"Український вісник" - часопис українського спротиву (1970-1972)

Размещено на http://www.Allbest.Ru/

Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture

Department of Political Sciences and Law

“The Ukrainian herald” a journal of the Ukrainian resistance (1970-1972)

V. Derevinskyi, PhD hab. (History), Professor

Kyiv

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to do the research on the self-published underground journal "The Ukrainian Herald” as a factor and component of the struggle of the Ukrainian national movement in the 1970s and the 1980s.

The methodological basis of the research was concrete historical, comparative historical and analytical methods. The principles of objectivity, historicism, multi-factoriality have been used.

The scientific novelty: the reasons for creating the journal, the peculiarities of the formation of the editorial team, the conditions for preparing and publishing the journal have been studied, as well as the programme objectives and content of "The Ukrainian Herald” have been analyzed.

The Conclusion. In the course of the conducted research, it has been determined that under the conditions of a total control and persecution by the Soviet special services, Viacheslav Chornovil managed to create and publish an underground self-published journal. At all stages of the publication of the journal, he followed a strict conspiracy: starting from the collection of information, processing of editorial materials, publishing of the "signal copy”, reproduction and distribution. The meticulous means of the conspiracy allowed him to publish the journal for a relatively long period of time under the existing socio-political circumstances. The danger of exposing the publishers of the journal forced V. Chornovil to select a limited number of assistants carefully. The optimally created organizational structure of "The Ukrainian Herald” nevertheless counted a significant number of people. In the 1960 s and 1970 s no other underground editorial offices of the Ukrainian publications had such a number of functional employees. The members of the publishing team effectively performed their tasks, and during the arrests and interrogations, they did not reveal their or V. Chornovil's involvement in the production of the journal.

Viacheslav Chornovil successfully organized the distribution channels of the journal. In particular, he established the illegal transportation of "The Ukrainian Herald” across the Soviet border to the West. Due to the fact that the journal was reprinted abroad in large numbers, the readership of "The Ukrainian Herald” "Herald” grew greatly. Its materials objectively, thoroughly and relatively quickly provided the public both in the middle of the country and outside the country with information about the activities of freedom fighters and the repressions of the authorities. "The Ukrainian Herald” turned into an extremely effective tool for the Ukrainian national movement's information war with the Soviet regime.

Key words: "The Ukrainian Herald”, V. Chornovil, journal, self-published, national movement.

Анотація

“Український вісник” часопис українського спротиву (1970-1972)

В. Деревінський, д.і.н., професор кафедри політичних наук і права Київського національного університету будівництва і архітектури, м. Київ

Метою статті є дослідження самвидавчого підпільного журналу “Український вісник” як чинника та складової боротьби українського національного руху на початку 1970х рр.

Методологічною основою дослідження послужив конкретно-історичний, порівняльний та історико-аналітичний методи. Використано принципи об'єктивності, історизму, багатофакторності.

Наукова новизна: вивчено причини створення журналу, особливості формування видавничого колективу, умови здійснення підготовки, друку та змісту журналу.

Висновки. У ході проведеного дослідження встановлено, що в умовах тотального контролю та переслідування з боку радянських спецслужб В'ячеславу Чорноволу вдалося створити і видавати підпільний самвидавний журнал. На усіх етапах видання часопаису він дотримувався суворої конспірації: починаючи від збору інформації, опрацювання редакційних матеріалів, друкування “сигнального примірника” та тиражування й оприлюднення. Надретельні засоби конспірації дозволили йому видавати журнал відносно тривалий період часу за непростих тогочасних суспільно-політичних обставин. Небезпека викриття видавців журналу змусила В. Чорновола ретельно підібрати обмежену кількість помічників.

З'ясовано, що В. Чорноволу вдалося успішно організувати канали розповсюдження журналу, особливо, налагодити нелегальне переправлення через радянський кордон на Захід. Завдяки тому, що за кордоном журнал перевидавався значними накладами його читацька аудиторія вельми зросла. Виявлено, що матеріали“Вісника” об'єктивно, ґрунтовно і відносно швидко надали громадськості як у середині країни, так і за її межами інформацію про діяльність борців за свободу та репресії влади. Таким чином, “Український вісник” перетворився на надзвичайно дієвий інструмент провадження українським національним рухом інформаційної війни з радянським режимом.

