The Unknown Document on the Struggle of the Soviet Power Bodies Against the OUN of the Melnykivskyi Direction on the Chernivtsi Region (16 May 1947)

Vasyl I. Ilnytskyi, Nataliya J. Kantor

 

DOI: doi.org/10.21272/shaj.2020.i34.p.40

 

Аbstract. The article publishes and analyzes the document – a memo on the agency work on exposing and eliminating the underground of the OUN of the Melnylivskyi direction on the territory of Chernivtsi region (May 16, 1947) (Sectoral State Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine, f. 13: collection of printed editions of the KGB of the USSR, case 372, vol. 62, pp. 253-262), which is an important document both for the history of the confrontation of the Soviet repressive-punitive system with the Ukrainian liberation movement and for the history of the OUN (m). According to the information potential, the published document is quite large. It reveals the peculiarities of the agency work of Soviet law enforcement agencies on the methods of detection and liquidation of the Melnikyvskyi underground in Chernivtsi region. The document gives a brief history of the formation and operation of the OUN (m) during 1940 – 1946, lists the persons arrested. At the same time, it is noted that to May 16, 1947, 286 were under suspicion of belonging to the OUN (m), and the categories of cases these persons were mentioned (26 agent cases, 4 case forms, 8 preliminary agent developments, 248 list accounting). It also gives a brief overview of the agent cases (“Trizubivtsi”, “Musejnyky”, “Nedobyti”), case forms, preliminary agent developments that are under the jurisdiction of UMDB of Chernivtsi region. The published excerpts from the secretarial cases show the extent of the search work of the Soviet security forces and the complete possession of their information. The information was collected and updated periodically about underground people not only in the USSR but also abroad.

The article shows that the Soviet security forces played a central role in work with the agency in the complex of anti-nationalist measures. However, despite the mass pressure, the use of brutal methods of combating the repressive-punitive bodies against the Ukrainian liberation movement, the underground continued to operate in the Carpathian region of the OUN and enjoyed the widespread public support.

In addition, the development of the OUN (m) was shown as a separate direction for the work of Soviet security agencies. Although the latter did not have a broad network of operating centers in the Western Ukraine, its former members were considered potentially dangerous to the Soviet administration, and thus went into development. At the same time, the development and identification of melnykivtsi continued not only in Ukraine but also abroad.

 

Keywords: OUN (m), agency, Chernivtsi region, repressive and punitive bodies.

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