Theme 14. Ukraine in the Second World War (1939 - 1945)

The purpose of the theme lies in the study of the role of Ukraine in the Second World War, the plans of the Nazis relating to Ukraine, the tragic fate of the Ukrainian people, the anti-Nazi resistance movement and freeing Ukraine from the Nazi regime.

The theme includes the following main topics: the Molotov - Ribbentrop Pact; the German-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation; the Soviet occupation of the Western Ukrainian lands; the first phase of the Great Patriotic War; the Act of Proclamation of the Ukrainian State by the Ukrainian nationalists; the occupation of Ukraine by the Nazi Germany; the State Defense Committee and the works in rear of the Red 114

Army; the reasons of the defeat of the Red Army; the end of the second phase of the Great Patriotic War; the Nazi New Order in Ukraine; the partition of Ukraine by the Nazi Germany; the resistance movement; the battles for the Sloboda and Right-Bank Ukraine; the Soviet repressions against the Crimean Tatars.

The Molotov - Ribbentrop Pact. On 23 August 1939 the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed the Treaty of Non-Aggression, also known as the Nazi-Soviet Pact and the Molotov - Ribbentrop Pact (after its chief architects, Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop). In addition to stipulations of non-aggression, the treaty included a secret protocol dividing Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland into German and Soviet spheres of influence.

The invading of Germany to Poland on 1 September 1939 started the Second World War. On September 17 the army of the Soviet Union occupied Western Ukraine. A part of eastern Finland was also annexed by the Soviet Union after the Winter War. This was followed by Soviet annexations of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bessarabia, Northern Bukovyna and Hertza region, the southern part of Chernivtsi Oblast in southwestern Ukraine, near Romania [3; 5; 9; 11; 17; 22; 28; 29; 37; 38; 41].

The German-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demar­cation. On September 28, 1939, after the joint invading Poland the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany concluded the German-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation (also known as the German-Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty). The text of this Treaty also was architected and sig­ned by Joachim von Ribbentrop and Vyacheslav Molotov [3; 5; 9; 11; 17; 22; 28; 29; 37; 38; 41].

The Soviet occupation of the Western Ukrainian lands. In Novem­ber of 1939, the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union officially included the Western Ukraine in the Ukrainian SSR. The Western Ukraine was divided by the Soviet government into six oblasts: Lvivska, Stanislavska, Volynska, Ternopilska, Rivnenska and Drohobytska.

In the first days of the Soviet occupation, people of Western Ukraine welcomed the Red Army. In October of 1939 the Communists inspired people to elect members for the National Assembly by way of one-man-for-one-seat. This Communist Assembly officially announced the union of Western Ukraine and the Ukrainian SSR. The whole proceeding on the uniting of both parts of Ukraine was a good show, which was performed by Communists for the demonstration of the popular character of the Soviet Power.

On August 2, 1940, the Ukrainian SSR officially included the Southern and Northern Bessarabia (Izmailska Oblast), and the Northern Bukovyna (Chernivetska Oblast) [3; 5; 9; 11; 17; 22; 28; 29; 37; 38; 41].

After all preparations, the Communists started the political and econo­mical scenario, which had been approbated in the Ukrainian SSR for the two previous decades. They started the Ukrainization of the Western-Ukrainian culture in order to secure their regime in this region, getting a support of local people. It was necessary for destroying the local potential opponents, like Po­lish, Romanian and Czech greate owners, the members of political parties, which stood on a non-Communist ideological platform.

Thus, the popular policy of Ukrainization had to pave way for the further unpopular Soviet modernization, which included forced Industrialization and total Collectivization.

At the beginning, the Communist Government, aiming at the strengthening of Communist regime, found Ukrainian-language schools, libraries, reading-rooms, newspapers. The Lviv University of Yan-Casimir was renamed to the University of Ivan Franko. The Lviv Opera Theatre was also named in honour of Ivan Franko (1856 - 1916), a very popular Ukrainian politician and writer. Western-Ukrainian inhabitants welcomed the introducing of free medical care by the Communists. The nationalization of great enterprises belonged to Poles, Romanians and other foreigners also was positively admitted by some local Ukrainians.

In the meanwhile, the Communists desolved local political parties, like the Ukrainian National Democratic Alliance (UNDO), the Ukrainian Catholic Union (UCU), the Ukrainian National Party (UNP), and etc.

Very soon, when the legal opposition had been destroyed, Communists went on the next stage, according to their plan. They started the dispossession of kurkuls, total nationalization and Collectivization. They shut down and banned the cultural and educational "Prosvita" society and its outlets. The later Communist activity in the Western Ukraine was accompanied by mass repressions. One wonders, how many people were condemned. There approximately were 10 per cent of the population both imprisoned and exiled to Syberia in 1939 - 1941. After this policy the popularity of the Communist regime went down. The Western-Ukrainian people hated the Communist system of government and its ideology [3; 5; 9; 11; 17; 22; 28; 29; 37; 38; 41].

