Pièce 2008.024.c104 - Kardash, William

1 audio cassette (=2 audio files)

Part 1: Born on June 10, 1912 on a farm North of Hafford (??), Saskatchewan; his parents came to Canada in 1910 from near Kyiv (about 40 miles) and were farming; family was Baptist and Baptism was persecuted in Russia at that time; William was the youngest of 8 children; he finished High School in Hafford, and took Grade 12 by correspondence; sizable community of Ukrainian Baptists; his brother subscribed to “Farmers’ke zhyttia” - that is when William became interested in Ukrainian organizations; by 1931 they formed a ULFTA (??) branch, built a hall, and started putting up plays, mandolin orchestra; his sister taught him to read using Bible in Russian; in Saskatoon attended Labor Temple meeting, plays, concerts; Saviak (??) - an editor of the Farmers’ke zhyttia - came to them and held a meeting; after that the branch of LFTA (??) was formed; Greshchuk (??) from Saskatoon came and helped to organize a grammar group and mandolin orchestra; Dr. Ross (??) from Hafford run in that area as an Independent Progressive; William stayed on a farm till 1943; was for a 1.5 years in Alberta as Provincial Secretary Farmers ???????; a strike in Mundare shortly after a big demonstration in Edmonton when 14 people were imprisoned; Farmers Unity Party purpose; became a member of the Communist Party in 1931; in 1935 he went to Spain, Canadian Committee to Aid Spanish Democracy, was in action in June-July 1937 and was wounded in October and lost a leg; about 1200 Canadians were in Spain; he was in a hospital in Barcelona; return to Canada in August 1938; went on a long speaking tour for the Canadian Committee to Aid Spanish Democracy (starting from Sudbury and across the whole country, raised money, spoke to mayors and councilors, lawyers); USSR and Ukrainian Famine; he became an organizer for the Communist Party in 1939, was arrested after the Party became illegal; his case was dropped and later he was elected to the Legislature in 1941; Labor Progressive Party; WWII, USSR and invasion into Poland from a Communist point of view; CUC, Kushnir.

Part 2: CUC; Fr. Kushnir; Kardash was in Provincial Parliament 4 times as Liberal Progressive Party candidate; UFTA (??) regenerated itself as an Association of United Canadian Ukrainians; Simko (??); Gozynko (??); Kravchuk (??); Spanish War; freeing Ukraine; DPs coming to Canada and their impact; John Kolasky (??); his wife is Mary Kostyniuk.