John Kolasky ( uk, Іван Васильович Коляска, translit=Ivan Vasyliovych Koliaska; October 5, 1915 – October 20, 1997) was a Canadian-Ukrainian historian and activist. A member of the

Communist Party of Canada The Communist Party of Canada (french: Parti communiste du Canada) is a federal political party in Canada, founded in 1921 under conditions of illegality. Although it does not currently have any parliamentary representation, the party's can ...

early in his political career, Kolasky became disillusioned with communism after witnessing repressions of Ukrainians by the Soviet government, and subsequently became an anti-communist activist and supporter of Ukrainian

Soviet dissidents Soviet dissidents were people who disagreed with certain features of Soviet ideology or with its entirety and who were willing to speak out against them. The term ''dissident'' was used in the Soviet Union in the period from the mid-1960s until t ...

in Canada.

Biography

John Koliaska was born on October 5, 1915, in the town of

Cobalt, Ontario Cobalt is a town in Timiskaming District, Ontario, Canada. It had a population of 1,118 at the 2016 Census. In the early 1900s, the area was heavily mined for silver; the silver ore also contained cobalt. By 1910, the community was the fourth h ...

to a Ukrainian Canadian family from

Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter BergerT ...

. His parents were both members of the

Ukrainian Labour Farmer Temple Association The Association of United Ukrainian Canadians (AUUC; uk, Товариство Об'єднаних Українських Канадтсив) is a national cultural-educational non-profit organization established for Ukrainians in Canada. With ...

, and he grew up on a farm near the city of Timmins, where his surname was Polonised to Kolasky. Following the beginning of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

Kolasky left home and worked various jobs in Timmins,

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, and Winnipeg. His experience with the Great Depression radicalised him into Marxist ideals, and he became a member of the

(CPC). In 1944 Kolasky began studying at the University of Saskatchewan as a historian, graduating in 1948. He also graduated from the University of Toronto in 1950. Over the next decade he became a prominent figure in the CPC, and he was sent to the in 1963 by the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians (the successor to the Ukrainian Labour Farmer Temple Association). In Ukraine Kolasky experienced firsthand the Russification of Ukraine occurring under the Soviet government. He began disseminating '' samizdat'' regarding Russification, and was arrested in 1965 before being deported back to Canada. Following his return, Kolasky published ''Education in Soviet Ukraine'' in 1968 and ''Two Years in Soviet Ukraine: A Canadian's Personal Account of Russian Oppression and the Growing Opposition'' in 1970, both of which discussed Russification and the growing movement of

in Ukraine. Following the publication of these books, Kolasky was expelled from the AUUC and the CPC. Kolasky became a speaker for events throughout Canada. He continued to publish literature about the Russification of Ukraine, including a translation of

Valentyn Moroz Valentyn Yakovich Moroz (Ukrainian: Валенти́н Я́кович Моро́з) (15 April 1936 – 16 April 2019) was a Ukrainian writer and political prisoner. His resistance to persecution by the communist authorities made him a popular hero, ...

's ''Report from the Beria Reserve'' in 1974. Kolasky was a supporter of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group and, later, the Ukrainian Republican Party. Following the

1989–1991 Ukrainian revolution From the formal establishment of the People's Movement of Ukraine on 1 July 1989 to the formalisation of the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine via 1991 Ukrainian independence referendum, referendum on 1 December 1991, a non-violent protes ...

he emigrated to Ukraine and lived with Levko Lukianenko. He died in the village of

Khotiv Khotiv is a village in Obukhiv Raion of Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Feodosiivska rural hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Khotiv adjoins the boundary of Kyiv in its southwestern outskirts (Holosiivskyi District, Feof ...

or in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on October 20, 1997.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolasky, John 1915 births 1997 deaths 20th-century Canadian educators 20th-century Ukrainian educators Canadian anti-communists Canadian socialists of Ukrainian descent Immigrants to Ukraine Members of the Communist Party of Canada Ukrainian anti-communists Ukrainian dissidents University of Saskatchewan alumni University of Toronto alumni Former Marxists