I called Mykola Horbal in Kyiv, because there was a “Memorial” meeting and I hadn't been elected as a delegate.
Today, February 28, Mykola Horbal called me at work and informed me that I should come to Kyiv—there would be a mandate for “Memorial” for me. I bought a couchette ticket for March 3. I also called Volodymyr Marmus in Chortkiv. But I couldn't get through.
On March 2, the regular Council of the Ternopil UGS chapter took place at my home. Present were: Yaroslav Hevko, Yosyp Tytor, Yaroslav Chykurliy, Ostap Zhmud, Volodymyr Marmus, Volodymyr Skakun, Bohdan Kryvyi, who had renewed his UGS membership. Bohdan Lekhniak wrote an application to join the UGS and took part in our gathering. And Bohdan Kryvyi, fulfilling one of the UGS's pre-election demands, even went to a meeting with Ihor Danyliuk (a candidate for deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR)—he, according to Kryvyi, agreed with the UGS's demands. But they all agree right now… A student, Ihor Lysak, and his uncle also came. Ihor Lysak’s uncle even presented his sociological research on school pedagogy. Anatoliy Fedchuk also came and announced that he had found someone in Kozova who wanted to join the UGS, but that person is currently in the hospital. At the meeting, in addition to organizational matters, we also discussed our stance on the People’s Movement of Ukraine.
To get acquainted with the program of Anton Subchak's “Podillia Community,” on March 3, I called him and invited him over, but he didn't come. Anatoliy Fedchuk came—he described the course of the “Memorial” meeting, which took place in Ternopil hush-hush on February 24. They elected 15 delegates to the Constituent Conference in Kyiv. According to Anatoliy Fedchuk, he barely managed to get Dmytro Piasetskyi elected as a delegate. When I called Georgiy Petruk-Popyk on February 27 (he was sick at home), it turned out that a regional committee official, Viacheslav Kovalchuk, had been handling the list of delegates. I immediately called him. He started making excuses as soon as he heard my name. He did say, though, that the lists had already been sent to Kyiv. After that, I contacted Mykola Horbal, and at 10:30 p.m. I left for Kyiv for the Constituent Conference of the pro-government “Memorial.” At the railway station in Ternopil, I met Volodymyr Marmus (he called out to me). For some reason, a policeman was checking Marmus's passport.
I arrived in Kyiv on March 4. I didn't buy a return ticket because the train was almost 40 minutes late. Together with Volodymyr Marmus, we went to Mykola Horbal's. By 10 a.m. we were at the House of Cinema. Mykola Horbal gave me a delegate's pass, which I filled out myself. And Volodymyr Marmus got in without a pass. Near the entrance, I met Yevhen Sverstiuk, and then Mykhailo Horyn. Inside, the Kyiv UGS members were saving a seat for me. The conference lasted for six hours. During the break, Viacheslav Chornovil organized a press conference for foreign correspondents with former political prisoners, who had come with banners.
But during the meeting, a very unpleasant incident occurred. Mykola Matusevych (a UGS member—he later renounced his membership) couldn't take it anymore and approached the podium where a *seksot* was speaking and pushed him, causing him to fall. For the UGS, this was a blow, albeit an unintentional one. During the break, I met Ihor Hereta (who was also present at the meeting) and told him who had pushed the *seksot*. After my words, Ihor Hereta said: “I knew it!” And he didn't want to talk to me. Later, Bohdan Horyn informed me that the KGB was going to detain all UGS members, so we all had to stick together. But everything, fortunately, turned out fine. I also briefly met Yuriy Badzyo, who promised to pass on his work “The Right to Live” through Mykola Horbal. After all these events, I spent the night at Mykola Horbal's.
On March 5, at 9 a.m., the meeting of the UGS Executive Coordinating Council (VKR) began. Latvians were also there—representatives from the “Popular Front.” Questions poured in. And at 11 a.m., we all went to a rally, which started at 12 p.m. and lasted until 4 p.m. 58 people signed up to speak, with the most interesting speeches being from Yuriy Badzyo, Levko Lukianenko, Yaroslav Lesiv, Ivan Hel, Yevhen Sverstiuk, and many others. After the rally, we returned to 10 Olehivska Street, where we agreed to hold the next VKR meeting on April 2. In the evening, at 8:52 p.m., I returned to Ternopil on train No. 52. I met Volodymyr Marmus again at the station.
On March 6, I called Roman Hromyak—he, as a candidate for deputy, agreed to meet with us (UGS members) on March 11 at 11 a.m. at my place. Then, at 7 p.m., Mykola Bohiv came again to meet me near the “Komsomolets” cinema. He asked to keep the “Ukrainian Herald” for a while longer. He told me they had already decided on a name for their society: “Vertep.” And they had collectively joined the “Ukrainian Language Society.” They are also planning to organize a rally during the Shevchenko Days celebrations. After meeting with Mykola Bohiv, I went to Bohdan Lekhniak's to clarify the date of our trip to the village of Rybnyky and to finally sort out the issue of our UGS chapter's typewriter. Late in the evening, I also went to Anatoliy Fedchuk's. He is going to Lviv on March 7, so I gave him a list of questions for Mykhailo Horyn that I had prepared at work.
So on March 7, I called Yosyp Tytor and Yaroslav Chykurliy—I informed them that we are leaving for the village of Rybnyky tomorrow at 8 a.m. It was a short workday (tomorrow is a day off—Women's Day). I also called Vitaliy Tetyuchenko, but he said he would call me back about the UGS. I didn't stop there and called the head of the electricians' group at the “Ukrsilhosptekhproekt” institute, Zinoviy Yakymets, and even met with him after work. But he only wants to help with the design of some construction part. And I was hoping he would say something about the UGS…
On March 8, a little late (we left around 10:15 a.m.), we set off for the village of Rybnyky. Arriving in the village, we went to see Ivan Zasyedko, a friend of my father and an eyewitness to the aftermath of the NKVD torture in the Berezhany prison. I brought a tape recorder with me and recorded his testimony, which was later published with some abridgments in the newspaper of the Ternopil UGS chapter, “Ternystyi Shliakh.” And in this transcript from the tape recording (a contribution to the activities of the Ternopil UGS chapter in restoring national memory), I present this interview in more detail. I began the dialogue:
– We are interested in the fate of the prisoners of the Berezhany prison, murdered in 1941.
– Not murdered, but tortured to death—there’s a big difference.
– It's time for everyone to know the truth about those terrible events, as the whirlwind of Stalinist repressions swept through Western Ukraine with extreme cruelty. So you, Mr. Ivan, involuntarily became an eyewitness to the aftermath of these tortures. Do you perhaps know anything about the tortures themselves?
– Well, I don't know how, I only saw the bodies of those who were tortured to death, sadistically murdered. Eyes gouged out, picked out, noses and ears cut off—that's what I saw. What more can I say?
– Well, and when was this? Was it before the Germans arrived?
– Before the arrival of the Germans, on July 7 in Berezhany, on St. John's Day. You know Ivan Kupala—the summer holiday.
– The Germans were not yet in Berezhany?
– They were not. The first German to appear was precisely at the time when he was chasing that Yid…
– Was this the investigator himself, the torturer who did the killing?
– The executioner who tortured, he was very terrible. He hid, because all the others had fled, but a foolish Jew (or maybe not a Jew—who knows) for money… Well, but the state wasn't a Jewish one, was it? So there's no reason to blame the Jew. But maybe the German had a grudge against the Jew, against the Yid, and said: “Schnell, Yid, schnell.” He was walking, so tormented—well, maybe he had been sitting there for two or three days already. Because he had been torturing people before that and was sitting in the attic, that same Jew I'm talking about.
– And did the Germans take photographs? Were there many of these corpses?
– There were corpses lying in the courtyard, well, how can I say it: in the prison courtyard, in the basement, there (you'll read what that Yuzen said) there was a chapel where the prisoners used to go to pray every Sunday during the Polish times. When he was imprisoned, they would go to pray, and now look what a torture chamber they made out of that chapel.
– So, it was a Polish prison?
– It was a Polish prison, yes.
– And all those prisoners were tortured there?
– Yes, in that chapel.
– And how many of them were there in total, approximately? Do you know?
– You know, years and years have passed, first of all. And second, if a person had looked specifically and glanced over, but like this, was it 50 or 100, or how many? Well, a lot. In a word, how to tell you: one man from Naraiiv, there's a village Naraiiv, told me that on the very day that our people were supposed to retreat, that they were supposed to torture, they brought two trucks from Naraiiv with 20, maybe even more, boys, men, to the prison. They murdered Syndetskyi's father there. He could be a very good witness. He is a teacher.
– And where is he? Where is he from?
– He is originally from Naraiiv, but he married a girl from Rybnyky. I also wanted to say, they murdered Pasemnyk, Pavlo Pasemnyk's father from Zhonivka. You can go to him or Motys, he is also a teacher. Pavlo Hryhorovych Pasemnyk lives in Zhonivka.
– And where does he work? Or is he retired already?
– Yes, he is retired.
– And Motys?
– His father was also murdered—hanged in the Berezhany prison. Although they said he hanged himself. Motys is a teacher, but I can't tell you his first name and patronymic, because I don't know. Pavlo will tell you.
– A teacher at the Rybnyky school?
– No, no! Not Rybnyky, but Zhonivka. Pavlo will tell you, because they are relatives.
– When I was in the 7th grade, my father (Fedir Horokhivskyi) told me that in the village of Saranchuky, Berezhany district, in 1941, they pulled 40 such mutilated bodies out of the Zolota Lypa River, with their eyes gouged out, noses and ears cut off, and the girls had their breasts cut off.
– Yes, yes, yes!
– And all these bodies were pulled out, washed, and buried near the church. The priest Korduba also took part in this work. My father said that he went abroad during the war. They buried the murdered ones near the church. They made a common grave there, but after that, they kept cutting down the cross. As soon as a cross was erected, it would be cut down. Sent Stalinists would cut down the cross.
– They were covering up all traces.
– You know about Saranchuky too? Did you see it? Were you in Saranchuky then?
– No. I heard that people were pulling out bodies, identifying them—relatives from different villages came, they took many bodies away, and the rest, those who couldn't be identified, were buried near the church.
– You say that on Ivan Kupala Day, July 7, the Germans were not there yet. Who of the people who were there, who remained alive?
– Klachyk Volodymyr.
– And where is he now?
– In Lviv.
– And how did he survive?
– Oh, that, you know, I don't know—I won't tell you. His brother told me that Volodymyr was acquainted with the prison warden and he released him. It wasn't even through the warden, but through someone who knew the warden, and he got him released—a few days before they started the tortures. His brother will tell you.
– If you remember, name some of the executed. What families were they from, their age, profession, what they did. Some names. You wrote about a girl, Hanna Yatsychyn.
– Yatsychyn Hanna, Iskra Teklia—they were foresters’ daughters, from the village of Lisnyk. They were young girls.
– And how did they end up there—in prison?
– They just took them, that's all. They took them to destroy the intelligentsia—they were teachers.
– So, they were teachers—they mostly took the intelligentsia? Right?
– Yes. Hanna Yatsyshyn's mother told me that she had a silk scarf shoved down her throat, so that a doctor couldn't pull it out. Well, when they brought the body, they wanted to bury her, and so they examined it. But they couldn't pull out the scarf—it was stuffed in there with something, hammered in with some tool, that it was hard to get out. Her breasts were cut off, her nose was cut off, and her genitals were mutilated. Hanna Yatsyshyn's mother, in fact, also told me that the boys' genitals were also torn out with some kind of instrument—not cut off, but torn out.
– And do you remember any of those boys?
– No. You have to ask Syndetskyi—maybe his father was there and how he was mutilated. You also forgot to write down the name: Pelekh from Mechyshchiv, a young boy, 18 years old.
– You saw him?
– I saw them carrying out the body. His mother was looking for a birthmark on his chest, wiping away the blood. Because we were even asking each other: seems like a familiar person? And someone says: that's Ivan Pelekh from Mechyshchiv.
– And he was also mutilated?
– His eyes were gouged out, his nose cut off. And you know, how a body starts to swell up after a day, or maybe two… Because they didn't do it all in one day.
– And for what purpose did they perform such sadistic procedures? Did they enjoy it or what? And that Ivan Pelekh, was he also a teacher?
– No, he was from a farming family. But otherwise I don't know, maybe he was studying somewhere, but his parents were farmers.
– And you don't remember the names of those executioners? No one knows? Maybe you know who they were? Approximately, at least? Maybe from the investigators?
