The prime, and virtually obligatory, objective of this website is to shine light on the turbulence that has prevailed in Galicia during the 20th century.

From the onset of World War I until very recent times Galicia, like all of Ukraine, had been shattered by the relentless onslaught of foreign, hostile powers that aimed to seize her wealth, enslave her native peoples, obliterate her character and extinguish her distinct national identity.

From the north and the east - aggression by muscovite Bolsheviks, those "better friends" of Ukraine who massacred Ukrainians by the millions.  Concurrently from the west there came arrogance and invasion by our neighbours, the Poles.  The Poles: a nation that ought to have been Ukraine's natural ally in her struggle against Muscovy  –  and the Ukrainians theirs, against German aggression.   But instead, as remarked by Dr. Wasyl Veryha,  –  they dreamt about a Poland "from sea to sea"  –  from the Baltic to the Black sea, in which Ukrainians were to be held down to the role of servants. What difference for Ukrainians, then, between such plans and the scenario planned for them by another, similar marauder  –  Hitler.

A tragic fate at Polish hands befell Ukrainians in the regions of Lemkivshchyna, Nadsiannia, Yaroslavshchyna, Pidliashsha, and Kholm: destruction of their ancient churches, systematic burning of their villages and widespread torture and murder of priests and other patriots.  In modern times, one would call that ethnic cleansing.

In the south the Romanians took Ukrainian Bukovyna, and the Czechs seized Carpathian Ukraine.

Ukrainian patriots of that time  –  scholars, authors, artists, teachers and others  –  were not permitted by the enemy occupiers to work in their appropriate fields.  Public leaders of outstanding ability were generally liquidated, and their names calumnied.  The millennia-old Ukrainian language of Galicia, and her heritage and culture, were officially deprecated.

Galicians, bereft of freedom, were not masters in their own land.  In such circumstances the ablest among them either turned to armed resistance and massively sacrificed their lives in battle with the enemy, or fled outside of Ukraine's borders, notably during and after World War II.  This latter approach left open at least some possibility of avoiding death, slave labour, internal exile, and the ruination of families at the hands of the most murderous invading totalitarian power in European history, the Russian Empire.

As a consequence of the destructive policies of her occupiers Galicia lost her most competent national constituents.   Those who had the good fortune to find safe haven in foreign lands, set about without delay to doing that persistent selfless work destined to bind together fellow-emigres scattered over many continents and countries, and to reconstruct, in the diaspora, their culture as well as safeguarding the memories of all that was dear to them, that they had had to leave behind.  They built churches, established Ukrainian schools and community facilities, created literary, artistic and musical treasures, and thus advanced the national culture that the plunderers of Ukraine systematically sacked.

The present website offers only a brief glimpse of the collective national memory that is preserved abroad, beyond the borders of the land of our ancestors.   We hope this material will interest not only those who have long been denied access to it; but also any person with Ukrainian roots, without regard to place of residence, who desires to know more about their origins and about their forebears who voluntarily, gallantly and with great ferocity, defended their homeland against the enemy.

This material is offered at no charge in its original Ukrainian or English language, in the form of searchable pdf files that may be downloaded and read at the reader's convenience.  Where possible, translations are provided.  In case of discrepancies, it is the language of the original that governs.

This web page is far from complete  –  it is a work in progress.  Our initial offering is the 900-page tome with numerous photos from long-ago titled Berezhanska Zemla - The Land of Berezhany.  It is Galicia in miniature!   The webmaster hopes this electronic reprint will help materialize the hopes of the authors, that their work will  –  in the words of the Editorial College  –