THE MEMORY OF THE REPRESSED ACTIVISTS OF THE UKRAINIAN REVOLUTION OF 1917–1921 THROUGH THE PRISM OF DECLASSIFIED ARCHIVES OF THE SOVIET SPECIAL SERVICES

Abstract

Summary. The purpose of the study. The scientific article examines the impact of the process of declassification of the Soviet secret service archives on the restoration of historical memory regarding the participants of the Ukrainian National Democratic Revolution in 1917–1921 who lived in Volyn Voivodeship as political emigrants during the interwar period and were repressed after the establishment of Bolshevik rule. It has been proven that the declassification of archival and criminal cases against Ukrainian activists contributes to the return of their names to the public and media space. The research methodology is based on the principles of scientificity, historicism and verification. The study uses such methods as biographical, problem-historical, exploratory, as well as methods of microhistory and local history. The scientific novelty of the article is in the analysis of the processes of restoring the historical memory of the Ukrainian revolution activists in 1917–1921, who later became Ukrainian political emigrants in the territory of the Western Volyn, in particular Rivne region. It was found that an important impetus for this was the declassification of secret service archives and the return to public space of the names of repressed public, military and political figures. Conclusions. After the defeat of the Ukrainian National Democratic Revolution of 1917–1921, its military, public and political figures were forced to leave the territory of the Second Polish Republic. Some of them settled in Volyn Voivodeship, forming a group of Ukrainian political emigrants. At the first stage of World War II, they came under pressure from the NKVD, many of whom were arrested and convicted. Bolshevik propaganda called Ukrainian People՚s Republic activists "petliurists", associated them with "enemies of the people", and tried in every way to denigrate and obliterate their names.The opening of the archives of special services and the declassification of archival-criminal materials served as an impetus to restore the memory of the participants of the first national liberation fighters, return the names of repressed figures to the modern public and media space, in particular in Rivne region.