The first phase of the Great Patriotic War. On June 22, 1941, the German army and its allies suddenly attacked border guard of the Soviet Union.

The Nazi German greate army (over 3.0 million troops) advanced, according to the plan codenamed the Operation "Barbarossa" Offensive. The Germans intended "to crush Soviet Russia in a quick campaign". It was planned a northern assault towards Leningrad, a symbolic capturing of Moscow, and a seizing oil fields in the south, beyond Ukraine.

In Ukraine the armies of group "South" (mostly the Germans, Romanians and Hungarians) commanded by the General von Rundshtedt invided. For the first five days the German armies had moved from 900 to 1 200 km [3; 5; 9; 11; 17; 22; 28; 29; 37; 38; 41].

The Act of Proclamation of the Ukrainian State by the Ukrainian nationalists. Before the War OUN-B members formed two battalions "Nachtigall" and "Roland". On 30 June they both helped the Germans to capture Lviv. In this way the Ukrainian nationalists intended to overthrow the Communistic regime and get independence for Ukraine. OUN-B members believed Germany would be grateful for the help and allow them to build the Ukrainian nation.

As soon as Lviv had been captured in the same day the leading politician of OUN-B Yaroslav Stetsko read out the Act of Proclamation of the Ukrainian State, when he was at a meeting in the hall of the "Prosvita" society in the market place in Lviv.

The occupation of Ukraine by the Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, the German army, group "South", advanced to Kyiv. Between 23 and 29 June 1941 in the region of Lutsk-Rivne-Dubno-Brody the Red Army was defeated in the tank battle. In this great battle both sides (the Soviets and Germans) used 2 000 tanks. Between 7 July and 19 September 1941 the Germans took Kyiv and captured in the town and nearest to it regions 665 000 Soviet soldiers and officers. The Red Army group commander Mykhailo Kyrponos was killed. From August 5 to October 16, 1941 the Germans and the Romanians occupied Odesa, the important southern seaport of the Soviet Union. Between October 30, 1941, and July 4, 1942, the Red Army had been defending Sevastopol (for 250 days). On 25 October 1941 the Nazists seized Kharkiv. On 22 July 1942 the Red Army left Sverdlovsk, in Luhanska Oblast, the last Ukrainian settlement, which still had been unoccupied by the Germans [3; 5; 9; 11; 17; 22; 28; 29; 37; 38; 41].

The reasons of the Red Army defeat. The reasons, why the Red Army was crushed by the Nazists during the first battles, are considered to be as follows, already well-known. In the late 1930s, many experienced and com­petent military officers were killed in the Stalin repressions. Hence, the Red Army was left leaderless. The lack of good millitary officers led to the weakness of combat training of Soviet soldiers. The Red Army had been prepearing for an offensive war, when the Nazists assaulted it [3; 5; 9; 11; 17; 22; 28; 29; 37; 38; 41].

The State Defense Committee and the work in rear of the Red Army. On June 30, 1941, in the Soviet Union the State Defense Committee (Gosudarstvennyj komitet oborony, GKO) was created by Yosyp Stalin, it was an extraordinary organ of state power for the wartime, which held complete state power in the country. By order of GKO, only between July and September of this year 2 million people were mobilized into the army and over 2 million were involved in making of defensive constructions, armament, and etc. A lot of plants, machine and tractor stations, collective farms, and state farms were evacuated to the Asian republics, far away from the battlefront.

In December of 1941 the German forces were stopped at Moscow [3; 5; 9; 11; 17; 22; 28; 29; 37; 38; 41].

The Nazi New Order in Ukraine. In the meantime, Nazis had been establishing the so-called New Order in the occupied Ukraine. For that purpose they implemented the Generalplan Ost (in English, Master Plan East), which consisted of several tasks: the Germanisation (the spreading of the German language, people and culture by way of force), the Holocaust (full extermination of the Jews), partial extermination of the non-Aryan races (Slavs and Asians). It was calculated that for 1941 - 1944 Nazi punitive bodies (like, the secret state police "Gestapo" and the "Schutzstaffel", in English - the defence corps, abr. SS) had exterminated 3.9 million inha­bitants of Ukraine, of which 1.4 - 1.6 million were the Jews. There was also enslavement of the non-Aryans. For this purpose in Ukraine Nazis opened 150 concentration camps, where innocent people, like prisoners, were working for Nazi regime. Since November 1941 people were brought to Germany to do forced labour, where they were marked as OST-Arbeiters (the Eastern Workers). German Nazis and their allies also robbed property of local dwellers, took away cultural artifacts and raw materials [33; 5; 9; 11; 17; 22; 28; 29; 37; 38; 41].

