Hidden Manuscript about Ukraine War

We hear so much news about the violence and loss of lives in Ukraine since 2022 when Russia invaded the country that we can almost become numb.  But when I read about the Ukrainian author Volodymyr Vakulenko, who handwrote a manuscript about the war in Ukraine, I was deeply touched. The well-known author had written poems, children’s books and short stories, but felt the urgency to write about the war.  He was afraid that Russian soldiers might destroy his manuscript, so he buried it in his yard under a cherry tree. He was captured soon afterward, and his body was later found in a mass grave. Another Ukrainian writer learned of the book and dug it up. She knew the importance of the manuscript.

The title is I Transform.  The book tells about the carnage of Russia’s invasion. It took courage for Vakulenko to write this book and a miracle to publish it in the midst of the ongoing war.  Vakulenko wanted future generations to know the truth about the horrors the Ukrainian people endured and are still enduring. So his words live on to inspire people who have suffered at the hands of oppressive regimes.

We don’t often think of the power of the written word. We think guns, ammunition, and bombs are needed to win a war. That is true, yet words can be very powerful. How impoverished our world would be without books like the Bible, Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, the plays of Shakespeare, books of poetry, and history. Words broaden our minds and nourish our spirits. Books are worth digging up and getting published. They uncover truths no one would know except for an author’s dedication and perseverance.

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Barbara Mayer, OSB