ORYSIA'S NEW TOUR TO UKRAINE SET FOR SEPTEMBER!

A sign-post in the Carpathian Mountains... only 12500 km to Buenos Aires from Yaremche!  Kyiv is 345 km away!  
My apologies to Paul Roelofs -- this is his photo!  I forgot to credit him.

 

The tour is set -- details here. Please join me on a delightful, most enjoyable tour of Ukraine this fall. We have such a great time, and the serendipity is unbelievable. If you're a family or a bunch of friends, why not go together for a memorable time? We'll arrange to visit your ancestral villages -- where great-baba and dido came from. And if you have no family there, we'll find some for ya! Do contact Martha Banias at The Great Canadian Travel Company (isn't that a great name?)?

And you don't have to be Ukrainian, or speak Ukrainian. We've had folks from Japan and Australia, and all across North America. You're so well taken care of.

Please join us!  Details here

John Demjaniuk has passed away.  Vichna Yomu Pam'iat'. 

To some, he is a "Nazi war criminal."  To others, a victim of vengeance without evidence.  

Enough that he could not have been a "Nazi" because he was not an "Aryan" -- he was a subhuman, a Ukrainian, and they were considered Untermenschen by the Nazis.  Look into the shameful totally dishonest "investigations" of the US OSI (see review below) and how they captured "war criminals."

I find it beyond chutzpah that Germany would be the country prosecuting WWII war criminals!  Other than German, because they have been exempt from these laws?  Remember the Soviet trumped up evidence against Ukrainians, so thoroughly obvious.

Shame on all involved in these prosecutions.  During WWII, Ukraine fought both the Nazis and the Soviets, and had no one aiding them at all.  Ukrainians had the most human losses during the war.  During that time, there was not even a Ukr. government -- the Nazis considered Ukraine an economic colony -- everything from Ukraine was being removed west to Germany -- people, resources, even the black soil.

Hey, there are still people to catch -- I'm a child of forced labourers -- am I next?  What about the teenagers captured and taken to Germany to work?  See Marsha Skrypuch's book Making Bombs for Hitler

I should not be giving them ideas but, hey, there are still all those who were Displaced Persons in Germany and Austria after the war, the DPs who refused to go back to Uncle Joe Stalin's "paradise."  The Soviets were our allies, weren't they?  So the DPs and their kids and grandkids are next on the lists?   Same logic.

see these sources:

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/144135#.T2TPcnkyKCV

http://www.ukrweekly.com/old/archive/1996/289607.shtml

http://www.ukrweekly.com/old/archive/1996/299607.shtml

http://www.alfreddezayas.com/Articles/Demjanjuksehftel.shtml

SUPER MARSHA!

Author Marsha Skrypuch is amazing. 

Marsha has covered so many brave topics in her books for young people -- history in Canada, Ukraine, Armenia, Vietnam, and many issues that need to be discussed.   Her books are great for adults and make perfect gifts for young people.

Pawlina Demchuk MacQuarrie of Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio interviewed Marsha about her latest book here.

Her most recent titles are The Last Airlift and Making Bombs for Hitler.   Just check her web site to read about her award-winning books.

For St. Patrick's Day (written when the original Irish Tenors were still together):



MY IRISH SOUL COUSINS

As I watched and listened to the "Irish Tenors" singing during the Prairie Public Television membership drive this week, with each song I felt a closer kinship to them and the Irish. A long time ago I heard someone say that the Ukrainians are the Irish of the East, and the Irish are the Ukrainians of the West. Much in our histories is common: a fierce love of land, independent spirit, invasion and subjugation, intense struggles for freedom over the centuries, genocides by famine, emigration, exile, foreigners settling the land, invaders' attempts to systematically destroy the language, history and culture, loss of ethnic lands, and ultimate independence. Both our people have that ancient folk heritage, and we all sing, dance, cry, fight and love.

The three Irish Tenors are not as famous, nor as operatically gifted, as "The Three Tenors" (Pavarotti, Domingo and Carerras). The latter are professionals, who live and breathe by their enormously wonderful voices. They sing whatever is on the operatic or concert program, in whatever language, although nothing melts your heart more than Pavarotti singing his Neapolitan songs - you can see on his face that these come from his Italian soul. 

Shandi Mitchell's Book Wins Kobzar Literary Award

I am so very very happy for Shandi Mitchell, who won the Kobzar Literary Award yesterday!

She writes beautifully and movingly.  Please be sure to get her book Under This Unbroken Sky.  I had the pleasure and honour of meeting her in Winnipeg during her book tour.  

More information about Shandi and her book here, and award here
and on the CBC website here.

2012 Arts & Culture tour

Will be going to Ukraine again in 2012, and it would be great to have you join me. We have a most wonderful time. You can arrange a special itinerary for your group. We are happy to accommodate.

Have had one tour where it was a whole clan of family and friends, celebrating the centennial of the family's settlement in Canada. They went back to their ancestors' villages and had great reunions. It was a treat to accompany them.

Have also had extended families traveling together, as well as groups of friends. There have been folks from Australia, and from Japan, as well as from across all of North America. Now we are all friends, and I am blessed to have met them and traveled with them.

The number in the tour is limited, so folks need to sign up with Martha as soon as they can. Sign up here.

 http://orysia.blogspot.ca/2012/03/tour-is-set-details-h-ere.html

Looking for Rusalka people, past and present

I can't make this up, folks. In today's Books section of the Winnipeg Free Press (Dec. 17, 2011), Anita Daher, writer for the Paper Chase section, wrote the item below. Wow! She really dug deep and all around! Gulp.... Hoping to hear from Rusalka folks from all around. Already have a few replies.

A broadcaster once called her a "walking, talking Ukrainian encyclopedia," but for her next project, Winnipeg writer Orysia Tracz is seeking the public's help. In preparation for the Rusalka Ukrainian Dance Ensemble's upcoming 50th anniversary, she is gathering personal stories and reflections for a commemorative book.
Rusalka was founded by Peter Hladun in 1962, and grew from a small troupe to a world-class ensemble, touring nationally and internationally, performing at festivals and for heads of state and royalty.
Tracz wants to hear from anyone with a memory or story, including current members, alumni, parents, fans, collaborating dance ensembles, and past and present board members. "What has being in Rusalka meant to you? What is your best memory?"
To contribute, email orysiarusalka@gmail.com or mail Orysia Tracz, c/o Rusalka Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, P.O. Box 3059, Winnipeg, MB, R3C 4E5.