In February each year, the Association of Ukrainian Women in Great Britain (AUW) commemorate Ukrainian Heroines (Svyato Zhinky Heroyiny). February was chosen as this was the month in which Olha Basarab (died 1924) and Olena Teliha (died 1942) were killed because of their dissident activism in pursuit of Ukrainian independence. At the time of the founding of the AUW, both deaths were still in recent memory and had struck a chord with the generation of Ukrainian women who had found themselves...

In February each year, the Association of Ukrainian Women in Great Britain (AUW) commemorate Ukrainian Heroines (Svyato Zhinky Heroyiny). February was chosen as this was the month in which Olha Basarab (died 1924) and Olena Teliha (died 1942) were killed because of their dissident activism in pursuit of Ukrainian independence. At the time of the founding of the AUW, both deaths were still in recent memory and had struck a chord with the generation of Ukrainian women who had found themselves displaced in Germany at the end of the Second World War. The commemoration of Ukrainian Heroines usually includes a church liturgy and requiem, and a performance known as an akademiya which comprises readings, poetry recitals, choral and dramatic performances.

As this is an akademyia, there is no audience applause during the performance or at the end. The AUW members who take part all wear traditional Ukrainian embroidered blouses (usually white fabric with red and black or blue embroidery) unless wearing a costume for one of the dramatic performances. During the akademiya, the camera almost always stays focused on the stage to record the action taking place. The film has been edited so that each act in the akademiya is book marked by the opening or closing of the stage curtains. The stage is decorated with portraits of Ukrainian heroines, rushnyky (plural – singular, rushnyk: ritual cloths which are used decoratively around picture frames, furniture, lecterns etc.), the AUW Bradford Branch flag, floral arrangements and occasionally icons of the Virgin Mary. The poetry recitals and readings which form part of the akademiya are usually performed from behind a lectern. Microphones are used throughout. The majority of the AUW women performing are second generation Ukrainians.

Olena Teliha (21 July 1906 – 21 February 1942) was a Ukrainian intellectual, activist and poet of Ukrainian and Belarusian ethnicity. Born in a village outside Moscow, she moved with her family to Kyiv in 1918 when her father became a member of the new Ukrainian National Republic. After the Bolshevik take over, the family moved to Czechoslavakia in 1923. Olena studied history and philology in Prague and began writing poems. She moved to Warsaw after her marriage to Mykhalio Teliha and joined the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists. The couple moved back to Nazi-occupied Kyiv in 1941 where Olena expanded her literary activism, becoming head of the Ukrainian Writers’ Guild and editing ‘Litavry’, a weekly cultural and arts newspaper. She openly and actively defied the Nazi authorities, even as her closest friends and colleagues were arrested for their dissident activities. Olena was finally arrested by the Gestapo in 1942 and executed at Babi Yar along with her husband. She was 35 years old. On the wall of the prison cell where she stayed, she graffitied her last written words: ‘Here was interred and from here goes to her death Olena Teliha’.

The branch was founded in 1950 and named for Nataliya Kobrynska (writer, socialist feminist and activist, 8 June 1851-22 January 1920). One of a number of community organisations in Bradford, the branch has always concerned itself with providing a safe and inclusive space for women of Ukrainian descent living in Bradford. It has worked closely with the Ukrainian Supplementary School and the Ukrainian Youth Association in Bradford, and also supported the work of the other community organisations. Over the years, the branch has celebrated and commemorated various events such as Ukrainian Heroines, Mother’s Day, Princess Olha, 70 years of the Ukrainian Women’s movement, embroidery evenings for young people (ensuring young people who have never been to Ukraine can enjoy folk arts), ran an embroidery course for a number of years during the 1950s/1960s in partnership with the Ukrainian Youth Association. The first person to run the course was Maria Kashevka, then Mrs K Yakoviv and Mrs Ye Nakonechna.

In the 1960s, the branch held an exhibition at the Bradford Mechanic’s Institute about folk art, displaying items such as embroidered tablecloths, cushions, ritual cloths (ryshnyky), napkins, woodwork and ceramics, which was very popular with English and other nationalities, as well as the Ukrainian community. The branch had its own room in the Ukrainian club, where it had display cases for folk art and a library. They also held tea evenings and pysanka making courses for young people. There was also a welfare function, where members visit sick and older members of the community.

It also supported other Ukrainians living in the diaspora, such as Germany, with financial aid. The branch has always had good connections in the diaspora. In 1954, Olena Lototskyj, head of the Союз Українок Америки. 17 November 1962, an embroidery competition was held, where young people were encouraged to wear modern clothes which they had customised with Ukrainian embroidery. This was held at a special event in the Victoria Hall where there was a special children-only room. In 1963, the branch commemorated the Ukrainian Heroines alongside the 50th anniversary of the death of Lesia Ukraiyinka. The commemoration was at Bradford club. The stage was decorated with portraits of Olha Basarab and Lesia Ukraiyinka. The event was led by Mrs O Halas, branch chair, and other committee members and the choir appeared, along with poem recitals by young people. The branch had a choir which was conducted by Mrs M. Chaikivska and later Mrs O. Deremenda.