www.ukrweekly.com Л 01 Г c S" r– - a M ^ш Published by the Ukrainian National Association inc., a fraternal non-profit association! жч: -я -Z O- ^3J CT K -4 X Of" o se^ 4 ш О o–О о z о Oz о М ДІЛ О К п rainian Weekly М 'Л vol. LI No. 33 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, AUGUST R 1983 25 cents WCFU memo to Council of Churches tOO congressmen appeal for Meshko WASHINGTON - one hundred House in 1980, has been involved in details Soviet denial of religious rights members of the U.S. Congress revealed many human-rights actions, including letters and resolutions in defense of vANCOUvER - The World Con– believers live together (in the USSR) in their concern for the fate of 78-year-old Oksana Meshko, a founding member of members of the Ukrainian Helsinki gress of Free Ukrainians (WCFU) full harmony and respect the right of Monitoring Group and other Ukrainian the Ukrainian Helsinki Group who is submitted a lengthy memorandum on every man for freedom of conscience political prisoners. religious persecution in the USSR to the guaranteed by our constitution..." now in exile in a remote region of World Council of Churches (WCC), The memorandum stated that not Siberia near the Chinese border, by Another important legislative action which held a three-week congress here only the two principal Churches of the signing a joint letter to Soviet leader . introduced by Rep. Smith in the 98th on July 24 through August 10. Ukrainian people - the Ukrainian Yuri Andropov. - Congress was House Concurrent Reso– Orthodox and the Ukrainian Catholic The congressmen called on the Soviet lution 100, which now has over 100 co- Some 3,500 delegates and observers leader to invoke Article 100 of the sponsors. This resolution deals with the attended the assembly of the WCC, Churches — were destroyed and de– clared beyond the law, but, since World RSFSR Corrective Labor Code, which use of slave labor by the Soviets in which encompasses some 400 million states that convicted persons suffering major construction and manufacturing Protestants and Eastern Orthodox War 11, the Ukrainian Evangelical Reformed Church, the Ukrainian Lu– from chronic illnesses may be freed projects, and condemns Soviet practices Christians and is sometimes referred to from serving the full term of their as contrary to all internationally accept– as the "Protestant vatican." theran Church and the Jehovah's Wit– nesses were banned in Ukraine. The sentences. ed norms. Hearings on the matter will Signed by Sen. Paul Yuzyk and The legislators further urged the commence early this fall in the House My kola Moroz, president and secretary, Evangelical Christians and the Baptists, which enjoy the largest following of all Soviet premier to permit Ms. Meshko Foreign Relations Committee and the respectively, of the WCFU Human and her son, Oleksander Serhiyenko, Congressional Helsinki Commission. Rights Commission, the memorandum Protestant groups in Ukraine, are also a political prisoner, whose exile was distributed to several hundred restrained in their religious practices, Rep. Smith is one of 15 commission– delegates from all over the world while the so-called "unregistered" sentence was due to end on August 4 of ers sitting on the CSCE - better gathered at the sixth assembly of the Baptists ("initsiatyvnyky") are openly this year, to return together with his known as the Helsinki-Commission - WCC. The previous assembly was held persecuted by the Soviet government. family to Kiev, in this way, Ms. Meshko which was established in 1976 for the in 1975. The memorandum described briefly could spend the remaining years of her sole purpose of monitoring the human- but clearly the rebirth and destruction life with her son, his wife and,grand-– rights record of states signatory to the in the document, the WCFU took children. issue with the recent statement of of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Ortho– 1975 Helsinki Accords. Patriarch Pimen, head of the Russian dox Church in the late 1930s and the The initiator of the letter to Mr. Orthodox Church, to the effect that brutal "liquidation" of the Ukrainian Andropov was Rep. Christopher Smith Americans for Human Rights in "people of various religions and non- (Continued on page 3) (R-N.J.) who, since his election to the (Continued on page 6) ! Soviet Ukrainian writers chastised for ideological shortcomings ( by Dr. Roman Solchanyk two important functionaries of the in the face of the impasse threatening Mr. Zahrebelnyi insisted that "love of Cultural Department of the Ukrainian bourgeois civilization." the Fatherland begins with love of the Literaturna Ukraine, the weekly Central Committee: v.P. Skomarov– Other shortcomings noted by the native language and the native land." organ of the Ukrainian Writers' Union, skyi, deputy head of the department, head of the Ukrainian Writers' Union "This should be remembered not only published