Ключові слова: “Український вісник”, В. Чорновіл, журнал, самвидав, національний рух.

The Problem Statement

In the 1960s, the methods of struggle of the members of the Ukrainian national movement changed. New realities led to the transition to cultural and educational activities. The word spread through self-publishing became the primary weapon. The effectiveness of the information struggle increased significantly with the appearance of the self-published underground journal “The Ukrainian Herald”. The periodic edition of the journal issues made it possible to convey relevant information to readers systematically. “The Ukrainian Herald” became the printed organ of the Resistance movement. Therefore, “The Ukrainian Herald” as a factor in developing the Ukrainian national campaign in the early 1970s is an essential topic for scientific studies. The necessity of researching the role and significance of “The Ukrainian Herald” in the Ukrainian history of the second half of the 20th century is actualized by the repeated attempts to resume its publication in the 1970s after the arrest of its editor. In addition, the journal's influence played an essential role in unfolding the struggle for personal and national freedom in the second half of the 1980s.

The Analysis of Recent Research and Publications. A significant influence of “The Ukrainian Herald” on the development of the national movement attracted the attention of researchers who studied the activities of public activists in the 1960-1980s. With the restoration of Ukraine's independence, several studies on the Ukrainian national movement of 1960-1990 appeared. These are books by H. Kasyanov (Kasyanov, 2019), A. Rusnachenko (Rusnachenko, 1998), B. Zakharov (Zakharov, 2003) etc. In the majority of books, the subject of which was the Ukrainian resistance movement of the 1960s 1980s, the essential information about “The Ukrainian Herald” is considered. However, there are some factual inaccuracies in them regarding the publishers, the correspondent network, the distributors of the journal, etc. The authors of other books and articles made similar mistakes (Berdykhovska, 2004, pp. 10-31; Lys, 2008). They are contained in the book by O. Obertas (Obertas, 2010). Information about the journal can be found in the book “Viacheslav Chornovil: the Spirit that Tears the Body to Battle” (Derevinskyi, 2016). The specifics of the criminal proceedings regarding the search for the publishers of “The Ukrainian Herald” in the early 1970s are discussed in detail in the article “The Ukrainian Herald” journal as an object of criminal proceedings by the KGB in 1971974 (Derevinskyi, 2019, pp. 407-417). Measures taken by the Soviet authorities to oppose the restoration of “The Ukrainian Herald” publication after the arrest of V Chornovil in the 1970s are considered in the article by B. Paska (Paska, 2022b).

The purpose of the article is to study the self-published underground journal “The Ukrainian Herald” as a factor and component of the struggle of the Ukrainian national movement in the early 1970s. The research objectives are to study the reasons for creating the journal, the peculiarities of the formation of the publishing team, the conditions for the preparation, printing and content of the journal. The chronological limits of the article cover the period from 1969 to 1972. The establishment of the specified limits of the research is connected with the first period of activity of the editorial office of V. Chornovil in publishing the journal.

The Results of the Research

At the end of the 1960s, the Soviet repression against the figures of the Ukrainian national movement continued to intensify. Under the pressure of the authorities, their activity decreased. Some isolated themselves from protests against the regime's arbitrariness, and some took the position of non-conformism. Under such circumstances, the Ukrainian resistance atomization process took place. Seeing a severe threat of losing the momentum of the struggle for freedom, the leading figures of the Ukrainian movement considered what methods to use under the new conditions.

Viacheslav Chornovil, one of the most active figures of the Ukrainian resistance to the Soviet totalitarian regime, considered it necessary to strengthen the informational component of the struggle. In his opinion, various actions carried out by the Ukrainian activists needed an objective, thorough and quick publicization both within the country and abroad. In the absence of prompt dissemination of information about the activities of the Resistance movement, under the conditions of growing repressive pressure, the authorities dismantled the movement's activists. That is why, V. Chornovil decided to establish, so to speak, a printed organ of the Ukrainian national movement. Viacheslav Chornovil reflected the functional purpose of such a publication for the campaign in its name “The Ukrainian Herald”. In other words, the informative voice of invincible Ukrainian fighters.

