“Scientists of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR Were not Prepared for the War in a Proper Way”

Abstract

The outbreak of war with Nazi Germany caught the Academy of Sciences (AS) of the Soviet Ukraine by surprise. A plan for adjustment the Academy’s activities did not exist, with the administration waiting for a directive from the top. It was as late as June 30, 1941 that the Presidium of the AS of the Soviet Ukraine took the decision on adjustment of its activities, to streamline them on military needs. Following the resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, the Ukrainian government created the Governmental Commission on June 26, 1941. The Commission adopted the decision on evacuation of the AS of the Soviet Ukraine on June 29, and approved, on July 3—7, the teams of Academy institutions, their heads and outstanding scientists eligible for immediate evacuation. The city of Ufa was designated by the Central Evacuation Council as the location of evacuated Academy institutions. In the early months of evacuation, the Academy of Sciences was in very strained material conditions. The detachment from research centers of the Soviet Union, uncertainties with research themes, and bureaucratic schemes of R&D results dissemination forced Ukrainian researchers to seek help of the Ukrainian and Union authorities. The article provides a little-known document about the failure of the AS of the Soviet Ukraine to prepare for the war and the proceeding of defense-related R&D in 1942.

Introduction and documents prepared for publication by:
A. H. Luhovskyi
Dobrov Institute for Scientific and Technological Potential and Science History Studies of the NAS of Ukraine
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7644-5995