with this statement: “Fascism, as a worldview, completely corresponds with the historical traditions and the present-day Ukrainian ideological currents whose initiator and propagator is Dr. Dmytro Dontsov.”[261]
Racism, in the Ukrainian context, was very much related to the idea of independence (samostiinist’). Racist thinkers argued that Ukraine should become an independent state because it was inhabited by a particular race, which needed an independent nation state to develop all of its features. The OUN’s racism can be traced back to Mikhnovs’kyi’s appeal, “Do not marry a foreign woman because your children will be your enemies,” which OUN members took literally.[262] The Ukrainian geographer Stepan Rudnyts’kyi (1887–1937) was another important Ukrainian intellectual who popularized racism and eugenics in the Ukrainian nationalist discourse. Rudnyts’kyi worked together with Hrushevs’kyi on the origins of the Ukrainian nation. He provided Hrushevs’kyi’s historical theory with an essential geographical component, defining the “natural territory” or the “living space” (Ger. Lebensraum) of the Ukrainian people.[263] In his book Ukraine. The Land and Its People, published in 1910, Rudnyts’kyi claimed that “for one thousand two hundred years, the Ukrainian race has resided in this region, and has been able, not only to preserve its boundaries, but, after heavy losses, to regain and even to pass beyond them.”[264] He described the Ukrainian “race” as of “tall stature, with long legs and broad shoulders, strongly pigmented complexion, dark, rich, curly hair, rounded head and long face with a high broad brow, dark eyes, straight nose, strongly developed elongated lower part of the face, medium mouth and small ears.”[265] One important reason for such a racialist characterization of Ukrainians was the wish to distinguish them from Poles and Russians. Rudnyts’kyi stated that “anthropological differences of the Ukrainians from their neighbors, especially from the Poles, White Russians and Russians, are very clearly marked.”[266] To him, an independent nation meant an independent race. It was a “large community of people, the shape of whose bodies is similar to that of each other, but different from those of other nations.”[267] In addition, he praised the science of eugenics and argued that: “On the one hand, we should enable as many healthy and racially full-fledged exemplars of the nation as possible to marry and breed. On the other hand, we should not allow sick or racially less valuable exemplars to do that.”[268] Rudnyts’kyi’s racist thinking had a significant impact on OUN ideology and the UPA’s genocidal policy.
Mykola Sukhovers’kyi, an OUN member who lived in Chernivtsi, a city in Bukovina inhabited by Jews, Germans, Poles, Romanians, Ukrainians and others, recalled in his memoirs:
In the “Zaporozhe” [a student fraternity] there was a decision that a member was not allowed to marry an alien girl—a non-Ukrainian. That decision was made on the basis of Mykola Mikhnovs’kyi’s Decalogue, which was printed in Samostiina Ukraïna and which stated: “Do not marry a foreigner because your children will become your enemies.” It needs to be recognized that Ukrainians who married Romanian girls ceased of course to be good Ukrainians, and their children directly came to belong to Romanian culture. … I came up with two suggestions: 1) if we want to preserve our order, then no aliens are to be invited to our parties or dance classes and 2) we should invite Ukrainian girls only from peasant homes, from the surrounding areas.[269]
Socialism had been popular in the nineteenth-century Ukrainian national discourse but was condemned by a number of Ukrainian thinkers after the First World War. One of its most eager critics was Dontsov, who had been a Marxist before the First World War. Socialism was branded as communism and was associated with the Soviet Union. Ukrainian nationalism therefore became detached from socialism and drifted in the direction of extreme nationalism and fascism.[270] Simultaneously, Jews were increasingly perceived as agents of communism. In July 1936, many OUN members and other nationalists commemorated the Sich Riflemen in the city of Skoliv. One of the celebrants, Petro Mirchuk, recalled that communist activists disturbed the commemoration, whereupon the nationalists killed two of the communists, one of whom Mirchuk referred to as an “insolent communist Jew photographer.” After the ceremony, the nationalists smashed windows in many “communist houses.” Mirchuk saw these actions as legitimate ways of dealing with communists and Jews.[271]
