There is a landscape dotted with evergreens and medieval cities in the rolling foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. Many people have come and gone from the region. Ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Goths, and Huns all lost land there. One of the most powerful states in medieval Europe was established by the Rus in the ninth century. The Rus descendant, Prince Roman of Volhynia and his son, pulled a new kingdom from its ashes. The Austrian Empire's easternmost crownland was lost to the Soviet Union in the late 18th century.
Prior to the Soviet occupation and the Nazi German invasions, Galicia was a multicultural hub. There were Yiddish and Polish signs in the cities. Ukrainians ate Austrian pastries. Remnants of Galicia are scattered throughout western Ukraine and southeastern Poland, from Vienna Secession architecture to an Austro-Hungarian folk song.
For the past 11 years, Areta Kowalska has lived in Lviv, Ukraine, where she runs a website and a photography business. She fled to Poland after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Atlas Obscura spoke with Kowalska about her family's history, her family's past, and her country's legacy of resistance.
I was raised in the Ukrainian community in Chicago. There were scouts and dancing. I didn't know much about Ukrainian history. I didn't realize that the culture and language that I grew up with was more Galician.
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I realized that Ukraine is more diverse once I arrived. I thought all Ukrainians were Catholic. I believed all Ukrainians spoke the same way. Ukraine is a large country. The majority of Ukrainians are Orthodox. There are many dialects and cuisines.
I was very interested in the history of western Ukraine and the Austrian Empire. I realized that I was brought up in a more western Ukrainian culture because of the language my parents speak and the institutions I grew up with in Chicago. Both our scouting organization and our Ukrainian Saturday school organization were founded in western Ukraine. After World War II, a lot of these institutions were founded in western Ukraine and Galicia because the Austrian Empire gave Ukrainians more freedom to create different societies to promote Ukrainian identity.
The signs on the facades of buildings that were built before World War I were painted in Polish and Yiddish. I was amazed that the traces of the past could still be found in the city. It was a reminder that the city was once a hub for Polish, Ukrainian, and Jewish cultures. The Jewish population was gone after World War II. A lot of Ukrainians fled after the Polish population was deported. Ukrainians from outside of the city as well as people from eastern Ukraine or from Russia came to Lviv. The population was lost. It is almost impossible to find anyone who has family that lived there before the war.
I was fascinated by the traces of that multicultural past when I first came across them. I learned that the Ukrainian history was about Ukraine and not the multicultural history of the country. I wanted to do something about it. I realized that there were other traces from the pre-war Lviv, like manhole covers with Polish inscriptions. I thought of creating a website to collect these images and research them, and it grew from there.
When western Ukraine came under Soviet rule, it started in 1939. My grandparents were involved with the Ukrainian national resistance. My grandmother was a political prisoner when she was arrested by the Soviets. All political prisoners were killed by the Soviets as they retreated from the German invasion in 1941. My grandmother is alive and well. When the Soviets advanced in 1944, my grandparents knew they had to flee because they were most likely to be killed or sent to Siberia.
My grandparents fled with my mother and grandmother and their first child. They were walking. Some of their belongings were in a wagon. Someone was on a bike. There were hundreds of displaced persons camps in Germany where they lived for several years before moving to the United States.
My grandparents were not allowed to return to Ukraine. They did not return to their home. It was important for their children to learn the culture. They didn't know if it would be possible to maintain the culture and language in the Soviet Union. It was important to continue that language abroad.
I had always wanted to live in Ukraine. I might have moved back for my grandparents. I didn't think I would have to retrace my grandparents' path and flee due to the same enemy. It's very strange.
It's hard for me to believe that history is repeating itself. Ukrainians want to have their own culture and language. We have been fighting for this for a long time. In the 21st century, I wouldn't have thought that Ukrainians would still have to fight for their freedom.
The culture of fighting for freedom is rich. It can be seen in literature and folklore. A lot of our folk songs are about Ukrainians fighting for their freedom. Many of us have grandparents who fought in World War II for an independent Ukraine against both the Soviets and Nazi Germans. We haven't gotten used to it. A big part of our culture is the fight for freedom and the fight to be Ukrainian, to be able to speak our language and wear our embroidered blouse.
Ukrainians are united. Ukrainians know that their country is diverse. It doesn't matter what language one speaks in. We are all united because we want to live in a country that can prosper.
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