Oleksii Balabas papers

Oleksii Balabas was an "ordinary man" whose life encapsulates in microcosm a great deal of the history of Ukrainians in the first half of the 20th century. This collection contains six volumes of diaries from the 1940s and '50s, official and legal documents, correspondence, writings on Kuban' history, and photographs.

Summary Information

Creator Balabas, Oleksii
Title Oleksii Balabas papers
ID g.3
Dates 1915-1960
Quantity 1 Linear Feet, 3 bound volumes, 2 boxes
Languages Ukrainian , Russian , Czech , German , English .
Repository Ukrainian History and Education Center Archives

Biographical / Historical

Oleksii Balabas was an "ordinary man" whose life encapsulates in microcosm a great deal of the history of Ukrainians in the first half of the 20th century.

He was born in 1890 in the "stantsia" Slovians'ka in Kuban' (Russian northern Caucuses). He was conscripted into the Russian Army upon the outbreak of World War I, attended cavalry school and joined as an ensign with the Slovians'ka regiment, with which he fought on the Western and Turkish fronts. After the 1917 Revolution he joined the government of the Kuban' People's Republic, associating closely with many of the top government leaders. After the takeover of the government by the ultra-nationalist Russian "Black Hundreds" counter-revolutionaries he was arrested and exiled in 1919 to Istanbul. In 1920, he moved with his family to Prauge.

In Prague, he worked as a compositor in the print shop of the social-democratic newspaper "Právo Lidu" while furthering his education. He eventually defended a doctoral dissertation from the Charles University in Prague, and became a teacher and administrator of the Ukrainian Gymansium in Modřany.

Fleeing ahead of the Red Army in World War II, he spent time in the Karlsfeld, Füssen, and Mittenwald DP camps. He served as teacher and director of the Mittenwald camp Gymnasium. His wife Ievheniia (Pobidonostseva) died in 1947, and in 1950 he emigrated to Chicago. He worked for the Czech-language newspaper "Svernost" and taught at the Ukrainian Orthodox school. He later joined the printing establishment of Prof. Terlets'kyi where he worked as a linotype operator. He moved to New Jersey after prostate surgury, where he likely worked in the printing shop at the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA in South Bound Brook.

Scope and Contents

This collection documents the life of Oleksii Balabas and his family in Kuban', Prague, as a Displaced Person in Germany, and in the United States. Of particular importance are six volumes of diaries in which he describes his life in Germany and the United States. In addition, the collection has official and legal documents from pre-Revolutionary Russia and his immigration into the USA, family and personal correspondence, writings on Kuban' history, and photographs from Kuban', Prague, Germany and the USA. Two letters dated 1933 from family members in Kuban' make reference to the Holodomor.

Arrangement

Arranged in five series as follows

  1. Documents
  2. Correspondence
  3. Writings on Kuban'
  4. Photographs
  5. Diaries

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form: Identification of item, date (if known); Oleksii Balabas Papers; box number; folder number; Ukrainian History and Education Center Archives, Somerset, NJ.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use. Please contact the archivist (archives@ukrhec.org) for more information and to make arrangements.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright restrictions may apply.

Processing Information

Diaries originally housed in tall cabinet "З", shelf 1, with old catalog numbers 703, 704, 705. Photographs were found along with other probably unrelated photographs in large box which also contained the Willimantic, CT parish records (probably inadvertantly dumped together) and have been attributed to this collection based on internal evidence indicating a Balabas connection (labels, photograph of his wife's grave, etc.) as well as the presence of photographs from Prauge. Another group of photographs was transfered from the museum collection (museum accession numbers XVII 4757-4802). Attribution to this collection was based on internal evidence indicating a Balabas connection. The remaining documents were originally housed in a cabinet in the St. Sophia Library.

Controlled Access Headings

Subjects

  • Refugees
  • Exiles
  • Refugee camps
  • Refugees--Social life and customs

Places

  • Asia--Kuban River Region
  • Turkey--Istanbul
  • Czech Republic--Prague
  • Germany--Bavaria
  • Illinois--Chicago

Genres

  • Diaries
  • Personal correspondence
  • Photographs

Container List

Series 1.  Documents, 1916-1960.
Kuban' and Istanbul, 1916-1920.

Scope and Contents

Russian passports, bank passbooks, deeds of sale of real estate, and a passport issued by the consulate of the Netherlands in Istanbul for transit to Prague.
  • box 1 folder 1-2
  • oversize 2
Prague, 1923-1945.

Scope and Contents

Academic documents of Oleksii and his wife, including diplomas, coursework records and student ID cards. Identification documents from the period of Nazi occupation. Certificate of appreciation from his printer colleagues.
  • box 1 folder 3-5
  • oversize 1
Germany, 1945-1949.

Scope and Contents

DP worker's pass and ID cards. Newspaper clippings related to Ievheniia Balabas' death. Death certificates. Administrative correspondence regarding Gymnasium faculty position.
  • box 1 folder 6
United States, 1949-1960.

Scope and Contents

Immigration documents. Baggage tag. Immigrant Report forms and cards. Naturalization forms. Paperwork regarding request for removal to Germany. Address books. Membership cards for various organizations.
  • box 1 folder 7
Series 2.  Correspondence, 1916-1960.
Wife and daughter, 1916-1945 (bulk 1919-1921).

Scope and Contents

Letters from Oleksii to his wife and daughter, written from Kuban', Istanbul, Prague and Germany. Postcards from his daughter enroute from Prague to Germany.
  • box 1 folder 8
Family in Kuban', 1926-1960 (bulk 1926-1935).

Language of materials

Ukrainian.

File Plan

Found in envelope with small collections in central room in Consistory building.

