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Traces of History
Ukraine
Lyuda Stukalo
Born 1994 in Zboriv, Ukraine
High school student (“Roman Zavadovych” High school; Zboriv)
“The migration of Ukrainian people in 1944-47“ (2010)
The Lemkos are a quantitatively and territorially small Ukrainian ethnic group inhabiting the Carpathian Mountains. After World War II the majority of Lemkos living in Poland were either resettled from their historic homeland to the prеvious German territories in the North-Western region of Poland or to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.This competition entry deals with the repatriation of Ukrainians from Poland to the Soviet Union between 1944-47. The author documents the events by relating to the personal experience of her family members, who, at their arrival in Ukraine, got nothing more than bread as compensation for their deportation. Interestingly enough, Lyuda Stukalo also presents the reverse side of the story, in which Ukrainian nationals migrated to Poland, due to change in marital status. Their fate was not a far cry from what the Lemkos hat to put up with at their arrival in Ukraine.
Orest Franchuk
Born 1994 in Zboriv, Ukraine
High school student (“Roman Zavadovych” High school; Zboriv)
“Reconciliation over the graves” (2010)
In the city of Zboriv, in Western Ukraine, there have been both a German military hospital, a Polish church and a cemetery for both the German and Soviet soldiers. After 1944, when Russia gained authority over this region, all these have been destroyed, all the human remains being put in a common grave with no identification whatsoever. In his paper, Orest Franchuk documents the efforts being made over time by the local high school students in order that the remains are exhumed and restored to their rest place in a military cemetery. As study cases he follows the stories of two people from Germany, that came looking, 50 years after the war, for their dead fathers in the cemetery of Zboriv.
Kostya Mohilastiy
Born 1991 in Kryvoe Ozero, Ukraine
Student (State Economical University, Ternopil)
"Footprints of History"
Carrying out broad research about the life of youth in the Ukraine during the period of Socialism was the main content of Kostya´s competition entry. He examined the impact of Soviet ideology on young Ukrainians and found out, that the youngsters had a tendency to "..shift between ideology and religious thought where they had more rights and freedoms". Kostya used his own grandparents as research objects and examples for the typical fate of young people during the time of the 1940s and 1950s. The author drew comparisons between his relatives´ youth and his own. For this purpose, he undertook research concerning youth culture and lifestyle, fashion, music, hobbies of youngsters, their rights as well as restrictions, they had to obey to. One focal point of his research were youth organizations, their structures and beliefs as well as their development during the Soviet regime. Concerning educational structures, the student came to the conclusion "..that secondary and higher education were politicized to the point that the education of children was based solely on the principles of Communist ideology". Religious beliefs were not considered or mentioned at schools anymore, the lessons were held in Russian, not Ukrainian. So, the author concludes, youth during the 1940s and 1950s in the Ukraine was dominated by Soviet political not moral standards.
In his comparison of youth in the past and nowadays, the student found out similarities and differences. Nevertheless, Kostya Mohilastiy comes to the conclusion, that there exist many characteristics of youth, e.g. the strive for freedom and self-determination, that persist during the times.
For his studies, Kostya reviewed school documents, textbooks and photographs, he furthermore conducted interviews with students and teachers. The young author is actively involved in manifold extracurricular projects. He is a member of the district youth council and he is also writing for a youth newsletter. He is moreover committed to a project, that is organized together with the Jewish community of his home town Kryvoe Ozero. The group is organizing the construction of a memorial for the 7.000 local Jewish victims of the Holocaust during Second World War.
With his competition entry "Footprints of History", Kostya Mohilastiy was rewarded a second price in the Ukrainian history competition (2006): "Youth in History, Youth today".
