On Sunday, July 24, the memory of Ivan Gel was commemorated in the Komarniv community.
near the monument “Fighters for the freedom of Ukraine” in the village of Klytsko, the residents of the Komarniv community honored the memory of a countryman, an outstanding publicist, human rights defender, public figure, active participant of the national liberation movement in Ukraine, Ivan Gel.
Ivan Gelev would have turned 85 this year. He was born in the village of Klitschko in 1937. He was repeatedly convicted for anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda and served time in camps in Mordovia. In total, he spent 16 years in prison, 5 years in exile. He is the author of the well-known publication “Edges of Culture” and about a hundred other publications. Returning to the Lviv region, he took an active part in the creation of the “Memorial” and the People’s Movement of Ukraine. In 1990-1994, he was a deputy, deputy chairman of the Lviv Regional Council of the first democratic convocation. Awarded the Order of Freedom and the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise.
Present at the event, the deputy of the Lviv Regional Council, Kateryna Kenyo, in her speech to the community, emphasized that such events help to better understand the history and struggle experience of each generation of Ukrainians.
“Our compatriot Ivan Gel was the builder of independent Ukraine. He participated in the formation of state policy, the revival of the Greek Catholic Church, and the development of civil society. His destiny is full of challenges and struggles. In his journalistic works, he analyzed the situation of Ukrainian culture in the conditions of Russian occupation, called Moscow’s policy towards Ukraine ethnocide, and emphasized Russia’s desire to destroy Ukrainians as a nation. As you can see, a few decades ago, Ivan Gel paid attention to threats that we probably did not warn about in time. Now Ukrainians are shedding blood in the fight against the Russian invasion, we will defend our state and will definitely win. And we will qualitatively change our understanding of the past and carefully analyze the experience of struggle. How we can protect our future will depend on this,” she said