The “Eastern Action” of the OUN(b) and the Anti-Jewish Violence in the Summer of 1941: The Cases of Smotrych and Kupyn by Andriy Usach Abstract The article analyses the role of the OUN(b) activists in the commission of the anti-Jewish violence ȱȱęȱ ȱȱ£ȱȱȱǯȱȱ ȱȱǻǼȱȱĴȱȱȱ minority on the eve of the war between the Third Reich and the USSR? How was the commission ȱ ȱ Ȭ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¡ ȱ¢ȱȱȱȱ ȱ¢ȱȱȱȱ¢ȱȱȱȱ ǵȱȱ ȱȱ ȱȱȬ ȱǵȱȱȱěȱ ȱȱȱȱȱȱ¡ ȱȱȱȱĴȱ¢ȱȱǻǼȱȱȱȱȱȱ ¢ȬȱŗşŚŗȱ ȱȱȱ ȱ¢ȱȱ ¢ǯ Key words: ȱ ǰȱȬ ȱǰȱȱǰȱǻǼǰȱȃȄ ȱȱĴȱȱȱȱȱȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ęȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱȱęȱȱȱȱ ȱȱȱȱȱȱ¢ȱ ¡ȱ¢ȱȱ¢ȱȱȱȱǻǼȱ ȱ ȱ ǻSluzhba bezpeky Ukrainy – SBU). ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ŗşŚŖȬŗşŚŗǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱȬ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ŗşŚŗȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱęȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱȱȱǯ2 The high relevance Ĵȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱǯ ȱȱȱȱǯȱȱȱ ȱȱȱȱȱ¢ȱȱȱ ǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȃȱȄŗ ȱ ȱ ǻǼȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ŗşŚŗȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ěȱ ȱ ¡ȱ ȱȱȱ ȱǯ3ȱȱȱȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ǻ ǰȱȱȱȱȱȱ¢ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱȱǰȱ ȱȱ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ Ǽȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱǯ ȱ ȱ ŗşřşǯȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ȭ 2 Forȱ¡, s eeDZȱ ¢ǰȱȱ ȱ ǯ Ukraintsi v ppyyolitsii v Dystrykti ȱȱ ȱȱȱȱǯȱȱ “Halychyna” (Chortkivskyi Okruh): Nimetskyi ȱȱȱȱȱȱȬ ȱ okupatsiinyi rezhym v pivdennykhy raionakh Ternopilshchynyp y y u 1941-1944 rr. DZȱ Ȭ ȱȱȱ ȱȱ¢ȱȱ ¢ ǰȱ ŘŖŗŘDzȱ ǰ Alti. “A Villageg Massacre: ȱȱ ¢Ȭ¢ȱȱȱȱęȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¡ǯ” ǯȱ ¢ȱ ȱ Geissbühler. In Romania and the Holocaust: Events, ȱȱ£ȱǰȱȱȱȱȱ Contexts, Aftermathǯȱ DZȱ ȱ ǰȱ ŘŖŗŜDZȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ śşȬŞŞDzȱǰȱKai. Deutsche Herrschaft, ukrainischer Nationalismus, antijüdischej Gewalt: Der Sommer 1941 ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ in der Westukraine. BerlinDZȱȱ ¢ȱ, ŘŖŗśǯ £ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ¢ 3 For more details seeDZȱ ¡ǰȱ £ǯȱ “ȱ ȱ DZȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ŗ ȱȱȱȃȱȄǰȱ: Ȭȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǯ” Slavic Review ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ 75, ́ȱ řȱ ǻŘŖŗŜǼDZ ŜŖŜȬŜŘşDzȱ ǰȱ ǯ “Local ȱ ȱ ǻ¢ȱ¢¢¢ £¢ ȱ ȱ DZȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢¢ȱ¢¢ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ǻŗşŚřȬŗşśřǼǯ” Cahiers du Monde russe ¢ȱȮȱǼǰȱǯȱřŞřřǰȱǯȱŗǰȱǯ ŗŚǰȱǯȱŗśǯ Śşǰȱ́ȱŘȬřȱǻŘŖŖŞǼDZȱřŚŗȬřŜŚǯ Euxeinos, Vol. 9, No. 27 / 2019 63 Andriy Usach In general terms, the fate of the Jewish to provide further details about Kupyn. communities of Kupyn and Smotrych during Therefore, it made him show the engagement the Second World War has already been of OUN(b) activists in the anti-Jewish violence highlighted in the historiography of the merely as a “breech on the part of local Holocaust.4 However, the facts considered activists” of decisions of the Directorate of the in this text have not been introduced into OUN(b).7 On the whole, authors frequently the research discourse before. It was only in tend to withhold the role of Ukrainian 2000 when a local historian Yuriy Oliynyk nationalists in persecutions of Jewish people mentioned in one of his publications that during the Second World War by selectively the members of the OUN(b) who came to quoting inconvenient sources, ignoring them Smotrych in the beginning of Nazi occupation or even negating their authenticity.8 “took active part in exterminating Jewish On the contrary, the issue of anti-Jewish population,” with no further details provided.