At that time, a similar Ukrainian publication did not exist in Ukraine. Although isolated attempts took place to print underground newspapers and journals, their distribution and information content only went beyond the regional dimension. They were unknown to the mass Ukrainian and foreign readers.

The importance of the information tribune for the national movement was confirmed by publications that appeared at that time. In 1968, Nataliya Gorbanevskaya founded “The Chronicle of Current Events” newsletter in Moscow. In the early 1970s, the press bodies of other national movements appeared. Thus, since 1965, a newsletter of the Crimean Tatar national movement has been published.

After V. Chornovil served a one-and-a-half-year prison term for his political views, he was released in early 1969. He immediately discussed publishing the organ of the movement with several leading figures of the Ukrainian national movement. Considering that it was the time of the defeat of the Sixties, which mainly used educational and cultural methods of activity, not everyone with whom V. Chornovil communicated and agreed to launch a new dimension of the struggle against the totalitarian regime. The activities of the members of the national movement at the latest stage of the battle had to be based on the understanding that it was impossible to change the policy of the ruling Communist Party regarding the neglect of personal or national rights. Therefore, it is necessary not to try to modernize the Soviet government, but to fight against the Soviet totalitarian regime, to seek the right to national self-determination. Especially since the Soviet regime moved away from “cosmetic liberalism” and started a new total pogrom of the Ukrainians. Therefore, those who agreed to work with V. Chornovil on the publication of the organ of the movement understood the threat of repression for themselves and their loved ones.

In 1969, V. Chornovil formed the editorial staff of an underground self-published journal from such brave men as himself. These people set themselves a super-task under the conditions of a large-scale Soviet control over all spheres of the Ukrainian society (Kononenko, 2019, p. 170; Kotsur, 2021, p. 156), especially over the Ukrainian activists or simply people who supported the Ukrainian national development or had their view of the situation in Ukraine. As it turned out, at the end of the 1960s, they were the only ones who managed to start a systematic information struggle against the Soviet regime. Exceptional merit in deploying this informational resistance belongs to V. Chornovil, who rallied like-minded people. At that time, the leading figures of the Ukrainian national movement did not know anyone else except V. Chornovil, who could dare to start such risky work by publishing an illegal journal (Sverstyuk, 1997 p. 5). Professional journalistic competencies of V Chornovil and his persistent public activity were the basis for the employees of the Soviet political exceptional service the State Security Committee (KGB) in their operational developments to also consider V. Chornovil as the most likely publisher of the underground organ of the Ukrainian national movement (Prisovskyi, 1993, p. 67; Paska, 2022a, p. 230).

Olena Antoniv, Atena Pashko, Mykhailo Kosiv, Yaroslav Kendzior, and Liudmyla Sheremetyeva volunteered to help V. Chornovil publish the journal. They actually formed the first edition of the underground journal. V. Chornovil carried out the most considerable amount of work on the preparation of the journal because he formed the content and topics of the issues, filled them with relevant material, edited and corrected the articles of others and printed “signal copies”.

The publishing group provided him as the editor-in-chief with informational materials and articles, they also provided him with the conspiratorial working conditions for the journal's publication, and carried out initial copying and photocopying of issues of “The Ukrainian Herald”. Thus, M. Kosiv and Ya. Kendzior performed courier functions to deliver materials for V. Chornovil. Atena Pashko showed parts of the next issue printed by V. Chornovil for copying.

Liudmyla Sheremetyeva was responsible for increasing the circulation of journal issues. She reprinted the “signal number” of the journal in the amount of 10-15 copies. The issue of the journal reprinted by L. Sheremetyeva was sent to Ya. Kendzior, who photographed it with a microphoto camera. The “signal copy” of each case, printed personally by V. Chornovil on a typewriter specially obtained for this purpose, was never made public. The conditions required this illegal publication of the journal because all typewriters had their features of text printing. Therefore, during the analysis of printed sheets, it was possible to determine the typewriter on which they were published and identify the authors of illegal literature.

