To welcome the Germans and signalize support for the new Ukrainian state, the OUN-B instructed local Ukrainians to erect triumphal arches.[1027] During the “Ukrainian National Revolution,” triumphal arches of various kinds were indeed erected in numerous villages, towns, and cities. They were decorated with the Ukrainian and German flags and such inscriptions as “Glory to Ukraine—Glory to Bandera!” “Long Live the German Army!” “Long Live the Leader of the German Nation Adolf Hitler!” “Freedom for Ukraine—Death to Moscow!” “Glory to Our Leader [Providnyk] Stepan Bandera!” (Figs. 19–20).[1028] In Volhynia, the triumphal arches were ubiquitous, and mainly bore the inscriptions “Heil Hitler!” and “Glory to Ukraine!”[1029] The OUN-B member Mykola Chartoryis’kyi, who went from the General Government to Ukraine in the third task force, commented on this kind of propaganda: “Everywhere in villages and cities, at the entrance gates, among other slogans hang huge inscriptions: Glory to Ukraine!—Glory to the Heroes! Long Live the OUN Providnyk Stepan Bandera! Long Live the Independent United Ukrainian State!”[1030]

Michał Sobków remembered that the new administration in Koropets’ (Koropec) renamed one street as Bandera Street and another as Senyk Street, and that the Ukrainian militiamen greeted one another with the fascist salute and the words, “Glory to Ukraine!” to which the response was: “Glory to the Heroes!” He also noticed that, after some time, ordinary Ukrainians ceased greeting one another with the traditional “Glory to Jesus Christ” (Slava Isusu Khrystu) and, like the OUN-B revolutionaries, adopted the fascist salute and the OUN-B slogans.[1031]

Another important element of the revolution was the solemn welcoming of the German troops. For this purpose, the local population dressed in folk costumes and carried the traditional bread and salt. The OUN-B’s mechanical, repetitive, and theatrical re-enactment of the proclamation of the Ukrainian state, in numerous towns and cities, was soon noticed by German troops.[1032] The OUN-B also encouraged the Ukrainian population to display Ukrainian and German flags on their houses. It demanded that all communist books and portraits be brought to the main square of the village and burnt. At the same time, the village population was expected to assemble for a propaganda speech. After the burning of portraits of Soviet leaders, the portraits of Stepan Bandera and other nationalist heroes were to be displayed.