SS OUN(B) Through the Prism of Transformations of Historical Memory
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15407/uhj2025.03.162Keywords:
historical memory, Security Service of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (Banderite) (SS OUN(B) / SB OUN(B)), commemoration of the dead, war of monuments, open trials, themed evenings, films, regional differences, memorializationAbstract
The aim is to analyze the formation of the Ukrainian people’s historical memory of the activities of the Security Service of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (Banderite). To identify the main periods of this process, the key factors of influence, as well as the directions of expression in culture and politics. It is no coincidence that the object of study was chosen to be the activities of the Security Service, as this branch of the OUN(B) has caused the most ambiguous assessments in society.
The methodology is based on the principles of historicism, comprehensiveness, integrity, and consistency. The use of the logical principle contributed to the understanding of the internal logic of the development of historical events, the identifi cation of causal relationships, and the formulation of conclusions in the study. The synchronic-diachronic approach made it possible to choose the most optimal variant of the temporal composition of the study.
Scientific novelty. Using the example of a separate branch of the OUN(B), this study, for the first time, comprehensively traces the chronology of changes in historical memory. The powerful influence of the Soviet authorities on its formation, as well as the transformation of this propaganda heritage in independent Ukraine, are revealed.
Conclusions. The process of shaping the historical memory of SS OUN(B) has gone through a complex and long path of transformation. It began in the second half of the 1940s with propaganda and repressive pressure from the Soviet authorities on attempts by the population to honor the fallen SS officers. In the late 1950s, this work finally focused on the deliberate denigration of the SS OUN(B) as exclusively criminal and collaborationist. For this purpose, the Soviet authorities used all possible tools, which ranged from feature films to demonstrative death sentences. Under the influence of turbulent political processes and the spread of freedom of speech in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the situation began to change. This allowed, in 2022, for the first time, to reach a public consensus in recognizing the liberation struggle of the OUN and its Security Service
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