About

Map_of_Sumy_Ukraine
We hope you enjoy this collection of ethnic Ukrainian folk songs arranged by Peter [Ukr. Petro] Ivanovich Sahaidachny; the album is dedicated to his father Ivan Sahaidachny and his mother Anastasia Sahaidachny. Ivan was born in 1924 and died in 1989. Anastasia, who passed away in late 2012 in Peru, Indiana, can be heard singing with her sons Nicholas & Peter on Volume I. She was 80 years old at the time those songs were recorded. The name Sahaidachny can be traced back to the early 1600’s when the Cossacks were led by Hetman Petro Konashevich Sahaidachny.

Ivan Dmitrovich Sahaidachny and his wife Anastasia Kondrativna Sahaidachny (Tschiniak) were born in the small village of Knyazhichi in the Sumy Region of Ukraine. Ivan worked as a shoemaker and learned the trade from his father-in-law Kondrat Prokhorovich Tschiniak; Mr. Sahaidachny was also a lumberjack. His wife Anastasia was a homemaker; they were married in Knyazhichi. In the years 1932-33 they survived the Great Famine, Holodomor, orchestrated by Stalin. Ivan and Anastasia were members of the Orthodox church and saw how the communists destroyed the churches in their vicinity. When World War II erupted, the Sahaidachny family: Ivan, Anastasia, and their daughter Halina, along with other relatives, started moving out of Ukraine and made their way into Eastern Europe, where they lived in a displaced person’s camp for a short time in Germany.

After living abroad for several years, they immigrated to America, passing through New York’s Ellis Island. First, they rented a small apartment in Hicksville, Long Island, New York before moving to the small town of Peru, Indiana. The Tymoszenko family had already settled in Peru and were able, with help from the city’s Church of the Brethren, to accommodate the Sahaidachny family by moving them into their home. Five years later, they became American citizens and raised four children: Halina, Maria, Nicholas & Peter. They were members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. All the Sahaidachny siblings married and had children of their own.

Here is a list of all the people who contributed their time and effort toward the realization of this musical journey:

You can contact Brothers Ivan at: brothersivan@creativevibrations.com