Scope and Contents

Correspondence with family members who remained in Kuban', primarily with a Masha (Mama?) and Fenia, and later with Ievhenia Smola (his sister?), and a Zhenia (surname unknown). Two of the letters from 1933 contain allusions to the Holodomor.
  • box 1 folder 9
Vladimir Chernoi, 1921-1934.

File Plan

Found in envelope with small collections in central room in Consistory building.

Scope and Contents

Correspondence with Vladimir Chernoi, who may be a cousin, as he addresses himself to Oleksii as "tvoi brat" ("your brother"). Correspondence, mostly in the form of postcards, is addressed from Kuban' and Moscow.
  • box 1 folder 10
Kathi Ostler, 1951-1956.

Scope and Contents

Correspondene with the Ostler family in Mittenwald, who may have been caring for Ievheniia's grave.
  • box 1 folder 11
Vasyl' and Petro Kachurovskyi, 1951-1960 (bulk 1959-1960).

File Plan

Found in envelope with small collections in central room in Consistory building.

Scope and Contents

Correspondence from Balabas' son-in-law and school-age grandson after Balabas moved to New Jersey.
  • box 2 folder 1
R. Lukianova, 1949-1960.

Scope and Contents

Correspondence with R. Lukianova (first name unknown) in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Letters, 1959-1960.

File Plan

Found in envelope with small collections in central room in Consistory building.
  • box 2 folder 2
Photographs, 1949-1959.

Scope and Contents

Portraits, group photographs, and other scenes sent to Balabas by R. Lukianova, most with extensive inscriptions on the reverse.
  • box 2 folder 3
General correspondence, 1921-1960 (bulk 1947-1959).

Scope and Contents

Primarily personal correspondence with individuals in the USA, Canada, and the United Kingdom, as well as correspondence dating to the DP period, and some from Prague. It includes correpspondence with Alexandr Bolotenko, Ivan Fin'ko, the Holoskevych family, V. Ivanys, Maria Kasianchuk, Liudmyla Kay (his daughter), Volodymyr Korytnyk, A. Khorii (?), A. Lobachevs'kyi, Abp. Mstyslav, V. Minokov, T. V. Pucholsky, Olesiuk family, Ovcharenko family, ? Sergeiev, Selihor family, I. Varyvoda, M. Vovkodav, and others with illegible signatures.

Arrangement

This file is arranged alphabetically by the correspondent's surname. Materials with unknown or illegible surnames are at the end of the file.
  • box 2 folder 4
Series 3.  Writings on Kuban', Circa 1948.

Scope and Contents

Manuscripts, newspaper clippings and correspondence related to the history of the Kuban' region.
  • box 2 folder 5
Series 4.  Photographs and postcards, 1915-1960.

Processing Information

One group of photographs was found along with other probably unrelated photographs in large box which also contained the Willimantic, CT parish records. Another group was transfered from the museum collection (museum accession numbers XVII 4757-4802). Attribution to this collection was based on internal evidence indicating a Balabas connection.

Scope and Contents

Photographs from Kuban', Prauge, Mittenwald, and Chicago. Includes inscribed photographs sent by R. Lukianova, as well as family photographs, group pictures, and portraits.
Kuban' and Prague, 1915 - 1940s.

Scope and Contents

Portraits, group photographs, and postcard of the Modřany Gymnasium.
  • box 2 folder 6
Germany, 1945-1949.

Language of materials

Ukrainian.

Scope and Contents

Portraits, group photographs, and images of Mittenwald city and DP camp. Portrait card from Balabas' former students Bohdan and Volodymyr Bilan.
  • box 2 folder 7
Funeral of Ievheniia Balabas, 1947.

Language of materials

Ukrainian.

Scope and Contents

Photographs from the church service, funeral procession, and interment, as well as images of the cemetery and grave site with friends and family members.
  • box 2 folder 8
United States, 1954-1960.

Scope and Contents

Portraits and group photographs of Balabas, friends, and family members.
  • box 2 folder 9
Relatives and others, 1960 and undated.

Language of materials

Ukrainian.

Scope and Contents

Portraits (presumably of relatives) and group photographs. Only one photograph of Balabas' sister and nephew in Luga (Leningrad Oblast) is identified. One photograph is also inscribed by "Zhenia". Two photographs have been accessioned from museum collections and may not be related to Balabas.
  • box 2 folder 10
Postcards, 1940s - 1950s.

Scope and Contents

Blank postcards from Bavaria, Bremen, and Chicago.
  • box 2 folder 11
Series 5.  Diaries, 1920-1959 (bulk 1948-1959).
Volume 1, December 1947 - May 1949.

Scope and Contents

Entries made primarily in Mittenwald, Germany.
  • volume 1
Volume 2, May 1949 - March 1950.

Scope and Contents

Entries made in Mittenwald and Bremen. Also contains an entry dated March 10, 1949.
  • volume 2
Volume 3, 1953.

Scope and Contents

Entries made in Chicago, IL.
  • volume 3
Volume 4, March 1954 - May 1955.

Scope and Contents

Entries made in Chicago, IL.
  • box 2 folder 12
Volume 5, 1955.

Scope and Contents

Entries made in Chicago, IL.
  • box 2 folder 13
Volume 6, August 1957 - August 1959.

Scope and Contents

Entries made in Chicago, IL and South Bound Brook, NJ.
  • box 2 folder 14
Loose diary pages, 1920, 1950-1956.

Processing Information

The undated holograph writings were found folded between the pages of the bound diaries.

Scope and Contents

Loose pages containing diary entries from 1920 (Istanbul and in transit to Prague), July 1950 - March 1951 (Chicago), December 7, 1951 (Chicago), January 14, 1955 (Chicago), January 8, 1956 (Chicago), as well as undated holograph writings.
  • box 2 folder 15