BUILDING AN INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR IMAGE
The Day presented its third Library Series book, Viyny i Myr (Wars and Peace), edited by Larysa Ivshyna, at the 11th Publishers’ Forum in Lviv. Wars and Peace is about Ukrainians and Poles, whose neighborly and hostile relationships have lasted for several centuries. This book, which is available in two versions, Ukrainian and Polish, focuses on facts, events, and personalities. The authors of the project, who incorporated works by progressive historians, philosophers, and experts on cultural studies, thought it important to convey the message also to Poland. The younger generations in both countries must have a clear idea of the past in order to build a common future. Only a handful of Polish-language publications are available in Ukraine, mostly in the form of textbooks. According to the Book Chamber of Ukraine, 11 book titles were published in 2003, with a total print run of 5,200 copies. Only five books have appeared in print this September, with a print run of 6,500 copies, of which four are so-called general educational publications meant for children. But now we have Wars and Peace, an essentially new publication designed for college and postgraduate students, researchers, and political analysts — in a word, for all those who are interested in Ukraine’s past and prospects.
During the forum’s opening ceremony at the Lviv Opera, President Oleksandra Koval conferred a personal diploma on The Day’s project, saying the project was timed perfectly with the Year of Poland being marked in Ukraine, and that this would make it even more interesting to the general public.
Visitors crowded our stands on the very first day of the book fair. Maksym Sivtsiv from Lviv, an engineer by training, already owned the Ukraine Incognita and Dvi Rusi books, and was now happy to see the third publication in this series. “ I bought your other publications last year. I am interested in history, but I was able to learn about certain events and personalities for the first time only from your publications, which made me feel as though I have grown stronger mentally, intellectually, and morally. One can sense the state- building mood, or character, if you will. I think that Wars and Peace will be as informative and interesting.” Ihor Maihutiak, manager of a publishing company in Ivano-Frankivsk, immediately took a number of copies for distribution, saying, “People know your publications. They visit us and ask if there is a sequel to the series. I first glanced through Dvi Rusi and Ukraine Incognita, and then read both books carefully. What I like is that the authors not only dwell on tragedies, destruction, and times of troubles in our history, but also highlight Ukrainian strength and intellect, writing about those who upheld the glory of Ukraine. Now I can discuss such topics with customers, and even debate certain issues.”
Teachers bought Wars and Peace to use as textbooks. “I teach the history of Ukrainian culture and art at Warsaw University and at Ukrainian study and intercultural study chairs,” said Rostislaw Kramar, senior instructor at Warsaw University’s Ukrainian Studies Chair, who told The Day, “I have two hundred students, most of whom are Poles. Some of them have a fair command of Ukrainian, and others are only beginners. So I bought the Polish version, as my students will find it easier to understand. There is increasing interest in Ukraine among Poles, especially young people. Proof of this is the fact that Poland probably ranks second after Ukraine in the number of academic chairs dealing with Ukrainian studies. There are strong university communities conducting such studies in Krakow and Warsaw. Traveling across Poland, I was surprised to find them also in small towns like Sosnowiec, in the southwest, as well as in Gdansk and Bialystok. In the early 1990s, when Ukraine had just embarked on national independence, the number of people wishing to take up Ukrainian studies increased several dozen times. Even though this interest gradually waned, it has shown an increase over the past couple of years. But we know that it has to be kindled by positive information on our side.”
The Day has been doing its best to help build Ukraine’s international image, especially now that the issue is so very much in the spotlight.
Ursula Podraza from the Book Institute of Poland said, after familiarizing herself with the new book, “A number of Poles, not to mention ethnic Ukrainians, will be interested in learning more about Polish-Ukrainian relations. Hanging over these relations are painful memories, but it’s important to face all of this, without holding anything back. This is precisely what The Day has done in Wars and Peace. Poles are also interested in learning more about noted authors and public figures that lived in Ukraine, like Juliusz Slowacki. Also, events like the unveiling of the Adam Mickiewicz statue in Odesa are known to have attracted considerable public interest in Poland. In a word, this book must be publicized in my country. Perhaps it would be worth adding information to journals that publicize new publications, taking part in book exhibits, and holding launches of this book at universities with Ukrainian studies. For example, Krakow has a Ukrainian cultural center and a Ukrainian bookstore. I think they should have copies of Wars and Peace.”
