Humanitarian Activity of the Ukrainian Central Committee in the General Government: A Historiography

• Main Author: A. Tron-Radomska
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Publishing and printing center "Kyivskyi Universytet" 2020-03-01
• Series: Vìsnik - Kiïvsʹkij nacìonalʹnij unìversitet ìmenì Tarasa Ševčenka: Ìstorìâ
• Subjects: ukrainian central committee; historiography; general government; world war ii; volodymyr kubiyovych
• Online Access: https://visnyk.history.knu.ua/eng/archive/2020/144-eng/144-11-tron-radomska-eng
• ISSN: 1728-2640; 1728-2640

One of the unexplored and ambiguous questions about the history of Ukraine during World War ІІ is the activity of the only legal establishment of Ukrainians under the Nazi occupation regime – Ukrainian Central Committee (UCC). Scientific interest in the place of the designated organization in the context of that time social and cultural processes in Western Ukrainian lands actualizes the importance of comprehending and analyzing the accumulated historical knowledge about it. The article investigates the completeness of the study and the representation of the problem in historiography, identifying two periods of its scientific development. Attention is focused on the key trends, thematic aspects, specific results of the researches of scientists of UCC activities in the humanitarian sphere at each stage of the historiographic process. The specificity of reflection of the subject in the historical literature is traced: from factual materials of encyclopedic editions and historical-memoir publications to studies of social and political history of Ukraine, monographs, dissertations and scientific articles, educational editions that directly or indirectly cover the cultural, educational, charitable and sports activities of the UCC. Historiographic analysis convincingly proves a significant progress in the study of the problem at the latest stage through the intensification of source and archeographic studies that improve the heuristic work in the specified direction, contribute to the emergence of specialized publications of modern Ukrainian historians dedicated to finding out the place of the UCC in the revival of the national, cultural and sports life of Ukrainians in the 1940s. The features of coverage of the problem in contemporary foreign historiography, in which the leading place belongs to Polish historical thought, are revealed. Emphasis is placed on its historical and political orientation and prejudgment. It is revealed that in terms of personal dimension of the research of the work of the UCC, an important role is played by scientific understanding of the activity of his head – Volodymyr Kubiyovych.