Liudmyla Sheremetyeva reproduced the first three, according to other sources four issues of the journal (Chornovil, 2006, p. 19). In the future, her activities in the “The Ukrainian Herald” publication must be stopped because the KGB employees were monitoring her. Under such circumstances, V. Chornovil did not involve anyone else in the reproduction of the journal but engaged in reproduction personally.

Regional correspondents or those responsible for collecting information from the regions were Nadiya Svitlichna and later Mykola Plakhotniuk from Kyiv and Nina Strokata from Odesa. For them to have a place to stay in Lviv at the time of their arrival with the materials, a peculiar correspondent point of the journal was set up. Its functioning was ensured by the University teacher Liuba Popadiuk in the apartment she rented on Konovaltsia Street.

In the second half of 1969, Viacheslav Chornovil prepared the first issue of the journal while working at the “Plai” weather station for polonies, located in the Carpathian Mountains near the village of Lopushne in the Carpathian Mountains Volovetsky district of Zakarpattia region. He worked there from the summer of 1969 to February of 1970. He prepared other issues in Lviv, where he lived at the time. The work was carried out in several conspiratorial apartments. In particular, in the apartment of Roman and Myroslava Stasiv. The first three issues of the journal were copied by L. Sheremetyeva in the house of Yaroslav Kendzior's parents in the village of Solontsi near Lviv and in place of O. Antonivna's aunt on Levandivka in Lviv. After the detention of V Chornovil during the second large-scale arrest of Ukrainian activists in January of 1972, M. Kosiv worked on completing the sixth issue of the journal. He carried out this work in the apartment of the famous composer Stanislav Liudkevych, people's artist Sofia Federtseva, the director of the Lviv Agricultural Institute Mykhailo Honchar, and the employees of the Mikroprylad factory in Nus and Stepan Baraniv (Kosiv, 2006, p. 39).

Several activists of the Ukrainian national movement, with whom V Chornovil had a conversation, directly sent their materials for publication in the journal without taking part in its production. In particular, Valentyn Moroz sent such materials and his articles to two journal issues. Yuriy Shukhevych provided information for forming a list of Ukrainian political prisoners. Various materials were submitted by Vasyl Stus (Chornovil, 1987, p. 98).

Viacheslav Chornovil kept the names of the people who prepared or helped publish the journal a secret. The authors of the self-published statements and articles that were published in the journal did not know about those who publish the journal. For the first time, the journal's editor published the names of the people who joined its publication only in 1987 in the seventh issue of the restored journal. In particular, V. Chornovil named Olena Antoniv, Nina Strokata, Nadia Svitlychna, Valentyn Moroz, Yuryi Shukhevych and Vasyl Stus. He named people the Soviet penal system could not harm at that time. The names of other people who in one way or another participated in the preparation of the journal in 1669 1972 were named by V. Chornovil already after the restoration of Ukraine's independence. In particular, Atena Pashko, Anna Sadovska, Liudmyla Sheremetyeva, Yaroslav Kendzior, Mykhailo Kosiv, Yaroslav Dashkevych, Yevhen Sverstiuk, the Stasy couple, the VozniukLemkiv-Bander family, Opanas Zalyvakha, Mykola Plahotniuk (Soroka, 1997, p. 35).

It was a difficult task to publish an underground journal under the conditions of the Soviet repression and a total control by special services. Especially Issue 6, which V. Chornovil prepared during the constant search by KGB employees of the journal's editorial board. At that time, the KGB had already opened criminal case No. 42, “The Ukrainian Herald”. samizdat ukrainian herald national movement

Viacheslav Chornovil was one of the first in the list of people whom the Soviet state security authorities established surveillance, not without reason considering him the most probable editor of “The Ukrainian Herald”.

That is why, his careful measures against the conspiracy to publish the journal turned out to be justified. First, restrictions on the number of people involved in its publication. He observed the regime of “informational silence” regarding “The Ukrainian Herald” during conversations with friends and acquaintances. He even avoided any statements in his apartment, which were listened to by KGB employees, which could provide evidence to the Soviet special services about his involvement in the journal. He did not keep any self-published material at home. He immediately rewrote the materials received for the preparation of “The Ukrainian Herald” and after submitting them to the next “signal copy” eliminated (Shtuka, 2010, p. 4). He worked at the typewriter with papers in new rubber gloves always so as not to leave fingerprints.