– You know, there is an interesting old man in Pidhaitsi. His last name is Vinnytskyi. He studied in Vienna—a civil engineer. One day he asked me: Zasyedko, do you happen to know who was the prison warden? Well, I don't know—the last name sounds Ukrainian. He's a very interesting old man—he has a birthmark.
– Is he still alive, this Vinnytskyi?
– He should be. He might be a few years older than me. I recently asked my neighbor, and he said he's still alive.
– And how old are you?
– I'm 75.
– Where is that Berezhany prison located?
– Above the Armenian church. The first street up from the church.
– What is located there now?
– Well, I can't say. They used to process tobacco in the Armenian church.
– Why do you think that in all this time, since those terrible tortures happened, why did people remain silent and not protest? Was there at least one brave person who spoke about it openly?
– There was a high school professor, Pidlyzhnyi. His daughter was murdered there, and he, an educated man, never told anyone, he just didn't admit it. And his son-in-law was the priest Melnyk. Have you heard of such a person in Rybnyky?
– I remember something vaguely.
– That was his son-in-law. His wife's sister was murdered there.
– And what, none of them said anything?
– No one said anything to anyone.
– And is Pidlyzhnyi still alive?
– He died long ago.
– And Melnyk died?
– Melnyk also died.
– So there wasn't a single person who would have cursed them and spit in their face?
– Oh, Mr. Horokhivskyi, you know how everything was suppressed—a person was afraid of their own shadow. You may not remember, because you are younger. It was a terrible repression—everything was clamped down. There were no such people. There was great fear, and one could not speak out, say, that you are executioners, that you are inhuman.
– And are there any witnesses in Berezhany now who could talk about this?
– Oh, wait, wait. You know, that Hanna Yatsyshyn had a friend there. Her maiden name was Shopyak, from Lisnyk, and she's married to a very fine, intelligent, patriotic man. But I don't know his last name—he was an agronomist at the Berezhany collective farm.
– Was this a long time ago?
– A long, long time ago. He's probably retired by now. He might be older than me, or maybe my contemporary.
– And you don't remember his last name? Well, it's alright, maybe you'll remember later. Now, if they were to start excavating the graves, doing an expert analysis, on what basis could they prove that this was done not by the Germans, but by the NKVD?
– Well, I can't tell you that.
– Were they shot, or just tortured to death?
– No, only tortured, murdered to death. This was done a week before the Germans arrived. The bodies were already decomposing. They murdered them all in advance and took them outside the prison. They threw them into the river, or buried them in graves there, where the chestnut park is near the castle. So you understand that the Germans could not have done this. When the Germans arrived, the graves were already there, and those who were murdered later were on the prison grounds. I figure it like this: those who were in the yard had already decomposed, but in the prison, the bodies were still intact. Only already tortured: noses cut off, eyes gouged out. They couldn't have processed it all in one day, because there were hundreds of people.
– I think there are still many living people who saw this. There might have been times when the truth could have been told—for instance, under Khrushchev. What do you think?
– Khrushchev still applied pressure. People were terrified. Look now, do you think people believe? Even though they say it's democracy, that Gorbachev is carrying out perestroika, they don't believe him. The world doesn't believe him. He did a great thing, it's true, by awakening the people, inspiring the people. But he himself is afraid and doesn't know what awaits him. Ligachev criticizes him strongly—he's putting the brakes on perestroika. Ligachev is his most formidable rival, and he's a very strong Russian chauvinist, he's an executioner like Stalin. He should be sent there, after Stalin. And you think Stalin wasn't murdered? I heard on the radio that Bierut, Gottwald, Dimitrov—all four of them—gathered. Something there, the masses were shouting, and I vividly remember: “Bierut-Stalin, Bierut-Stalin,” and I thought to myself: now the devils are taking Stalin...
In a short time, Bierut, Gottwald, Dimitrov are all dying...
– I'm sorry, regarding Hanna Yatsyshyn, you said she had a brother?
– Mykola. He was in prison with Hanna. They didn't recognize him, and Yakiv went to the UPA to avenge the death of his sister and brother. To what the Poles called the Curzon Line territory.
– Well, then, Mr. Ivan, thank you! I personally thank you, and we will hope that something like this never happens again. I think we have taken the first step to break through a difficult period of silence. After us, I think, more witnesses will appear. And we will be able to reveal everything that happened not only in Berezhany and the Berezhany region—all those abuses and tortures that even the Germans could not have imagined. We must expose them!
After that interview, they treated me to some food, and then Ivan Zasyedko and I hugged, kissed, and parted ways. Ivan Zasyedko himself, despite being 75, still looked good, only he had some trouble with his legs. From his place, I went to Potutory station, but finding no one, I returned to Ternopil by train.
At work on March 9 at 12 p.m., our project bureau director, Yuriy Zinoviyovych Vuychyk, called me into his office. He asked me if I would go to the rally, and if I did, whether I would speak, because, he said, those KGB guys were going to hound him to death. I replied that I didn't know anything and added: “But if you are provoking me to speak, then I will speak.” He started begging me to talk only about Taras Shevchenko and nothing about the UGS.
I prepared myself, but the rally was canceled. People gathered, the Strusiv choir sang “The Mighty Dnieper Roars and Groans” (they were supposed to perform “The Testament”). I stood around, talked with Anton Subchak, and went home, as UGS members were supposed to come over to my place. Before that, around 3 p.m., I had called Yaroslav Hevko to ask him to post a note on my door saying I would be back at 8 p.m. But someone tore the note down… As I was heading home, I met Mykola Bohiv—students were singing on the road. At home, Volodymyr Marmus, Yaroslav Perchyshyn (not a UGS member), and Yaroslav Pasichnyk, who wrote an application to join, were already waiting for me. At the regular UGS Council, we discussed current issues and also exchanged views on the Saturday meeting (March 11) with Roman Hromyak.
On March 10, after work, at 7 p.m., I met with Mykola Bohiv near the “Komsomolets” cinema—he returned my copy of the “Ukrainian Herald,” and I deeply regretted missing the “Ukrainian Language Society” meeting. Then I called Yaroslav Chyrskyi, but he wasn't at work—he had gone on a business trip. In the evening, I called his home again and reached him. I invited him over for March 11, Saturday, but he didn't come. I called my brother Slavko, but couldn't get through. I also called Volodymyr Rokytskyi in Berezhany. However, he spoke like a machine, probably out of fear, and was very arrogant. I also spoke on the phone about the events in Ternopil with Viacheslav Chornovil and Mykhailo Horyn.
On March 11, the following people gathered at my home at 11 a.m. for a meeting with Roman Hromyak: Yosyp Tytor, Volodymyr Skakun, Bohdan Lekhniak, Yaroslav Hevko, Ostap Zhmud (even though his leg was hurting). But Roman Hromyak didn't show up. After the meeting, I went to Anatoliy Fedchuk's. I played the tape recording of the 1941 Berezhany events for him, asked about the UN Charter (but he couldn't find it), and then went to Oles Angelyuk's. On the way, I met Anton Subchak (I had called him from Anatoliy Fedchuk's) and gave him my article “The National Face of Ternopil,” as well as petition sheets against the nuclear power plants. In return, he gave me petition sheets to have the Taras Shevchenko monument returned to the park. And I headed to Oles Angelyuk's, where I stayed for a while. I played the Berezhany recordings again, gave Lidia Ivaniuk the questions for Mykhailo Horyn and Viacheslav Chornovil, and they invited me to have dinner with them. I also ran over to Bohdan Lekhniak's and to Ostap Zhmud's for the “Ukrainian Herald” and batteries.
On March 12, at 12 p.m., a meeting of the regional branch of the Writers' Union of Ukraine (WUU) began. The issue of the WUU's attitude towards the People's Movement was supposed to be considered. But the meeting was postponed to March 24, 1989, due to the absence of half (four) of the WUU members. Then a meeting of the Council of the “Ukrainian Language Society” took place. The meeting was dedicated to the 175th anniversary of Taras Shevchenko's birth. Those present recited poems dedicated to the Shevchenko Days celebrations. Yaroslav Hevko spoke on behalf of the UGS. He said: “The actions of the regional party leaders, who forbade the celebratory rally on March 9 at the monument to Taras Shevchenko (limiting it to a silent laying of wreaths), cannot be qualified as anything other than anti-perestroika. One gets the impression that the authorities have fenced themselves off from their own people with an invisible but rather dense wall, do not trust them, and disrespect them. The people's activity today, their awakening, frightens those for whom stagnation was their natural element. But no matter what obstacles they create, they will not succeed in changing the course of perestroika, just as it is impossible to stop the arrival of spring after a cold winter.”
Then I gave the speech that I was supposed to have read at the monument:
Stalin's nationality policy has led to a situation where, behind the loud and yet superficial perception of Taras Shevchenko, there often lies an inner emptiness. The true Shevchenko is not in official words, but in the heart of every patriot. For spirituality is transmitted through love and faith. After all, the Kobzar's most important commandment is to love one's people, their culture and traditions, their history and language, which fosters a true, not hypocritical, love for other nations. But can we truly love our own people when we do not know their history? When we are afraid to speak the whole truth, as the Great Kobzar teaches us, and express ourselves only in half-measures? When our most recent history and many of Ukraine's treasures are located in the KGB archives, including a significant part of the work of the outstanding Ukrainian poet Vasyl Stus? When civic activism, which has been considered the highest spiritual value in Ukraine from time immemorial, is now being persecuted, and people are thrown into psychiatric hospitals? When, despite the Helsinki Process, supported by Gorbachev at the UN, and the Vienna Conference on Human Rights, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches are banned? When the Ukrainian language is barely surviving, pushed out of all spheres of life except for everyday use? When the beautiful nature of Ukraine, celebrated by many poets, is on the brink of ecological genocide? When even the monument to Taras Shevchenko was packed up and removed from the city in 1982 without consulting the public, so that it wouldn't be an eyesore from the windows of a state institution… And only then will a real perestroika begin in Ternopil, when each of us begins it with ourselves, showing civic activism to eliminate such monstrous phenomena of our society. It is on these principles that the People's Movement of Ukraine for Perestroika stands. By supporting it, we will be able to call ourselves the true spiritual heirs of the brilliant Taras Shevchenko.”
After my speech, they even applauded and shook my hand. I have the originals of both speeches (Yaroslav Hevko's and mine). During the break, I approached Roman Hromyak—he immediately told me why he didn't come on March 11. Apparently, something came up—he had even wanted to call. But he took our “appeal” and promised to call on Thursday, March 16. In addition, I spoke with Georgiy Petruk-Popyk—I told him: “Although it's not modest, I would like to be on the Council of ‘Memorial’.” He promised to vote for me. After the meeting, we went for coffee—Volodymyr Skakun, Bohdan Lekhniak, Levko Krupa (I met him then), and someone else… I gave them the “UGS Declaration of Principles.” They will all think about membership.
On March 13, I came to work sleepy and was dozing off… I called Yosyp Tytor about recording on tape similar horrific events to those in Berezhany, but in the Ternopil prison in 1941. He already had a witness to these events. But he was not an eyewitness, only knew from stories. It seemed I was preparing for nothing. However, he did give me the name of an eyewitness who is already 96 years old—he transported bodies to the cemetery. He promised that his son would talk to him, and next week we would record him. After Tytor, I also called Kyiv. But I couldn't get through—for 40 minutes, all I heard were short beeps. Whether the phone was disconnected or busy—it was unknown. But I did get through to Slavko in Potutory. It turned out he was at the Shevchenko celebration in Saranchuky. Roman Hromyak was also there as a candidate for deputy. Slavko said he would come to my place on Sunday at 12 p.m.
On March 14, I called Vasyl Kohut, and then met him downstairs in our six-story building. I asked him about the “Vertep” society and about Bohdan Hordasevych, and also asked him to inform me about their elections. In the evening, I stopped by Oles Angelyuk's—I brought the tape recorder with the recording of the 1941 Berezhany events for Lidia Ivaniuk to take to Lviv. I also gave her my speech and the questions for Viacheslav Chornovil and Mykhailo Horyn. Lidia Ivaniuk was supposed to go to Lviv the next day. I also had a meeting near the “Ukraina” cinema with Vasyl Kohut. The students were afraid to name their party organization secretary, dean, or rector, as I was planning to call Mykola Horbal in Kyiv. I tried calling for about 40 minutes, but the line was constantly busy—I couldn't get through.
