[Ukraine] ahegao to the poles (2024)

CN CREW-VESSEL

Feb 1, 2024

敌人磨刀我们也磨刀

Dr. Kaye, as he was affectionately known in Canada, or Vladimir J. Kaye-Kysilewskyj (1896-1976), as he is more
precisely known to historians (Ukrainian version pronounced “kis-i-LEV-skee”), was a prominent scholar and political activist, who was a main figure in the pre-history of Canadian multiculturalism. Concurrently with this, he also contributed a great deal to the development and understanding of the Ukrainian group in Canada, which during the time of his maturity in the 1940s, was relatively large. On another important level, he also contributed to the cause of Ukrainian political autonomy and future independence in Europe.

Kysilewskyj was a native son of Western Ukraine under the Habsburg Monarchy; that is, Austria-Hungary. He was born in Austrian Galicia and educated in the town of Chernivtsi in Austrian Bukovina. The scion of an old Ukrainian family with clerical roots, and the son of a prominent parliamentarian and leader in the Ukrainian women’s movement, from his youth he had been exposed to a number of languages, and even seems to have known some English, which was quite rare for that time and place. He served during the Great War in the so-called Ukrainski sichovi striltsi (Ukrainian Sich Rifles), a special legion of Galician Ukrainian volunteers in the Imperial Austrian Army; and when the Habsburg Monarchy collapsed in 1918, he served in the Galician Ukrainian Army, which replaced the Striltsi and strove to uphold Ukrainian rights in the former Galicia and defend the newly-formed Western Ukrainian People’s Republic.

At the university, he specialized in history and soon was able to defend a doctoral thesis on the Ukrainian gentry in the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was at Vienna that he received his first PhD.

Thereafter, Kysilewskyj emigrated to Canada, which was then still a self-governing “Dominion” within the British Empire, at that time still one of the world’s great powers. His immigration to Canada, which took place in 1925, coincided with the first year of the so-called Railway Agreement between the North American Dominion and the new Republic of Poland, which had just completed its annexation of Galicia. The Railway Agreement encouraged the immigration of Polish citizens to Canada, including those of Ukrainian background from old Galicia, who, in fact, were the group most affected by it.

But Kysilewskyj’s moderation and low-profile concealed a grit, determination, and dedication that belied his gentlemanly demeanour and outward modesty. From his studies in Vienna onward, he was interested in genealogy in Europe and the history of the older Ukrainian gentry and aristocracy (or “boyars” as they were called). This was tied to his appreciation for tradition and moved him to eventually support the small, but significant and relatively well- educated, “Hetman Party” in Canada. The Hetmanites supported the idea of a Ukrainian monarchy in Europe and saw the Revolutionary-era “Hetman,” or ruler, Pavlo Skoropadsky (1873-1945), as a potential future monarch in an independent Ukrainian state.

But in Canada, the Hetmanites also cultivated an affection for the British Monarchy and the British Empire, of which the Dominion of Canada, of course, was still an integral part.

(My read is that even before fascism and anticommunism, Canada was a home for these Political emigre movements in a way that dovetailed with Canadian domestic agendas)

Moreover, in spite of his Hetmanite sympathies, Kysilewskyj cautiously kept his distance from Skoropadsky, who was resident in Berlin throughout the interwar era. It was rather the Hetmanite ideologue, Viacheslav Lypynsky (1882-1931), whom he seems to have met in Vienna where that ideologue was resident, who influenced him in that direction. That thinker stressed state and political nation rather than ethnicity…

(I can’t really parse this. Did he oppose the blood and soil stuff or was he for it?)

…But in 1931, an opportunity arose to move to England and open a new Ukrainian information bureau that was aimed at explaining Ukrainian affairs to the British government and to the British public.