In 1970-1972, V. Chornovil published six issues of the journal. The first issue of “The Ukrainian Herald” was dated January 1970; the second was printed in May of 1970, the third in October of the same year, the fourth in January, and the fifth in May of 1971. Issue 6 was prepared by V. Chornovil and completed by M. Kosiv in March of 1972. After this issue, the publication of the journal by Chornovil editorship stopped until the end of the 1980s.

According to Yevhen Proniuk, one of the activists of the Ukrainian national movement, the editor of “The Ukrainian Herald”, V. Chornovil, offered him to continue publishing the journal in the event of his arrest. Volodymyr Shcherbytsky, head of the branch of the Communist Party in Ukraine, wrote to the Moscow executive office of the party (the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union) about the existence of a “reserve editorial office” (CSAPO of Ukraine, f. 1, d. 10, с. 1398, pp. 38-45).

After the January of 1972 arrests, E. Proniuk, then a researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, together with his colleague from the institute Vasyl Lisovyi and Vasyl Ovsienko, a student of the Faculty of Philology of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv State University, prepared in March of 1972 the so-called Kyiv issue of “The Ukrainian Herald” No. 6. They needed to learn about preparing the journal's Issue 6 members of the Chernivtsi editorial office. Yevhen Proniuk and Vasyl Lisovyi formed the issue's content, and Vasyl Ovsienko ensured its printing. A total of 10 copies of this issue were printed, all of which were destroyed when the authors were threatened with arrest (SSA SSU, f. 6, d. 41, с. 5, p. 243).

In 1974, Stepan Khmara, a doctor from Chervonohrad, Lviv region, Oles Shevchenko, a scientist from Kyiv, and Vitaliy Shevchenko, a journalist from Kyiv, undertook to continue publishing the popular underground journal. They printed two issues of the journal, and the materials for the third had to be destroyed due to the threat of arrest. At this point, their work on publishing the journal stopped.

In 1972-1979, a journal called “The Ukrainian Herald” was published by the Ukrainian All-People's Organization (or Ukrainian National Front-2). Mykola Krainyk, a History teacher from Dolyna district of Ivano-Frankivsk region, headed it and published the journal until his arrest in 1979 (Zaitsev, 2005, p. 12).

“The Ukrainian Herald”, printed in Lviv by the editors of V. Chornovil, was primarily not distributed in Lviv region to protect the publishers from detection by the Soviet services. It was delivered to Kyiv, where it was first made public. And only after the journal issue appeared among readers of the capital “The Ukrainian Herald” was it distributed in other cities. Couriers for the delivery of the journal, who might not have known about their mission, from Lviv to Kyiv were Valentyna Chornovil, Stefania Hulyk-Hnatenko, Hanna Sadovska, Yaroslav Dashkevych and the others (CSAPOU, f. 1, d. 25, с. 1006, pp. 23-24). In Kyiv, the journal was handed over to Alla Horska and Mykola Plakhotniuk, and the first issue was delivered to Zinaida Franko (Hulyk-Hnatenko, 2005, p. 291).

In addition to Kyiv, “The Ukrainian Herald” was also delivered from Lviv to other cities, in particular to Odesa, to N. Strokatai. She spread it among her acquaintances in Odesa (SSA SSU, f. 6, d. 68805FP, с. 15, pp. 171-179). Mykola Plakhotniuk transferred the journal from Kyiv to Transcarpathia, Vinnytsia and Sumy regions. In Kyiv, Z. Antoniuk, E. Proniuk, V. Lisovyi and the others participated in the journal's distribution.

After that, the readers of “The Ukrainian Herald” began to reproduce the journal independently. Unorganized reprinting or photocopying of the journal led both to the quantitative growth of its copies and to the expansion of distribution boundaries. Additional circulation of the journal was recorded by the KGB employees in the western, central and southern regions of Ukraine (SSA SSU, f. 6, d. 41, с. 5, p. 225). “The Ukrainian Herald” had the form of a brochure consisting of 50 110 sheets of A4 format. The journal of such a large volume was not easy to transport and distribute.

