Description
Christmas unites whole generations and families around a festive table and caroling together, and Malanka is a street carnival action with masks and fancy costumes in honour of the arrival of the new year. Both holidays have deep roots for Ukrainians, which the Soviet repressive machine was trying to destroy for decades. We were told about bans on celebrations, oppression, and persecution of carolers and malankars in the villages of Poltavshchyna, in Kharkiv, in Lviv, and in Vashkivtsi. Despite these prohibitions, many traditions survived. Thanks to those who hid Malankars’ masks in, protected bands from persecution, recorded ancient carols and gathered carolers in their kitchens despite the risks of arrests and searches, the tradition has not been interrupted. Now it is being studied and revived. This is how Ukrainians always won in the struggle for their own identity. They are winning even now.