Dislike of communism did not prevent Ukrainian nationalists from using communist symbols or adding nationalist meaning to such communist holidays as 1 May. The effect was bizarre. The nationalist elements did not entirely suppress the communist ones and instead merged with them. In effect these new images resembled German National Socialist aesthetics.[272] The attempt to integrate May Day into Ukrainian nationalist life also illustrates that, like the National Socialists and the Italian Fascists, the Ukrainian nationalists tried to attract workers to their movement. Nevertheless, because Galicia was predominantly an agrarian region, and Ukrainians largely lived and worked in the countryside as peasants or to a limited extent as farmers, it is not surprising that the OUN did not pay as much attention to the “working masses” as the National Socialists did in Germany, or the Fascists in Italy. It was more logical for the Ukrainian nationalists to concentrate on the rural population and to emphasize folkloristic and populist features. This was not very different from the program of other East Central European fascist movements, such as the Iron Guard in Romania, the Hlinka Party in Slovakia, the Arrow Cross Party in Hungary, and the Ustaša in Croatia.[273]
Religion was another important element of the ideology of Ukrainian nationalism, although relations between the Greek Catholic Church and the OUN were complex. Ukrainian nationalism and the Greek Catholic Church both opposed materialism and communism. The majority of OUN members from Galicia were Greek Catholics. Many of the leading OUN members, such as Bandera, Lenkavs’kyi, Stets’ko, and Matviieiko, were the sons of Greek Catholic priests. In 1931, Andrei Sheptyts’kyi, head of the Greek Catholic Church and a Ukrainian moral authority, initiated the Ukrainian Catholic Union (Ukraїns’kyi Katolyts’kyi Soiuz, UKU), which cooperated with the Ukrainian nationalists. The same year, the UKU founded the Catholic Action of Ukrainian Youth (Katolyts’ka aktsiia ukraїns’koї molodi, KAUM), the leader of which was Andrii Mel’nyk, manager of Sheptyts’kyi’s estates. “Christian nationalism” became the official ideology of the KAUM.[274] Ukrainian nationalism and the Greek Catholic Church shared the same main enemies, communism and the Soviet Union. Like the nationalists, Greek Catholic priests frequently demonized communism. M. Cherneha, for example, described communism as the “red demon.”[275]
Sheptyts’kyi generally supported Ukrainian nationalism but was skeptical about the radicalization of the younger generation, which blamed its fathers for having failed to establish a Ukrainian state. In a pastoral letter addressed to Ukrainian youth in 1932, he condemned “violence and blind terror,” breaking with tradition, hastiness, the radicalization of Ukrainian patriotism, and the fascination with fascism.[276]
During the interwar period, the question of loyalty toward the Polish state was an important matter separating the Greek Catholic Church from Ukrainian nationalism. When the Greek Catholic Church demonstrated its loyalty to the Second Republic, for example in the festival “Youth for Christ,” the OUN distanced itself from such actions.[277] Another problem was the conflict between religious and nationalist priorities. The Greek Catholic clerics regarded God as the most essential value; and Ukrainian nationalists, the nation.[278] On a practical level, however, the Ukrainian nationalists used religious symbols and aesthetics to sacralize their political values, heroes, and aims. Furthermore, the ideology of Ukrainian nationalism and the Greek Catholic religion were the two most significant components of Galician Ukrainian identity. This can be illustrated by the brochure Nationalism and Catholicism, written by Mykola Konrad, professor at the Theological Academy of Lviv University, and published in 1934 by the UKU:
O God, let these two idealisms—the Catholic “I believe” and the nationalist “I will”—as the two clear tones of the Ukrainian soul, merge harmoniously into one accord and awaken our withered hearts. Then a new era of faith, love, and power, a mighty national unity and a unified invincible front will come.[279]
The young generation in the OUN used religion as a foundation for its ideological orientation. In 1929 Stepan Lenkavs’kyi, SUNM leader, OUN member, and Bandera’s lifelong friend, drafted “The Ten Commandments of a Ukrainian Nationalist,” known also as “The Decalogue of a Ukrainian Nationalist” or “The Decalogue of the OUN.” Lenkavs’kyi’s Decalogue blurred the boundaries between ideology and religion and undermined religious morality with ideological immorality. The OUN called it the “new religion, the religion of Ukrainian nationalism.”[280]