BOOK LAUNCH
The next day (Sept. 17), Wars and Peace was ceremoniously launched in the Blue Hall at Potocki Palace. It attracted a large audience, despite many other interesting events that were taking place as part of the forum — even the screening of Andrzej Wajda’s autobiographical documentary on the other side of Lviv. Among those attending were Volodymyr Herych, deputy head of the Regional State Administration; Beata Dobosz from the Polish consulate; Oleksandr Afonin, president of the Ukrainian Publishers and Distributors’ Association; Volodymyr Zdoroveha and Vasyl Lyzanchuk, professors from the journalism department of Lviv’s Ivan Franko National University; writers Mariya Matios and Roman Lubkivsky; our partners Yuri (George) Logush, director general, Kraft Foods Ukraine, and Tetiana Logush, coordinator of the “Coronation of the Word” contest for best novel and filmscript; Volodymyr Sereda, chairman of the Zakerzonnia Ukrainian Deportees’ Association; journalists; students from the Catholic University and Ivan Franko University; readers of The Day; other visitors; and of course, the organizing committee represented by Prof. Volodymyr Panchenko and Prof. Yuri Shapoval; The Day writers Klara Gudzyk and Serhiy Lytvyn; editor Taras Kompanychenko; and project translators Iryna Skopina and Lesia Bilenka. Guests voiced their ideas, shared their own experiences during the Volyn tragedy, and addressed questions to The Day’s Editor-in-Chief Larysa Ivshyna. Traditionally, the three best questions won prizes, with the winner choosing between the two-volume collection Ukraine Incognita and Dvi Rusi or Wars and Peace. The book launch began with “Hei, Sokoly,” a song well known in Ukraine and Poland. The Editor-in-Chief of The Day greeted the forum participants and guests, thanking everyone who worked on the new publication, as well as the traditional supporters of our publishing projects, among them Serhiy Tulub, president of NAEK Enerhoatom, and Valery Tsybukh, who heads the State Tourist Administration.
Below are the most interesting highlights of the debate.
Larysa IVSHYNA:
Dear Friends of The Day, and all our other friends who are present today. The third book has appeared in print within a very short period, only three years. This one was published using our newspaper’s own resources. They say you have to see things for what they are and to want to achieve something that is generally believed to be impossible to accomplish. We dedicated the third book to the new concept of Ukrainian-Polish relations; we called it Wars and Peace, an epic title, as I wrote in the foreword, which is probably very characteristic of this stage in our relations. Wars have taken place in the past, but peace has turned out to be an equally difficult challenge. Nevertheless, we hope that we have taken a firm and irreversible stand, and we will work hard to make this peace even more effective, by contributing new ideas and offering a new kind of cooperation.
The Ukrainian song “Hey, Sokoly,” which I offered at the beginning, should be familiar to all of you. We visited Zakopane one time, by invitation from the Polish defense minister. We were invited to a very nice party at a local tavern, where a great Polish band sang this song in Polish. So I brought a CD to play here. Possibly, it was a musical prelude for our book. I don’t know when this song was written, but some of Petliura’s men must have sung it when they were advancing to the Zbruch, including this line, “My sweetheart remained there all alone, how can I endure such torment — a foreign land and separation?” The new book is about this event and others, including Pilsudski and Petliura’s joint campaign, what happened in the past and what we have today. The main question is, if Ukraine isn’t Russia, why is it not where Poland is? This question takes a lot of thinking, it can’t be answered unequivocally, for there are many versions to this answer.
All things considered, I believe that we have accomplished something really important, something young Ukrainians and Poles really need-something we all need in order to understand each other better, without hurting our feelings, and with an eye to the future. That’s why we used Mateiko’s famous picture Vernyhora for the front cover. Vernyhora is believed to have been a prophetic Cossack who foretold the fall and resurrection of Poland, and its subsequent rapprochement with Ukraine, as symbolized by the child clad in white-a very symbolic and virtuous approach, indeed. We dedicated our book to Jacek Kuron, a celebrated Pole and a sincere friend of Ukraine. His Eminence Liubomyr Huzar, Cardinal of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, gave his blessings to our project. Our esteemed friend Adam Michnik wrote the introduction. All this is further proof that there is a mutual interest and desire to write, communicate, and understand one another better. Thank you.
