Edited by Iroida Wynnyckyj
Published by Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press
June 2022
400 pages
ISBN: 978-1-894865-65-4
Summary by Darcia Hasey and Marta Bozdek
The recently published book (2022) The Extraordinary Lives of Ukrainian-Canadian Women: Oral Histories of the Twentieth Century, compiled and edited by Iroida Wynnyckyj, provides a fascinating snapshot of the tumultuous lives of 10 women in the periods before and during WWI, during the interwar years, during WWII and post WWII.
These interviews were chosen from among 250 oral histories collected by the UCRDC - Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Centre (Toronto) from women living in Canada, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Australia and the United States. A Ukrainian publication, The Extraordinary Lives of Ordinary Women: Oral Histories of the Twentieth Century (2013) includes 21 of the interviews plus three extensive charts cross-linking the interviewees and relevant event and location information so that researchers are able to search this valuable resource.
These women have given a different voice by chronicling their lives from a more personal perspective, a grassroots level, and thus provide a fuller and richer understanding of historical events. Some of these interviews have even provided primary source material for historians and also served as inspiration and background research for authors.
What we experience with these women’s stories are the trials and tribulations of living in times of great change. For them it’s the early and mid-20th century Ukraine. We see how they grew up in a stateless world; how they developed a national and civic conscience; and how they became involved in Ukrainian political activity. They experienced severe trauma, incarceration and witnessed death but had strength of character, were resilient and resourceful in their determination to survive.
In their view, they were just ordinary women experiencing and witnessing activities and events in extraordinary circumstances. The choices they made influenced how they moved forward and how, when they finally arrived in Canada, chose to live, raise their children, and succeed in life.
The archivist Iroida Wynnyckyj is involved in two new oral history projects:
1) Daughters - next generation
2) Ukrainian Women - War of 2022
If you are interested in learning more about the UCRDC, its website http://www.ucrdc.org/ is a rich source of information.
Iroida Wynnyckyj (seated) with some of the members of Rozmova Book Club.
