Proclamation of Ukrainian statehood, 1941

Proclamation of Ukrainian Statehood

On Sunday June 22, 1941 Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union. On Monday 4.30 a.m. June 30, 1941 German troops of the Brandenburg-800 led by the Nachtigall Battalion entered Lviv, 60 kilometres from the former border. On that same day, a meeting was held that evening in the Lviv Prosvita hall where members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists proclaimed Ukrainian independence.

This proclamation did not reflect the views of the German regime and was quashed within a few days and the interim Ukrainian administration was arrested and dissolved ["The Restoration of the Ukrainian State in World War II". Published by Ukrainian Central Information Service, London 1987. ISBN 0-902322-35-4. John Alexander Armstrong, "Ukrainian Nationalism", Columbia University Press, 1963.] .

Preamble

In his memoirs Vasyl Kuk states:

On Monday June 30, at 6 p.m. on the second floor of the Prosvita building in Lviv (Rynok square 10) there was a community meeting. Community members living in Lviv and its environs, clergy, leading members of OUN, and members of the Ukrainian underground were gathered. The hall was overflowing with delegates. The meeting was called by the first assistant to the leader of the OUN Yaroslav Stetsko to honour the Ukrainian fighters who had laid down their lives fighting for Ukraine. In an intensive speech, he spoke about the political situation which Ukraine was in with the declaration of war, stating that once again this war will take place in Ukraine over these rich lands and that the Ukrainian people cannot stand idly by but must be active and participate. Regarding Germany, he stated that a Union with Germany was only possible if Germany recognized Ukrainian independence and its government. Stetsko read out the Proclamation of Ukrainian independence. Those present listened to the proclamation standing, unanimously endorsed it and sang the Ukrainian national anthem "Shche ne vmerla Ukraina". [(In Ukrainian: Ukrainska Povstanska Armiya - Istoriya Neskorenykh - Lviv, 2007 p.29]

Text

The Act of Proclamation of Ukrainian Statehood

1. By the will of the Ukrainian people, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists under the direction of Stepan BANDERA proclaims the formation of the Ukrainian State for which have laid down their heads whole generations of the finest sons of Ukraine.

The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, which under the direction and founder and leader Yevhen KONOVALETS has undertaken in the past ten years a bloody battle with the Moscovite-Bolshevik enslavers in an energetic battle for freedom, calls all the Ukrainian people not to place down its weapons until all Ukrainian lands are united to form a Sovereign Ukrainian Government.

The Sovereign Ukrainian Government will guarantee Ukrainian people order, unilateral development of all its energies and all its needs.

2. In the western lands of Ukraine an Ukrainian Government is formed, which is subordinate to the Ukrainian National Government that will be formed in the capital of Ukraine – Kyiv.

3. The newly formed Ukrainian state will work closely with the National-Socialist Greater Germany, under the leadership of its leader Adolf HITLER which is forming a new order in Europe and the world and is helping the Ukrainian People to free itself from Moscovite occupation.

The Ukrainian National Revolutionary Army which has been formed on the Ukrainian lands, will continue to fight with the ALLIED GERMAN ARMY against Moscovite occupation for a sovereign and united State and a new order in the whole world.

Long live the Ukrainian Sovereign United Ukraine! Long live the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists! Long live the leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian people – STEPAN BANDERA [From the front page of the Newspaper "Samostiyna Ukraina" published in Stanislaviv, July 10, 1941] .

GLORY TO UKRAINE!

A version of a doctored (edited) text is available [http://oun-upa.org.ua/documents/akt_1941.html here]

Provisional Government

After the proclamation of the Ukrainian independence a provisional government was formed with the following composition:

*Prime Minister Yaroslav Stetsko (OUN)
*Deputy Prime Minister Marian Panchyshyn (no political affiliation)
*Deputy Prime Minister Lev Rebet (OUN)
*Minister of Interior Volodymyr Lysy (Socialist Radical Party)
*Deputy Minister of Interior Konstantyn Pankivsky (Socialist Radical Party)
*Minister of External Affairs Volodymyr Stakhiv (OUN)
*Deputy Minister of External Affairs Oleksandr Maritchak (Ukrainian National-Democratic Party)
*Minister of Defense Vsevolod Petriv (Social Revolutionary Party)
*Deputy Minister of Defense Roman Shukhevych (OUN)
*Deputy Minister of Defense Oleksandr Hasyn (OUN)
*Minister of State Security Mykola Lebed (OUN)
*Minister of Justice Yulian Fedusevych (no political affiliation)
*Deputy Minister of Justice Bohdan Dzerovych (no political affiliation)
*Secretary of the Ministry of National Economy Dmytro Yatsiv (OUN)
*Secretary of the Ministry of National Economy Roman Ilnytsky (OUN)
*Minister of Agriculture Yevhen Khraplyvy (Ukrainian National-Democratic Party)
*Deputy Minister of Agriculture Andriy Piasetsky (Front of National Unity)
*Minister of Health Marian Panchyshyn (no political affiliation)
*Deputy Minister of Health Roman Osinchuk
*Secretary of the Ministry of Health Oleksandr Barvinsky (no political affiliation)
*Minister of Education Volodymyr Radzykevych (no political affiliation)
*Minister of Communication N. Moroz (no political affiliation)
*Minister of Information Oleksandr Hai-Holovko (no political affiliation)
*Secretary of the Ministry of Information Osyp Pozychaniuk (OUN)
*Secretary of the Ministry of Information Yaroslav Starukh (OUN)
*Minister of Political Coordination Ivan Klymiv-Lehenda (OUN)
*Director of Government Administration Mykhailo Rosliak (Socialist Radical Party)

