Keeping homeland traditions alive (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Keeping homeland traditions alive

8:22am Friday 24th April 2009 in

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They arrived as displaced people, their lives shattered by war, with little more than the clothes on their backs.

Six decades later, Bradford’s Ukrainian community is celebrating its history here with a series of events. Ukrainian Week opened on Saturday with the blessing of Easter baskets – last weekend was Ukrainian Easter – and the Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Howard Middleton, unveiled an exhibition of traditional customs and folk art, including costumes, embroidery, painted eggs, ceramics and wood carvings. There’s also a section on the history of Bradford’s Ukrainian community.

After the war, Ukrainians came to Britain from refugee camps around Europe and, in 1946, settlers formed the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (AUGB). Bradford was one of the first branches. By its first annual meeting, there were 160 members; today there are around 3,000 Ukrainians in Bradford.

Current Bradford chairman Orysia Chymera says Ukrainian Week recognises the work of first generation Ukrainians.

“My parents’ generation hoped to return one day, and kept traditions and customs alive,” she said. “They arrived as displaced people, they couldn’t go home to their families because, under Stalin, they would’ve been sent to Siberia. They came over via Hull ferries and settled in Bradford to work in mills.”

I met Orysia at the Ukrainian Community Centre, along with Maria Danylczuk and Stefan Karpynec, whose parents – all from the Lviv region of Western Ukraine – had similar experiences during the war; enduring forced labour under the Nazis before arriving in Bradford via refugee camps.

Maria’s father worked in a coal mine and her mother on a farm. “After the war ended, they were in a camp together and got married; someone brought a priest round and he married 24 couples!” she said. Years later, Maria travelled to Ukraine with her parents and saw her father’s childhood home.

“He showed me the spot where he’d hidden, in a field. While in the labour camp, he’d been allowed to visit home and he’d tried to hide rather than go back, but they found him. You can’t imagine what our parents went through. Their generation doesn’t talk about it. I asked my dad to write it all down. It’s important that their experiences are recorded, for future generations.”

Stefan also returned to Ukraine with his father. “He pointed to a field and said, ‘Somewhere here your grandparents are buried’. He broke down. His whole life had disappeared.

“When he came here he had security. It was a hard life working in the mills, but he felt safe.”

Bradford’s Ukrainian community provided support for its growing numbers. “For people arriving with nothing, it created a sense of belonging,” said Stefan. “My dad lived in Guiseley and walked to Bradford city centre for Mass. It was like a family.”

Like most of Bradford’s second and third generation Ukrainians, Orysia, Maria and Stefan grew up around the church, community centre and Ukrainian Saturday School, which opened in 1953.

“Children learn the Ukrainian language and literature, history and geography,” said Maria. “They learn about the land of their forefathers. Ukrainians have always integrated with Bradford’s community, while maintaining our culture and traditions.”

Ukrainian children have traditionally attended Bradford’s Catholic schools, including St Joseph’s College, St Bede’s and Yorkshire Martyrs.

“Education wasn’t really available to our parents so they encouraged us at school,” said mother-of-four Orysia. “That’s been passed down to our children. As children, we were teaching our parents English, then we brought our children up to speak Ukrainian.

“We’re fortunate that we can visit Ukraine – that wasn’t an option for our parents – but none of us have met our grandparents. It’s important to keep our heritage alive for our children, and theirs.”

Ukrainian Week includes an exhibition on the Holodomor, the famine that killed millions of Ukrainians during Stalin’s Collectivisation policy in the early 1930s. Brought over from Kiev, the exhibition runs at Bradford Cathedral until May 5.

“People remember the Holocaust, but the Holodomor isn’t so widely recognised,” said Orysia. “Last year the European Parliament adopted a resolution recognising it as a crime against humanity. We hope the British government will do so too. It’s not political; it’s a question of humanity. The eternal flame commemorating the 75th anniversary was received in Bradford and Keighley last summer.”

The first Ukrainian to settle in Bradford is recognised as Andrij Kalita, who came to work in the textile industry in 1947. The same year saw the arrival of refugees and members of the Ukrainian Army Division who organised a community under the leadership of Ivan Smereka. The two resident priests were Father Michael Ratyshunskyj, the Ukrainian Catholic priest, and Father Yov Skakalskyj, the Ukrainian Orthodox priest.

The Association launched a choir, dance and drama groups and organised concerts for Bradford’s growing Ukrainian community. In 1950, a property at Claremont turned into a cultural centre. Also set up were a sports club, consisting of a Ukrainian football team and a chess team, a social club, youth association and a choir, Dibrova, which gained a reputation as one of the best Ukrainian choirs in the UK.

Dance group Krylati appeared on TV shows such as Opportunity Knocks and continues the tradition of Ukrainian Cossack dancing.

In 1979, a property on Legrams Lane was opened as the Ukrainian Community Centre, and is still used today.

Supermarkets put an end to many of Bradford’s family-owned Ukrainian food stores but several remain, as well as accountants and solicitors.

• Ukrainian Week events include workshops in Ukrainian cuisine, crafts, dance and music. Tomorrow there’s a civic reception at City Hall hosted by Coun Middleton. The week closes on Sunday with a concert at the Ukrainian Community Centre. For more information ring (01274) 573577.