Viacheslav Chornovil organized the shipment of the journal across the Soviet border. The role of the courier carrying “The Ukrainian Herald” on microfilms was performed by the student of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv State University, Hanna Kotsur, who was originally from Priashivshchyna (Czechoslovakia). She transported the first four issues of the journal, which were given to her by Zinovii Antoniuk (the first and third issues), Valentyna Chornovil (second issue) and Mykola Plahotniuk (the fourth issue) (SSA SSU, f. 6, d. 41, с. 1, pp. 288-289). Although, according to Ya. Kendzior's testimony, he personally handed over the tapes with the first and second issues of “The Ukrainian Herald” to P. Murashko when he was in Ukraine, and H. Kotsur transported only the third and fourth issues. Outside of Ukraine, she gave the tapes to the same Pavlo Murashka, who worked as an assistant at the Department of Ukrainian Literature of the Faculty of Philology of Kosice University named after Shafarik, or Petro Grotskyi a teacher of the Priashiv Secondary Pedagogical School. They were making photographs, reprinted the text and took pictures again. Pavlo Holovchuk, together with his friends from Yugoslavia, were ensuring the delivery of a new film from Czechoslovakia to Vienna (Golovchuk, 2007, pp. 58-74). The next stage of transportation was to Munich (Federal Republic of Germany), and then to Paris (France).

After the secret service of Czechoslovakia revealed the courier mission of H. Kotsur at the beginning of 1971, it was necessary to stop sending the journal through it (SSA SSU, f. 6, d. 41, с. 2, pp. 77-80). The fifth issue of “The Ukrainian Herald” was sent to the West by the daughter of Ivan Franko Anna Franko (Vilkha, 2002, p. 2), and the sixth issue was sent by Ya. Kendzior by the rowing athletes P. Rydyk and R. Kropivnyk, who were going to international competitions.

All four issues of “The Ukrainian Herald”, which were delivered abroad via Czechoslovakia, were printed by the Ukrainian Smoloskyp publishing house named after Vasyl Symonenko. The publishing house was then located in Baltimore (USA). This publishing house also published the sixth issue of the journal. The first, second, fourth, and sixth numbers of the Smoloskyp publishing house were printed jointly with the First Ukrainian Printing House in France, located in Paris. The third issue was published in cooperation with the publishing house “New Way” from Winnipeg. The first and second issues were published in one book, the others separately. The fourth issue was printed as a separate book in the “Ukrainian Publishing Union” in London, which reprinted it from the Ukrainian London journal “The Liberation Path”. The fifth issue was not reprinted abroad. Probably due to a change in the shipping route from Ukraine, this issue did not get to the Smoloskyp publishing house or to others. According to the available data, it is known that the fifth number got abroad, information about its contents was made public by the Ukrainian Central Information Service in London, and its typewritten copy was in the archive of N. Strokata in the USA.

Separate materials of the “The Ukrainian Herald” were reprinted by various publications, both Ukrainian diaspora and foreign. The entire collection or its excerpts were read on the air by various radio stations, including “Freedom”, “Voice of America”, “BBC”, “German Wave”, “Voice of the Vatican” and the others.

“The Ukrainian Herald” played an important role in spreading Ukrainian narratives in the world information space. The considerable amount of information collected in the journal about social and political processes in Ukraine provided readers from different countries with thorough data about the Ukrainian national movement, its ideas, measures, and confrontation with the Soviet regime. V. Chornovil said that, according to Western analysts, “without Herald, it would be difficult to understand the situation in Ukraine at the end of the 60s and the beginning of the 70s.” (Soroka, 1997, pp. 2-36). A similar vision of the meaning of the journal was stated by the Smoloskyp publishing house in the preface to the journal (Chornovil, 1971, p. 9).

Owing to the broadcasts of Western radio stations, information about “The Ukrainian Herald” reached listeners in Ukraine, who managed to listen to banned radio broadcasts despite the Soviet system of “jamming” foreign radio signals. The journal arrived in Ukraine from abroad also by mail, sometimes to the addresses of some organizations or strangers (SSA SSU, f. 6, d. 41, с. 3, pp. 77-78).

