Prairie Centre for the Study of Ukrainian Heritage – Oral History Program

Transformation of Civil Society:
Oral History of Ukrainian Village Culture of the 1920-30s

This oral history collection presents testimonies of 126 Ukrainian villagers from across central and eastern Ukraine who in 1993-95 spoke about their lives in their communities during the 1920-30s. These interviews are a part of the large-scale research project on the transformation of civil society in the Ukrainian countryside in the 1920-30s that resulted from the Soviet forced collectivization of Ukraine’s agricultural communities. The villagers’ testimonies offer first-hand accounts of village life prior, during, and after collectivization of the Ukrainian farmers. The interviews offer personal insight into one of the most dramatic periods of Ukrainian history which also led to Holodomor, the devastating mass man-made famine in Ukraine during 1932-33.