The partition of Ukraine by the Nazi Germany. According to the Generalplan Ost, the whole territory of Ukraine was divided into five parts. The Reichskommissariat Ukraine covered most of the Ukrainian territories, including Volhynia, Vinnytsia, Mykolaiv, Kyiv, Poltava and Zaporizhzhia. From 1941 to 1943 the Reichskommissar (the governor-general) of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine was Erich Koch. Further to the east, lands, nearer to the battlefront, were under control of military governance. There were Crimea, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and the Donbas/Donets Basin. By the personal order of Adolf Hitler Eastern Halychyna was included into the Nazi Polish General Government as its fifth district (Distrikt Galizien). The territory between the Southern Buh and Dniester rivers was transferred to the control of Romania and got name "Transnistria" (or "Transniestra"). Early, in 1939, as it is said in the previous chapter, Zakarpattia was given to the Germany's ally Nazi Hungary [3; 5; 9; 11; 17; 22; 28; 29; 37; 38; 41].

The resistance movement. In 1941, when Germany had been occu­pying Ukraine, the resistance movement started. Taras Bulba-Borovets orga­nized the Polissian Sich, the first Ukrainian insurgent army, which fighted both with the Communists and Nazis. This movement was followed by the OUN-B in 1942, when this nationalist party created the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (Ukrainska povstanska armia, UPA). On the other hand, in June, 1942, the Communists established the Ukrainian headquarters of the Partyzan Movement, at the head of which was Tymofii Strokach. The headquarters provided cooperation between partisan units and the regular army. Also it was responsible for guerrillas’ communication facilities, logistic facilities and weapons. In Ukraine the famous commanders of red partisan units became Saburov, Fedorov, Naumov, and Kovpak.

Thus, since 1942 the resistance movement in Ukraine was represented by two groups, which based on different ideologies - the integral nationalism and Marxizm [3; 5; 9; 11; 17; 22; 28; 29; 37; 38; 41].

The battles for the Sloboda and Right-Bank Ukraine. Between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943 the Germans lost the battle of Stalingrad (now Volgograd). In December 1942, while battle of Stalingrad was going on, the Red Army freed village Pivnivka (Luhanska Oblast), then, on February 16, 1943, the Army took Kharkiv, but on March 15 this town was lost again.

From July 5 to August 23, in 1943, Germanian forces were cruched in the battle of Kursk. During the battle the Soviets took Orel and Belgorod (on August 5), Kharkiv (on August 23). While the army freed these towns, partyzans, in great number, made the so-called Rail War, disrupting the Kursk-Kyiv rail line [3; 5; 9; 11; 17; 22; 28; 29; 37; 38; 41].

The Soviet repressions against the Crimean Tatars. On November 6, 1943, the Germans lost Kyiv. Between April and May 1944 the Red Army freed Crimea. Soon after there Y. Stalin impelemented repression against the Crimean Tatars. The whole Tatar people was falsely charged in treason against the Soviet Union and collaboration with Nazi enemies. They all were punished by a deportation to Central Asia. Together with them there were exiled from Crimea such national minorities, like Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians, Turks and Iranians [3; 5; 9; 11; 17; 22; 28; 29; 37; 38; 41].

The end of the second phase of the Great Patriotic War. On the Right Bank from January to February of 1944 in the Korsun-Shevchenko battle the Soviets surrounded and destroyed ten or eleven German divisions, which consisted of nearly 80 000 soldiers and officers.

During the Lviv-Sandomier Offensive (July - August 1944) the Red Ar­my expeled the enemy from the Western Ukraine, except Zakarpattia. In Sep­tember and October of 1944 the Soviets had been fighting for Zakarpattia. At last on 28 October 1944 all the territory of Ukraine was freed. The next year the Red Army captured the capital of the Nazi Germany Berlin and on May 9, 1945, the end of the Great Patriotic War was proclaimed. Three months later the Second World War ended on September 2, 1945, when Japan, the ally of the Nazi Germany, had signed its own capitulation [3; 5; 9; 11; 17; 22; 28; 29; 37; 38; 41].

Questions

1. What were the reasons of the Second World War?

2. Describe the Molotov - Ribbentrop Pact and the German-Soviet Tre­aty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation.

3. What were the features of Soviet occupation of the Western Ukrainian lands in 1939 and 1940?

4. What were the reasons of the Red Army defeat at the first stage of the War?

5. How were the political plans of the OUN changed through the Great Patriotic War?

6. What policy did the Nazi Germany pursue in Ukraine?

7. Due to what reasons was Ukraine freed from the Nazis in 1944?