On March 15, Petro Kukurudza came to my workplace (the Combine Plant)—he called me and invited me over. I went to the art workshop. Ihor Medynskyi was there (quite energetic and smart, by the way), as well as Vasyl Kohut and Bohdan Balko and other artists. Petro Kukurudza asked about Mikhail Gorbachev's visit to Lviv, and I told them about his visit to Kyiv. I suggested they draw up a plan of activities for the “Ukrainian Language Society,” but Petro Kukurudza argued for submitting it to someone for review. But I said: “Who needs that? We can draw it up ourselves and do without ‘supervision’.” And at 4:40 p.m. at the Combine Plant, there was a meeting with candidates for the regional council, Svitlana Hurarie and Stefaniia Tyslytska. I wanted to speak (I even prepared), but there was no opportunity. Hurarie spoke out against the People's Movement of Ukraine, for bilingualism, and in general declared that she didn't need the Ukrainian language because she was retiring soon.
Today, March 16, Anatoliy Fedchuk called me at work—he wants to meet. We met at 5:05 p.m. near the Combine Plant. Ihor Pushkar (head of the ecological society “Noosphere”), whom I met there, came with Fedchuk. Pushkar asked me not to speak at the rally they plan to hold on March 19. Apparently, at the city party committee, secretary Olena Sokhatska warned him that they couldn't allow “Noosphere” to hold a rally because the UGS might take advantage of it. In the end, Ihor Pushkar was assured that UGS members do not seek confrontation with other societies and, if necessary, will not speak. There, at the meeting, I also learned that Roman Hromyak's photo in the “Vilne Zhyttia” newspaper had been altered—they had colored his embroidered shirt and painted on a tie. In the evening, I called Roman Hromyak, as we had agreed, and at the same time, to check about the tie. And it was confirmed. In addition, his words about Lenin's letter “On the Question of Nationalities or ‘Autonomisation’” were removed from the article in “Vilne Zhyttia.” But when I suggested meeting on March 22—the phone went dead.
And in the evening, our UGS Council gathered. Present were: Volodymyr Marmus, Roman Shkrobut, Yaroslav Vovk (all from Chortkiv), Yaroslav Hevko (he had been sick and hadn't come for a long time), Bohdan Lekhniak, Ostap Zhmud, Yaroslav Chykurliy, Yaroslav Pasichnyk, and Yaroslav Perchyshyn with his acquaintance, who brought a donation for the UGS. It was Solomiyka's birthday (seven years old), and there were many guests in the other room—mostly children. Then Yaroslav Perchyshyn's acquaintance gave Solomiyka 80 karbovantsi. At the Council, we discussed the elections and analyzed the “UGS Declaration of Principles.” Anatoliy Fedchuk also came to the Council meeting and proposed distributing leaflets against Ostrozhynskyi in the Chortkiv electoral district.
On March 17, after work, I met with Anton Subchak near the department store in “Druzhba.” We went together to see Nataliia Plaskonis, who had called me, but I hadn't understood why. It turned out that Nataliia Plaskonis is the ex-wife of a Piasetskyi (but whether it was Dmytro is unknown), she is ill, and she wanted us to write a protest letter for her against the sentencing of Mykhailo Horyn and for the removal of Volodymyr Shcherbytskyi from office. Together with Anton Subchak, we inspected the new special hospital on Berezhanska Street and then parted ways, agreeing to meet at the rally on March 19. Afterwards, I called Lviv—Volodymyr Yavoriskyi answered the phone. I passed on almost all the information about the elections and the events in Ternopil to him.
On March 18, I stopped by Oleh Nechai's—I wanted to give him the “Ukrainian Herald” and get the donation for the UGS he had promised. But he wasn't there. I also called Volodymyr Skakun about tickets for the “Kobzar Holiday”—he told me to call on Sunday, but even then he couldn't get them.
And on March 19, around 11 a.m., Yaroslav Hevko came to my place, and then Bohdan Lekhniak. Hevko brought the “Informator” and Bulletin No. 4 from Volodymyr Yavoriskyi. We immediately set out for the “Singing Field,” where a rally under the slogan: “All Power to the Soviets!” was supposed to take place. But there was no one in the park yet. And in general, the rally did not happen, and not just because the candidates for deputy who were invited didn't come. The day before, when no written response had been received from the head of the city council, Anatoliy Kucherenko, and former members of “Noosphere” had posted announcements with the call: “Everyone to the rally,” they were all taken to the city prosecutor's office, and in place of the previous calls, other announcements were posted, saying that the rally was canceled. Meanwhile, I returned home, and the boys went to Yaroslav Hevko's for paper. When I returned to the park, I saw 2-3 small groups of people—students and youth from “Orion,” to whom I distributed the “UGS Declaration of Principles.” Of the UGS members, besides myself, Ostap Zhmud and Bohdan Lekhniak were present. The student Yuriy Lysak also came. From a group of young people, Andriy Kuzmenko approached me and asked for the “UGS Declaration of Principles,” and also asked if communists could be members of the UGS. Back at home, I gave him the “UGS Declaration of Principles” and the journal “Ukrainian Herald,” which he had eagerly requested. And at the “Singing Field,” I also argued with Oleksandr Levchenko, the deputy head of the ideological department of the Ternopil Regional Communist Party Committee. In the end, he said that we needed to find common ground and discuss—not to seek confrontation. Anatoliy Fedchuk and Ihor Pushkar were also there; Pushkar only said hello (he was with his Russian wife). He did, however, confess to me that they had all been taken to the prosecutor's office. Later, I called Yosyp Tytor, whom I couldn't reach, and Volodymyr Skakun. I also called Anatoliy Fedchuk, whom I met in the city center. We walked through the park, and he gave me materials about the rally. But I couldn't use them, because no matter how many phone numbers I dialed, no one answered. Especially Kyiv, which I had been trying to call for two weeks. Either it was specially disconnected, or so busy that it was impossible to get through. And on March 19, there weren't even any coins at the post office to make a call from a payphone.
On March 20 at work, Zhenia Kubatska informed me that a very bad article about Roman Hromyak had appeared in “Radyanska Ukraina.” After work, I went to the “Kobzar Holiday.” I wanted to go with my family—it didn't work out. I sold a ticket in front of the drama theater. And then I saw Volodymyr Tymoshchuk (a retired lieutenant colonel), who asked to borrow 5 karbovantsi because he didn't have any on him but wanted to attend the concert. At the concert, I saw Oles Angelyuk and Lidia Ivaniuk, as well as many other acquaintances. I met Pavlo Verbytskyi (a Baptist), and also the artist Mykhailo Nikolaichuk. Performing were: the bandurist Suprun (blind), the bandurist brothers Lytvyny, and the Strusiv Bandurist Capella. After the concert, I tried calling Kyiv again, but couldn't get through and went home.
On March 21, Vasyl Kohut called me. I didn't recognize his voice because he was using phone No. 1-24, which only makes local calls. Mykola Bohiv wants to meet me near the “Ukraina” cinema at 9 p.m. This affected my plans a bit, but I still met with Mykola. He informed me that a student from the pedagogical institute from Saranchuky, Ivan Havdyda, really wants to meet with me—somewhere in the village. We agreed to continue meeting, but a little closer. Afterward, I tried calling Lviv and Kyiv again, but couldn't get through.
On March 22, I was preparing questions for Roman Hromyak and Ihor Danyliuk, who were meeting with voters that day. Suddenly, during lunch, some woman called me, wanting to meet on the first floor. I went, but saw no one. After I had lunch, the same Nataliia Plaskonis called me again, and at her request, I went to the entrance gate. It turned out she wanted a strange kind of help from me regarding a protest against Shcherbytskyi—for me to rewrite the text of the protest in my handwriting onto a telegram, saying she couldn't do it herself. I replied that I didn't have time but would ask my acquaintance (I had Anatoliy Fedchuk in mind). But he flatly refused. Besides, while talking to this woman, I sensed that she was some kind of adventuress. My suspicions were confirmed at work by Yevheniia Kubatska, who informed me that this was the former mother-in-law of Yaroslav Khromyk (our colleague), who had deceived him. Nevertheless, I called her myself—forgive me, but I don't have time to deal with this, and my acquaintance doesn't want to. All this was said to avoid a scandal, and I wanted to get rid of this situation amicably.
After lunch, having prepared three questions for Roman Hromyak and one for Ihor Danyliuk, I went to the meeting with the delegates. The meeting took place in the hall of the Combine Plant. I sat in the front row and passed the questions to Roman Hromyak (about sovereignty, about the village of Antonivtsi in the Shumsk district, and about centralism in the economy). And to Danyliuk, I passed this note (I have the original):
“Ihor Vasylovych! The Ukrainian Helsinki Union wants to know if, after being elected, you will demand: 1) The establishment of the status of the Ukrainian language as the sole state language on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR and its implementation in all spheres of the Republic's cultural, economic, and political life; 2) the sovereignty of the Ukrainian SSR over its natural resources and economy—a transition to cost-accounting and self-financing; 3) a halt to the construction of new nuclear power plants and reactors at existing ones. The gradual phasing out of nuclear energy on the territory of the Republic. A review of the industrial structure of the Ukrainian SSR with the complete elimination of ecologically harmful enterprises.”
Roman Hromyak skipped one question, as he had already exhaustively touched upon this problem in his speech. He read the other two questions, but somewhat unclearly and with pauses. And he answered rather vaguely. Ihor Danyliuk read all three questions, but also unclearly. And he did not read the beginning of the note, where it was emphasized that the UGS was asking. I did not like in Roman Hromyak’s answer that he responded somewhat half-heartedly about the People's Movement of Ukraine. And his answer about the Greek Catholic Church was such that I no longer wanted to vote for him after that. Although, on the other hand, one had to understand that these were still times of persecution, which deliberately created an atmosphere of hostility and fear, and that Roman Hromyak was, after all, a Ukrainian patriot.
After work, I met with Bohdan Kryvyi and Ihor Medynskyi—we continued our conversation about establishing the Ukrainian Language Society at the Combine Plant. Ihor Medynskyi insisted that I be elected chairman of the Society—he said he would do everything for it. The only thought that crossed my mind was: “We'll see.” After walking Bohdan Kryvyi to the station, I went to Oles Angelyuk's. They welcomed me, and we listened to Radio Liberty together. From there, I called Anatoliy Fedchuk and introduced him to Oles Angelyuk. After talking with Lidia Ivanivna (she and Oles had just come in from the garden), I went home.
On March 23, I was at home waiting for some of our UGS members, although I was not feeling well. However, as agreed, the UGS Council meeting took place. First to arrive was Petro Busko, who at the end of the meeting wrote an application to join the UGS. Then Bohdan Lekhniak appeared (outside, after the meeting, he admitted to me that his wife could no longer type for the UGS—the KGB was taking a great interest in her at work). Volodymyr Skakun, Yaroslav Hevko, and Ostap Zhmud also visited. Some paid their dues, and Volodymyr Skakun returned 25 karbovantsi and said he had found someone who would do photography for us for free. He asked me for “Ukrainian Herald” No. 8. And Ostap Zhmud hadn't gone to Pidhaitsi—he had guests. He promised to go in a day or two. Yaroslav Hevko continues to type Vasyl Stus's poems (for Ivan Sokulskyi) and my article about Ternopil. At the same time, we were informed that today at Ternopil Secondary School No. 23, during a meeting of deputy candidates Roman Hromyak and Ihor Danyliuk with voters, an instructor from the city's Communist Party, Nadiia Chaikivska, in response to the question: “Why didn't the rally take place?” answered that it was disrupted by members of the Ternopil branch of the UGS, led by Horokhivskyi, previously convicted (this was constantly emphasized for intimidation and humiliation, although it was already known to everyone who should have been held responsible).
