THE STRUGGLE OF THE OUN AND UPA FOR INDEPENDENCE IN 1944–1947 IN ZHOVKVA DISTRICT

Abstract

It is important to analyze the activities of fighters for the Ukrainian national idea, who found themselves in extreme conditions. After all, they had to fight against different occupation regimes at the same time. The political changes that took place during this time affected the tactics and methods of the fighters for the Ukrainian national idea. The analysis of OUN and UPA activities during the World War II and in the postwar period is important. The relevance of the study of organizational and militarypolitical activities in the Zhovkva district is explained by the peculiarities of this region. Among them are the following: this territory during the World War II was under the influence of various military and political formations in (UPA, OUN, AK – the regional army, guerrillas from the Soviet Union); some ideological sprouts for the future struggle were born on the territory of the Zhovkva district; this region was a kind of spiritual and religious center of Eastern Galicia. There were Zhovkva and Krekhiv monasteries of the Greek Catholic Church; having endured a lot of suffering of the Polish, Soviet and German occupation regimes, the population did not want to contribute to the restoration of Soviet power in the region; residents of Zhovkva region were forced to go underground. They wanted to avoid direct conflicts with the new government; the population was looking for alternative ways to gather contingent, serve in the army, ideological influence. The study of OUN activities in the Zhovkva district will help fill the gaps in understanding the processes and phenomena of World War II and the postwar years, to reach a new level of preparation of generalized works on the political history of Ukraine in this period. In order to properly assess the actions of the OUN members, it is necessary to follow their reaction to the change of political regimes and to find out whether these fighters were consistent in achieving their task – in defending national interests. Now that Ukraine is again under threat of occupation, it is important to pay attention to the experience of predecessors in the struggle for independence, point out the positive aspects of the OUN and take into account the mistakes made by Ukrainian nationalists.