Korchak-Horodyskyi, Orest

[SIGNED] Spohady z zhyttia. Chastyna 2: Skhidnyi front 1941–1943 r.r. [Memoirs from Life. Part 2: The Eastern Front 1941–1943], with the typed letter signed by the author

Lviv: 2003. Item #1522

320 pages: illustrations. One of 500 copies printed. This copy is inscribed and signed by the author on the title page. It includes an original typed letter signed by the author, sent to Oksana [recipient's name] from Chicago in 2004, discussing this volume and plans for a third part of the memoirs. A good copy with some shelf wear to the wrappers.

A rare and significant memoir by Orest Korchak-Horodyskyi (1918–2014), a Ukrainian public figure, journalist, and wartime translator for the German army on the Eastern Front during World War II. This second volume of his memoirs focuses on the period of 1941–1943, during which he served in occupied Ukraine and later joined the Volyn Self-Defense Legion and the “Halychyna” Division. The book is richly illustrated with photographs from wartime, showing life behind the lines, military signage, and Ukrainian volunteers in German uniform. It provides a controversial but valuable primary source perspective on Ukrainian nationalist collaboration and anti-Soviet activities during WWII.

Born in Stanislav (now Ivano-Frankivsk), Korchak-Horodyskyi was an active member of Ukrainian youth and cultural organizations such as Sokil and Prosvita, arrested by Polish authorities in 1939. After WWII, he lived in DP camps in Italy before emigrating to the United States in 1950. He became a key figure in émigré organizations, a historian of the Ukrainian Division “Halychyna,” and a philatelist. He was also a member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society (NTSh).

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