On March 24, at work, I informed Ihor Medynskyi that a discussion on the creation of the People's Movement of Ukraine would be held today at the Ternopil Writers' Union. The meeting took place. There were 211 people present—including Oleksandr Levchenko, the deputy head of the ideological department of the regional party committee, and Nadiia Chaikivska, the head of the ideological department of the city party committee. The discussion began at 6:30 p.m. There were many speakers: Mariia Kuzemko, Levko Krupa, Anton Subchak, Dmytro Piasetskyi, Ihor Pushkar, Bohdan Kushnyryk, and many others. They mentioned the symbols of Ukraine (A. Subchak) and the outdated anthem of the Soviet Union (D. Piasetskyi). I also gave a short speech, having decided on the spot to talk about the undemocratic nature of the elections to all the Councils. I spoke just before Roman Hromyak arrived. Georgiy Petruk-Popyk, the executive secretary of the Ternopil branch of the WUU, also spoke. He said that after a phone call from Leonid Kravchuk, the head of the ideology department of the Central Committee of the CPU, a regional party committee instructor, Bohdan Melnychuk, approached him with a proposal to condemn the People's Movement of Ukraine. Government representatives also publicly shared their thoughts. The meeting concluded with the formation of the Ternopil organization “People's Movement of Ukraine for Perestroika,” with Mykhailo Levytskyi elected as chairman. Sixteen people were elected to the Movement's Council: Mykhailo Levytskyi (chairman), Ihor Pushkar (first deputy), Mariia Kuzemko (second deputy—executive secretary), Oleksandr Levchenko (from “Orion”), Bohdan Kushnyryk, Georgiy Petruk-Popyk, Vasyl Kvasnovskyi, Dmytro Piasetskyi, Anton Subchak, Volodymyr Kolinets, Mykola Hyrych, Petro Dundiy, Bohdan Tkachyk, Bohdan Bastiuk, and myself, Levko Horokhivskyi. The vote was: 208 in favor, two against, and one abstention. The deputy head of the ideological department of the regional party committee, Viacheslav Kovalchuk, the executive secretary of the Ternopil Union of Artists of Ukraine, Yevhen Udin, and the deputy editor of the newspaper “Vilne Zhyttia,” Fedoryshyn, voted against the creation of “Memorial” as well as against the People's Movement of Ukraine. After the meeting, the Council members stayed to discuss their activities. It was decided to meet every Wednesday at 7 p.m. Anatoliy Fedchuk was also at the People's Movement meeting, providing written comments on the Movement's program.
March 25 was a working Saturday, and I met with Ihor Medynskyi. We agreed to invite Mykhailo Levytskyi and Roman Hromyak once we decided on the date for the Constituent Assembly of the Ukrainian Language Society at the Combine Plant. We decided to invite them also to hold a People's Movement meeting at the same time. After work, I attended a concert by the Stetsenkiv family at the pedagogical institute. A 13-year-old girl, Nadiia Kupchynska, was supposed to perform spring songs and carols with them. But she got sick and did not come. After the concert, I went to call Kyiv and again could not get through. Mykola Horbal's phone was blocked.
On March 26, I moved my clock forward one hour, and around 1 p.m., I met with Yaroslav Hevko, to whom I had promised to write the “Ternopil Informator” by 9 p.m. This was the first periodical of the Ternopil UGS chapter for transmitting information to Radio Liberty. Around 2 p.m., I went to vote. I had hesitated for a long time before, as I intended to boycott. But seeing the nationwide enthusiasm and the “top-down” persecution of Roman Hromyak, I decided to vote for him—I crossed out all the others (Hurarie, Danyliuk, Tyslytska). By the way, when Tyslytska was asked who nominated her as a candidate for deputy, she replied: “Good people, how should I know. Probably the regional committee.” After voting, I finished writing our first “Ternopil Informator,” and then, barely making it in time, I delivered it to Yaroslav Hevko. Later, I worked at home until 3 a.m.
At work on March 27, I was dozing; it had also turned cold. They said it had snowed in the Carpathians. I met with Ihor Medynskyi at the Combine Plant—he had prepared the text for a poster. The text announced that on March 29, the Constituent Assembly of the Ukrainian Language Society would take place, with Mykhailo Levytskyi and Roman Hromyak invited. At the end of the text, he added: “Anyone who cares even a little about the future of our language—come to the meeting!” However, some misunderstandings arose, as it turned out that the football season was opening on March 29, and the Combine Plant mostly employed men. When the date was moved to March 30, after calling Roman Hromyak, I learned that he was going to Moscow (on that day, it became known that he had been elected deputy). We had to stick with the original date, March 29. And at lunch, Yaroslav Hevko came to see me in a taxi—he was typing “Ternopil Informator” No. 1 and was clarifying a few things. In addition, we agreed that I would bring him my speech from the Writers' Union for the Taras Shevchenko anniversary at 6 p.m. After work, Anatoliy Fedchuk came by with his acquaintance, Petro Kasinchuk, from Melnytsia-Podilska (he lives in Ternopil), who took several copies of the “UGS Declaration of Principles” from me. He will be agitating. At that moment, as I was talking with my guests, Lieutenant Colonel Volodymyr Tymoshchuk rang the doorbell and, without entering the apartment, returned the 5 karbovantsi he had borrowed for a ticket to the Kobzar Holiday. In addition, he asked for some copies of the “UGS Declaration of Principles” for Shumsk—I gave him three. He did not come inside because, according to him, we had been “spotted” together—apparently, the KGB had been listening.
On the morning of March 28 at work, I met with Bohdan Kryvyi and informed him about the Constituent Assembly of the “Ukrainian Language Society,” asking him to rally as many people as possible. The chief designer of our project bureau sent me to “Agroproekt” for a standard series on post foundations. I filled out a leave slip from 1:30 p.m. (the Combine Plant required passes for entry), but I left around 2 p.m. because I couldn't meet with Ihor Medynskyi. When we did meet, he assured me that everything was fine, but everyone seemed to be very afraid of me—especially the plant director, Mykhailo Danylchenko. Ihor Medynskyi confessed to me that Danylchenko (who was also a member of the regional committee) had pounced on him with the words: “I'll give you a Ukrainian language! Write your resignation letter! Now! Now!” and so on. He cursed and demanded the lists of the initiative group. After this story, I set off for the Writers' Union, but Mykhailo Levytskyi wasn't there. Then I visited “Agroprombud,” where I picked up the standard series on foundations from Petro Sviatenkyi. I met with Vitaliy Tetyuchenko and Matiyash's wife, Natalka, there—she said she wanted a copy of the “UGS Declaration of Principles.” After them, I visited the Writers' Union again and found Ihor Pushkar, Dmytro Piasetskyi, Mykola Hyrych, and Levko Krupa there. After a brief chat and my announcement about the Constituent Assembly at the Combine Plant, Levko Krupa also agreed to attend our meeting on March 29. That same day, Yaroslav Hevko went to Lviv with our questions and the first issue of the “Informator.”
And at work on March 29, the unexpected happened. According to the announcement, the constituent assembly of the primary cell of the “Ukrainian Language Society” was to take place. Professor Roman Hromyak and writers Mykhailo Levytskyi and Levko Krupa were invited. However, Ihor Medynskyi, without my knowledge, called Roman Hromyak to tell him not to come to the Combine Plant. Over the phone, he justified this action to me by saying that one member of the initiative group had been summoned to a commission because he was going to France—and he was also supposed to be the host of the constituent assembly, according to him. Another girl who was supposed to speak had her grandfather die. And the opening of the football season. It seemed plausible, but as it later turned out, he had been pressured so much (by Danylchenko and the KGB) that he got scared. And I had been running around, organizing—and all for nothing... I wanted to meet and talk with Ihor Medynskyi then, but he was already avoiding me. However, such behavior might also indicate positive circumstances—he was not a *seksot*. As it later turned out, the real reason for banning the meeting was the administration's fear that the Society... would be headed by the UGS. At the same time, it seemed strange to me that the initiator of the constituent assembly, an artist from the regional art fund named Petro Kukurudza, was suspiciously absent during these events. Furthermore, data emerged that orders had been prepared to get rid of the UGS members (myself and Bohdan Kryvyi), as well as engineer Ihor Medynskyi, from the plant at the first opportunity.
In the evening, at 7 p.m., the first public meeting of the People's Movement Council took place in the hall of the regional Writers' Union. The meeting was chaired by Mariia Kuzemko. It was full of regional committee officials who took turns speaking (Mykhailo Babiy, Mykhailo Onyskiv, the rector of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism Leontiy Chornyi, and some other KGB agent). In addition to those speakers, the second secretary of the regional party committee, Vasyl Ostapchuk, was present. We left the hall. After talking with Oleksandr Levchenko from “Orion,” I went to buy a ticket to Kyiv.
On March 30, after work, a meeting of the Council of the Ternopil UGS chapter took place at my apartment. Present were: Volodymyr Marmus, Yaroslav Hevko, Roman Shkrobut, Yaroslav Vovk, Volodymyr Skakun, Yaroslav Chykurliy, Yaroslav Pasichnyk. Mykola Bohiv also came. We discussed current issues and the election results. Yaroslav Hevko distributed the printed copies of our first “Informators.” In the evening, Anatoliy Fedchuk also came to see me; we had a bit of a discussion and debated a speech about maintaining the purity of our ranks.
On March 31 at the Combine Plant, the initiators of the “Ukrainian Language Society” gathered in the art workshop. I read out the plan of activities and commented on it. We agreed that people would write applications for membership and come back here next Friday. After lunch, I went to “Agroproekt” to return the album of foundation drawings. I wanted to take the opportunity to make copies of the draft program of the People's Movement of Ukraine at the design organization. But Stepan Balko, who operated the duplicating machine, wasn't there. There, in the design organization, Nina Markush informed me that I had a call from the Combine Plant. And when I called back, it turned out that I had lost my ticket to Kyiv, and Volodymyr Spitsyn had found it. We eventually made arrangements, and Svitlana Novozhylova brought me the ticket. I also dropped by Bohdan Lekhniak's—he wasn't there. I told his wife that Bohdan should visit me tomorrow. Later, I called Volodymyr Yavoriskyi in Lviv and gave him information about the People's Movement in Ternopil. He invited me to the Lviv UGS chapter's Council meeting on Monday, but I didn't promise to go, as work wouldn't allow it.
On the morning of April 1, Bohdan Lekhniak and an acquaintance arrived at my home by car. That acquaintance offered a typist for the Ternopil UGS chapter and told strange stories about a Ternopil priest, Petro Vodyanyi, who takes money from the church treasury and shares it with the KGB. Then Anatoliy Fedchuk came and brought the UN Charter. In the evening, Mykola Bohiv came and shared some interesting information about the head of the Saranchuky village council, Roman Zhariy. During an audit by the next village council head, an act for the transfer of a “Zhiguli” car... from the KGB was found in his office. After this news, I was writing down data about the elections in the Ternopil region, and in the evening, I left for Kyiv on train No. 688.
On April 2, I arrived in Kyiv, bought a return ticket, and immediately hurried to the meeting of the All-Ukrainian Coordinating Council of the UGS. When I arrived at 10 Olehivska Street, the head of the department of internal affairs and, probably, a KGB agent entered the premises. They demanded everyone's passports and asked: “Why have you gathered?” But they picked the wrong people! After all, no one has the right to break into a private residence. After heated arguments and legally convincing evidence on our part, the authorities left the premises. The meeting began. First, we discussed the collective entry into the UGS of the society of the Ukrainian People's Democratic League (UNDL—formerly UDS), led by Yevhen Chernyshov. Leonid Miliavskyi (a representative of the UNDL) informed us that the number of their League's members in Kyiv is 20, and in Ukraine as a whole—40, most of whom are UGS members. The social composition of the League is workers, students, and intellectuals. And by national composition, they are mostly Ukrainians, with some Russians and Jews as well. Viacheslav Chornovil then added a remark: “Perhaps we could try to create independent trade unions from them?” However, Levko Lukianenko read out a statement about the collective entry of the UNDL into the UGS, and everyone supported it with a vote. Then Stepan Khmara spoke, providing the results of the elections across Ukraine. According to his report, 22 regional committee secretaries across the Union did not make it to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (including in 19 electoral districts in Ukraine). Next, Mykola Horbal spoke and read an appeal regarding Karabakh. It turned out that 12 activists of the Committee had been arrested in Karabakh and immediately transported to Moscow. Even deputies who had immunity from arrest were detained. And Viacheslav Chornovil presented the “White Book”—he called for collecting information on human rights violations. After these speeches, each regional representative spoke about the events in their region. In conclusion, it was decided to hold Constituent Assemblies in all regions, to collect data on administrative terror in Ukraine for 1988-89 within two weeks, to create a “White Book” (tasking the UGS Executive Committee with this), and to continue the discussion of the “UGS Declaration of Principles.” When it was all over, I spoke with Petro Rozumnyi—he wants fresh information for the journal “Porohy.” I also spoke briefly with almost everyone present. And at the end, Mykola Horbal invited me to his place. At the railway station, I met Mykhailo and Bohdan Horyn again, who were also traveling on the same train.
On April 3, I called and met with Bohdan Kryvyi regarding the applications for the Ukrainian Language Society. That same day, a plenum of the city committee of the CPU took place, where the creation of the Ternopil organization of the NRU was condemned, and all members of the Movement's Council were vilified. After work, I went to a meeting of the Council of the People's Movement of Ukraine. We drafted a plan for the Movement's organization for Wednesday, April 15.
On April 4, I gave Vasyl Kohut a copy of the newspaper “Holos Vidrodzhennia,” which I had brought from Kyiv, to read. At the same time, I arranged to meet with Slipy. After work, I visited Bohdan Lekhniak, and together we went to see the new typist, Olha Oliinyk. She agreed to type for the UGS, but only starting from May 1.
