Trafika Europe 7 - Ukrainian Prayer

Tango of Death

described in many Galician periodicals, it was included in school readers, where the executions of the unpacified Kozaks were also illustrated, and we remembered in detail how and what happened back then, and we looked at the picture, guessing where each of our father’s was, and even later, when we learned that the artist painted this painting from imagination and just could not know what these heroes really looked like; anyway, everyone managed to choose “his” father, who at least looked a little like misty childhood memories and like those photos that remained for us, but we could not come to terms with the fact that our fathers had not resorted to guile to save their lives, did not agree to cross over to the side of the Reds, though not for real, but only temporarily, and at the earliest opportunity escape and join up with the rebels of

executions, “My Ukrainian people! Listen to the voice of your faithful sons! At some time in the future you will pay back for us! Long live....” The enemy’s bullet cut him off in the middle of his last word and knocked him over into the grave. Several voices struck up with the anthem “Ukraine is still alive!” An entire chorus joined in with everyone singing: Ukrainians, Poles, twodozenRussians, the Jews Yakiv Krutokop, Joseph Yendryk, Zahar Atnabunt, the German Joseph Krantz, the Belarusian Mikhail Malevich, and even the Chinese Mon Za Lit. Our fathers also sang, bravely putting out their chests under the swarm of machine-gun bullets, and then they – both the dead and still living – were covered with earth, and the villagers long afterward mentioned how the earth kept stirring. The tragedy at Bazar was

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