Plast Documents its History

Olena Wawryshyn

This past summer, two university students, Katrusia Balan and Ivan Tarnawsky, documented the memories of members of the Plast Youth Association in Toronto as part of the organization’s nation-wide oral history project.

The project was initiated by three former presidents of Plast, Dr. Daria Darewych, Dr. Iroida Wynnyckyj and Tanya Dzulynsky. 

“We realized that members of Plast who had been active in Canada since 1948 and 1949 were passing away and all their memories of their experiences were being  lost,” says Dr. Darewych. They proposed an oral history project at an annual meeting, and it was well received.  Oksana Zakydalsky filled out the necessary paperwork requesting funding for the project from the Summer Career Placement Human Resrouces and Skills Program and their application was approved.

 In the project’s first year last summer, 26 senior members of Plast were interviewed.

 This year, federal funding for the project was again approved, with the support of Parkdale-High Park MP Peggy Nash, for two students to continue the process.

 Over 11 weeks, Balan and Tarnawsky interviewed about 35 individuals. “We’ve done interviews with people in their 60s, 70s and 80s… as well as people in their 50s,” says Balan.

They ask each interviewee about their biography, their involvement with Plast in Canada and their views on the organization.

“It’s been interesting hearing about how some people were involved with the underground Plast (when it was illegal) in Ukraine,” says Balan. “Many people joined Plast in camps for Displaced Persons’ after the Second World War and then came over to Canada. That’s when Plast started up in Canada,” she adds.

Balan says it has also been interesting to learn about changes in the organization.  In the past, “there was a lot more discipline. Parents, and perhaps the leaders, expected more,” she says. “But I don’t think it’s surprising that Plast has changed, because society has changed so much in the past 50 years,”  she adds. 

Both Balan and Tarnawsky concur that previously, especially in the late 50s and 60s, Plast and its scouting ideals were generally more central to members' lives than today. “It was more-so a lifestyle than an organization for some people,” says Tarnawsky.

“Despite the fact that Plast has changed, the roots of the organization and idea that the youth should educate and train themselves to become better people through the interaction in groups has remained the same,” says Tarnawsky. 

Another aspect that has been retained is the social nature of the organization. “It still very much remains a place where people can meet new people,” says Balan.

The interviews are being preserved in a digital audio and video format, and a brief summary of each one has been written. It is hoped that this material will be used by researchers studying the history of Ukrainians in Canada.

The organization aims to eventually make the material available on the internet.