an unusually brief account of and O.K. Hlushko, head of its Litera– include "the distortion of our reality" by writers, but by all those who are the proceedings of an enlarged session ture Sector. and "deviations from the historical engaged in the upbringing of children, of the presidium of the board of the Mr. Zahrebelnyi'sspeech,as reported truth." With regard to the latter, Mr. it is high time that school texts are Ukrainian writers' organization that by Literaturna Ukraine, provides fur– Zahrebelnyi singled out the portrayal of reviewed to ensure that they include as was held in Kiev on July 5. The meeting ther evidence that no new radical collectivization in Ukraine, which is many highly artistic works of our was convened to discuss the results of departures in Soviet society are yet on particularly relevent at the present time classics as possible," he said. the June plenums of the Central Com– the agenda. For the most part, the in view of the widespread publicity that Clearly, the lot of the Soviet writer is mittee of the Comminuist Party of the criticisms and exhortations that were has been generated in t'.e West by not an enviable one. The party sees Soviet Union (CPSU)and the Commn– heard at the Kiev meeting could easily Ukrainians marking the 50th anniver– writers as occupying a (orward position nist Party of the Ukrainian SSR, and have been made at similar gatherings of sary of the famine of 1932-33. Some on the so-called ideological front and the tasks of writers in the republic. Ukrainian writers five or even 10 years writers, maintained Mr. Zahrebelnyi, insists that they contribute to the The almost offhand manner in which ago. The point of departure, of course, are "seeking to idealize patriarchalism creation of the myth of "the Soviet the newspaper summarized the speeches is the constant search for the ideal or resorting to the search for God." man." At the same time, it criticizes at the writers' session is rather odd in "Soviet hero." in Mr. Zahrebelnyi's Many of these problems, he said, stem them for lack of incisiveness, for view of the fact that the June plenum of words, this model Soviet man must be from the fact that a great number of portraying stereotyped characters and the CPSU Central Committee was the "a vivid, spiritually rich, complex and historical topics have remained unre– routine situations, and for generally first opportunity for the new party unique personality." Quoting Yuri searched, and this, "introduces confu– inclining towards the humdrum. leadership to set out its views on the Arfdropv, Mr. Zahrebelnyi reminded sion in our works on historical themes." state of ideological affairs in the coun– his listeners that the struggle is on for Mr. Zahrebelnyi provided examples of Thus, at a meeting of the Kiev the minds and hearts of billions of try. indeed, the first secretary of the "mistaken and ideologically immature" writers'organization on April 19, Yuriy Ukrainian Writers' Union, Pavlo Za– ^people. articles and reviews that have appeared Mushketyk, head of the organization, hrebelnyi, emphasized the importance v To judge.from some of his remarks, in recent issues of Ukrainian literary complained that Ukrainian literature of this' event to the participants of the however, it is fairly, clear that at least journals, but Literaturna Ukraine did had failed to arouse any kind of contro– Writers' Union meeting by ranking the some Ukrainian writers' are much more not see fit to inform its readers either versy or discussion comprable to the June plenum with the Food Program. interested in what he described as "a who their authors were or in which debate surrounding the so-called dere– "Last year," he said, "the party timeless and boundless, a universal journals these articles had been pub– venshchiki school of Russian writers. adopted the Food Program, and now man." Mr. Zahrebelnyi explained this lished. Both Mr. Mushketyk and the over- we have an ideological program." He negative phenomenon as stemming The language issue also figures pro– seers of ideological orthodoxy in litera– went on to remind the assembled literati from the uncritical acceptance of cer– minently in Mr. Zahrebelnyi's speech. ture and the arts are fully aware that the of something that Soviet writers have tain trends in the West. The dominant He criticized, as did Ukrainian party rural themes in contemporary Soviet been remided of on innumerable occa– Weltanshauung in the capitalist world, leader volodymyr Shcherbytsky earlier Russian literature are inspired in large sions during the past six decades: that argued Mr. Zahrebelnyi, is character– in the year, the continued use of archa– part by Russian national traditions — a ideology and literature are virtually ized by the growth of ideas that are isms, dialect and "even words that are luxury that is not accorded Ukrainian or any other non-Russian writers lest indistinguishable.