ś violence on the recently occupied territory In May 2016, in Kyiv, a public discussion of Ukraine in summer 1941, including also on “Ukrainian Nationalism and Jews the involvement of Ukrainian nationalist ǻŗşŘŖȬŗşśŖǼȄȱȱȱ ȱ ȱȱ groups in these events, has been repeatedly preliminary research results from studying raised by Western scholars. It was most often the episodes of summer 1941 in Smotrych and ¡ęȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Kupyn.6 One of the participants of the public and Northern Bukovina, and more seldom discussion, the head of Ukrainian Institute of Ȯȱȱȱ¢ǯ9 As to the role of the National Memory, Volodymyr Vyatrovych, 7 I hereby express my gratitude to Oksana took part in a conference in March 2017 “The Cerisier for ě a video recording of the speech ȱȱȱȮȱ ȱȱȱȱ of Vyatrovych at the conference in Paris. A slightly ę text of his report was later published Misfortunes of the 20th century.” In his report, on a Ukrainian web portal “²”: Viatrovych, Volodymyr. “Chy bula OUN antysemitskoiu”. he repeated some of the statements I voiced ². April 19, 2017. https://zbruc.eu/node/64962 during the public discussion. Vyatrovych 8 Derevinskyi, Vasyl. Stavlennia OUN(b) i UPA do susidnikh narodiv ta natsionalnykh menshyn. mentioned the events in Smotrych, but failed Kyiv: Instytut istorii Ukrainy NANU, 2006; Patryliak, Ivan. “U poloni stiikykh stereotypiv: 4 Kruglov, Aleksandr, Andrey Umanskiy i stavlennia Orhanizatsii Ukrainskykh Natsionalistiv Igor Shchupak. Kholokost v Ukraine: Reykhskomissariat do yevreiskoi menshyny v mizhvoiennyi period i “Ukraina.” Gubernatorstvo “Transnistriya”. Dnipro: pershi roky Druhoi svitovoi viiny”. Drohobytskyi Ukrainskiy institut izucheniya Kholokosta kraieznavchyi zbirnykǰȱ˖˔ʺˢʵˆ˔˙˖ˊȱʧʧȱǻŘŖŗśǼDZȱşŚȬŗŖŞDzȱ “Tkuma”ǰȱ ŘŖŗŜDZȱ śŚŝDzȱ ǰȱ ¢ǰȱ ȱ Viatrovych, Volodymyr. Stavlennia OUN do yevreiv: Martin Dean, eds. Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, formuvannia pozytsii na tli katastrofy. Lviv: Ms, 2006. 1933-1945. Vol. 2. Bloomington: Indiana University 9 For more on Eastern Galicia, see: Himka, Press, 2012: 1470-1471; Spector, Shmuel, and John-Paul. “The Lviv Pogrom of 1941: The Geoffrey Wigoder, eds. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Germans, Ukrainian Nationalists, and the Carnival ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ . Vol. II. New Crowd.” Canadian Slavonic Papers śřǰȱ́ȱŘȬŚȱǻŘŖŗŗǼDZȱ York: NYU Press, 2001: 690-691; Ibid. Vol. III: ŗŘŖśǯ 209-243; Struve. Deutsche Herrschaft. On Northern ś Oliinyk, Yurii. “Borotba OUN-UPA proty Bukovina, see: Geissbühler, Simon. ȱ ǯȱ okupatsiinoho rezhymu na Khmelnychchyni”. §ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Materialy X-oi Podilskoi istoryko-kraieznavchoi Massenmord an den Juden 1941. Padeborn: Ferdinand konferentsii, prysviachenoi 55-ii richnytsi peremohy Schöningh, 2013; Rodal. “A Village Massacre”: u Velykii Vitchyznianii viini. Kamianets-Podilskyi: śşȬŞŞDzȱ ǰȱ ǯȱ “Patterns of Violence: Kamianets-Podilskyi derzhavnyi pedadohichnyi The Local Population and the Mass Murder of ¢ǰȱŘŖŖŖDZȱŝśǯ Jews in Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, July- 6 Public discussion “Ukrainian Nationalism August 1941.” Kritika: Explorations in Russian and and Jewsȱ ǻŗşŘŖȬŗşśŖǼǯ” https://www.youtube.com/ Eurasian HistoryȱŞǰȱ́ȱŚȱǻŘŖŖŝǼDZȱŝŚşȬŝŞŝǯȱOn Western ǵƽ ǭƽřśśŘ (Last accessed: Volhynia, see: Snyder, Timothy. “The Life and September, 14, 2017). ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ¢ǰȱ ŗşŘŗȬŗşŚśǯ” Euxeinos, Vol. 9, No. 27 / 2019 64 Andriy Usach OUN(b), there is a noticeable trend to explain “Clearing Our the Area from the Foe actions of its acivists rather through the Elements”: Views of OUN(b) on the Jewish prism of ideological motivation only.10 It is Minority, 1940-1941 ȱ¢ȱęȱ¡ǯȱȱǰȱ the level of ideological indoctrination of the ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ĵȱ ȱ OUN(b) activists, especially those who joined Ukrainian nationalists towards the Jewish the organizational activity only in summer minority started becoming more radical 1941, or not long before that time, requires after 1933.12 It was obviously not a one-time more detailed study. episode. It was related in a number of both Presently, there are very few studies reaching external and interal factors. However, it beyond Western Ukraine. The texts by Wendy ȱȱȱęȱ£ȱȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ěȱ ȱ not only with the early period of the Second promising prospect of studying these issues World War, but also with the internal crisis beyond the common territorial framework within the OUN, which led to its split, and and timeline.11 This text will place particular the further development in 1940/41 of two emphasis on an absolutely understudied separate same-name organizations under the region in this respect, the Kamyanets-Podilskyi guidance of the chief (vozhd) Andriy Melnyk, region (oblast’). On the one hand, it was part and a leader (providnykǼȱȱȱȮȱȱ of the Ukrainian SSR before the events of OUN(m) and OUN(b), respectively. For the September 1939, which made it impossible to ǻǼȱę¢ǰȱȱ ȱȱȱȱȱ ȱ¢ȱĚȱȱȱȱ political struggle with their rivals as well as ideas in the interwar period. On the other hand, active preparation for the expected military due to its borderline location, it was one of the Ěȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ęȱȱ ȱ¢ȱȱȱȱ Soviet Union which was treated as an impetus in summer 1941, when it was turned into a sort to initiate “Ukrainian nation building.” Since of staging area for the “Eastern Action.” the late 1940s at the latest, all activities of the OUN(b) were aligned with the prospects of the forthcoming war.13 Ed. by Ray Brandon and Wendy Lower. In The Shoah in Ukraine: History, Testimony, Memorialization. ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ĵȱ ȱ ȱ ǻǼȱ Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2008: 91- towards the Jewish community in this period 93; Spector, Shmuel. The Holocaust of Volhynian Jews, 1941-1944. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1990: 64-71. 10 For more, see an illustrative review by 12 For more details, see: Carynnyk, Marco. Grzegorz Rossolinski-Liebe on the monograph “Foes of Our Rebirth: Ukrainian Nationalist by Kai Struve, and the further discussion Dȱ ȱ ǰȱ ŗşŘşȮŗşŚŝǯ” Nationalities between them: Rossolinski-Liebe, Grzegorz. “K. Papersȱ řşǰȱ ́ȱ řȱ ǻŘŖŗŗǼDZȱ řŗśȬřśŘDzȱ ǰȱ ¢ǯȱ Iz Struve: Der Sommer 1941 in der Westukraine.” kryvdoiu na samoti: ukrainsko-yevreiski vzaiemyny na http://www.hsozkult.de/publicationreview/id/ zakhidnoukrainskykh zemliakh u skladi Polshchi (1935- rezbuecher-24974 (Last accessed - September, 14, 1939)ǯȱDZȱ¢ȱ¢ǰȱŘŖŖśDzȱ ¢ǰȱTaras. 2016). “The ‘Jewish Question’ in the Ukrainian Nationalist 11 Lower, Wendy. “Pogroms, Mob Violence Discourse of the Inter-War Period».