Central Ukrainian Relief Bureau [CURB, Центральне Українське Допомогове Бюро] – an agency established in London following the end of the Second World War to provide assistance to Ukrainian displaced persons and refugees in postwar Europe.
The CURB was founded by leading members of the Ukrainian Canadian Servicemen’s Association (UCSA) and began operations in September 1945. It was subsequently financed by the Ukrainian Canadian Relief Fund and the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee. The Bureau was initially based at the UCSA headquarters at 218 Sussex Gardens, London W2. Shortly before closing down it moved to smaller premises at 46 Seymour Street, London W1.
The CURB co-operated with Ukrainian relief committees established in various countries of Western Europe and outside Europe, including the Ukrainian Relief Committee in Great Britain. Since most of the CURB activists were members of the Canadian or US armed forces, it was relatively straightforward for them to gain access to the displaced persons camps in continental Europe. The Bureau provided material assistance to Ukrainian displaced persons and refugees, protested against their forced repatriation to the USSR, lobbied for their resettlement in other countries, etc. A branch of the CURB was established in Bielefeld, in the British zone of post-war Germany.
In the first half of 1946 a Ukrainian Information Service (UIS) operated as an adjunct to the CURB. This was created with the aim of separating information dissemination from the Bureau’s core relief work. The UIS provided information on Ukrainian matters to the British press, and supplied Ukrainian newspapers in North and South America with clippings from the British press. In 1947 the CURB published a monthly periodical, The Refugee. In December 1948, owing to financial constraints, the CURB was closed down. In the following year its activities were continued in Bielefeld through the Ukrainian Canadian Relief Fund.
The position of CURB director was held by Bohdan Panchuk (November 1945 to May 1946, and October 1946 to December 1947), Stanley Frolick (May to October 1946) and Anthony Yaremovich (January to September 1948). Other staff and volunteers included Dmytro Andrievsky, William Byblow, Ann Crapleve, Stephen Davidovich, Stephen Jaworsky, Michael Kapusta, George Kluchevsky, George Luckyj, Michael Lucyk, Anne Panchuk, Joseph Romanow and Peter Smylski.
Bibliography
Dyczok, M., The Grand Alliance and Ukrainian Refugees, Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2000.
Frolick, S. W. (edited by L. Y. Luciuk and M. Carynnyk), Between Two Worlds: The Memoirs of Stanley Frolick, Multicultural History Society of Ontario, 1990. (online)
Kordan, B.S., Luciuk, L.Y. (eds.), A Delicate and Difficult Question – Documents in the History of Ukrainians in Canada 1899–1962, Kingston, Ontario: The Limestone Press, 1986.
Luciuk, L. Y., Searching for Place: Ukrainian Displaced Persons, Canada, and the Migration of Memory, Toronto – Buffalo – London: University of Toronto Press, 2000.
Panchuk, G. R. B. (edited and with an Introduction by L. Y. Luciuk), Heroes of Their Day: The Reminiscences of Bohdan Panchuk, Multicultural History Society and Ontario Heritage Foundation, 1983. (online)