Thousands of Roads: A Memoir of a Young Woman's Life in the Ukrainian Underground During and After World War II

by Maria Savchyn Pyskir

Before, during, and after World War II, Maria Savchyn Pyskir served in the Ukrainian Underground resistance. Her dramatic and poignant memoir tells of her recruitment into underground service at age 14, her participation in resistance activities during the War, her bittersweet marriage to revolutionary leader "Orlan," her struggle against Stalinist forces, and her captures by and escapes from the KGB. In the 1950s when she escaped to the West, she began these memoirs, which were not published in Ukrainian until after the fall of the Soviet Union. Their appearance in Ukrainian caused a sensation, as she remains the only survivor of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) to have told her tale, now offered in English. Pyskir, whose escape came at the cost of her husband, children, and family, recreates in her memoir an astonishing account of her experiences as a Ukrainian partisan, a woman, a wife, a mother, and an outcast from her own land. The book contains maps, many of the author's own photographs, and a foreword by John A. Armstrong.

Genres: Ukraine, History, Nonfiction, War

243 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Paul Hedeen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pyskir's memoir is a must read for anyone interested in Soviet / Ukrainian history. It is the story of a young idealistic nationalist who dedicates her life to the independence of a Ukraine long-oppressed by Poland and Russia. This is a well-written and heartfelt story of the patriot's life of deprivation, sacrifice, violence, and love (of nation, comrades, and family). One comes to understand fully how Ukraine's post-WW II independence movement, though long and bloody, in the end could not overcome the interference and domination of neighboring states and the Ukrainian populace's own compromises with the corrupt empires controlling them after WWII. Recent attacks by Putin's Russian regime now only underscore Pyskir's cautionary story of how nation-building requires ongoing commitment, vigilance, and sacrifice.

[Nestor Rychtyckyj · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most emotional and heartbreaking books that I have ever read. As the blurb indicates, the author was a member of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) that fought both the Nazis and Soviets during World War II and continued to fight the Soviets well in the mid 1950s. This was a war that they could never win, but their determination and belief in a free Ukraine was only realized decades later. Maria Pyskir joined the Ukrainian undeground as a teenager and spent years fighting alogside her husband against the Soviet occupation. Her story of this life which cost her a baby son that was taken away from her is unbelievably heroic. Many nationalist Ukrainians escaped to the West during this time, but she and her husband stayed behind despite the near certainty of capture or death. In fact, nearly all of her fellow partisans are either killed or captured. Her acceptance of the risks and harrowing tales of being hunted through the forests of Ukraine show how the human spirit grow stronger in the worst circumstances. The hunt for them and their eventual capture points out how determined the Soviets were to wipe out Ukrainian freedom. The story of the UPA and its heroic battles is largely unknown; the Soviets branded them as allies of Nazi Germany and only lately is is their history becoming known.
THis is not an easy book to read; it is filled with terror and savage war against the UPA and those Ukrainians who aided them. The scenes where partisans gladly take their own life rather than be captured will stay with you for a long time. The fact that Maria Pyskir survived these terrible times and let us read her story is a testament to her. This book honors the memories of all those people who were not as fortunate as she was to survive that war.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclosure: I knew Mrs. Pyskir, but was not aware of her involvement in the UPA until she published this book.

The book is about her activities and experience in the underground Ukrainian independence movement in the years just before and following WWII. I found it relative to today as her memoir talks to the split it Ukrainian nationalism between western and eastern Ukraine. The Soviet Russification of eastern Ukraine under Stalin are the seeds that grew to the current day fracture.

The book focus more on activities than feelings, but by the end of the book I felt an immense sense of compassion for the sacrifices those in the UPA and their extended families made in the name of Ukrainian independence. Americans are frequently reminded that freedom isn't free. This book speaks to that as well as the importance of keeping an oppressed culture alive.

[Yuliya Astapova · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing, heartbreaking, and inspiring story. I am thankful that Maria put her life into these pages so that someone like me can read about the history of their origins and their family. Very powerful book and I am glad I read it.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was written by the mother-in-law of my husband’s step-sister. It was a bit eerie to read with the current conflict in Ukraine because she worked in the underground trying to maintain an independent Ukraine from the Soviets.

[Sonya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely engaging story-telling is often not found in this kind of memoir; finding it here (and in English, too) is a real bonus.