Repressions of the Soviet State against the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in 1939‒1989 in contemporary domestic historiographical discourse

Abstract

The main contributions of modern domestic historiography to the study of the Communist totalitarian regime’s repressive policy against the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the years 1939–1989 are analyzed. Investigation is based on fundamental principles of historical research such as scientific objectivity and historicism. The source base includes monographs, dissertations, scientific articles, materials of the conferences and the scientific and documentary book series “Rehabilitated by History”. The focus is on basic opinions and conclusions of scholars concerning the causes, forms, types and consequences of punitive measures of the Communist-Soviet regime against clergy and believers of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in this period and an outline on the prospects for further studies of the topic. The scholarly contribution of this research is that it created an integral picture of modern domestic historiography to the study of the repressive measures of the Soviet state against the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in this period.It is established that the domestic researchers, based on extensive sources, have analyzed the causes, forms, types and consequences of the repressions, and have considered the specifics of the repressive measures against clergy and believers of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in regions of Western Ukraine. Some scientific works of domestic researchers are dedicated to victims of the Communist totalitarian regime’s repressive policy against the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The research of Ukrainian historians, who specialize on these issue, show that repressions against the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the years 1939–1953 were inspired and carried out under the close control of the top leadership of the country. They were directed to the national liberation movement of Western Ukraine and have become an integral part of Sovietization and have contributed to the establishment of the Communist-Soviet regime in Western Ukraine. The Communist-Soviet regime continued repression against the leaders and members of the Catacomb Church in the years 1954–1989.Keywords: the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCCh), the Communist-Soviet regime, state security agencies (The People’s Committee for Internal Affairs–Committee for State Security), punitive measures, prosecution, deportation