Slavic Lives Matter: The Lack of Attention for the Polish-Ukrainian Conflict during the Second World War in German and Russian Historiography¹

ABSTRACT

For various reasons, the Polish-Ukrainian conflict of 1941–1942 has not received in-depth treatment in Russian and German historiography. Russians have little interest in the history of Poland and Ukraine, preferring to study either their own country or Western European countries; German historiography concentrates on studying the Holocaust and pogroms in this region.

¹ ‘Slavic Lives Matter. Nevnimaniye k pol’sko-ukrainskomu konfliktu v gody Vtoroy mirovoy voyny v nemetskoy i rossiyskoy istoriografii’, translated by Dr. Harold Orenstein. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author; they do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Journal of Slavic Military Studies.

The latter is explained by the fact that the Shoah [Hebrew for ‘catastrophe’, specifically used to refer to the Holocaust] occupies the central place in historical research in Germany; everything that is associated with it is of considerable interest. A second reason for the disproportionate attention presumably is the fact that the Ashkenazi (Jews whose ancestors are from Central and Eastern Europe) are a Germanic people — Yiddish is closely related to German, English, and Dutch. Accordingly, in the minds of researchers who are native speakers of these languages, what may subconsciously arise is a pattern of pogroms - ‘Slavs attack the Germans’, that is, ‘foreigners are attacking our people’ - and the associated emotions and desire to understand the issue.

As for the Ukrainian-Polish conflict of 1943–1944, in Germany only and exclusively representatives of neo-Soviet historiography have written about this; they see Ukrainian nationalists as an absolute evil. However, they do not glorify the Polish Home Army, nor do they promote the idea of Polonophilia or victimization of the Poles, i.e., they attempt to create an illusion of objectivity, impartiality, and balance regarding this issue.

KEYWORDS:

• Ukrainian nationalism
• ethnic cleansing
• discrimination
• Polish-Ukrainian conflict
• massacre
• historiography
• UPA
• Home Army

Disclosure statement

No potential conflicts of interest are reported by the authors(s).

Notes

¹ ‘Slavic Lives Matter. Nevnimaniye k pol’sko-ukrainskomu konfliktu v gody Vtoroy mirovoy voyny v nemetskoy i rossiyskoy istoriografii’, translated by Dr. Harold Orenstein. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author; they do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Journal of Slavic Military Studies.

² P. Brinsky, Vospominaniya partizana [Memories of a partisan] (Gorky, 1954-1959 [and reprints]); P. Brinsky, Strantisy zhizni [The pages of a life) (Novgorod, 2006); D. Medvedev, Sil’nye dukhom [Strong-willed] (Moscow, 1951 [and reprints]); D. Medvedev, Na beregakh Yuzhnogo Buga [On the shores of the Southern Bug] (Moscow, 1957); P. Vershigora, Lyudi s chistom sovest’yu [People with a clear conscience] (Moscow, 1986); A. F. Federov, Podpol’nyi obkom deystvuyet [The underground regional committee is acting] (Moscow. 1955).

³ See, for example, I. M. Mishchak, ‘Pol’ska istoriografiya pol’sko-ukrains’kikh vidnosin u roki Drugoi svitovoi viyni’ [Polish historiography of Polish-Ukrainian relations during the Second World War] in Zbirnik naukovikh prats’ Natsional’nogo naukovo-doslidnogo institute ukrainooznavatva ta vsevitnoi istorii [Collection of scientific works of the National Research Institute of Ukrainian Studies and World History], Vol. XXX (Kyiv: NNDIUVI, 2012), pp. 264–276.

⁴ See, for example, V. Z. Ukhach, ‘Suchasna vitchizhyana istoriografiya Volins’koi tragedii 1943 roku’ [Modern domestic historiography of the Volhyn tragedy of 1943] in Naukovi pratsi istorichnogo fakul’tetu Zaporiz’kogo natsional’nogo universitetu [Scholarly works of the Department of History of Zaporizhzhya National University], 204(40) 2014, pp. 229–233.

⁵ Russian version: https://day.kyiv.ua/ru.

⁶ https://zn.ua.

⁷ For a review of the historiography, see Kai Struve, Deutsche Herrschaft, ukrainischer Nationalismus, antijüdische Gewalt: Der Sommer 1941 in der Westukraine [German rule, Ukrainian natiionalism, and anti-Jewish violence: Summer 1941 in Western Ukraine] (Berlin and Boston, De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2015), 739 pages.

