The Ukrainian-Polish conflict and the question of post-war affiliation of Lviv in the light of reports of the underground of the OUN(b) (September 1943 – April 1945)

On the problem of Ukrainian-Polish relations during the Second World War

Abstract

Abstract. The purpose of the research. The article is devoted to highlighting the specifics of the Ukrainian-Polish conflict in Lviv and the problem of the post-war Ukrainian-Polish border through the prism of OUN(b) underground documentation. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, systemicity, multifactority, concreteness, scientific and comprehensiveness. The following generalhistorical methods have been used: historical comparative, retrospective, problem, textual and microhistorical analysis. The scientific novelty. Having introduced into the scientific circulation a number of new archival materials stored in the Sectoral State  Archives of the Security Service of Ukraine, it was possible to fully demonstrate how the participants of the Ukrainian nationalist underground saw the Ukrainian-Polish confrontation in Lviv in 1943–1944, as their changes changed, how they reflected the reaction of the Ukrainian community of Lviv to the interethnic conflict. Conclusions. The analyzed reports of the OUN underground provide an extremely rich and interesting material for studying the history of the Ukrainian-Polish interethnic conflict during the World War II. Lviv was similar to a "laboratory" in which a "historical experiment" was staged – modeling the Ukrainian-Polish conflict on a smaller scale and with a lower degree of bloodshed. It is quite obvious that such a large city as Lviv was sufficiently well controlled by both the German and Soviet sides, which did not allow the confrontation between Ukrainians and Poles to grow to the extent it had "in the province". However, the case of Lviv, described in the reports of the Ukrainian nationalist underground, allows us to understand many mechanisms that worked equally in different conflict zones: balancing and unequal support by the Germans on one side or the other; gossip; provocations; application of collective responsibility; belief in the "payback" of one’s own actions, etc. Also, reports from the Bandera underground from Lviv provide valuable information about the mood of the population, its reaction to the movement of the front, to the actions and orders of the authorities, to international visits and agreements. They reveal the gigantic role played by informational "fakes" that are capable of immersing large communities of people in a state of mass psychosis, depriving them of their freedom to resist, or even escape. Of course, we should keep in mind the specifics of our sources, created by people with a well-defined worldview, which addressed certain specific problems while ignoring or silencing others. However, on the other hand, the analyzed materials, which were unambiguously prepared for propaganda purposes, appear to be quite frank, which enhances their scientific value.