On April 5, I was supposed to meet with Bohdan Kryvyi about the application forms for joining the People's Movement, but we postponed it until Friday. After lunch, I went to “Agroproekt” again for a standard series of light roofing projects. And again, no one there could copy the People's Movement program on the duplicating machine. Empty-handed, I went to the Writers' Union. A creative evening for the poet Mykhailo Levytskyi and a photo exhibition by Andriy Zubrovskyi were taking place here. Photo artist Zubrovskyi gave a presentation on the forgotten and lost crafts of the Ternopil region, like black-smoked pottery, which disappeared with the death of the last master in 1971 in the town of Kopychentsi. Those present listened to recordings of eyewitnesses to the Stalinist repressions of 1951 in the village of Antonivtsi, Shumsk district. Following this, the People's Movement Council continued its meeting. Mariia Kuzemko chaired the meeting and announced that the regional party committee intended to close the Writers' Union premises to prevent discussions with the people. Mykhailo Levytskyi also spoke. Many of those present spoke. The speeches by the students, members of the “Vertep” society, were particularly interesting. Yuriy Tyma, a student and member of the “Vertep” society, rejected as baseless the accusations from the local press, which writes that “Vertep” is doing nothing for perestroika because, you see, the revival of Ukrainian rites and customs in the form of a vertep, and the collection of unique folklore treasures, contradicts perestroika. Members of the “Vertep” society, according to student Tyma, having “discovered” the graves of the Sich Riflemen (there are as many as eight in the Ternopil city cemetery) and having read the inscription on a surviving monument: “Here lie Ukrainian Riflemen who perished in 1919, their names are unknown, we ask and pray in prayer,” decided that the best prayer for the forbidden would be to tidy up their graves. The chairman of the “Vertep” society, Bohdan Hordasevych, stated in his speech that the society would have joined the People's Movement but, according to him, he does not want to subject the members of the society to the machine of repression. At the same time, he expressed the opinion that the correspondent from the newspaper “Vilne Zhyttia” should be held accountable for the labels they attached. But, as he said: “thank God we are no longer being shot and sent to Siberia.” In conclusion, Bohdan Hordasevych, holding up the newspaper with the headline “No to the Movement!” said that a second conclusion suggests itself: “Glory to stagnation!” I even recorded some of these speeches on a tape recorder. I was told there that Leonid Kravchuk, the head of the ideological department of the CPU Central Committee, was present, and that supposedly on his orders, Volodymyr Simonov, the head of the socio-economic sector, spoke. He announced to those present that in the leadership of the People's Movement, there is a certain Horokhivskyi who wants the separation of Ukraine. I, of course, reacted immediately and called out: “I am Horokhivskyi, but I don't know you! How do you know me?” He flinched a little, but then replied that he had read the “UGS Declaration of Principles.” I immediately parried his statement and said that he had read it poorly, because there is no such thing in it.
On April 6, the UGS members gathered again for a Council meeting. Those who came were: Volodymyr Marmus (he really wanted to have the statute of the “Memorial” society), Ostap Zhmud, Bohdan Kushnyryk, Yaroslav Pasichnyk (I gave him “Holos Vidrodzhennia”). Yaroslav Hevko did not come—his father-in-law had passed away. At the Council, I familiarized everyone with the main directions of the UGS's activities, we touched on some issues, and then we dispersed.
On April 7, I prepared three folders with lined sheets for joining the People's Movement. I gave one folder to Bohdan Kryvyi and the second to Zinoviy Slipy, who promised to collect signatures. After work, I met with Stepan Balko, who took the “Movement Program” from me, promising to make copies on the duplicating machine. Then I went to Anatoliy Fedchuk's and asked him if he could go to Lviv. He agreed to go on Monday. I also called Lviv—Viacheslav Chornovil was on the line. He informed me that Mykhailo Horyn had been imprisoned in Chernivtsi for 15 days for speaking to students. I asked him if he would be home if Anatoliy Fedchuk came to see him. He promised to give us clean cassettes and a recording of Yuriy Badzyo's speech.
On the morning of April 8, as arranged, Yaroslav Hevko came over. But I hadn't written the “Informator”—we postponed it until 8 p.m. So I spent the whole day writing “Informator” No. 2. When Yaroslav Hevko came again in the evening, the “Informator” was ready, and I gave it to him to type. In “Informator” No. 2, I wrote that the Coordinating Council of the Ternopil UGS chapter expresses its sincere gratitude to all who provided us with moral and material support. The first modest donations were then received by the Ternopil UGS chapter: from Ivan Vasylovych Botsman—50 karbovantsi, Ivan Petrovych Yaroslavskyi—60 karbovantsi, Anton Petrovych Krainyi—15 karbovantsi, Ivan Dmytrovych Knyaz—10 karbovantsi, Ivan Ivanovych Ivaniv—5 karbovantsi.
On April 9, I spent the whole day preparing questions for Viacheslav Chornovil, writing out information for the “White Book,” and outlining the main directions of our activities to send with Anatoliy Fedchuk. He came to my place in the evening (I gave him 10 karbovantsi for the road), and we went to meet Yaroslav Hevko to pick up the typed material from him (8 copies). I was also planning to go to Pochaiv that day. I called Yaroslav Chykurliy beforehand, but he said he wouldn't be able to drive me in his car.
On April 10, at work, our department head, Mykola Polovyi, called me in and hinted that I might be fired, although the “higher-ups,” according to him, didn't want that… Taking the opportunity, I told him about the UGS. Later, I went to a meeting of the NRU Council. At the Council, which was chaired by Mariia Kuzemko, the issue of excluding Anton Subchak from the Movement's Council was discussed because he had spoken at the Constituent Assembly about prematurely raising the blue and yellow flag. I abstained from voting. I only insisted that such issues should not be decided by the Council, but should be brought to a wider audience—to a general meeting.
On April 11, during work hours, someone named Hryhoriy Lavrushko called me, wanting to meet. I invited him over. From work, I also called Anatoliy Fedchuk—he had already arrived and promised to come to my place in the evening. In the evening, Anatoliy Fedchuk and Hryhoriy Lavrushko came to my place together. Fedchuk brought cassettes for the tape recorder and ribbons for the typewriter for us from Lviv. I had a debate with Anatoliy Fedchuk about Anton Subchak. Then I went outside with Hryhoriy Lavrushko for a walk. He's a driver—he drives long-distance buses. He's originally from Kopychentsi and wants to join the UGS.
After work on April 12, I met with Stepan Balko, but he had only made 5 copies of the “Movement Program” on the duplicating machine. I went straight to the Writers' Union. In the hall, some Komsomol members (or Afghanistan veterans) from the city Komsomol were holding a meeting. Upstairs, Georgiy Petruk-Popyk was telling how the city party committee had expelled him from the party for his participation in the People's Movement. They also warned him that the issue of the inappropriateness of his remaining in the position of secretary of the Writers' Union would be raised. And the city committee secretary, Viktor Rybin, told Georgiy Petruk-Popyk that he would not take responsibility if someone from the working class beat him up on the street. Then everyone watched a dialogue between Leonid Kravchuk and the initiating chairman of the NRU, the philosopher Myroslav Popovych, in Kyiv. Outside, a lot of people had gathered for the Movement's meeting, but they eventually dispersed. That same day, the regional party committee announced that not only meetings of the People's Movement Council but also those of the Ukrainian Language Society were forbidden in the Writers' Union hall. To get permission for meetings, a request had to be submitted to the city council 10 days in advance.
On April 13 at 10 a.m., the city prosecutor, Vasyl Bavolyak, called me to come and see him. I immediately replied: “Issue a summons.” But after calling the head of the personnel department, I had to go to the city prosecutor's office. Bavolyak accused me of participating in two unauthorized rallies, as well as of making speeches that allegedly promoted inter-ethnic discord (Article 66 of the Criminal Code). I signed a document stating that I had been informed, but I added at the top: “does not correspond to reality.” The prosecutor started yelling for some reason and threatened that the third time, I would be escorted out under guard. Mariia Kuzemko called to arrange a meeting near the museum, but after work, I first went to the Writers' Union. When the initiators gathered, they decided to hold the “Memorial” meeting at Mariia Kuzemko's apartment.
That day, we only drafted a protest telegram to Mikhail Gorbachev and coordinated the date for our “Memorial” meeting. I also contributed 3 karbovantsi for the telegram and went home—people were waiting there for the Council meeting. Outside my building, I met Yaroslav Perchyshyn and Bohdan Lekhniak. Bohdan Lekhniak, however, left immediately. And waiting by my door was Hryhoriy Lavrushko, who filled out an application form to join the UGS inside. Volodymyr Marmus and Yaroslav Hevko also came; I gave Hevko an appeal to be retyped, addressed to employees of party and Komsomol organizations, so they would know what questions to ask UGS members. Roman Shkrobut also came by. Already outside, I informed Volodymyr Marmus and Yaroslav Hevko that the “Memorial” meeting would take place at Mariia Kuzemko's apartment.
On April 14, I finally met with Vasyl Kohut and informed him that I had been summoned to the city prosecutor's office. He, in turn, complained that while they were cleaning the grave of the Sich Riflemen, some Russian chauvinist had started screaming horribly… After work, I went to the Writers' Union again. Mariia Kuzemko, Ihor Pushkar, and Dmytro Piasetskyi were already there. It was the first time I had seen Anatoliy Kosariev there. Mariia Kuzemko told me how she had been summoned to the city prosecutor Vasyl Bavolyak and how she had defended me. In her explanation to the prosecutor, she wrote that there had been no rallies. When she signed that the accusation did not correspond to reality, Bavolyak said: “Oh, so you write like Horokhivskyi.” Mariia Kuzemko informed me that the “Memorial” meeting was to take place on April 15 at 12 p.m. in the Writers' Union building. I prepared for the meeting and had already written a draft of a complaint to the USSR Prosecutor General at work.
That same day, I called Viacheslav Chornovil about all the events, but it turned out that Volodymyr Yavoriskyi had already received this information from Yaroslav Hevko. Yavoriskyi had wanted to inform me of this by phone, but at that moment, I had stepped out…
On April 15, I visited the Writers' Union again. Before that, I had called Yaroslav Hevko to inform him of the planned events. When we gathered at 12 p.m., it turned out that the regional committee and the city executive committee would not allow our “Memorial” meeting to be held in the Writers' Union hall. But Mariia Kuzemko whispered to everyone to gather in Berezovytsia. From Berezovytsia, everyone walked to the village of Ostriv, where Mariia Kuzemko lived. But not even five minutes had passed after we entered (there were 26 of us) when the police appeared at her house with the district prosecutor Mykhailo Lysiuk and the deputy chief of police Andriy Zhurakovskyi. The prosecutor stated categorically: “If this gathering is held, we will hold you personally responsible.” – “On what grounds?” Mariia Kuzemko asked. “We’ll find an article…” – replied the prosecutor. Georgiy Petruk-Popyk spoke (also present were Mykhailo Levytskyi, Yaroslav Hevko, Dmytro Piasetskyi, Ihor Pushkar, Mykhailo Nikolaichuk, the artist Bohdan Tkachyk, Bohdan Kushnyryk, Anatoliy Fedchuk, and others—many students). Petruk-Popyk proposed not to hold the meeting but to write protests instead. Some agreed, others partially, many remained silent. I tried to suggest that we ignore the warning and hold the meeting right then. But there was no complete approval. Maybe because the apartment was not just anyone's, but Mariia Kuzemko's property. However, someone suggested appealing to Les Taniuk to come to Ternopil and help hold a proper “Memorial” meeting, and for now, just to elect a Chairman of “Memorial” with future confirmation at the next stage of the Constituent Assembly. Everyone agreed to this. Mariia Kuzemko was elected Chairman of “Memorial.” Therefore, the creation of the Ternopil regional “Memorial” organization has two dates—April 15 and 28, 1989. In any case, with my mood and my day ruined, I went home. From home, I called Bohdan Horyn in Lviv. He is dissatisfied with the new decree concerning the criminal code. He said there is still hope for the session of the Supreme Council.
