MUR and the Revival of Ukrainian Literary Life in the DP Camps in Germany

Please join the Ukrainian Studies Program at the Harriman Institute, Columbia University for a presentation by Professor Lidia Stefanowska (University of Warsaw).

Within the American-occupied zone in Germany in 1945-1948, Ukrainian Displaced Persons (DPs) managed to create a substitute for cultural and social structures in the face of extremely difficult refugee camp conditions. The aim was to physically and spiritually save Ukrainian identity in exile. DPs managed to set up numerous cultural institutions and published hundreds of periodicals and books. The organization which most influenced this unusual revival was the Union of Ukrainian Writers, called MUR, which came into existence in September 1945. The focus of Professor Stefanowska’s lecture is MUR activities and its greatest artistic achievements.

Lidia Stefanowska is a professor of Polish and Ukrainian literature at the University of Warsaw. She is the author of the book Antonych. Antynomies [2006] and the two-volume monograph Mission Impossible: MUR i odrodzenie ukraińskiego życia literackiego w obozach dla uchodźców na terytorium Niemiec (1945-1948) [2013-2014]. She is also a translator of Ukrainian literature into Polish.