⁸ Okupacja i ruch oporu w dzienniku Hansa Franka 1939–1945 [The occupation and the resistance movement in the diary of Hans Frank, 1939-1945], Vol. II (1943–1945), 2^nd edition (Warsaw, 1972), p. 451.

⁹ Translator’s note: Shoah — the Hebrew word for ‘catastrophe’, specifically refers to the mass murder of the Jews under the Nazi regime, i.e., the Holocaust.

¹⁰ Translator’s note: Ashkenazi (plural – Ashkenazim) – a Jewish person of Central or Eastern European descent, generally Yiddish-speakers.

¹¹ Franziska Bruder, Stanisław Wygodski: Pole, Jude, Kommunist – Schriftsteller [Stanisław Wygodski: Pole, Jew, Communist – writer] (Münster: Unrast-Verlag, 2003).

¹² Franziska Bruder, Den ukrainischen Staat erkämpfen oder sterben, Diе Organisation Ukrainischer Nationalisten (OUN), 1929–1948 (Berlin: Metropol, 2007), 300 pages.

¹³ Alexander Gogun, ‘Franziska Bruder. Den ukrainischen Staat erkämpfen oder sterben!’ [Franziska Bruder. You Will Get a Ukrainian State or You Will Perish], Pamięć i Sprawiedliwość, 2010 (2).

¹⁴ A. Kentiy and V. Lozits’ky, Vijna bez poshchadi i miloserdya: Partizans’kiy front u tylu vermakhtu v Ukraini (1941–1944) [War without mercy and mercifulness: The partisan front in the rear area of the Wehrmacht in Ukraine (1941–1944)] (Kyiv, Geneza, 2005), pp. 367–393; I. I. Il’yushin, Protistoyaniya UPA i AK (Armii Krayovoi) v roki Drugoi svitovoi viyni na tli diyal’nosti pol’skogo pidpillya v Zakhidniy Ukraini [The confrontation between the UPA and the AK (Home Army) during the Second World War against the background of the activities of the Polish underground in Western Ukraine] (Kyiv, 2001), Passim.

¹⁵ Dokumenti komisii derzhanvogo planuvannya OUN (KPD OUN) [Documents of the State Planning Commission of the OUN (KDP OUN), Dokumenti i materiali z istorii OUN [Documents and materials from the history of the OUN], Vol. 7 (Kyiv, 2002), p. 8.

¹⁶ Taras Kurilo, ‘Der Skandal um Rossolinski-Liebe und der Zustand der Ukrainischen Geschichtswissenschaften’ [The Rossolinski-Liebe scandal and the state of Ukrai nian historical science] (6 March 2012). https://ukraine-nachrichten.de/skansal-rossilinski-liebe-zustand-ukrainischen-geschichtsissenschaften_3545.

¹⁷ Grzegorz Rossoliński-Liebe, ‘The Fascist Kernel of Ukrainian Genocidal Nationalism’, The Carl Beck Papers in Russian & East European Studies, Number 2402. Pittsburgh: The Center for Russian and East European Studies 2015.

¹⁸ Grzegorz Rossoliński-Liebe. Stepan Bandera. The Life and Afterlife of a Ukrainian Nationalist. Fascism, Genocide, and Cult, (Stuttgart: Ibidem-Verlag, 2014), p. 266.

¹⁹ Grzegorz Rossoliński-Liebe, Der polnisch-ukrainische Konflikt im Historikerdiskurs. Perspektiven, Interpritationen und Aufarbeitung [The Polish-Ukrainian conflict in historical discussion. Perspectives, interpretations, and reappraisal] (Vienna: New Academic Press, 2017), pp. 8, 36.

²⁰ Stepan Bandera was a leading figure in the Ukrainian nationalist movement before, during, and after the Second World War. In October 1959, he was murdered in Munich by the KGB.

²¹ Luboš Veselý, ‘Yak persha sproba naukovogo doslidzhennya zhittya Bnderi peretvorilasya na obvinuvachennya [How the first attempt at scholarly research of Bandera’s life turned into an accusation]. https://www.istpravda.com.ua/reviews/2016/08/27/149180/ (date of access: 20 January 2019). (Czech original: Luboš Veselý. ‘Řeč obžaloby namísto nezaujatých argumentů Nad prvním pokusem o odbornou biografi i Stepana Bandery’, Soudobé dějiny, 2017 (4), https://www.recensio.net/rezensionen/zeitschriften/soudobe-dejiny/2017/4/ReviewMonograph542203134/@@generate-pdf-recension?language=de.

