Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
- Multiple media
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Variations in title: Skytaltsi : Letters from Refugees
Level of description
Repository
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1940s-1960s (Creation)
- Note
- Predominantly 1940s
Physical description area
Physical description
Approximately 1500 pages of letters (typed and handwritten)
envelopes
postcards
photographs
booklets
brochures
series
press clippings
administrative correspondence
printed ephemera
other documents
Approximately 1500 pages of letters (typed and handwritten), envelopes, postcards, photographs, booklets, brochures, series, press clippings, administrative correspondence, printed ephemera and other documents.
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Custodial history
The collection was preserved by the Ukrainian Women’s Association of Canada and, in recent years, maintained by Lesia Perritt with the support of UWAC leadership. Digitization and initial translations were supported by the Sustainable Ukrainian Canadian Heritage (SUCH) Program coordinated by the Kule Folklore Centre.
Scope and content
This collection comprises over 1000 letters (in Ukrainian and other languages), postcards, and related documents collected and preserved by leaders of the Ukrainian Women’s Association of Canada—most recently by Lesia Perritt. It captures the voices of skytaltsi, Ukrainian displaced persons (DPs), refugees, and forced labourers (Ostarbeiters) in post–Second World War Europe, particularly from 1945 to the early 1960s. The materials document appeals for assistance, personal narratives of survival, searches for loved ones, and expressions of cultural identity and resilience.
Included are:
Correspondence between UWAC leadership and Ukrainian displaced persons.
Letters to and from notable individuals, including military leaders, artists, writers, and educators.
Letters from Ukrainian pupils in DP camp schools in Germany addressed to Canadian schoolchildren.
A 1940s letter from UWAC to Eleanor Roosevelt urging the non-repatriation of Ukrainians to the Soviet Union.
Official UWAC correspondence with Canadian and British governmental departments in support of DPs and wartime efforts.
Printed materials such as a 1942 Canadian Women’s Army Corps conference program, brochures, press clippings, and internal reports.
The collection is multilingual—primarily in Ukrainian and English—and spans a wide geographic range, including Canada, Europe, North and South America, and the Middle East.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Language of material
- English
- French
- German
- Spanish
- Ukrainian
Script of material
- Cyrillic
- Latin
Location of originals
Library and Archives Canada
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Permission for reproduction, distribution, or other uses beyond fair dealing is required and remains subject to the Copyright Act. The original documents were created between the 1940s and 1960s and are held at Library and Archives Canada. While these materials are presented here for non-commercial educational and research purposes under an agreement with a representative of the Ukrainian Women’s Association of Canada (UWAC), copyright may still subsist in the original texts, their transliterations, and translations.
Users are responsible for determining and complying with copyright requirements before reuse. If you are a rights holder or have information about the copyright status of any items, please contact us at suchnetwork@ualberta.ca.
Finding aids
Generated finding aid
Associated materials
Accruals
No further accruals are expected
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Ukrainian Women's Association of Canada (Subject)