Sexual Violence During Soviet Сounterinsurgency in Western
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Ȃȱ¢ȱȱĴęDZȱ¡ȱȱȱ ʈ¢ȱȱȱȱȱȱŗşŚŚȬŗşśř1 by Marta Havryshko Abstract The article focuses on sexual/ized violence experienced by the female members of Ukrainian nationalist underground, its sympathizers, and civilians during Soviet counterinsurgency in Western Ukraine in the late Stalinist period. It reveals the reasons, forms, topography, functions and implications of sexual assaults on women suspected in collaboration with OUN and UPA during anti-partisan military and state security operations, interrogation process, recruitment to work for Soviet intelligence agencies, as well as in the prisons, and other places of detention. The article explores how the Soviet justice system tackled criminal investigations of sexual violence by members of the militia, NKVD-MVD-NKGB-MGB, Internal Troops, special military units (spetsgrupy), and other ǯȱ ȱ ¡ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ Ĝȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ĝǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¡ȱ crimes and brutalization of women’s bodies were an intrinsic part of the state violent practices against anti-Soviet armed resistance, and a by-product of the continuum of political violence in Western Ukraine in the decade after the Second World War. Keywords: sexual violence, rape, Soviet counterinsurgency, OUN, UPA, NKVD, NKGB, perpetrators, justice Introduction encouraged them to solicit their husbands and sons “to come out of the woods.”3 The fter the expulsion of1 the Nazi authorities ę of engaging women into the from Western Ukraine in 1944, the Soviet struggle of anti-Sovietresistance movement regime started a cruel struggle against the is stipulated in the Resolution of the Political underground of the Organization of Ukrainian ȱ ȱȱȱ Ĵȱ ȱ Nationalists (OUN)2 and the Ukrainian Communist Party of Bolsheviks of Ukraine, Insurgent Army (UPA). One of the important dated 5 April 1945.4 At the same time, women tools of this struggle was mass propaganda were not only the objects of ideological largely targeting women. Soviet authorities, as Ěȱȱ ȱ ȱěȱ ȱ represented by Party and Komsomol activists, practices. The wave of political terror and addressedwomen ȱ ěȱ ȱ ȱ repressions engulfed Western Ukraine. The authorities became involved in the war with 1 I would like to thank reviewers and the OUN and UPA underground, the border Euxeinos editorial team for helppful commentaryy guard and internal forces off NKVD, active ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ¢ȱ ¢ ȱ ę from the research grantg of the Canadian Institute units of the Red Armyy, detachments of local of Ukrainian Studies at the Universityy of Alberta (the Petro Chornyjyj Memorial Endowment Fund 3 Haluzevyyyi derzhavnyi arkhiv Sluzhby and the Yuchymenkoyy Family Endowment Fund), bezpekypy Ukrainy y (HDA SBU) [Sectoral State scholarshippy conferred by the German Academic Archive of the Securityy Service of Ukraine], fond Exchangeg Service (DAAD), and Ada Booth Research 13, sprava 376, tom 75, arkush 226. Fellowshippyp in Slavic Studies at Monash University. 4 Litopys UPA. Nova seriia. Tom 3: Borotba 2 This article will onlyy describe the so- proty UPA i natsionalistychnoho pidpillia: dyrektyvny i called Bandera wingg of the Ukrainian nationalist dokumentyyp TsK Kompartii Ukrainy . 1943–1959, eds. undergroundg – OUN(B), named after Stepan Yu. Cherchenko, O. Vovk, I. Pavlenko (Kyiv; Bandera. Toronto: Litopys UPA, 2001), 152. Euxeinos, Vol. 9, No. 27 / 2019 Şś Marta Havryshko air bases, ȱ Ĵȱ(ęȱ ȱ called Ȭ¢ȱ¢ȱȱ¢Ǽǯ9 in 1944 from the local population), forces While many academic researchers analyze of NKVD of USSR on security of railways, the methods, forms, and scale of the struggle ȱ ěȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ of the Soviet authorities against the OUN (raiionni viddily, RV) NKVD and NKGB.ś In and UPA,10 gender aspects are marginalized. the period between ŗȱ ȱ ŗşŚśȱ ȱ ě¢ Burds was the ę author who ŗŖȱ ¢ȱ ŗşŚŜǰȱ ŗśǰśŜŘ military and state focused on the role of women in the covert security operations were conducted, resulting intelligence work of Soviet security services, in the murder of 4,200 persons, the arrest of such as in large special operations against the 9,400 ǰȱ ȱ ȱ £ȱ ȱ ěȱ underground leaders and the UPA. He also kinds of weapons.6 In addition, it was common traced violence against women in the midst of to conduct mass evictions of family members OUN provoked by mass arrests of women by of the underground ęȱ (who were Soviet authorities.11 Olena Petrenko ę executed or imprisoned) and their supporters mechanisms of recruiting women agents to the remote areas of the Soviet Union. In the by Soviet special services, and the gender period from 1944 to ŗşśř, Soviet authorities peculiarities of their operations.12 There is exterminated ŗśř,000 members and supporters also research on one of the best known Soviet of the underground, arrested 134,000 and female agents, Liudmyla