KHOLM SKETCHES (STUDIES) IN THE SCIENTIFIC HERITAGE OF IVAN KRYPIAKEVYCH OF 1914–1918

Abstract

The paper considers the scientific work of the academician in the study of various areas of the history of the Kholm land. His interest in that region was not accidental, because he had Kholm and Pidlashshia roots. The influence of Prof. M. Hrushevskyi on the formation of I. Krypiakevich as a historian, his first papers on religious and cultural life in the Kholm region in the XIX century in Memoirs of the Shevchenko Scientific Society, and scientific work in society are emphasized. An extremely serious study of the Kholm region was conducted during World War I, especially after the successful Austro-German occupation of the Kholm region, parts of Volhynia, Pidlashshia, and Polissia in the summer of 1915. It is noted that in the reports "On Ukrainian Affairs in the Kholm Region", "On Church Relations in Northwestern Ukrainian Lands", "On Church Affairs in the Kholm Region", "On the Need for Ukrainian Schooling in the Occupied Ukrainian Lands", the historian stated the importance of the Kholm Region for Ukraine. The need to carry out Ukrainization of the region was emphasized, for which it was recommended: to gain real power locally; to form the Ukrainian Church - to restore the GCC, to de-Russify the Orthodox Church; to create a Ukrainian school by training personnel from the local population; establish examplar educational institutions in larger cities and villages as soon as possible; publish school textbooks; to restore the activities of educational and economic organizations. Much attention is given to the historian's work in the Bureau of Cultural Assistance for ensuring the development of national and cultural life, primarily, schooling, in the Ukrainian lands occupied by the Central Powers. The resistance to the aspirations of the Ukrainians by some part of the Poles and the Austrian military and governance factors have been revealed. The destruction of Ukrainian lands in 1915 by the retreating Russian troops and the displacement of almost the entire Ukrainian population of the Kholm region deep into Russia are shown. It is pointed out that the scholar recreated the fate of public, scientific, and religious figures of the Kholm region, who put up a persistent resistance to Russification and Polonization of the region, first of all, Greek Catholic bishops Metodii Terletskyi, Yakiv Susha, and Maksymilian Ryll. The professional assistance of I. Krypiakevich and other figures of Halychyna to the Ukrainian delegation at the Brest Peace Conference, regarding Ukraine's western borders, was emphasized, which gave a positive result for Ukrainians in the negotiations between the People's Republic of Ukraine and the Quadruple Alliance. It is mentioned that a large manuscript part of the academician's on a Kholm subject still needs scientific research.