On the morning of April 16, as I was leaving the house, Volodymyr Marmus came to see me. We went to the Writers' Union together. There, I signed the protest, talked a bit with Georgiy Petruk-Popyk, and returned home. As I was coming back from the city, I met Yosyp Tytor near my building as he was leaving his own. I called out to him, and we talked for a bit. He wants to disappear from the "horizon" for two months because his daughter is defending her diploma—well, what can you do… At least he's not being disingenuous and is telling the truth. He also paid his 5 karbovantsi dues for April. In the evening, I called Oles Angelyuk and asked if Lidia Ivaniuk had arrived. They invited me over, and although I was irritated with myself for not having accomplished anything, I went to their place. Lidia Ivaniuk gave me two issues of “Ukrainian Herald,” No. 7 and No. 9-10, and I sold them a copy of “Monuments of the Brotherhood Schools in Ukraine.” Meanwhile, at the Writers' Union, a business meeting was taking place between senior regional officials and members of the writers' organization. The purpose of the meeting: to condemn and dissociate from the People's Movement, which was partially achieved. NRU Council member, writer Bohdan Bastiuk, left the People's Movement. This unplanned meeting, called a writers' meeting by the local newspaper, took place without the initiative of the writers and in the absence of the executive secretary of the Writers' Union, Georgiy Petruk-Popyk. Bureau member Mykhailo Levytskyi was also absent; at that time, a policeman had informed him of an urgent summons to the city prosecutor's office. However, the newspaper “Vilne Zhyttia,” falsifying the facts, fabricated the meeting's resolution. It stated the content of a decision about the inappropriateness of the membership of members of the Writers' Union of Ukraine in the People's Movement Council, as well as condemning the speculative use of the authority and name of the regional organization of the Writers' Union by various extremist and demagogic elements and groups.
On Monday, April 17, I wrote “Informator” No. 3, and after work, I gave it to Yaroslav Hevko to type up. I called Anatoliy Fedchuk and asked if he would go to Lviv on Wednesday. He agreed. But we didn't arrange a specific meeting, although I did make arrangements with Yaroslav Hevko about typing the “Informator”—he will bring the finished copies tomorrow at 9 p.m.
On the morning of April 18, I met with Ihor Medynskyi—he confessed to me that he had been summoned to the party committee and the KGB. At work, I had a long conversation with Mykola Polovyi (the head of our project group) about the Ukrainian language. I argued for the necessity of a single state Ukrainian language. Then I read an article from the newspaper “Nashe Slovo” from April 2, 1989, which was published in Warsaw. In that article, a teacher from Berdyansk writes about how students exempted from studying Ukrainian spit through a straw at a portrait of Taras Shevchenko and at her… Later, I called Vasyl Kohut, and then we met at 2 p.m. We talked for a long time: he would even join the UGS, but he's afraid for “Vertep.” After work, I wanted to go to the Writers' Union, but the rain spoiled everything. I got soaked and it took me a long time to get home because the low-lying area on Enerhetychna Street was flooded and no transport could get through. In the evening, at 9 p.m., Yaroslav Hevko came and brought the “Informators,” and I gave him “Ukrainian Herald” No. 7 and the “Informative Bulletin.” He told me that he had met and talked with Mykhailo Levytskyi, who had also been summoned by the city prosecutor yesterday. It also became known that on this very day, at the Ternopil Pedagogical Institute, a meeting of the local administration, representatives of the city party committee, the city Komsomol committee, and the regional Komsomol committee took place. The second secretary of the city party committee, Vasyl Ostapchuk, sharply criticized the People's Movement of Ukraine and claimed that supposedly at one of the Movement's meetings, someone had called for arms. Of course, no such thing happened—someone needed a provocation…
On the morning of April 19, I wrote an application for a vacation starting May 3, because Mykola Polovyi had caught me writing a complaint to the Prosecutor General. After work, I again went to the Writers' Union. However, instead of a creative evening with the actor Volodymyr Lototskyi and a viewing of Ivan Yavoriskyi's paintings, Afghanistan veterans were meeting in the hall—holding some kind of assembly. The city Komsomol committee had once again taken over the hall. Despite that, on the third floor, the actor Volodymyr Lototskyi did perform, reciting Vasyl Stefanyk's short stories from memory. After talking with Mykhailo Levytskyi, I set off for Anatoliy Fedchuk's. I gave him “Informator” No. 3 to take to Lviv. We discussed my complaint to the Prosecutor General for a bit, and I went home. I just forgot to give him money for the trip.
On April 20, Yaroslav Pasichnyk called me at work from Khorostkiv to say that he wouldn't be able to come today because his mother was sick. And she's already 84 years old. And at 11 a.m., I met with Vasyl Kohut—he promised to bring some information tomorrow. I gave Zinoviy Slipy, who had dropped by, the “UGS Declaration of Principles” and immediately ran off, as Mykhailo Nikolyshyn—the deputy secretary of the party committee at the Combine Plant—was waiting for me. I was at his place for a long time talking about the UGS, the “Ukrainian Language Society,” and other things. First in the hallway (a few people had gathered there), and then Mykola Polovyi invited me into his office and started hinting at something about the trade union. I couldn't figure out what he wanted, and I was already in a hurry. But in the end, it finally became clear why he had come—he wanted to find out if I had sent information to Radio Liberty about the “Ukrainian Language Society” at the Combine Plant. And if I had, what exactly? Someone must have already informed on me, because I hadn't made the broadcast yet, though he was referring to it. In addition, I was told that on that day at the plenum of the regional committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, the city committee's decision on the impossibility of communists' participation in the ranks of the People's Movement was approved.
And also on April 20, at the Taras Shevchenko Ternopil Musical and Drama Theater, according to the announcement, a performance of Shevchenko's “Haidamaky” was supposed to take place. Tickets were being sold, and sets had been transported from Kopychentsi at considerable expense, but the head of the regional culture department, Oleksandr Bachynskyi, banned the performance of “Haidamaky” at the last minute. The artists of the Kopychentsi Drama Theater and their director, Orest Savka, were deeply outraged by the authorities' police-like decision.
At 7 p.m., the following people came for the Council meeting of our UGS chapter: Yaroslav Hevko, Ostap Zhmud, Bohdan Lekhniak, Yaroslav Chykurliy, and Volodymyr Skakun (he finally brought the photographs from the anti-NPP signature collection, but not all of them). We discussed some issues, I handed out “Heralds” and “Informators,” and we agreed to meet on April 27. After the meeting, I stayed up until three in the morning—I don't know when I'll ever get enough sleep…
At work on April 21, at 12 p.m., I met in the workshop with Vasyl Kohut and gave him “Ukrainian Herald” No. 9-10. Then after work, I stopped by the Writers' Union. The Movement's Council was gathering. Mariia Kuzemko spoke about her trip to Kyiv: about her meeting with Ivan Drach, her participation in the “Memorial” Council meeting and at a meeting of Kyiv writers, and her conversation with a representative of the Central Committee. She also reported that the members of the Kyiv “Memorial” Council had condemned the ban on creating the Ternopil “Memorial” as political pressure and a repressive act by local authorities, and in a show of solidarity with the people of Ternopil, had sent a protest telegram to Moscow. And at the meeting of Kyiv writers, Ivan Drach announced that a member of the Writers' Union of Ukraine, Georgiy Petruk-Popyk, had been expelled from the party for participating in the People's Movement. Ivan Drach also read out a slanderous note from Ternopil, where the reasons for his expulsion from the Communist Party were attributed to extremism and an outburst against Russians. At this meeting of the People's Movement Council, it was decided to publish a newspaper under the title “Chronicle of the People's Movement.” Later, I also visited Anatoliy Fedchuk and picked up “Ukrainian Herald” No. 13 from him, which he had brought from Lviv. He also told me that he had met with Viacheslav Chornovil and given him a cassette with our information. But their meeting was brief. I returned home late. On the way in the evening, I also stopped by Bohdan Lekhniak's to arrange our trip to Pochaiv.
On April 22, a Saturday, a day off, I finally got some sleep in the morning. I decided to drop by Hryhoriy Lavrushko's—I thought he might have something to say about Kopychentsi, where the performance of “Haidamaky” was banned on April 20. But Lavrushko wasn't there. Then I went to the regional branch of the culture fund, to Sviatoslava Mykolaivna Yashchenko. A very pleasant woman… She told me everything about the ban on the performance of “Haidamaky”—it was banned by the head of the regional culture department, Oleksandr Yosypovych Bachynskyi. The performance was intended to raise funds for a stele for Kateryna Rubchakova, an actress from Les Kurbas's theater “Ternopil Theatrical Evenings,” whose grave had been found at a Ternopil cemetery.
In the evening, Bohdan Lekhniak came to my place, and we agreed to go to Pochaiv on Sunday at 12 p.m. After seeing him off, I started writing “Informator” No. 4. “How wonderful it is to work with a tape recorder!”—a memory of this episode is preserved in my notebook.
April 23, Sunday. I was waiting for Yaroslav Hevko, but he didn't come. Then I decided to call him. But his wife Halia picked up the phone and cut me off angrily: “You bastard, forget this phone number and don't call again!” Well, there you have it—I couldn't come to my senses for a long, long time… But when I calmed down, I thought that such angry outbursts should be forgiven, given the inhuman psychological pressure and intimidation from the KGB. After that, I also contacted Anatoliy Fedchuk—he agreed to go to Lviv.
At 2 p.m., along with Bohdan Lekhniak, we set out for Pochaiv in Yaroslav's car. Lekhniak's acquaintance, the driver Yaroslav, worked in the church and on the way to Pochaiv, he gave me a chain for my neck. When we arrived in Pochaiv, we found Dmytro Kondratiev, with whom I spoke personally and left him a copy of the “UGS Declaration of Principles.” I am supposed to visit him in two weeks, after calling in advance. We also stopped by the village of Sapaniv in the Kremenets district, but we did not find the teacher Borys Skoroplias. I left his neighbor the “UGS Declaration of Principles” along with a short letter. When we returned to Ternopil, Bohdan Lekhniak started typing the “Informator,” and I stayed at home. Soon, Yaroslav Hevko came and took another draft of the “Informator,” as well as a “History of Dissent in the USSR” to type up. Later, Anatoliy Fedchuk also dropped by for printed materials. And we went together to Bohdan Lekhniak's—he had already typed the “Informator.” I gave Anatoliy Fedchuk 5 karbovantsi for his trip to Lviv, and we parted ways.
On the morning of April 24, Anatoliy Fedchuk left for Lviv. At work, I met with Vasyl Kohut at 11 a.m. He shared his impressions of his stay in Zalishchyky and also informed me that at the Combine Plant, there is now a person responsible for creating the Movement, Onufriy Mytnyk. After work, I watched the televised debate (discussion) on the topic of the People's Movement between Leonid Kravchuk and Myroslav Popovych. Then, taking a taxi, I headed to the “Komsomolets” cinema for a meeting with Mykola Bohiv. But he wasn't there.
On this very day, in the house of political education, the constituent assembly of an alternative “Memorial” society took place, founded by the ideological department of the regional party committee, the regional museum of local lore, the Red Cross society, the “Mercy” society, and the “Veteran” club. The meeting took place during working hours, and therefore only specially selected people were present, who were given mandates according to pre-prepared lists. The then-director of the regional museum of local lore, Venedykt Lavreniuk, was elected chairman of the alternative “Memorial” society. Yaroslav Hevko somehow managed to get in and publicly read one point from the “Resolution” about supporting the People's Movement. He tried to read the “Resolution” of the republican conference of “Memorial” to those present, but he was not allowed to continue.
On April 25, I called Anatoliy Fedchuk—he had already returned from Lviv, and I visited him in the evening. At work, the director of PKTI, Yuriy Vuychyk, informed me that the regional prosecutor was summoning us (him and me) for tomorrow at 10 a.m. When I arrived at Anatoliy Fedchuk's, I also watched the latest plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU on television—they reduced the Central Committee by 50 people (from 301 to 251). Later, at home, I was listening to Radio Liberty—they were broadcasting the latest information about the Ternopil UGS chapter, which I had sent by phone. However, three errors were made during the broadcast: the surname “Kuzemko” was twisted into “Buzemko,” instead of “Rybin” (first secretary of the Ternopil city party committee) they said “Ryabinin,” and Petruk-Popyk was called chairman instead of executive secretary. I immediately called Bohdan Horyn in Lviv to verify, but he had been summoned by the prosecutor.
