Dokia Humenna’s Depiction of the Second World War and the OUN in Khreshchatyi iar: How Readers Responded

Abstract

Abstract: When Dokia Humenna’s novel depicting the Second World War, Khreshchatyi iar (Khreshchatyk Ravine), was published in New York in 1956, it created a controversy. Readers were particularly interested in the way activists of the OUN were portrayed. This article analyzes readers’ comments and Humenna’s responses, which are today stored in the archives of the Ukrainian Academy of Science in New York. The novel is based on a diary Humenna kept during the German occupation of Kyiv in the years 1941-1943. Keywords: Dokia Humenna, Khreshchatyi iar, Second World War, OUN, Émigré Literature, Reader Respons