A Council of Seniors headed by Konstantyn Levytsky as president was also formed. ["The Restoration of the Ukrainian State in World War II". Published by Ukrainian Central Information Service, London 1987. ISBN 0-902322-35-4.]

Reactions to the proclamation

The act of proclamation was broadcasted by Yaroslav Stetsko over the radio in Lviv, which made many believe it was supported by the advancing German troops. The act received immediate support from several Ukrainian church officials such as Metropolitan Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Metropolitan Bishop Polikarp Sikorsky of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and Bishop Hryhoriy Khomyshyn Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

A German SS Einsatzgruppe arrived in Lviv three days after the act of proclamation but waited until July 9 before they put Yaroslav Stetsko and his deputy Lev Rebet initially under "honorary arrest". On July 12 they were formally arrested. At the same time Stepan Bandera with several other Ukrainian nationalists were arrested in the General Government. They were assembled in Berlin where the Germans unsuccessfully tried to convince them to withdraw the Act of Proclamation. On September 15 they were dispatched to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. The Gestapo arrested hundreds of other Ukrainian nationalists who had participated in the process of "restoration" of the Ukrainian state. ["The Restoration of the Ukrainian State in World War II". Published by Ukrainian Central Information Service, London 1987. ISBN 0-902322-35-4. John Alexander Armstrong, "Ukrainian Nationalism", Columbia University Press, 1963.]

Post war version of Act

The Postwar Ukrainian emigration downplayed the cooperation between the Ukrainian nationalist parties and the Germans and emphasized how Ukrainian nationalists fought both the Germans and the Soviets and how the Ukrainian nation suffered enormously at the hands of both. Lebed's group published document collections that doctored historical texts to eliminate pro-German statements. Lebed's left his papers to the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. [ John-Paul Himka, "War Criminality: A Blank Spot in the Collective Memory of the Ukrainian Diaspora," in Spaces of Identity 5, no. 1 (2005): 9-24. See also Johan Dietsch, Making Sense of Suffering: Holocaust and Holodomor in Ukrainian Historical Culture (Lund: Media Tryck, Lund University, 2006).]

The Act of Proclamation of Ukrainian State

1. By the will of the Ukrainian people, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists under the direction of Stepan BANDERA proclaims the renewal of the Ukrainian State for which have laid down their heads whole generations of the finest sons of Ukraine.The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, which under the direction of it’s creator and leader Yevhen KONOVALETS during the past decade a bloody Moscovite-Bolshevik subjugation carried on stubborn struggle for freedom, calls all the Ukrainian people not to place down its weapons until Sovereign Ukrainian State is formed in all Ukrainian lands.

The Sovereign Ukrainian Government assures the Ukrainian people of regularity and order, multi-sided development of all its forces and satisfaction of it’s demands.

2. In the western lands of Ukraine a Ukrainian Government is created, which is subordinate to the Ukrainian national administration that will be created in the capital of Ukraine – Kyiv.

3. The Ukrainian National Revolutionary Army which is being created on the Ukrainian soil, will continue to fight against Moscovite occupation for the sovereign and united State and a new, just order in the whole world.Long live the Ukrainian Sovereign United Ukraine! Long live the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists!

Long live the director of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists – STEPAN BANDERA [2] .

* This text appeared at John Armstrong, Ukrainian Nationalism, 2nd edition: New York: Columbia University Press, 1963) pp.79-80

Notes

*1) There are a number of versions of the Proclamation, published simultaneously, each with slight textual differences.
*2) Section 3 of the Stanislaviv version is often omitted in Ukrainian Diaspora publications dealing with this subject.
*3) In many Ukrainian diaspora publications the word "formation" is often changed to "re-establishment".

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