Volodymyr PANCHENKO, Vice President, Kyiv-Mohyla National University, co-compiler:
My friends, please take note of what is inscribed on the book cover: “Library of The Day.” In other words, what we have here is not just another book, but a book-publishing project that is rather comprehensive and one that is facing great prospects. This is the third publication. The first one was entitled Ukraine Incognita, which may be described as a book in digest form, comprising what we believe are the best publications dealing with historical subjects, which have been carried by The Day in the past several years. The second book, Dvi Rusi, was more on the conceptual side, concerning painful aspects of Ukrainian-Russian relations. We gave special consideration to the concept of the third publication. So Wars and Peace is a book that makes you think hard because it encompasses several aspects. In our view, there are three: the historical one, dealing with past events, relying on numerous publications, specifically with the Cossack period. The second aspect concerns political studies. We tried to project historical events onto current realities. We succeeded in enlisting such prominent writers as Lina Kostenko and Oksana Pakhliovska. The latter contributed her article on the painful Ukraine-Europe issue. We asked Lina Kostenko for an interview and she kindly agreed. She broached not only her lyrical topic (My Poland) but also the current situation is in Ukraine. Finally, there is the cultural aspect. I oversaw the chapter entitled “Cultural Space,” which includes articles relating to a number of noted personalities, among them Karol Szimanowski. His family history is intimately tied to Ukraine, where he was born and raised. Or take Yevhen Malaniuk, whose destiny took him to Warsaw, where he established contact with a great many Polish figures. There is also material relating to Adam Mickiewicz and Prof. Llywell. We planned Wars and Peace as a book that would stimulate further dialogue on the subject of Ukrainian-Polish relations, which remains acute today and will be as important tomorrow.
Yuri SHAPOVAL, head of the History and Political Study Center, Institute for Political and Ethnic Studies, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, compiler:
Esteemed brothers, with your permission I will refer to Bertrand Russell, who said that world history is the sum of everything that can be avoided. This is perhaps especially true of Ukrainian-Polish relations; here one finds many aspects of that which could — and should — have been avoided. Larysa Ivshyna at one time initiated an intellectual intervention on the pages of The Day, allowing us to voice our respective opinions on issues that had long been discussed in Poland, from the Polish standpoint. Such discussions were encouraged by the Editor-in-Chief and eventually resulted in the book we are presenting today. After we finished our work on the manuscript, it was important for us to find the tuning fork that the reader would be aware of from the very beginning. That tuning fork was provided by a very sad event, the passing of Jacek Kuron, and what Ewa Rybalt wrote about this loss. Strange as it may seem, there is an optimistic touch to this tragic event. Kuron taught us that people should not let themselves be bent whichever way; that you should not give up the struggle, come what may. Most importantly, he taught that people have to learn to understand their fellow humans.
Not so long ago, Larysa Ivshyna invited Volodymyr Panchenko and me to visit the Crimea. During this business trip we visited Simferopol’s himnaziya, a newly opened high school. While in the Crimea, we discussed prospects and new ideas, each time returning to the project. We checked and compared our concepts. Actually, we wanted to see precisely how well the book was turning out. How well it has turned out is for you, the readers, to judge.
Yuri [George] LOGUSH, director general, Kraft Foods Ukraine:
I would like to thank all those concerned for the new book from The Day Library Series. It is graphic proof of the creative team’s courage, I would even emphasize their tough approach, something we need so badly these days, so that Ukrainians can learn useful lessons from their shared history with their neighbor. May I ask you to please embark on yet another project? Ukraine is historically at a crossroads between West and East, within the Poland-Russia-Turkey triangle. I believe that the next logical step would be to develop a book dealing with Ukrainian-Turkish relations.
Larysa IVSHYNA:
That’s an interesting and timely idea, one that we will certainly discuss. We have several interesting plans. Elaborating on the subject of our relations with our southern neighbor would be equally interesting. Books on history are written to help the reader better understand past and coming realities, aren’t they?
Volodymyr HERYCH, deputy head of Lviv’s regional state administration:
We feel optimistic about our further relations with Poland, although we have problems concerning the location and establishment of historic memorial sites, both in western Ukraine and eastern Poland. However, we are not aware of any disagreements, for example, concerning the preservation of joint cultural sites. Not so long ago the Polish authorities, in collaboration with the Ukrainian community, restored an ancient wooden church, an architectural monument by the village of Korchmin, which is in today’s Poland, in the vicinity of the Polish-Ukrainian border. The village was once a single whole, but was then divided by barbed wire marking the Soviet-Polish frontier. Many residents have relatives left on both sides. History must be learned also in order to correct previous mistakes and misunderstandings. I am sure that if we have more books like Wars and Peace, more debates such as the one taking place here, we will be able to understand and forgive each other faster, and will learn to live as good neighbors.