This Ukrainian Bureau, as it was simply called, was financed by one Yakub Makohin (1880-1956), a somewhat mysterious Ukrainian figure in the United States. Makohin, we know today, had been an early Ukrainian immigrant to both Canada and then the USA. Like Kysilewskyj, he too was originally from Galicia and had been educated in Bukovina, a neighbouring province in the Habsburg Monarchy, which was also largely inhabited by Ukrainians, or “Ruthenians,” as they were then called. He had served in the American military and had married a wealthy and well-connected American heiress, Suzanne Fallon from Boston, and this provided him with the means to influence Ukrainian public life. It was probably at the time that he first met Suzanne that Makohin began to claim that he was by origin of aristocratic background, a descendant of Count or Prince Cyril Rozumovsky (reigned 1750-1764), the last “Hetman” or ruler Cossack Ukraine.

(Ukrainian nationalism literally driven by Yakub ya’ll)

At any rate, Makohin was quite disturbed by the extremism of Ukrainian politics in the 1930s, especially by the political positions of the Ukrainian intelligentsia on the eve of the Second World War. He and his wealthy sponsors (probably some of his wife’s connections) wished to move Ukrainian opinion more towards the centre and towards cooperation with the western democracies. Kysilewskyj was in complete accord with these ideas, and the two men seemed to click. In London, Kysilewskyj provided accurate information on Ukrainian affairs in Europe (both in the USSR and in Poland) to the British press corps and to British politicians, and he actively lobbied them in favour of a more independent or at least autonomous Ukraine within both Poland and the USSR. This approach was appreciated by certain opinion makers in Britain, and about this time, Kysilewskyj was instrumental in the formation of an English-Ukrainian Committee to support various Ukrainian political claims, most especially the goal of a more autonomous Ukrainian region in Poland, but also the general principles of more democracy and greater respect for human rights in Eastern Europe.

(Doubt)

On the eve of the Second World War, Kysilewskyj worked so closely with various British figures, especially the relatively well-known British “secret” agent, Tracy Philipps, and the Labourite Colonel Cecil Malone, that the Germans soon took notice. For example, an influential article titled “Ukraine-Politik” in a prominent German paper, the Berliner Börsenzeitung (July 19, 1939) openly accused the Ukrainian Bureau of being not so much an instrument of the Ukrainians in Canada, of whom Kysilewskyj was the key, but rather an “organ of an intelligence service,” that is, either of the British, or of Makohin himself, who, so the article claimed, was really a Jew from Bukovina named Maks Kogan (Er ist amerikanischer Bürger, stammt aber aus der Bukowina, und hat früher einmal Maks Kogan geheissen) who simply dabbled in East European politics by pretending to be a descendant of Count Cyril Rozumovsky.

(I do think these emigre networks and the “information bureau” were used by British spooks, then and now. I don’t think there were secret Jewish connections.)

Insinuating that Makohin might be in turn an agent of American intelligence, the article claimed that the Ukrainian American wished to establish a Ukrainian army in the region called Carpatho- Ukraine, which had been a part of Czechoslovakia to 1938. (This tiny and disputed region, at that time an object of German attention, was then the topic of much discussion in diplomatic circles.) The article then claimed that Makohin hoped to use that Ukrainian army to help push the Soviets eastward out of all Ukraine, including the Donets Basin, which was industrially very important. At any rate, concluded the unsigned article, Kysilewskyj’s activities reflected Makohin’s ambitions and were not good for German-Ukrainian relations.

By 1938, however, Kysilewskyj was well integrated into British society and had many different political contacts. His positions were well-known to Ukrainians both in Canada and in Europe. In Canada, his pro-British attitudes and admiration for political democracy made him many sympathizers among the moderate, Liberal-inclined Soiuz ukraintsiv samostiinykiv Kanady (Ukrainian Self-Reliance League of Canada) which was closely affiliated with the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada.

(“He was not a spy. [Goes on to list the many qualities that make him seem like a spy]”)

However, Konovalets wished to retain a certain amount of political flexibility, and not be solely dependent upon his primary ally, Nazi Germany, which was an open enemy of firstly the USSR, and then secondly Poland later on. With this in mind, the OUN established its main newspaper in Paris rather than anywhere in Germany or Italy (that is to say, not on the territories of the Axis Powers). And in 1938, Konovalets sent a young OUN supporter with British citizenship, the Canadian, Stephen Davidovich, to England. It was Davidovich’s task to clearly express the position of the OUN to the British.

