THE IDEOLOGICAL CONFRONTATION OF UKRAINIAN FOREIGN AND SOVIET RESEARCHERS IN THE ASSESSMENT OF THE OUN ACTIVITIES

Abstract

The article analyzes the level and features of research of OUN activities in the 1930–1940s by Ukrainian foreign and Soviet historiography. A historiographical reflection and comparative analysis of works on this problem are carried out, the methodological and ideological confrontation of Ukrainian foreign and Soviet authors is described. The author describes the debatable, the least researched issues and concludes that in the Soviet historiography regarding the Ukrainian nationalist movement, an "image of the enemy" was formed, events were falsified. It was summed up that the generally accepted statements among Soviet historians were charges of the OUN leadership in collaboration with the German intelligence and the Polish government, as well as allegations of leading influence on the OUN of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC). It is emphasized that the Soviet authors introduced the documentary sources of the Soviet special services into scientific circulation, in which many facts of the population's cooperation with the OUN and information about its activity in Western Ukraine were presented. A large number of historical works on this issue underscore its significance and relevance in the 1950-1980s. The author finds that the first in-depth study of various aspects of the activities of the OUN and the creation of a significant scientific heritage are the main achievements of the Ukrainian foreign historiography on this issue. At the same time, she notes that, from a methodological point of view, these researches were on the border between memoirs and historical studies since they were influenced by authors' affiliation with a particular group of the Ukrainian nationalist movement. It is pointed out that the specifics of a significant part of Ukrainian foreign publications was the material politicization, the deliberate concealment of unfavorable problems, and facts. However, Ukrainian foreign historians proved that in the 1930-1950s, the Ukrainian nationalist movement, which gained unprecedented development and popularity, was a significant political force in Western Ukraine. The memoirs of participants of the liberation movement, which became an important achievement of Ukrainian foreign historiography, are analyzed. The author concludes that both Ukrainian foreign and Soviet historiography were active representatives of the confrontation of competing political systems, and their research do not meet the criteria of science. Keywords: foreign historiography, Soviet historiography, modern Ukrainian historiography, Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, Ukrainian nationalist movement.