Even if not every young OUN member came from a priest’s family, as did Bandera, Galician youth grew up in a religious society, for which religion was an unchallengeable system of values. Using religion as a foundation and structure for ideology, blurring the boundaries between religion and nationalism, and using ideology to undermine religion were effective ways of changing the morality of an entire religious group. In its original version, the seventh commandment of Lenkavs’kyi’s Decalogue read: “You should not hesitate to commit the greatest crime if the good of the cause requires it.” Later, the words “the greatest crime” (naibil’shyi zlochyn) were replaced with “the most dangerous task.”[281] The first commandment of the Decalogue, “Attain a Ukrainian state or die in the struggle for it,” was derived from Mikhnovs’kyi’s Samostiina Ukraїna, in which he wrote: “either we will win the fight or we will die.” Lenkavs’kyi’s Decalogue made the lives of the Ukrainian nationalists and their “enemies” unimportant. Murder for the sake of the nation or for the “right reason” was moral and desirable.[282]
Other lists of rules and principles that were intended to complement the Decalogue were “The Twelve Character Attributes of a Ukrainian Nationalist,” and “The Forty-Four Rules of Life of a Ukrainian Nationalist.” The “Twelve Character Attributes” listed such descriptions of Ukrainian nationalists as honest (chesnyi) and brave (vidvazhnyi). The characteristic “cautious” (oberezhnyi) meant that a Ukrainian nationalist “will always apply the principle of conspiracy.” The “Forty-Four Rules” were written by Zenon Kossak, in jail. Rule 14 spoke to the conscience of its recipients and said, “You should know that you are jointly responsible for the fate of your nation.” In rule 40, Kossak strengthened his nationalist argumentation, with racism: “Treasure motherhood as the source of the continuation of life. Make your family an ark of covenant of the purity of your race and nation.”[283]
Another important feature of Ukrainian nationalist ideology was the cult of war and death, including the conviction that political problems can and should be solved by war. Ukrainian nationalists believed that, having failed to establish a state after the First World War, they had nothing to lose and everything to gain. On the one hand, every OUN member killed by “enemies” or “occupiers” died as a martyr for Ukrainian independence and could become a national hero. On the other hand, the killing of enemies was gallant, right, and heroic, because it was done for the liberation of Ukraine. The main functions of the cult of war and death were to integrate violence into everyday life and to dissipate the fear of dying while conducting such dangerous activities as assassinations or robberies. The song “March of the Fighters” illustrates OUN’s attitude to war, death, and heroism, and how it was related to the “pain of losing Ukraine”:
We were born in a great time. Zrodylys’ my velykoї hodyny
After the fires of war and the flame of fires Z pozhezh viiny i z polum”ia vohniv
We were raised on the pain of losing Ukraine Plekav nas bil’ po vtrati Ukraїny
We were fed by revolt and rage against enemies. Kormyv nas bunt i hniv na vorohiv.
Now we are marching toward the vital fight I os’ idem u boiu zhyttievomu
Strong, hard, indestructible as granite, Mitsni, tverdi, nezlomni mov granit,
Because no one has gained freedom by weeping, Bo plach ne dav svobody shche nikomu,
And those who fight can gain a world. A khto borets’, toi zdobuvaie svit.
We want neither glory nor reward. Ne khochemo ni slavy, ni zaplaty.
Our reward is the delight of struggle; Zaplatoiu nam rozkish borot’by;
It’s sweeter for us to die in fight Solodshe nam u boiu umyraty
Than to live like mute slaves in chains. Nizh v putakh zhyty mov nimi raby.
Enough of damage and discord; Dovoli nam ruїny i nezhody;
Brother dares not fight against brother. Ne smiie brat na brata ity u bii.
Under the blue-yellow flag of independence, Pid syn’ozhovtym praporom svobody
We will unite our great nation. Ziednaiem ves’ velykyi narid svii.
Our proud call to the nation carries Velyku pravdu dlia usikh iedynu
A great truth for all: Nash hordyi klych narodovi nese:
Be faithful till death to your fatherland Bat’kivshchyni bud’ virnyi do zahynu
For us Ukraine is above all! Nam Ukraїna vyshcha ponad vse!