Upon arriving in London, Davidovich immediately sought out his fellow Canadian, Vladimir Kysilewskyj, who soon befriended the young nationalist and helped him with advice and contacts and attempted to influence him in a more moderate direction. Although the two operated independently of each other, they tried not to duplicate each other’s work or to disagree on important matters. Such internal conflicts within the Ukrainian “camp” would have been counterproductive and would have given both local and distant enemies of the Ukrainian cause an untoward advantage.

(Father of Canadian multiculturalism working directly with Nazis in 1938. There you go.)

Sometime during this period, Luckyj visited Kysilewskyj in his office in London, and with images of German mass mobilization and militancy so fresh in his mind, expressed the opinion that it was unlikely that tired and easy-going England could for very long withstand the Nazi onslaught. In reply, Kysilewskyj pointed to the large world map on his office wall, swept his hand across the whole map, and explained to the young student of English literature from Poland that the British Empire (the ubiquitous “red on the map”) was the largest empire that the world had ever seen, had unlimited resources upon which it could eventually draw, and that Germany could not possibly defeat Britain. This clearly pro-British position is underlined by the fact that when the Nazis drew up a list of important anti-Nazi figures in Britain to be arrested upon the island’s conquest by the Third Reich, Kysilewskyj’s name was on it.

After closing his Bureau, Kysilewskyj returned to Canada, where he was soon hired by the Canadian government and had his name changed to “Kaye.”

…continued to present the OUN case to the British until June, 1941, when the sudden Nazi attack on the USSR automatically made the USSR an ally of Britain. Instantly, criticism of the Communist regime became impossible. Davidovich was compelled to close down his office and urged to join the military. He shortly entered a Canadian army unit stationed in Britain, where he eventually rose to the rank of captain.

At one time, there was considerable mystery about why and how Kysilewskyj had come to change his name to “Kaye” and be hired by the Canadian government. That government was then concerned to get the various “nationalities” resident in Canada on side for the war effort. At its request, and with the full support of Lord Halifax, the British Foreign Minister, London sent Tracy Philipps to Canada to help implement this task. Philipps was chosen because of his extensive experience and knowledge of international relations and East European, especially Ukrainian affairs, and throughout the war, Ottawa was deeply concerned about what it considered to be “unassimilated blocks of Slavs” on the Prairies.

(This seems suspicious)

Philipps told Kysilewskyj, however, that he simply had to do this in order to work in Ottawa, as otherwise there would be suspicions as to his loyalty to the country among not only the English, but also among Polish and Jewish Canadians. After all, he had once served in the Austrian military during that earlier “World War.” Indeed, there is some irony in the fact that the man who only shortly before had been attacked and accused of being a British or American agent was now in danger of being accused of being a German agent! So Philipps simply had Kysilewskyj signed on as Kaye, and the latter was then told that he was now a Canadian civil servant and just had to accept this fait accompli regarding his name!

The principal task of the newly created “Nationalities Branch” (the department in which “Kaye” came to serve) was to survey and liaison with the non-English and non-French parts of the Canadian population, primarily through the “foreign language” press, as it was then called. Kaye was in a good position to do this, as he was fluent in not only English, but also in Ukrainian, Polish, and German, and was knowledgeable in French and in several other languages and cultures as well. Moreover, having lived for a time on the Prairies, he already knew a great deal about prairie Canadian culture, in which the various Slavonic groups and the Germans were not only numerous, but also very important. The Ukrainians in Canada at that time outnumbered all of the other Slavonic groups in the country combined. As well, Kaye was conversant with east European politics and knew how to explain them to both English Canadian bureaucrats and to ordinary Canadian citizens.

It continues, but does it maybe seem to you that there was a pre-war British intelligence operation using these Ukrainians? First the monarchists, then the Nazis? I just came across this and haven’t dug a lot, but there are all of these intelligence connections going back to the 1930’s.

CN CREW-VESSEL has issued a correction as of 21:59 on Jun 9, 2024

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