Natalka Dosiak Novel “The black Board”: Testimony of Crimes of the soviet Authority against Ukrainians
Authors: BOYCUN Iryna 
Published: November 2024

The Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian people is the object of coverage in the works of writers. The novel “Maria” by Ulas Samchuk, written in 1933 based on the stories of the few eyewitnesses who were lucky, appeared as the first incriminating document of the day. Subsequently, the theme of the Holodomor was revealed by Vasyl Barka in the novel “The Yellow Prince”, Anastasia Lysyvets in the novel “Tell me about a happy life...”, Yuri Bedzik in the novel “Plaster Doll”, Igor Kachurovsky in the poem “Village in the Abyss”, Svitlana Talan in the novel “ Split sky” and others. However, among the works about the crimes of the Soviet authorities against Ukrainians, the novel “Blackboard” by Natalka Dolyak attracts attention, in which artistic fiction is intertwined with documentary accuracy of the reproduction of the terrible events of 1932-1933 in Ukraine. The purpose of our investigation is to show, using the example of Natalka Dolyak’s novel “The Blackboard”, the destructive nature of the Holodomor in Ukraine, which was realized not only in the destruction of the gene pool of the Ukrainian nation, but also in the distortion of the worldview of the generation that mimicked, adopting Soviet ideas in order to survive. Studying the history of the Ukrainian people, in particular its tragic pages, shapes the outlook of young people and prevents the recurrence of terrible events. That is why it is necessary to promote the development of Ukrainian literature, to read and understand the works of Ukrainian writers, who draw attention to the tragic pages of our history by means of the artistic word. The events in the novel take place in three time dimensions: the terrible years 1932-1933, the 80s of the 20th century, and the 2000s. Three generations of the family appear before the reader’s eyes, whose ancestor is Oles Ternovy. The main character went through a difficult path from admiring the ideas of the Soviet government to realizing their criminality. A journalist of a district newspaper, finding himself in his native village during forced collectivization, becomes a witness of genocide. The culmination of the novel is the introduction of the “black board” regime in his native village of Veselovtsi. In order to tell about the terrible crimes, Oles Ternovy notes down the testimonies of his fellow villagers. When the records reach his great-grandson, screenwriter Oleksandr Levkivskyi, the world learns about the nation’s tragedy. Natalka Dolyak’s novel “The Blackboard” depicts with documentary authenticity the terrible pages of the history of Ukraine during the Holodomor, organized by the Moscow authorities with the aim of destroying Ukrainians as a nation. Despite the actions of the Soviet authorities, aimed at concealing the causes and events of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine, thanks to the testimonies of eyewitnesses and incriminating directive documents, we remember those terrible times. An important role in uncovering the truth is played by works of art, including the novel “The Black Board” by Natalka Dolyak. Keywords: documentary, Holodomor, “Blackboard”, Natalka Dolyak, history, genetic code.