National Tribune. Legacy of Liberated Nations. The Life and Ideas of Ivan Vovchuk - Олег Проценко

This is the first complete biography of Ivan Vovchuk (1902–1979), a nationalist from the East of Ukraine, an associate of Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych. Vovchuk was one of the most influential people among Ukrainian nationalists and the Ukrainian diaspora, and even had influence on the American Congress.

The figure of Vovchuk confidently debunks several anti-Ukrainian myths created and imposed by the Kremlin at once.

First of all, it dispels the myth that Ukrainian nationalists were allegedly anti-Semites. During the German occupation, he saved a Jewish family in Nikopol. The Israeli Holocaust Memorial Complex "Yad Vashem" posthumously recognized this Ukrainian nationalist, Bandera's deputy, as the "Righteous Among the Nations."

In addition, it destroys the Soviet myth that Ukrainian nationalism is rooted exclusively in the territory of Western Ukraine. Vovchuk was born in Poltava Oblast, studied in Kharkiv, worked as a school principal in Nikopol, and was opposed to the Soviet government.

Due to the repressions of the occupying Soviet authorities, he was forced to first to Munich, later to the USA. He became a field leader of the OUN in the USA, headed the Organization for the Defense of the Four Freedoms of Ukraine. He was the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "National Tribune" in New York. He founded the Ukrainian National University in New York.

Ivan Vovchuk is a strong orator and publicist. His vivid "Ukraine cannot be beggared, it can only be won!" (1950); "Who should we focus the East or the West? I urge you to focus on Ukraine" (1946); "The tragedy of our society is exaggerated ambition with little ammunition" (1974).

Until now, very little was known about Ivan Vovchuk in Ukraine. The author of the book, Oleg Protsenko, literally piece by piece, collected information about the hero's life from various archival sources in Ukraine and the USA and integrated his biography into the detailed history of Ukraine of the 20th century.

The author managed to establish dozens of historical facts that were not known until now. For example, the correspondence of Ivan Vovchuk and Stepan Bandera is published for the first time in this book.