Andriy Melnyk 1958 address to the Ukrainian National Alliance in France.

melnyk_1958_speech

The following is a speech delivered by OUN(m) leader Andriy Melnyk to the IX Congress of the Ukrainian National Alliance in France on 
6 April 1958 in Paris. It was subsequently published in a 20 April 1958 issue of Ukrainske slovo (Paris) which you can find in the 
archives of the Central State Archive of Public Organisations and Ukrainian Studies here (image 42): 

https://e.tsdahou.archives.gov.ua/file-viewer/105172#file-96611

First using a text-from-image extractor, the speech has been AI-translated by Deepl.

A photograph of Melnyk delivering this address can be found in Fond 1, Case no. 11332, Vol. 5, p. 72 (envelope) of the 
Branch State Archive of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine (SZRU), linked to a digital copy here:

https://szru.gov.ua/img/storieseditor/1627972223756.jpg



Dear Community!

Having completed the business part of this year's IX Congress of Ukrainian National Unity, which I welcome on my own behalf and on behalf 
of the Leadership of Ukrainian Nationalists, when you summed up the results of your year-long work and outlined your plan of action for 
the future, you have gathered at the continuation of this Congress to mark the anniversary of the restoration of Ukrainian independence 
and to celebrate this momentous event in the most beautiful way possible at this historic session. We will not let our flags fall, we 
will carry them unblemished in our future struggles. And we will carry them to the shores of Ukraine.

This bright event in our history of the revival of the thousand-year-old Ukrainian state is celebrated this year by the entire nationally 
conscious Ukrainian world on both sides of the Iron Curtain. All noble minds throughout the world who appreciate the great good of 
humanity, which is human freedom and the freedom of the people, are joining our celebration. We know its value, for we have lost it.
Under the armed pressure of our hostile neighbours, we were unable to hold on to our revived state.
But we did not capitulate; we fought our way out of our native land, preserving its image in our souls, and we continue our struggle for 
liberation to this day, both in our native lands and beyond, relying on our own strength as an organised Ukrainian 
community throughout the world, with unshakable faith in the victory of the Ukrainian people and the liberation of our homeland from 
Moscow's occupation. We believe that the time will come when the domes of St. Sophia will be gilded by the sun of freedom and Ukraine 
will be free from Kuban to Transcarpathia.

We have endured forty years of bloody struggle for our liberation. In order to fulfil the provisions of the Fourth Universal, the 
Ukrainian people sacrificed their best sons and daughters, who laid down their lives either on the battlefield with weapons in their 
hands, or in enemy prisons and camps, or in exile in frosty Siberia and inhospitable Kazakhstan. A sea of Ukrainian blood was shed to 
fulfil their will. That is why they have completely filled and continue to fill our souls, from which no one can ever tear them away.
We still have a long struggle ahead of us, more tireless work in all areas of our native land. I urge you to persevere in our struggle, 
to be vigilant through joint efforts to increase our contribution to the further development of Ukrainian liberation ideas and to 
strengthen our liberation struggle through daily tireless and sacrifice in the name of helping those who bear the main burden of the 
liberation struggle in their native lands, fighting against enemy occupation in whatever forms and using whatever opportunities that 
life there offers.
When you look back on these forty years behind us, you will see that Ukrainian blood was not shed in vain, that the lives of millions 
were not sacrificed in vain. You will see that despite Moscow's extermination measures and its horrific terror, the Ukrainian people did 
not give in, but conscious of their state ideals and mature in their statehood, cherish in their hearts the precepts of the Fourth 
Universal and successfully fight for their state, national, economic and cultural independence.

Hence our task outside our native lands: to maintain our current positions, to assist the Ukrainian people in their struggle for 
liberation, to do nothing that would hinder their momentum and zeal in this struggle, unite individual friends and sympathisers of the 
Ukrainian people for the cause of Ukraine's liberation through our exemplary behaviour in the countries whose hospitality we enjoy.

May the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Ukrainian National Revolution not be just a great historical anniversary and a 
magnificent memory for us, but may it be the culmination of our efforts for the World Ukrainian Congress, for the 1st World Union of 
Ukrainians. Honouring this historic event, honouring the memory of those who were its creators and followers, we honour those who 
continue to strive unceasingly to realise it a second time and as soon as possible in their native lands.

Long live the Ukrainian Underground, the armed wing of the Ukrainian National Revolution!
Revolution!

Long live the heroic Ukrainian people! Long live invincible Ukraine!