On April 26, together with the director Yuriy Vuychyk, we drove to the regional prosecutor's office in his “Moskvich.” The driver stayed in the car, while Vuychyk and I headed to the regional prosecutor's office. Before that, though, Yuriy Vuychyk asked me if I would allow him to be present at the “reception” as well. We were met by the regional prosecutor Vasyl Ivanov, the head of the regional KGB Oleksandr Ivanovych Shaparenko, and the deputy regional prosecutor Mykola Ivanovych Yatsenko. When everyone was seated at the table, the heads of the security agencies began accusing me of holding an unauthorized UGS constituent assembly on January 26, 1989, of transmitting the “Informator” to Radio Liberty, of agitating students to join the UGS, of inciting people against the Soviet government by reading harmful documents, of justifying the actions of the UPA… Under the document they slid over to me, I wrote that everything stated did not correspond to reality. I was charged under Article 23 of the Procedural or Criminal Code. We argued for about an hour and a half. During the conversation, they wanted to convince me of something, to blame me, and to intimidate me. Finally, toward the end, I couldn't stand it and reacted sharply: “You can crucify me, but I will not renounce the UGS and I will continue to publish the ‘Informator’.” A dead silence fell. Ivanov turned purple. I asked if I could go. And already at the door, as I was about to leave, Oleksandr Shaparenko stopped me, walking toward me with his hand outstretched. Approaching, he said: “Let's not be enemies… But if you transmit information abroad next time—don't make any mistakes.” I immediately understood what he was hinting at—the last Radio Liberty broadcast, although it wasn't my fault. Already outside, Yuriy Vuychyk, who had listened to all of this, admitted to me: “I have never seen anything like it…”
A Kyiv philosopher and the first chairman of the Ukrainian Culturological Club (UCC), Arkadiy Kireiev, called me at work. We arranged to meet—he promised to stop by the next day. After 5 p.m., near the entrance of the Combine Plant, I met 4 men who had also come to see me yesterday. Together with them, I went to the Writers' Union, where I introduced them to Mykhailo Levytskyi. Two of them stayed for the gathering. Mariia Kuzemko's creative evening went off without a hitch. Then the People's Movement Council meeting took place. Information was heard about the tragedy of the village of Antonivtsi in the Shumsk district, which was barbarically destroyed as a Banderite village, and its inhabitants were deported to Siberia.
On April 27, I met Zinoviy Slipy, who told me that the entire Combine Plant already knew about my summons to the regional prosecutor's office. Apparently, the plant's director, Mykhailo Danylchenko, was supposed to go to the prosecutor's office with me, but he refused and sent Yuriy Vuychyk instead. During work, Mykola Poliovy asked me about the People's Movement of Ukraine (he had been at a meeting with Mykhailo Nykolyshyn yesterday), and then I called Maria Kuzemko and met with her after work near store number six on Zavodska Street, now Brodivska Street. I confessed to her that I needed to be on the “Memorial” Council and told her about Mykola Poliovy's hint regarding Mykhailo Levytsky's habit.
In the evening, another meeting of the Council of the Ternopil branch of the UGS was held at my home. The following people arrived for the meeting: Yaroslav Chykurliy, Bohdan Lekhnyak, Volodymyr Skakun, Ostap Zhmud, and Arkadiy Kireyev. Yaroslav Perchyshyn came and for some reason left immediately, as if something had alarmed him… Arkadiy Kireyev spoke to us and told us about the UNDL (Ukrainian People's Democratic League). I recorded everything on a tape recorder. Toward the end of the meeting, Yaroslav Gevko arrived. Afterward, we went to meet with Mykola Bohov, but he wasn't there. Nor was he at home. We waited a bit, talked, and then went our separate ways. And then I thought that I would probably have to negotiate with Mykola Bohov at my home...
At the gatehouse on April 28, I ran into Zinoviy Slipy again. He told me he had spoken with the plant director, Mykhailo Danylchenko, and the party committee secretary, Vyacheslav Pereyaslavets—they had scared him by saying I was going to be put on trial. Nevertheless, I went home, where I met Volodymyr Marmus at the entrance. We took a taxi together, first for coffee and then to the Constituent Assembly of “Memorial.” In front of the Writers' Union, the area was cordoned off with a string and red ribbons, and the militsiya were present—they were staging the excavation of a German shell. No one was allowed to pass. But the secretary of the Writers' Union, Georgiy Petruk-Popyk, arrived and said, “Those who are not afraid of an explosion—follow me!” And everyone went—there were many people. After many speeches, Maria Kuzemko read the Resolution and the Charter of the republican society “Memorial” to those present. At the meeting, a 23-member Council of the Ternopil regional organization of the “Memorial” society was elected: Maria Kuzemko as chairwoman; Yaroslav Karpyak and Oleksandr Holiachenko as deputies; Yaroslav Gevko as secretary; and the Council included: Oles Angelyuk, Hryhoriy Baran, Roman Boyko, Levko Horokhivsky, Andriy Zarudny, Andriy Zyubrovsky, Petro Kasynchuk, Mykhailo Levytsky, Nadiya Levytska, Mykola Nevesely, Georgiy Petruk-Popyk, Ilarion (Ilyariy) Pylypets, Bohdan Pidhirny, Oleh Polyansky, Oleksandr Poliovy, Ihor Pushkar, Dmytro Pyasetsky, Orest Rybak, and Bohdan Tkachyk. At the constituent assembly, Les Tanyuk, co-chairman of the republican “Memorial” society, gave an excellent speech.
On April 29, Solomiyka and her mother went to the village of Maidan. And I was writing “Informator” No. 5. I planned to get the text to Lviv that same day, but it didn't work out.
On April 30, I went to Lviv. When I went to see Vyacheslav Chornovil, I missed him. I called Lidia Ivanyuk several times, but she wasn't there either. Then I stopped by Mykhailo Horyn's, and we immediately went to visit Lyubomyr Senyk, a Candidate of Philological Sciences, who had returned from France. When we entered, he greeted everyone with three kisses. Mr. Lyubomyr told us about the life of Ukrainians in France. On my way to Mykhailo Horyn's, I saw many people downtown who had surrounded the site where a monument to Taras Shevchenko is supposed to be erected. Everyone was singing Смертію смерть поправ… and passing from hand to hand a call for a rally against the elections on May 3, 1989. Lviv residents were boycotting the special elections because Ivan Drach had been excluded from the lists of candidates for deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR… A yellow-and-blue flag stood near the future monument site. It was said at the time that Yakiv Petrovych Pohrebniak, the first secretary of the regional committee of the Communist Party, had placed a bouquet of flowers at this spot… In the evening, around midnight, as everyone began to leave, Vyacheslav Chornovil invited me to his place for May 1. Mykhailo Horyn was supposed to come as well. Before that, there had been a discussion about whether it was worth organizing a column of “informals,” even with yellow-and-blue flags, for the May Day demonstration. Vyacheslav Chornovil and Mykhailo Horyn condemned this. However, a column of UGS members with national flags did march past the May Day grandstand. When everyone had left, I stopped by the Horyns', picked up my briefcase, and went to stay the night at Bohdan Senkiv's. It was already half past midnight, but we sat for a long time talking until I became very sleepy…
On the morning of May 1, I managed to get to Vyacheslav Chornovil's apartment by navigating around the May Day columns and taking a taxi part of the way. Together, we listened to the tape recording of the conversation with Arkadiy Kireyev. I also gave Chornovil Kireyev's notebook with his own notes. For some reason, Mykhailo Horyn didn't come. We sat for a while with Atena (Chornovil's wife)—she was fussing about a lot for some reason and seemed displeased. After taking some documents and other things from Chornovil, I set off for the train station.
Back home on May 2, I was planning to go to Saranchuky but changed my mind. I spent the whole day digging through documents and only visited Bohdan Lekhnyak in the evening.
On May 3, at the Combine Plant, Zinaida Kosakivska, secretary of the party organization of shop no. 11, tore down a draft of the People's Movement of Ukraine's program that had been taped to the wall. Stepan Skrypets, the chief mechanic of that shop, complained to Mykhailo Nykolyshyn, the deputy secretary of the plant's party committee. He replied that Zinaida Kosakivska had done the right thing, as the workers should not engage in undesirable propaganda. After work, I attended a meeting of the People's Movement. The most interesting part was the speech by Volodymyr Kolinets—he spoke about the party bureaucracy (Babiy and Ostrozhynsky), who were opposed to perestroika. After the meeting, I gave Andriy Zyubrovsky a copy of “Ukrayinskyi Visnyk” No. 13 to review. Then I bought a ticket to Kyiv for the next meeting of the UGS Executive Council. And that day, the arrival of Ivan Havdyda and Yuriy Morgun was a surprise—they wanted to join the UGS. And in the evening, Yaroslav Pasichnyk called—he wanted to take back his application. He came at 3 a.m. and took back his application to join the UGS.
On May 4, I met with Vasyl Kohut. I now meet with him every Tuesday and Thursday at 11 a.m. In the evening, another meeting of the Council of our UGS branch took place. Present were: Yaroslav Gevko, Bohdan Lekhnyak, Yaroslav Chykurliy. It seems Volodymyr Skakun was there too. Volodymyr Marmus was not there. At the meeting, we discussed everyday problems.
On May 5, I met with Vasyl Kohut again—he gave me information about the haivky festival, which the “Vertep” society was celebrating. And at work, an unknown person called me: “Chornovil and the others have been arrested. Be careful when you board the train.” I asked, “So, is nothing going to happen?” The voice replied, “I don't know anything else.”
On May 6, I didn't write “Informator,” though I had planned to, because I was preparing to go to Kyiv. Before leaving, Anatoliy Fedchuk visited me—he passed on his comments on the “UGS Declaration of Principles.” Then Volodymyr Marmus also arrived. And just before I left, Hryhoriy Lavrushko unexpectedly showed up—it looked very suspicious, especially because of what Andriy Zyubrovsky had told me about him. And yesterday's suspicious phone call. However, considering yesterday's warning, I decided to take a car to Pidvolochysk and board the train there. As I was leaving the room, Lavrushko offered to see me off. But I declined. He did, however, donate 50 rubles to the UGS fund and asked about the latest issue of “Ukrayinskyi Visnyk.” In the end, I went to Bohdan Lekhnyak's, and he arranged for a car—Bohdan Pylypyshyn drove me to Pidvolochysk.
On May 7, I arrived in Kyiv at 7 a.m. and immediately called Mykola Horbal—he invited me over. When I got to Mykola's, Stepan Khmara was there. It turned out that he had been fined one thousand rubles and placed under administrative surveillance. Later, representatives from the Dnipropetrovsk region joined us with Ivan Sokulsky (Petro Rozumny had been arrested for 10 days). Together we set off for the apartment with the electronic microphone device. Already there were Vyacheslav Chornovil, Oles Shevchenko, Oksana Meshko, Yevhen Pronyuk, and others. Then Levko Lukianenko arrived. After talking for about an hour, we all headed to a rally in Bykivnia. We marched there in a column—I even held a banner with the inscription: “You are looking for the guilty in Bykivnia, but they are among you.” At the end of the rally, Levko Lukianenko and Stepan Khmara spoke; Khmara proposed adopting a resolution to repeal the April 8, 1989, Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “On Criminal Liability for State Crimes.” Candidates for people's deputies also spoke. Around this time, Mykhailo Stoiko from Buchach approached me and expressed a desire to join the UGS—he will come see me after May 20.
On May 8, when I went to the “Memorial” meeting, no one was there. I called Maria Kuzemko, and she gave me Yaroslav Karpyak's phone number. I contacted him and paid him a visit (26 Hayova Street). That day I also received a letter from Levko Lukianenko with a stamp depicting a coin with a trident, and I wrote back to him immediately.
On May 9, I drafted an appeal to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR regarding the repeal of the April 8 Decree. When I finished, I took it to Bohdan Lekhnyak to give to Hryhoriy Lavrushko to collect signatures for the appeal. At the same time, I wanted to check if Lavrushko would really gather signatures for the call: “Down with the tyranny of the party bureaucracy!” Then I spent a long time calling everywhere (to Chornomaz and others) but to no avail…
On May 10, I attended a meeting of the People's Movement. Mykhailo Levytsky reported that the Ternopil regional committee of the Communist Party had received a response to the telegram that the Ternopil organization of the Movement had sent to Mikhail Gorbachev regarding the persecution of its members. Verbally, the regional committee had supposedly become more tolerant of the Movement, yet at the same time, they had distributed instructions to all organizations in Ternopil on how to fight against the UGS and the NRU. And first and foremost, for some reason, against members like Levko Horokhivsky, Dmytro Pyasetsky, and Anatoliy Fedchuk… Toward the end of the meeting, I spoke about the rally in Bykivnia and raised the issue of repealing the April 8 Decree. Everyone voted “in favor.” I collected 122 signatures on the appeal to repeal the repressive decree. Volodymyr Marmus and Roman Shkrobut were present at the People's Movement meeting and were in a great hurry. But I noticed they still listened to my speech. Incidentally, I told Marmus that Yevhen Pronyuk had asked him to come to Kyiv on May 13—the Constituent Assembly of the “Civic Rehabilitation” society was to be held.