Maria LEWICKA, lecturer, Chair of Psychology, Warsaw University:
There will always be people in Poland and Ukraine who take a dim view of Polish-Ukrainian relations, who say that they are anything but friendly. However, the Polish government has declared that Poland has nothing to complain about its eastern frontiers. But it’s also true that we have disputes with Germany concerning some eastern territories.
We are conducting a series of joint projects between the universities of Warsaw and Lviv. Some of these relate to mutual views of history; others deal with perceptions of injuries done to both of our countries, as well as with an understanding of things for which we should thank each other. Characteristically, negative notions take deeper root in the psyche than positive ones. In the course of our studies we focused on positive things. I have stressed that Ukrainian blood runs in many Polish veins. Like so many other Ukrainians, I also have Polish blood. Meaning that we are blood brothers. I also think that the Polish and Ukrainian younger generations are relying on different principles, including mutual confidence, understanding, and interest in their neighbor.
Taras KOMPANYCHENKO, kobza-player:
I often communicate with Polish intellectuals; we work on joint musical projects, so that we can learn more about each other. We have realized that we have so much in common, for example, the Ukrainian school in Polish literature and the Polish school in Ukrainian literature during the 16th-18th centuries. Take Kyiv, for example, not to mention Lviv. There used to be a residential district known as Liakhivshchyna, with its Polish cathedral, where St. Jacek once delivered his sermons. There is a mural portraying him at the Dominican Cathedral in Krakow.
Visiting Wawel, I see small Lithuanian or Hungarian flags fluttering on the graves of queens of Lithuanian and Hungarian parentage. We have never visited the grave of Michal Korybut- Wisniowiecki to pay homage to a dead friend. On the other hand, it is a pleasure to read the legend on the grave of the rebels of 1863 at the cemetery of Pieskowa Skala near Krakow: “...among others buried here is the Ukrainian Andriy Potebnia, brother of Oleksandr Potebnia, former Russian officer and associate of Aleksandr Herzen...” New times call for new historical interpretations with regard to our relations. Wars and Peace is further graphic proof of this.
Oksana TELENCHI, Holos Ukrainy newspaper:
Mrs. Ivshyna, you were born and raised in the vicinity of the Ukrainian-Polish border, so you must have your own ideas about Poland. Is the issue of Ukrainian- Polish relations so very painful as to bring tears to your eyes whenever you broach the subject? Maybe it would be best to avoid it?
Larysa IVSHYNA:
When we were embarking on this third project, I found myself taking it very close to heart. For the book Dvi Rusi, we adopted a rather innovative approach, by asking what we could do to help Russia. One answer to this question is that the more Ukraine becomes European, the more it will be able to help Russia. This topic remains acute. This year I found myself even more convinced that Russia would only benefit from Ukraine becoming a full-fledged member of the European community of nations. We cannot waste time trying to gain EU and NATO membership at the same time. That’s perfectly clear to me. Ukraine may be an informal member now, which fact is explained by a number of domestic and foreign political considerations, yet we must be absolutely sure about where this country is heading.
As for Wars and Peace, you must understand that the point at issue is even more complicated. To an extent, the question ‘If Ukraine is not Russia, why isn’t it where Poland is?’ appears justified. Why is Ukraine showing such little progress integrating into the European home? What caused that “Vistula miracle” and why has no such miracle occurred by the Dnipro River? Why did the Poles have Pilsudski and what caused the Ukrainians to fail to rally around Petliura? I read vast amounts of material when I was preparing this publication, and I began to understand more. Of course, I know that it was difficult. These hardships must still be overcome, just as the danger of old threats being revived is hidden with in our national organism and stereotypes. We must carry out decontamination and disinfecting procedures. Such efforts have already been made, but they were never carried out fully. Recidivism is still common. And the degree of contamination is rather high. We must have a clear picture of what is happening within our social organism. We must compare the Ukrainian and Polish mentalities, find out what the Poles think of us and why. We must make sure of our stand; how we see ourselves, what we think of them, how all this looks at present. This is an innovative and complicated task. Once we grasp all these issues, we must come up with our own proposals. When debating the Volyn issue, I was ashamed to realize that we had to depend on others for help owing to our poverty. Some of our VIPs refused to discuss the Volyn tragedy, simply because it is convenient for them to travel to Poland. They thought that revealing the truth would make the Poles angry, sad but true. There also people who want to be made welcome in Moscow. This is probably the most disheartening issue. I realize that old history has not been fully overcome.
