Kazimierz Domosławski's Testimonies on the Activities of the Polish Military Organization in Kyiv in 1915–1918

Maksym Potapenko

doi:10.35433/history.11195

Abstract

The full text of the testimonies of the outstanding Polish politician Kazimierz Domoslawski on the initial activities of the Polish Military Organization in Ukraine is introduced into the scientific discourse. The Kyiv branch of this organization played an important role in the national life of the Poles of Dnieper Ukraine during the First World War. These testimonies were recorded by Henryk Jablonski in late 1933 during the collection of oral evidence for the study of Polish autonomy in the Dnieper Ukraine in 1917 – 1918. Kazimierz Domoslawski was an employee of the Polish Society for Assistance to Victims of War, led the activities of the Kiev branches of the student ‘Korporacja’ and the Polish socialist party (revolutionary fraction). His political career peaked in 1917. Then he became a member of the Central Rada of Ukraine, a member of the Kiev city Duma, the head of the II Conference of the Polish socialist party in Russia, as well as an employee of two bodies of Polish national self-government in Ukraine, namely the Polish Executive Committee in Rus and (Vice)Secretariat of Polish Affairs of the General Secretariat of the Central Rada. The fact that Kazimierz Domoslawski was participant of the Polish Military Organization is little known among historians. It means that, there were the close contacts between the legal Polish socialist party (revolutionary fraction) and the underground Polish Military Organization. The main topic of the testimonies is the activities of the Kiev branch of the Polish Military Organization in 1915 – 1918. That time was one of the most decisive periods of the organization. In the study the internal and external criticism of the source is carried out, its high informative value is confirmed. The correlation of these testimonies with the later memoirs of Kazimierz Domoslawski, published in 1923, is analyzed. The proof of the high level of reliability of the testimony is that all the mentioned persons were members of the Polish Military Organization (the results of the researches of Alexander Golichenko).

Highlights

The participation of Poles in the political life of Ukraine during the World War I and the revolution influenced the development of Ukrainian-Polish relations throughout the 20th century
An important but insufficiently researched aspect of this topic is the activity of the Polish Military Organization (PMO) on the territory of the Dnieper Ukraine1
The events of the spring of 1918 are covered sporadically. The reason for this was that the position of Kazimierz Domosławski in the PMO Kiev branch significantly weakened after the demission of Józef Bromirsky

Summary

Introduction

The participation of Poles in the political life of Ukraine during the World War I and the revolution influenced the development of Ukrainian-Polish relations throughout the 20th century. The proof of the high level of reliability of the testimony is that all the mentioned persons were members of the Polish Military Organization (the results of the researches of Alexander Golichenko). An important but insufficiently researched aspect of this topic is the activity of the Polish Military Organization (PMO) on the territory of the Dnieper Ukraine1.

Results

Conclusion