The 65th anniversary of the founding of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army will spark many debates in Ukraine. However, there are quite a few people for whom its importance does not have to be explained or proved. To them, the date when the UPA was founded in Volyn in 1942 means as much as Victory Day to veterans of the Soviet army. With tears in their eyes, they too receive congratulations, and with every passing year their numbers diminish. The sad fact remains that not all of their countrymen regard the activities of the UPA as a heroic struggle.
This year’s photo exhibit organized by Den’/The Day featured several photographs of UPA soldiers, including one that particularly impressed the students and lecturers of Ostroh Academy. This was the Lviv-based photographer Oresta Kostyshyna’s pictured entitled This is Our Native Land, taken during the UPA veteran’s parade commemorating Roman Shukhevych’s 100th anniversary in Lviv. “Look at these kind faces! These people could not have been the bandits that they are made out to be,” said the photographer.
The history of every second family in Volyn and Halychyna reflects the struggle against the occupation of Ukraine, whether by the Nazis or the Soviets. This struggle has a special meaning for Kostyshyna. All of her father’s brothers fought during the Second World War: some with the UPA, others with the Waffen SS Galicia Division. Her father was captured by the Germans as a soldier of the Polish army, so after the war he had to hide from the Soviet authorities. In 1946, Kostyshyna’s family was exiled to Siberia as “unreliable elements” of Soviet society. She says: “My photos of UPA veterans are very dear to me, my relatives, and thousands of other people.”
On Oct. 14, during the festivities in Lviv, Kostyshyna plans to try to locate the people in her photographs and present them with copies: “These people were ready to die for the independence of our country. We must show our gratitude.”
