Abstract
This dissertation constitutes the introduction and opening three chapters of a book that will be published in the near future and which will be available for purchase by the general public. The book project (featuring nine chapters in total, approximately 92,000 words) will depict the history of the Ukrainian community in Huddersfield from 1948 to 2018. I use the introduction to discuss some of the complexities of researching this topic whilst the three chapters will provide answers to a number of research questions that are pivotal to the history of the Ukrainian community in Huddersfield. These are detailed below:Chapter One – When, why and how did the founder members of the Huddersfield Ukrainian community leave their homeland during the years of the Second World War? And why were they so reticent to discuss their pasts with anyone, particularly their own relatives?
Chapter Two – Following approximately two to three years of internment in Displaced Persons and Prisoner of War camps in Germany, Austria and Italy and then in the United Kingdom, why and under what circumstances did they permanently settle in Huddersfield? How did their experiences in these camps help them to settle in the United Kingdom and to establish and organise a Ukrainian community in exile?
Chapter Three – Chapters One and Two follow a chronological narrative of leaving home and establishing the community in Huddersfield. However, the shaping of political identities both precedes and follows this period. Therefore Chapter 3spansa wider time period, providing its own narrative line around the development of political ideology, identity, connections and differences which affected members of the community across a large part of their lives. In it I focus on the following research questions: What drove the creation of political identity among Ukrainians prior to, during and after Second World War? How did agreements and differences manifest themselves? What, if anything, were the consequences for the Huddersfield community? ....
| Date of Award | 7 May 2020 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Supervisor | Lindsey Dodd (Main Supervisor) & Wendy Webster (Co-Supervisor) |