Tank, literary group

Tank, literary group [Танк]. An informal association of Ukrainian émigré writers and artists of nationalist outlook, established in 1929 in Warsaw; in 1933 it was reorganized into a literary group My, also known as the Warsaw Group, associated with the Variah publishing house and the literary and arts journal My. A postcard from Yevhen Malaniuk announcing the founding of Tank was received by Nataliia Livytska-Kholodna on 22 March 1929; it was also signed by other co-founding members of Tank, Yurii Lypa, Pavlo Zaitsev, Avenir Kolomyiets, and Levko Chykalenko. Tank emerged as a result of an ideological polemic between the younger generation of Ukrainian émigré writers and Dmytro Dontsov who promoted a politicized nationalist agenda in the revived journal Literaturno-naukovyi vistnyk.

Yurii Lypa has usually been considered the leader of Tank; however, in actuality, the role of Yevhen Malaniuk, who coined the group’s name, was no less important. This is indicated by two programmatic texts in the brochure Statti pro Tank (Articles about Tank, 1929): ‘Hrupa Tank’ (The Group Tank) by Malaniuk and ‘Lyst do pys'mennykiv’ (A Letter to Writers) signed by Lypa. This brochure outlined plans to publish the group’s journal which was to be edited by Malaniuk. The journal’s objective was said to be to advocate for a cultural orientation toward Europe as a means of radically distancing Ukraine from Russian culture; the journal was also intended to promote the idea of Ukrainian statehood, to foster the cult of heroism and nobility, and to fight against mass culture. The brochure contained a list of prospective contributors to this future publication: Vasyl Diadyniuk (Paris), V. Krasnopilsky (Lviv), Andrii Kryzhanivsky (Cracow), Mykola O. Kovalsky (Paris), Nataliia Livytska-Kholodna (Warsaw), Lypa (Warsaw), Lev Lukasevych (Warsaw), Malaniuk (Warsaw), Leonid Mosendz (Prague), Mykhailo Mukhyn (Poděbrady), Mykhailo Sereda (Kalisz), Oleksa Stefanovych (Prague), Mykola Chyrsky (Uzhhorod), Sviatoslav Shramchenko (Częstochowa), Petro P. Kholodny (Warsaw), and others.

Initially, the informal membership of Tank included Yurii Lypa, Yevhen Malaniuk, Yurii Kosach, Andrii Kryzhanivsky, Nataliia Livytska-Kholodna, Petro P. Kholodny, Olena Teliha, and others. But under the sway of Dmytro Dontsov’s authority and partially due to internal disagreements and financial difficulties, the group’s leaders Lypa and Malaniuk withdrew from Tank. As a result, in 1933, at the suggestion of Andrii Kryzhanivsky, the literary group Tank was reorganized into the literary group My, also known as the Warsaw Group. The new association established the Variah publishing house and the journal My.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lypa, Iu. ‘Tank: Ob’iednannia ukraïns'kykh mysttsiv,’ Tryzub no 27 (183) June 30 (1929)
‘Statti pro Tank’ (Warsaw 1929)
Strumins'kyi, B., Skorups'ka, M. (comp.) ‘Materiialy do istoriï literatury i hromads'koï dumky: lystuvannia z amerykans'kykh arkhiviv 1857–1933’ vol 3 (New York 1992)
Shkandrij, M. Ukrainian Nationalism: Politics, Ideology, and Literature, 1929–1956 (New Haven and London 2015)

Roksana Kharchuk

[This article was updated in 2026.]