On a previous walks about town we visited Filip Konowal’s grave at the St Laurent cemetery. Let’s go back there, but to a different section: the Ukrainian one. Section U (yes, that’s what it’s called) is found toward the north-west side, well in from the entrance on Montreal Road. Look for an imposing grey granite headstone belonging to Vladimir (Volodymyr) Kaye-Kysilewsky: Ukrainian & Canadian soldier, historian, editor, slavist, propagandist and civil servant.

Kysilewsky served as an officer in the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen and Galician Army in the WW I and early post-war period. After the conclusion of hostilities, he completed his studies with a PhD in History at the University of Vienna. Immigrating to Canada, he became a newspaper editor. At the same time, he joined the Canadian Non-permanent Militia (we now call it the Army Reserve). Many of his fellow members of the United Hetman Organization (this movement was a right-wing one supporting Hetman Skoropadsky, a ruler of Ukraine during the turbulent revolutionary period) also joined. In fact, they often trained and went on exercise with the Canadian Militia in their Hetmanite uniforms. The government saw them as a counter-balance to left-wing influence in the Ukrainian-Canadian community. However, Kysilwesky soon distanced himself from the Hetmanite Movement and joined the Nationalists.

After a short period editing a Ukrainian newspaper in Chicago, Volodymyr Kysilewsky was hired to run the Ukrainian Information Bureau in London. Through membership in the Royal Institute for International Affairs, close contacts with senior British officials and an active information campaign he was able to keep Ukrainian issues before leading circles in Great Britain. Although it is not absolutely clear, the Bureau was probably allied with the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. Funding came from a Mr. MacOhon (yes, that’s the spelling). A young immigrant to the US, he joined the Marines in 1905, served in the Philippines and in Europe during WW I, becoming one of the first three military pilots in the US. Marrying into a rich American family, he was able to use his access to resources to support many Ukrainian causes.

Kaye did a doctorate in Slavic Studies, married an Englishwoman and returned to Canada in 1940. He then joined the Department of National War Services. The head of his section, which dealt with ethnic groups, trying to get them to support the war effort, was Watson Kirkconnell. The latter advised Kysilwesky to change his name to Kaye, for with his original name he would not have much credibility commenting on ethnic issues within government. This is not as strange as it seems. Remember, in 1940 there was a strong Ukrainian-Canadian Communist movement that echoed Stalin’s call to assist Hitler as part of the Hitler-Stalin Pact. At the other end of the political spectrum, The Hetmanite and Nationalist movements had very close, long-term links with German military intelligence (the Abwher). Kaye, with Kirconnell and others, was effective in forcing the unification of most Ukrainian groups in the Ukrainian Canadian Committee (later- Congress). At the beginning, the main purpose of the UCC was to demonstrate Ukrainian loyalty to Canada. It became involved in war bond drives, recruiting and support to Canadian soldiers of Ukrainian origin. Kaye’s work went a long way toward organizing support behind the war effort, thus gaining greater acceptance of Ukrainians in Canadian society.

After the war Kaye served in the Dept of the Secretary of State, became the first head of the Slavics Dept at the University of Ottawa and the first President of the Canadian Association of Slavists. He wrote extensively on Ukrainian-Canadian history. Appointed to the Order of Canada in 1974, Vladimir Kaye died in 1976.