Наше Життя (Our Life), рік 1980, число 2, лютий

OUR LIFEMONTHLY, published by Ukrainian National Women’s League of AmericaVOL XXXVII FEBRUARY 1980 No. 2EDITORIALLOVE AND RESPONSIBILITYThe tragic death of tw o w om en has m ade February “them onth of the h eroin es.” Olha Basarab, w ho died inFebruary 1924 in Lviv, and O lena Teliha, w ho died inFebruary 1942 in Kiev b ecam e sym b ols of heroism . Twodifferent w om en — different in gen eration s, p ersonalities,upbringing, interests, p rofession s. What they had incom m on w as their love of their country, their feeling ofresponsibility for its fate, and the su b servien ce of theirlife to its n eed s.They w ere not the only o n es. In addition to them ,o n e w ould have to m ention the nam es of m any others— so m e already d e cea sed and others w ho did not diefor their country but w ho out of a se n s e of responsibilitycarried and con tin u e to carry the heavy burden of life.Som e carry it in jail cells and prison cam ps. O therscarry it in circu m stances of freedom . For there existeveryday h eroin es w ho daily c h o o se the road ofop position rather than taking the path of leastresistance. B esid es th o se w h o se nam es are familiar tous, how m any others are there w ho are unknow n?"Love of country” — is this just a fine phrase w hichsom etim es m oves o n e to tears? Are the outwardexp ressio n s of this feeling — via dem onstrations,s p e e c h e s and so n g s — en o u g h ? S h ou ld n ’t there be tiedto this feeling a se n s e of responsibility for one's actions,for con d u ctin g o n e ’s life according to the n eed s of alarger unit — o n e ’s country?Of course, not everyon e can be a hero or heroine.That is, not everyon e should or can cro ss the limits ofnormal human resistan ce and toleran ce of pain orpressure. But the m oney and k n ow led ge of heroicd eed s of others o b lig es each individual to a certainam ount of effort, not just to loud w ords of praise andrespect.An essen tial part of love — if it is not just a shortlivedem otion — is a se n s e of responsibility. This relatesnot only to love of country, but to love of parents andchildren and love for a beloved individual. Of course theexp ression of love, or actions resulting from a feeling ofresponsibility for the loved one, are determ ined bycircum stan ces. An action w hich here in the free world iscon sid ered a normal, everyday occu rren ce — there inthe Soviet system can be seen as a real achievem ent,som etim es even a heroic one.It is easy, in our perhaps overly free society, tocriticize the form s of protest in Ukraine. O ne m usthow ever first “put on their s h o e s ” and only thenp ostulate how and what to do in the struggle forfreedom in a country w here artistic creativity or eventhe u se of o n e ’s native lan gu age can be con sid ered acrim e against the regim e.Our task should be to support every exp ression ofthe fight for freedom ; to help th o se w ho in the nam e offreedom put their life’s ach ievem en ts and their ow n andtheir fam ilies’ safety on the line. Should w e begin tonourish our own variety of patriotism that is in fact cutoff from our native land? Or rather, should w e try tounderstand th ose paths w hich our brothers and sistersin Ukraine have c h o se n ? They await and n eed oursupport. And w ho if not w e should try to understandand help them ?transl. by A.H.S.NINA STROKATA KARAWANSKAVISITS THE UNWLAOn January 24, 1980, S v ia to sla w and NinaKarawansky visited with the UNWLA. UNWLA P residentI. R ozankow ska introduced the visitors, after w hich allpresent got a ch a n ce to ex ch a n g e feelin g s and ideas.It w as a pleasure seein g the K arawanskys. Therew as little tim e for exten sive d iscu ssion s; there will betim e en ou gh for this w hen the Karaw anskys are restedand adjusted to their new life. T hey life their belovedhom eland regretting their inability to help her.Mrs. Nina gladly told us about the Ukrainianpolitical prisoners, about the sp ecial binds am ong theirfam ilies. S om eh ow , with a com m on feeling, a com m onloss, a com m on “spirituality” that binds them all clo selyto g eth er, th e s e p e o p le m a n a g e th e im p o ssib le.Som eh ow , they m anage to get new s of what is reallygoin g on in the Ukraine back to us and ask for our help.Ukrainians in the free world should support and helptheir fellow Ukrainians in any way p ossib le.It w as difficult parting with our gu ests. Throughtheir short visit, they filled us with strength and humilityand renew ed our resolves to work for all that is trulyours.Due to circumstances beyond the control of the editors,the continuation of Motria Kushnir's "Double Vision"will be printed in the next issue.22 НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ, ЛЮТИЙ 1980