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COLLECTION Identifier: HOLLIS 009550549

Photograph album, 1946-1948.

Overview

The Ukrainian Council for Physical Culture (Rada fizychnoi kultury, or RFK) was founded by Ukrainian refugees in postwar Germany in November 1945. This organization coordinated over 50 Ukrainian sports clubs that had arisen in the DP camps. Photograph album includes photographs of the various Ukrainian DP sports clubs in Germany that were overseen by the Ukrainian Council for Physical Culture. The majority of the photographs were taken during the 1948 DP Olympiad, and during inter-league competitions between Ukrainian sports clubs from 1947 to 1948.

Dates

  • Creation: 1946-1948.

Language of Materials

Captions are in Ukrainian.

Conditions Governing Access

Access is by appointment only. Contact the Institute Bibliographer/Archivist.

Extent

1 Volumes

This album includes photographs of the various Ukrainian DP sports clubs in Germany that were overseen by the Ukrainian Council for Physical Culture. Sports clubs represented include those from DP camps in Augsburg, Aschaffenburg, Mittenwald, Neu-Ulm, Bayreuth, Waiern, Ettlingen, Regensburg, Ellwangen, Bamberg, Karlsruhe, Berchtesgaden, and Rottenburg. The photographs show teams in track-and-field, volleyball, soccer, boxing, and basketball, as well as athletic competitions in these sports and others, such as swimming, skiing, table tennis, boxing, and chess. The majority of the photographs were taken during the 1948 DP Olympiad, and during inter-league competitions between Ukrainian sports clubs from 1947 to 1948.

Biographical / Historical

The Ukrainian Council for Physical Culture (Rada fizychnoi kultury, or RFK) was founded by Ukrainian refugees in postwar Germany in November 1945. This organization coordinated over 50 Ukrainian sports clubs that had arisen in the DP camps. These sports clubs organized teams in track-and-field, volleyball, basketball, swimming, skiing, table tennis, boxing, hiking, chess, and in soccer, by far the most popular sport, with 29 clubs in the US zone of Germany alone. Both men and women were involved in the organized games and athletic competitions organized by the RFK, with women participating mostly in track-and-field, volleyball, table tennis, and skiing. The RFK also promoted sports by introducing a standard test for a physical fitness badge; accredited referees and judges; and organized an association and courses for them, as well as an instructors' school in Mittenwald and skiing, volleyball, and basketball training camps.

On the initiative of the RFK the International Committee of Political Refugees held a DP Olympiad in June-November 1948 in Nuremberg. Ukrainian teams took first place in soccer, men's volleyball, the men's 400 m. relay, and heavyweight boxing. The council also organized competitions among Ukrainian sports clubs, between Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian clubs, and occasional contests against non-DP clubs or military units . After the mass emigration of refugees from Germany, the RFK ceased its activities in 1950. It was headed by A. Lukiianenko (1945-46), V. Blavatskyi (1946-47), I. Krasnyk (1947-48), and S. Kikta (1948-1950).

Processing Information

Processed by: Ksenya Kiebuzinski

Title
Rada fizychnoi kultury. Photograph album, 1946-1948: A Finding Aid.
Author
Ukrainian Research Institute
Language of description
und
EAD ID
uri00013

Repository Details

Part of the Ukrainian Research Institute Repository

Special Collections at the Ukrainian Research Institute Library include primary sources documenting the history of Ukraine in the 20th century, and Ukrainian émigré social and cultural life in Europe, and the United States:
http://www.huri.harvard.edu/library/special-collections.html

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