Foia.13 Some aspects deported about 204,000 persons.7 It might be assumed that a large part of those convicted 9 See more in: Djefri Burds, Sovetskaya for “counterrevolutionary activities” and ǯȱȱ¢ȱȱȱȱ¢ȱ ¢ȱ ǻŗşŚŚȮŗşŚŞǼȱ (Moskwa; Niu-York, 2006); “engagement with the counterrevolutionary Dmytro Viedienieiev, Hennadii Bystrukhin, organizations” (art. śŚ ŗʲǰȱ and śŚȬŗŗȱ of “Povstanska rozvidka diie tochno i vidvazhno…,” in Dokumentalna spadshchyna pidrozdiliv spetsialnoho the Criminal Code of USSR, respectively) pryznachennia OUN ta UPA. 1940–1950-ti roky (Kyiv: K.I.S., 2006); Dmytro Viedienieiev, Hennadii were women. For instance, in 1946, they Bystrukhin, Dvobii bez kompromisiv. Protyborstvo accounted for 60%.8 Another method of spetspidrozdiliv OUN ta radianskykh syl spetsoperatsii 1945–1980-ti roky (Kyiv: K.I.S., 2007). counterinsurgency struggle practiced by 10 See selectively: Yurii Shapoval, “Viina Soviet special services was to create secret pislia viiny,” Voienna istoriiaǰȱȱśȬŜȱǻŘŖŖŘǼDZȱśşȬŞŚDzȱ Alexander Statiev, ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ agent networks and special military units (so- in the Western Borderlands (Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010); Ivan ś Mykhailo Romaniuk, Zolochivska okruha Patryliak, ȃȱ ȱ ¢Ƿȱ ȱ ȱ ǯǯǯȄȱ ȱ OUN u natsionalno-vyzvolnomu rusi (1937-1953), natsionalischtyne pidpillia ta povstanskyi rukh (1939- (Lviv: In-t ukrainoznavstva im. I. Krypiakevycha ŗşŜŖȱǯǼ (L’viv: Chasopys, 2012); Tamara Vronska, NANU: Tsentr nezalezhnykh istorychnykh studii, Upokorennia strakhom: simeine zaruchnytstvo u 2016): 188-189. ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ǻŗşŗŝȬŗşśřȱ ǯǼȱ 6 Litopys UPA. Nova seriia. Tom 5: Borotba (Kyiv: Tempora, 2013). proty UPA i natsionalistychnoho pidpillia: informatsiini 11 Dzhefri Burds, “Moskal’ki”: zhenshchiny- dokumenty TsK KP(b)U‚ obkomiv partii‚ NKVS–MVS‚ agenty i nacionalisticheskoe podpol’e na Zapadnoj Ȯ ȱ ǻŗşŚřȮŗşśşǼǯȱ ¢ȱ DZȱ ŗşŚŜȮŗşŚŝȱ Ukraine, 1944— 1948,” Social’naya Istoriya. (Kyiv; Toronto: Litopys UPA, 2002), 12. £ȂŘŖŖŚ (Moskva: ROSSPEHN, 2004): 300- 7ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ŗşśřǯȱ ȱ 339. ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢, ed. 12 Olena Petrenko, “Instrumentalizatsiia A. N. Iakovleva (Moscow: MFD, 1999), 47. strakhu. Vykorystannia radianskymy ta polskymy 8 See: “Protokol narady sekretariv obkomiv, orhanamy bezpeky zhinok-ahentiv u borotbi i nachalnykiv oblupravlin MHB u zakhidnykh proty ukrainskoho natsionalistychnoho pidpillia,” oblastei URSR . Lviv. 23.04.1947,” in Litopys Ukraina Modernaǯȱ́ȱŗŞȱǻŝǼȱǻŘŖŗŗǯǼDZȱŗŚŗȬŗŜŝǯ neskorenoi Ukrainy: Dokumenty, materialy, spohady. 13 Volodymyr Ivanchenko, Kvitka u Knyha druha, ed. Yaroslav Lialka (Lviv: Halytska ȱ DZȱ £¢Ĵ¢ȱ ȱ ¢¢ȱ vydavnycha spilka, 1997), 299. (Toronto; Lviv: Litopys UPA, 2009). Euxeinos, Vol. 9, No. 27 / 2019 86 Marta Havryshko of gender-based violence of Soviet authorities practices against women in the GULAG ȱ ȱ ȱ ęȱ ȱ (such as sexual violence by administrators, covered by Larysa Zarichniak.14 However, guards, and fellow prisoners).16 They were despite the increasing number of studies, the obviously one of the forms of punitive problem of sexual violence in the context of repressive measures against members of the opposition of Soviet authorities against OUN anti-Soviet resistance movement but did not and UPA is largely understudied. My key ȱ¢ȱȱěȱȱȱȱȱȱ research questions are: What is the role of Ukrainian nationalist underground. Violence female bodies and sexuality in the struggle against women taking place in Western of Soviet authorities against Ukrainian Ukraine (the OUN underground was mostly nationalist underground? Was sexual violence functioning and witnessing the violence) against women a tool in this war? had a huge impact on its strategy and tactics. The article makes ȱ ęȱ Ĵ to analyze Information on the violence spread within the ě forms of sexual violence against ȱȱȱǰȱĴǰȱ women in the broader context of the struggle information accounts, stories, rumors, and of Soviet authorities against the Ukrainian victims’ testimonies. No less important for nationalist underground in Western Ukraine spreading information on everyday routines between 1944 and ŗşśřǯŗś It Ě on the for women in Soviet prisons at pretrial political meaning of this violence and its proceedings were stories from the women’s impact on the underground of OUN and cellmates, their family and friends who came UPA. Moreover, the article focuses on the to see them. The state-backed terror against consequences of violence for the victimized ȱĚȱȱ¢ȱȱ ȱȱȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ěȱ ȱ ȱ of Soviet authorities, but also weakness and traumatic experience. The study claims helplessness of the underground who were not that sexual violence against women was able to interfere in any way. Hence, numerous an intrinsic part of the war of the Soviet cases of gender-based violence were also a authorities against their opponents, and a by- powerful psychological weapon against the