Association of Ukrainian Women's embroideries

A selection of some of the embroideries on loan from the Association of Ukrainian Women's Organisation.

Halyna Dydyk.

Halyna was born in 1912 in the village of Shybalyn, Berezhany (Ternopil' region). From 1934-1939, she was a member of the Ukrainian Women's Organisation, visiting women in the region in an educational capacity. She was a member of Prosvita - an organisation encouraging the use of the Ukrainian language and the reading / writing of Ukrainian literature. In 1939, she was arrested for being a member of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (formed to free Ukraine from both German and russian occupiers) and then freed in 1940.

She wrote in her memoirs, that at the time, people would be arrested for the smallest thing by the russians - they could be tortured and shot with no trial; she could not forgot those terrible scenes that she had to witness in 1939-1941. 

After being released in 1941, she moved to Lviv where she trained as a nurse and later supported the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists by providing medical aid and setting up secret hospitals; she headed up the Red Cross in Ternopil' region. For this medical work, she was awarded a silver medal in 1945.

In 1950, the russians sentenced her to 25 years imprisonment. In her memoirs, she wrote about the daily beatings that she had to endure, not letting her sleep. After being released in 1971, she still helped people by travelling to support the oldest living, female, political prisoner and the mother of Vyacheslav Chornovil.

Історична правда. https://www.istpravda.com.ua/articles/2012/04/9/77857/ 

https://diasporiana.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/books/16014/file.pdf