On May 11, I met with Vasyl Kohut again at 11 a.m. He passed on some very valuable information to me and returned “Ukrayinskyi Visnyk.” In addition, I decided to gather signatures at the Combine Plant for the repeal of the anti-democratic decree of April 8. So I entrusted Zinoviy Slipy with collecting signatures among the plant's workers. However, toward the end of the workday, I met Zinoviy Slipy and he confessed that he had not collected any—everyone, he said, was afraid. At work, during my free moments, I was drafting a plan for the Ternopil Council of the UGS.
Appearing for the Council on Thursday, May 11 were: Yaroslav Gevko, Yaroslav Chykurliy, Ostap Zhmud, Bohdan Lekhnyak, and Yuriy Morgun (then still a candidate—he works at the city executive committee). Bohdan Lekhnyak recounted (and I recorded it on tape) how he was summoned at work by two KGB agents (by their own account: Mykhailyuk and Sidorov). They began the conversation by disparaging all the leaders of the UGS, saying things like, “Who do you trust…” About Vyacheslav Chornovil, they said he has a house worth 50,000 dollars, that Levko Lukianenko is on his third wife, and that my wife supposedly really wants a second child… Such are the fantasies of the KGB. Then, Yuriy Morgun announced that he would join the UGS once he exchanged his apartment. He had not yet collected signatures for the repeal of the decree but promised to do so by Saturday.
On May 12, during work, I called Bohdan Kryvy, but I was told he works on Saturdays. Yevhen Pronyuk called me from Kyiv to say that the Constituent Assembly of the “Civic Rehabilitation” society would not take place at the scheduled time. Then in the evening, I called Lviv, but the connection was very bad. I only managed to say that I would send “Informator” with our person on Monday. And at the regular meeting of the Council of the “Society for the Ukrainian Language,” an order was given to Roman Hromyak, a People's Deputy and the chairman of the society, from representatives of the NRU, “Memorial,” and the “Society for the Ukrainian Language” to repeal the Decree of April 8, 1989. At the same meeting, Yaroslav Karpyak spoke, and on behalf of the Society and all those present, he conveyed to Roman Hromyak the demand to include in the Law “On the State Language” the statement that the Ukrainian language is the language of interethnic communication on the territory of the republic.
On May 13, I went to Andriy Zyubrovsky's workshop and gave him our signatures against the nuclear power plant to photograph, and I also picked up “Ukrayinskyi Visnyk” No. 13. At the same time, we agreed to go and interview witnesses of the shootings and tortures in the Ternopil prison in 1941. In my search, I inadvertently arrived late for my meeting with Yuriy Morgun—they did say, though, that someone had come. Shortly after, Anatoliy Fedchuk arrived and brought his comments on the “UGS Declaration of Principles.” And suddenly a man I often saw at the People's Movement meetings walked in. It was the artist Oleh Fedoriv. I learned from him that he had visited Mykhailo Levytsky and had now decided to just drop by and see me. I invited him into the house. We talked about something or other. Then he asked if I was planning to go to the folklore festival in Berezhany tomorrow. He even mentioned that some boys from Saranchuky, dressed in Cossack attire, would be coming on horseback. He paused for a moment and asked for a drink of water. Suddenly, for some reason, his lips and hands started to tremble… When I saw him out, I couldn't help but talk about informers—Fedoriv's face darkened… Volodymyr Marmus also stopped by—he was getting ready to go to Kyiv for the Constituent Assembly of the “Civic Rehabilitation” society. However, I stopped him, informing him that Yevhen Pronyuk had called about the meeting being postponed.
On May 14, I went to bed at 5 a.m., and at 10 a.m. I was woken up by a call from Yuriy Morgun, who brought the signatures against the Decree of April 8, 1989. Then I spent the whole day writing “Informator” No. 6. In the morning, though, I went to Andriy Zyubrovsky's workshop. He wasn't there, so I left a note. I immediately called Volodymyr Pasichnyk and arranged to meet on Tuesday near the church—from there we would go to take testimonies about the executions of prisoners in the Ternopil prison in 1941. Later in the evening, I barely finished “Informator” and gave it to Bohdan Lekhnyak to type, and then Anatoliy Fedchuk picked it up. We finished everything around midnight—Bohdan Lekhnyak had typed it up and brought “Ukrayinskyi Visnyk” (5 copies).
On May 15 at 9 a.m. at the Combine Plant, downstairs in the SiITO building, I met with Bohdan Kryvy. He complained that he was being heavily blackmailed, so he wanted to take back his application to join the UGS. He also confessed to me about the immense pressure on his wife (who is 26 years younger than him)—after that ordeal, a divorce loomed over them. Nevertheless, after work, I went to a meeting of the Council of the People's Movement. I met Myroslav Mokriy at the meeting (he had even called me at work)—he brought a photograph of the church on Ostrovsky Street (now K. Ostrozky Street), which was destroyed by the communists in 1963. And Maria Kuzemko passed on greetings from Mykola Horbal (she had returned from Kyiv) and gave me a copy of the newspaper “Holos Vidrodzhennia” (“Voice of Revival”) No. 2. Andriy Zyubrovsky told me he had photographed the church of Josyf Slipyj and his house.
On May 16, I met with Vasyl Kohut at 11 a.m. He told me about the folklore festival in Berezhany: there were quite a few people from Saranchuky, and they even mentioned me. And after work at 6:30 p.m., I met with Andriy Zyubrovsky, who was a little late, and then with Pasichnyk. The day before, we had agreed on a plan to reconstruct the repressions that took place in the Ternopil prison in 1941. Regarding these matters, we went together to Mazepa's place, and then to an eyewitness who was already 77 years old. They gave us testimony about how mutilated corpses were transported from the Ternopil prison to the local cemetery. Andriy Zyubrovsky photographed the storytellers.
On May 17 at 9 a.m., I met with Bohdan Kryvy downstairs in the main SiITO building. I returned his application to join the UGS. As we parted, he donated 20 rubles to the UGS—he said he had collected it… That day, a meeting of the People's Movement took place. Dmytro Pyasetsky spoke for a very long time about his biography and work, as well as his condemnation of the repressive measures taken against him. Ihor Pushkar helped him. But the speech was uninteresting and tedious.
On May 18, as usual, I met with Vasyl Kohut at 11 a.m. Later, an unfamiliar woman called me, and we arranged to meet after work at the “Tekstylnyk” bus stop. She introduced herself as Lyubomyra Oleksiyivna—an envoy from the Lviv UGS, Yaroslav Putko, and Bohdan Horyn. She suggested meeting from time to time, leaving her phone number. And finally, she said: “In Lviv, they think nothing is happening here.”
Soon after, the Council of the Ternopil branch of the UGS convened. At the meeting, besides me, were Yaroslav Chykurliy, Bohdan Lekhnyak, and a new candidate, Petro Kindratovych Shavyak, who agreed to drive me to the district centers in his car. Hryhoriy Lavrushko also participated in the meeting, bringing 51 signatures against the April 8 Decree. He still seemed untrustworthy to me. After we saw Hryhoriy Lavrushko out, I arranged with Petro Shavyak to go to Berezhany on Saturday.
On May 19, I met with Yaroslav Gevko—he returned some things to me… At last, I visited Oles Angelyuk. Lidia Ivanyuk was there—I gave her a small bouquet of lilies of the valley. And she gave me two newspapers: “Postup” (“Progress”) and “Holos Vidrodzhennia” (“Voice of Revival”). At the same time, I passed a question for Mykhailo Horyn through her. Then I stopped by Ihor Havdyda's—we spoke on the phone. But nothing will come of him—he's bogged down by household chores…
On Saturday, May 20, I slept in late, as I had gone to bed late. In the morning, Bohdan Lekhnyak woke me up—he brought the typed “Ukrayinskyi Visnyk.” Then I called Atena in Lviv, but she wasn't there. However, the library in Lviv replied that Mykhailo Horyn was already free, and the 300-ruble fine had been paid by people who had chipped in. I also tried to call Yaroslav Chornomaz, but I couldn't get through.
On the morning of May 21 at 9 a.m., as we had arranged, I called Petro Kindratovych Shavyak—he would be waiting for me in his car near the “Tekstylnyk” Palace of Culture at 10 a.m. On the way, I missed Bohdan Lekhnyak, but we eventually met up and went to “Tekstylnyk” together, and from there we drove to Berezhany. There was no water in the radiator and we nearly had an accident, but Petro Kindratovych noticed in time and added water. In the village of Lisnyky in the Berezhany district, we learned nothing about the torture in the Berezhany prison in 1941 because Hanna Shopyak had passed away. And in Berezhany, we also stopped by to see Novytsky, to whom I gave a copy of the “UGS Declaration of Principles.” Later we visited Kozova, where I also left a copy of the “UGS Declaration of Principles.” When we returned to Ternopil, at 7 p.m., Bohdan Lekhnyak and I went to the memorial sign in the center, where the intelligentsia of Ternopil had decided to erect a monument to Taras Shevchenko. Bohdan Lekhnyak had made four yellow-and-blue flags and bought flowers with two yellow-and-blue ribbons—we laid all of this at the memorial sign. A rally took place—there were many people. They recited poems and sang. They performed songs based on Shevchenko's words and folk songs. Petro Shavyak, who had driven us to Berezhany, also came. He confessed that he was ready to drive me anytime—which is wonderful! At the rally near the future monument, Georgiy Petruk-Popyk and Mykhailo Levytsky gave speeches. There were many militsiya, regional committee members, and KGB agents.
On May 22, I went to a meeting of the “Memorial” Council, but the meeting on the planned topic did not start right away, as everyone was outraged by the events of the night. At 3 a.m., the stele at the site of the future monument to Taras Shevchenko was removed, along with the yellow-and-blue flags and flowers. Artists brought black banners to the site with the inscriptions: “Shame on the criminals who desecrated the name of Taras Shevchenko.” Many people came—members of the “Memorial” Council also joined them. They sang. Anatoliy Kucherenko, chairman of the city executive committee, spoke and explained to the people why this had happened. When asked, “Where is the stele?” he replied that he didn't know. Yet, in the end, he acknowledged that the place for the Shevchenko monument was in the city center. I also had brief discussions with Anatoliy Kucherenko and Yaroslav Sukhy (secretary of the party organization of the Financial Institute, as he introduced himself). Then we continued the “Memorial” Council meeting, where we also discussed various issues of the society, fundraising, and the printing of statements.
On May 23, during my meeting with Vasyl Kohut, I made some inquiries and went to lunch. During that time, the head of the HR department at the Combine Plant called about five times, looking for me. It turned out the militsiya had summoned me. When I returned from lunch, Ihor Chubko informed me that I needed to call the HR department. He even gave me the phone number. The head of the HR department told me that I must visit Colonel Vitaliy Reima or Roman Rodzyak at the city militsiya. And so I went. At the city prosecutor's office, I wasn't actually accused of anything. I only reminded Vitaliy Reima that the previous warnings regarding the Movement's meetings were mistaken and simply ridiculous because Leonid Kravchuk and Mykhailo Babiy had been present at those meetings, which the prosecutor had deemed unauthorized. However, I did express my opinion in writing about the memorial sign at the site of the future monument to Taras Shevchenko. I wrote that the rally had not been planned but had arisen spontaneously and that the theft of the stele was an act of vandalism.
After work on May 24, I went straight home. I took my tape recorder and went to Bohdan Lekhnyak's. I gave him “Ukrayinskyi Visnyk” and instructed him to take it to the “Diprotsyvilprombud” design organization to have binders made. And I immediately went to the “Memorial” meeting. I was a bit late, but I pushed my way to the front and recorded some of the speeches on tape. I also spoke myself, proposing a condemnation of the local authorities' manifestations of Stalinism. However, a very interesting speech was given by the writer Mykhailo Kosiv, co-chairman of the People's Movement, who had been invited from Lviv. I asked him: “What is your attitude toward the UGS?” Mykhailo Kosiv replied that the “UGS Declaration of Principles” does not contradict existing legislation, and even less so the legislation of a future state governed by the rule of law…
Unfortunately, this is where my notes in the notebook, jotted down in passing without any pretense of artistry about the painful issues of that time, end, as my workload as a UGS organizer was growing, and I stopped writing about the daily events of those days…
However, it was the very feeling of the spirit of that turning point in time that prompted me not to ignore these records. And also a deep respect for those first ones who, by the call of conscience, consciously embarked on the path of truth.
Some of those mentioned here were desperate, while others were cautious, but I have the fondest memories of all my Ternopil friends from that difficult period twenty years ago.
Levko Horokhivsky, Kyiv.
Reprinted from a notebook on March 16, 2010.
