Vera Kaczmarskyj

Olha Mak (1913 -1998) Born and raised in Ukraine, Olha Mak and her family fled to freedom during World War II, resettling in Curitiba, Brazil, in 1947. For a writer like Mak, who worked in Ukra...view moreOlha Mak (1913 -1998) Born and raised in Ukraine, Olha Mak and her family fled to freedom during World War II, resettling in Curitiba, Brazil, in 1947. For a writer like Mak, who worked in Ukrainian on Ukrainian themes, making a living as a writer in a foreign linguistic milieu was not easy. Nonetheless, with grit and an unfailing belief in her vocation, she remained true to her calling. In the 23 years she lived in Brazil, she wrote for various émigré publications throughout the world, and authored several books, many short stories and numerous articles. It was only in 1970, however, when Mak moved to Canada, that she felt, as she wrote, “my ship has finally made its way to a quiet harbor….” * Canada’s generous social programs gave her a sense of financial security and a feeling of safety for the first time in her life, granting her peace of mind as she continued to devote herself to her craft. The active Ukrainian cultural life in Canada was fertile ground for her muse. Stones Under the Scythe drew on Mak’s first-hand experience when, as a 16 year old teacher in a remote village in Ukraine in 1929, she witnessed the step-by-step destruction of the selo (village) by the Bolsheviks, as they lay the groundwork for the unimaginable atrocity, the “Holodomor.” It was then that she came to understand the years of careful planning that had gone into the Soviet intent to break the backbone of the Ukrainian nation with a single blow. The images of the brutality and terror of collectivization, the destruction of the “selo” and the famine that followed, indelibly carved themselves on Olha Mak’s soul. She was able to write about these events only many years later when she was living in the West. The book she wrote was first published in Ukrainian in Canada in 1973 as Kaminnia pid kosoyu . It was immediately hailed as the best book for young adults on the Holodomor. Mak hoped that this story, presented largely through the eyes of Andriy and his benefactress, Lidia Serhiyivna, would reach young readers in a way that lessons in workbooks and articles or lectures on the topic might not. Publication in Ukraine had to wait until 1994, three years after the proclamation of Ukraine’s independence. It then went through several printings as Ukrainians went about the difficult task of debunking the lies and falsifications that had been common currency under Soviet rule. This is the first English-language translation of her work.view less