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Ivan Rohach

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Ivan Rohach

Ivan Andriyovych Rohach (Ukrainian: Іван Андрійович Рогач) (29 May 1913 – 21 February 1942) was a Ukrainian journalist, poet, writer, and political activist.

Biography

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Rohach was born in Velykyi Bereznyi (Hungarian: Nagyberezna), Ung county, Austria-Hungary (modern-day Ukraine). From 1933 to 1938, he was the editor of the Novoyi Svobody newspaper in Uzhhorod, in Carpathian Ruthenia, then part of Czechoslovakia and today in western Ukraine. Between 1938 and 1939, he was the personal secretary to Avhustyn Voloshyn, the nominal Prime-Minister of Carpatho-Ukraine during its several days of independence in March 1939 before it was occupied by Hungary following the First Vienna Award. Rohach was an active supporter and member of the Ukrainian scouting movement, Plast.[1]

Political career

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Ivan Rohach, Ivan Roman and Fedir Tatsynets in uniforms of the Carpathian Sich, 1938

Rohach was a prolific writer of political pamphlets and short stories dealing with various aspects of religion, human morality, the national question, and the cause for Ukrainian self-determination. He was a member of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and a supporter of the Andriy Melnyk faction (OUN-M). He moved to Kyiv during the German occupation in order to aid in the re-establishment of a Ukrainian administration in the nation's capital.

In January 1942, Rohach became the co-editor of the newspaper Nove Ukrainske Slovo ("New Ukrainian Word")[2] and the magazine Lytavry ("Tympani"), which united those active in Ukrainian culture and arts in Kyiv. The newspaper expressed strong antisemitic sentiments. In 1941, the paper described Jews as the "greatest enemy of the people."[3]

Arrest and execution

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In 1941, Rohach was arrested by the Gestapo during a crackdown on Ukrainian nationalist activities, after he and others refused unconditional cooperation with the Germans.[4] Rohach was taken to Babi Yar where he, along with his sister, Anna (Hanna), and his entire staff, was executed.[2]

Legacy

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Wooden cross in Babi Yar in memory of Olena Teliha and other Ukrainian nationalists executed there in 1942

Poems from his collection of poetry Brosti have been set to music. A number of the songs have been included in the Plast song book U mandry ("To wander") and continue to be sung by Ukrainian scouts today.[5]

In 1992, a wooden cross memorial was erected in memory of Olena Teliha and executed OUN members. It is located in Babi Yar south of Yuriia Illienka Street (formerly until 2018 Melnyk/Melnykov Street) at Oleny Telihy Street in northwestern part of Kyiv near Dorohozhychi subway station.[6]: memorial #15  Rohach's name is the 6th from the top on the right side marble plaque.[7]: 41 

References

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  1. ^ "(Ukrainian) Сьогодні у Києві вшанують пам'ять пластунів, розстріляних у Бабиному Яру (Today we honour the scouts who died in Babyn Yar". Archived from the original on 2008-12-04. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  2. ^ a b Dougan, Andy (2004). Dynamo: Triumph and Tragedy in Nazi-Occupied Kiev. Globe Pequot Press. p. 117. ISBN 1-59228-467-1. Retrieved 2008-03-02.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ Dolinsky, Eduard (2017-04-11). "Opinion | What Ukraine's Jews Fear". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  4. ^ Berkhoff, Karel (October 2018). "BASIC HISTORICAL NARRATIVE OF THE BABYN YAR HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTER" (PDF).
  5. ^ Пластуни вшанували своїх побратимів, що загинули в Бабинім Яру
  6. ^ "Photos of Babi Yar Memorial". Retrieved 2021-11-28.
  7. ^ Kutsovska, Galyna (June 2019). "Memorializing Babyn Yar: Politics of Memory and Commemoration of the Holocaust in Ukraine" (PDF). Retrieved 2021-11-28.
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