²² Ibid.

²³ Frank Golczewski, ‘Die Vorgeschichte eines Blutbads. Der Weg zum wolhynischen Massaker 1943/44’ [The history of a massacre. The way to the Volhynian massacre of 1943/44], Forschungscolloquium der Abteilung Geschichte am Osteuropa-Institut der FU Berlin. 5 November 2014.

²⁴ Oleksandr Zajcew, ‘‘Pol’shcha i polyaki v kontseptsiyakh ukrainskogo intergral’nogo natsionalizmu mizhvoennoi dobi’’ [Poland and the Poles in the concepts of Ukrainian integral nationalism of the interwar period], / Międzynarodowa konferencja naukowa ‘‘II wojna światowa w stosunkach polsko-ukraińskich- stan badań, perspektywy badawcze’‘ [International scientific conference ‘World War II in Polish-Ukrainian relations - state of research, research perspectives’’] (Warsaw, IPN) 5 July 2018.

²⁵ Per Anders Rudling, ‘Szkolenie w mordowaniu: Schutzmannschaft Battalion 201 i Hauptmann Roman Szuchewycz na Białorusi w 1942 roku’ [Training in murder: Schutzmannschaft Battalion 201 and Captain Roman Shukhevych in Belorussia in 1942], in Bogusław Paź (ed.) Prawda historyczna a prawda polityczna w badaniach naukowych: Przykład ludobójstwa na kresach południowo-wschodniej Polski w latach 1939-1946 [Historical truth and political truth in scientific research: An example of genocide in the borderlands of south-eastern Poland in 1939-1946], 2nd edition (Kraków: Wydawnictwo Aureus, 2015), p. 197.

²⁶ A. Dyukov, Zabytyi genotsid: ‘Volynskaya reznya’ 1943–1944 godov: sbornik dokumentov i issledovaniy [The Forgotten Genocide. The ‘Volhyn Massacre’ of 1943–1944. Collection of documents and studies] (Moscow: Aleksey Yavoklev, 2008). The ‘Volhyn Massacre’ refers to the murder of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia, carried out by the Ukrainian National Army in German-occupied territory. In total, it is estimated that around 100,000 Poles were murdered. The Germans encouraged Poles and Ukrainians to kill each other. See, for example: Timothy Snyder, ‘The causes of Polish and Ukrainian Ethnic Cleansing’, Past & Present. A Journal of Historical Studies, nr. 179 (2003).

²⁷ Władysław Siemaszko and Ewa Siemaszko, Terror ukraiński i zbrodnie przeciwko ludzkości dokonane przez OUN-UPA na ludności polskiej na Wołyniu w latach 1939–1945 [Ukrainian terror and crimes against humanity committed by the OUN-UPA against the Polish population in Volhynia in 1939–1945] (Warsaw: SUOZNU, 1998); Władysław Siemaszko and Ewa Siemaszko, Ludobojstwo dokonane przez nacjonalistуw ukraińskich na ludności polskiej Wołynia 1939–45 [Genocide committed by Ukrainian nationalists against the Polish population of Volhynia 1939–45], 1–2 (Warsaw: 2000).

²⁸ Ibid., pp. 118-140.

²⁹ A. Gogun, ‘Postupatel’noye ozhestocheniye. Predposylki antipol’skoy aktsii UPA 1931–1945’, Clio, 2015, 4 (100), pp. 227–230

³⁰ A. Gogun, Mezhdu Gitlerom i Stalinym. Ukrainskiye povstantsy, 5^th edition (Odessa: Odin-Plyus, 2023), pp. 173–195.

³¹ A. Gogun, ‘Kniga ob ukrainskikh povstantsakh izymayut iz prodazhi v Rossii. Tsenzura protiv nauki’ [A book about Ukrainian rebels is withdrawn from sale. Censorship against scholarship], 16 April 2014. http://www.echo.msk.ru/blog/a_gogun/1301454-echo/.

³² ‘The Forgotten Genocide’.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alexander Gogun

Alexander Gogun currently pursues research at the Free University of Berlin. Previously, he taught at Potsdam University (2010–2012) and held the Diane and Howard Wohl Fellowship at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (2012–2013). Moreover, he did a postdoctoral fellowship at the International Institute for Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem (2013), as well as a research fellowship at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute and Brandeis-Genesis Institute (2015).