On August 12, the last liaison of Roman Shukhevich, Daria Husiak, from Lviv, passed away. The city community expresses its sincere condolences to relatives and friends.
From the age of 15, Daria Husiak helped the OUN, for which she was arrested by the Soviet special services in the 1950s. At first, she was held in the prison “on Lontsky”. In total, the woman spent 25 years in prisons.
“In 2010, I had the honor to award her with the city award “Order of the Lion”. Sincere condolences to the family of a great Ukrainian woman!” Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi wrote on his social media.
Mrs. Daria will be buried at the Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv.
We will remind
When Darka Husiak was 26, the Soviet authorities sentenced her to a quarter of a century of imprisonment in strict regime camps for her participation in the national liberation movement. She served the entire term and was released at 51.
Daria Husiak was born on February 4, 1924 in Truskavets, Lviv region. Her parents were from the generation of Ukrainian snipers. Father Yurii worked at “Prosvit” and was the head of the “Rural Host” society, which helped the peasants. Three of his daughters, Daria and her sisters, received an education: they graduated from the Ukrainian folk school and the Drogobyt trade gymnasium. It was the father who became the first victim of the Soviet regime in the family. He was repressed, and his trail got lost in 1940 in the Arkhangelsk region.
Daria was drawn into the underground by his cousin Roman Riznyak. From the beginning, she helped convey messages and organize meetings.
In 1947, it became impossible to stay in his native Truskavets due to the threat of arrest. Darya and her mother Maria went underground. She managed to help the commander-in-chief of the UPA for another 3 years. Darka organized shelter houses, took care of Shukhevych’s health. It was a life of constant conspiracy. In one of the last interviews, Ms. Daria said that she felt like a “baited animal” more than once. She had to constantly look around and be ready to end her life at any moment.
She was arrested in March 1950. She did not have time to use the gun. Interrogations, beatings, torture and 25 years of imprisonment followed.
After her release in 1975, the Soviet authorities did not allow the 51-year-old woman to return to her native Lviv Region. Daria lived in Khmelnytskyi region for a long time. She earned a living by sewing.
Already in 1995, with the help of the famous graphic artist Bohdan Soroka, the son of another associate, Kateryna Zarytska, Ms. Daria was able to settle in Lviv, where she lived until her last days.
“We knew that we were choosing our own will. For this, even life is not at stake, and everyone was so disposed,” said Ms. Daria. She said that she never regretted what she did.
Recent interviews
People of war – Daria Husiak
To the question of what it means to her to be Ukrainian, Darka answers as follows:
“A great duty. How many years have we been fighting for Ukraine, how many more to fight, how many lives were lost to gain independence. We have too many enemies and our Ukraine is too attractive that everyone is encroaching on it. Everyone wants her. We have a good brand in the world. We are noted for both art and literature. We are a rich nation. If we had as many opportunities as others, we would flourish.”
And then she added that the most difficult test in her life had already happened. These are the years lived five thousand kilometers from relatives.