Reconstruction of the Insurgent Hideout in the Recreation Centre “Chervona Kalyna”

Now you can see what the hideout of UPA soldiers looked like in the Recreation Centre “Chervona Kalyna” of I. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University. During the official opening on October 13, 2021, a reconstruction of the battle of the insurgents with the Enkavedists took place near it. The students of TNMU, members of the NGO “Institute of National Heritage Research” took part as a theatrical performance.

You will never guess where the entrance to the hideout is, because it looks like an ordinary well. The organizers of the project, Leonid Kravchuk and Taras Kadobnyi, designed everything to make the interior and exterior reminiscent of the underground. The hideout was made according to the memories of long-living people, and the preparation took four months.

“We had the idea to revive a drop of our history, a drop of the history of the struggle of the Ukrainian people for their independence, and after reading Fedir Venzhenovych’s book “Nas ne zdolaty (We were not defeated)”, we realized that we need to implement it,” said Leonid Kravchuk.

Leonid Vasyliovych thanked Professor Mykhaylo Korda, the Rector of TNMU, and the university administration for their support and faith in them, as well as for the donated exhibits for the hideout.

The sacred duty of descendants is to preserve the memory of the heroic past, the World War II, to pass on their knowledge to the younger generation about the exploits of Ukrainians, about the heroism of the UPA soldiers. These people bore the brunt of the struggle for the freedom and independence of Ukraine.

The best sons and daughters of the Ukrainian people became UPA soldiers. They went to fight in the prime of their lives. They went voluntarily and were ready to bare hunger, cold, persecution, wounds and torment, blood and death.

Mykhaylo Korda, the Rector of TNMU, greeted the participants of the meeting: “It is a prominent day tomorrow, it brings a lot of very important holidays for every Ukrainian. We are talking about the Intercession, and the Day of the Ukrainian Cossacks, and the Day of the UPA, and the most relevant holiday for all of us – the Day of Defenders of Ukraine. It is no coincidence that we celebrate these holidays on one day, because this is how we show the connection between the generations of all those who fought for the Ukrainian land, who defended our freedom and our independence. I am convinced that precisely because we remember our predecessors, there is now someone to defend Ukraine”.

Mykhaylo Mykhailovych noted that the Ukrainian Insurgent Army was one of the most powerful guerrilla movements in the world and the brightest phenomenon in the history of Ukraine in the 20^th century. The rector noticed that the experience of the UPA underground and struggle has been studied and is being studied in other countries. New generations of Ukrainians are raised on the heroism of the participants of the liberation and revolutionary underground.

Mykhaylo Korda presented diplomas of Ternopil City Council to members of the NGO “Institute of National Heritage Research”: i.e. Associate Professor Natalia Botsiuk, Associate Professor Oksana Bahrii-Zaiats, Oksana Yavorska, Associate Professor Natalia Kalyniuk and Associate Professor Larysa Kravchuk, for their active part in public life, high professionalism, cooperation with student youth, support of students’ creative and professional endeavors relating national patriotic commemoration of Ukrainian events and on the day of the Holy Intercession of the Mother of God.

The vocal quartet Accord of Ternopil Regional Philharmonic performed several ancient Ukrainian insurgent songs.

Volodymyr Rosolovskyi, the Head of the Department for Social Work of Family and Gender Policy to Combat Human Trafficking of the Department of Social Protection of Ternopil Regional State Administration, recited the poetry “Tell Grandma if the insurgents died in vain”.

A public figure, publicist and literary critic Volodymyr Barna proclaimed the rise of the patriotic spirit and invincibility of the Ukrainian people.

The head of the Ternopil Cossacks Volodymyr Moseiko expressed gratitude for the desire of the current generation to study the history of their people.

Valerii Didukh, Associate Professor of the Department of Medical Physics of Diagnostic and Medical Equipment, read the poetry about the insurgents’ struggle.

At the end, long-forgotten Ukrainian dishes were presented, and our customs were mentioned. The hideout museum will be a place of honour for the fallen heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Members of the Terpoliany – TNMU research and history studio, will be able to organize historical reconstructions here. Some history classes for students of Ternopil Medical University can take place in the hideout. It will also be an excellent attraction for guests from Eastern Ukraine and foreign delegations with the history of our people’s struggle for independence. Visiting a hideout is remembered much better and longer than a theoretical lecture.