The glory of the fallen fighters leads us into battle. Vede nas v bii bortsiv upavshykh slava.
Our most important law and command: Dlia nas zakon naivyshchyi ta prykaz:
A united Ukrainian state Sobornaia Ukraїns’ka Derzhava
Strong and united from the San to the Caucasus. Mitsna i odna vid Sianu po Kavkaz.[284]
Propagandists and ideologists of the UVO and OUN—among them Stepan Bandera in his position as the director of propaganda of the homeland executive and later as its head—frequently instrumentalized and sacralized the dead nationalists in order to negate the fear of sacrificing one’s life and to evoke the feeling of revenge. Such instrumentalization of dead fighters was typical of many fundamentalist and fanatical movements.[285] The first nationalist to become a famous martyr and hero was Ol’ha Basarab, a UVO member who, on the night of 12 February 1924, either hanged herself in a prison cell or died because of mistreatment during her interrogation. In the Ukrainian heroic narrative, she hanged herself in order not to reveal organizational secrets under torture by Polish interrogators. Naturally, the narrative did not mention that Basarab had been carrying out espionage tasks for the Abwehr.[286] Surma and Rozbudova natsiї, the official periodicals of the UVO and later the OUN, commemorated the death of Basarab every year, praising her in prose and verse for her heroism and willingness to make sacrifices.[287] The cult of Basarab, like many other cults of dead nationalists, was not limited to OUN propaganda. Large crowds attended church services for Basarab. Such slogans as “Long live the Ukrainian revolution! Away with the Polish occupation! Long live Basarab!” appeared in public places.[288]
The two most popular martyrs in the interwar period were Vasyl’ Bilas and Dmytro Danylyshyn. Together with ten other OUN members, they took part in the robbery of a post office in Horodok Iahailons’kyi (Gródek Jagielloński) on 30 November 1932. The OUN wounded eight persons in the course of this operation, one of them fatally. Five of the robbers were wounded, and two other nationalists—Iurii Berezyns’kyi and Volodymyr Staryk—were mistakenly shot dead by other OUN members. Danylyshyn and Bilas escaped from the scene. While fleeing, Danylyshyn killed a policeman who had asked to check his papers. The police spread a rumor to the effect that those who had escaped were Poles who had robbed a Ukrainian cooperative and had killed the manager. When Bilas and Danylyshyn were captured by Ukrainian peasants, they were beaten severely until they finally succeeded in persuading their captors that they were Ukrainians.[289]
Both robbers were arrested. A speedy trial took place from 17 to 21 December 1932, during the course of which Bilas and Danylyshyn admitted to killing the politician Tadeusz Hołówko on 29 August 1931. The two young Ukrainians—Bilas was twenty-one and Danylyshyn twenty-five—were sentenced to death. The outcome of this trial enraged many Ukrainians in the Second Republic. At the moment of the execution of Bilas and Danylyshyn on 22 December 1932, churches in Lviv and many other places rang their bells. The bell-ringing was organized by the propaganda apparatus of the homeland executive, headed by Bandera. During the following days, church services in memory of the two young Ukrainians took place, and the OUN set up a mourning period of three months. Priests who did not agree to conduct services in honor of Bilas and Danylyshyn were threatened, or were forced to do so. In countless leaflets and posters, the OUN represented Bilas and Danylyshyn as martyrs and heroes who had died for Ukraine.[290]
The last important feature of OUN ideology to be mentioned here is spiritualism. On 16 February 1933, in the eastern Galician provincial city of Truskavets’ (Truskawiec), a group of OUN members and sympathizers organized a séance, during which they believed they came into contact with the ghost of the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko. They apparently asked the ghost when Ukraine would become free. The reply was that this would happen in five years, but only on condition that all Ukrainians continued to further the struggle for independence. The news spread quickly among Ukrainians associated with the OUN and other nationalist and patriotic organizations. On 5 May 1933, a great session devoted to the Ukrainian national poet was organized by Ukrainian nationalists, who tried to convince as many people as possible to continue the struggle.[291]