Viacheslav Chornovil, with the help of “The Ukrainian Herald” publication, sought to provide citizens with objective information, which they were deprived of due to total Soviet censorship (Baran, 2022, p. 187). In the magazine, he published data on the specifics of the socio-political situation in the country, the struggle for personal and national rights, government repression, Ukrainophobia, etc. In addition, he published journalistic articles, documents, artistic works and other materials that had already become widespread in self-publishing (Chornovil, 1971, p. 11).

When selecting materials, V. Chornovil followed their sequential presentation in the journal issues by the established principle of organizing materials. It was assumed that each number should be dedicated to some important topic of the Resistance movement.

To protect himself from exposure by the KGB authorities, V. Chornovil deliberately levelled his contribution to the publication of the “The Ukrainian Herald”, carrying out only superficial, elementary and primitive editing of texts.

Materials under the heading “Chronicle” were of a considerable relevance and importance. In a chronological order, it provides information about numerous facts of mass persecution of citizens.

That is, the publishers of the journal were printing a significant amount of self-published materials in “The Ukrainian Herald”, which were distributed in Ukraine. There was information about many activists of the Ukrainian resistance, about their ideas, actions, persecution by the Soviet regime. A variety of journalistic and literary works were published that could not reach readers from official censored publications or books. “The Ukrainian Herald” became the informational voice and tribune of the Ukrainian undefeated fighters who fought for personal and national freedom. The systematic publication of journals provided information to many activists, sympathizers or even those who were not aware of the real situation of the Ukrainian people under the control of the Soviet government. “The Ukrainian Herald” acted as a kind of informational motivator and communicator for those who hesitated under the pressure of repression or were looking for like-minded people.

“The Ukrainian Herald” became too dangerous an underground publication for the Soviet regime. The KGB employees were given instructions to identify and liquidate the publishers of the journal. Their activities to find publishers of “The Ukrainian Herald” intensified after the secret resolution of the governing body of the ruling Communist Party in June of 1971 on measures to combat “politically harmful” self-publishing and there-publishing.

The key measure of this repressive campaign was the mass arrests of January of 1972. In total, about 90 people lost their freedom then, and many were subjected to various persecutions. The main goal of these measures was to identify the publishers and stop the printing of “The Ukrainian Herald”. These repressions turned out to be the second mass arrests of dissidents after 1965, but the KGB employees did not manage to find irrefutable evidence of the involvement of specific individuals in publishing the journal (Derevinskyi, 2019, p. 409). Members of the publishing team did not provide investigators with any information about the journal or its editor during interrogations. Therefore, V. Chornovil managed to avoid both the defeat of the publishing team and the arrest of all those involved in the publication of the journal, as well as the imposition of a criminal sentence by the Soviet court as the editor of “The Ukrainian Herald”.

Conclusion

Thus, under the conditions of a total control and persecution by the Soviet special services, Viacheslav Chornovil managed to create and publish an underground self-published journal. At all stages of the publication of the journal, he followed a strict conspiracy: starting from the collection of information, the processing of editorial materials, the printing of the “signal copy” and the reproduction and distribution. The meticulous means of the conspiracy allowed him to publish the journal for a relatively long period of time under the existing socio-political circumstances. The danger of exposing the publishers of the journal forced V. Chornovol to carefully select a limited number of assistants. The optimally created organizational structure of “The Ukrainian Herald” nevertheless counted a significant number of people. No other underground editorial offices of the Ukrainian publications in the 1960s and 1970s had such a number of functional employees. The members of the publishing team effectively performed their tasks, and during the arrests and interrogations, they did not reveal their or V Chornovil's involvement in the production of the journal.

Viacheslav Chornovil organized the distribution channels of the journal successfully. In particular, he established the illegal transportation of “The Ukrainian Herald” across the Soviet border to the West. Due to the fact that the journal was reprinted abroad in large numbers, the readership of “The Ukrainian Herald” grew greatly. Its materials objectively, thoroughly and relatively quickly provided the public both in the middle of the country and outside the country with information about the activities of freedom fighters and the repressions of the authorities. “The Ukrainian Herald” turned into an extremely effective tool for the Ukrainian national movement's information war with the Soviet regime.

Bibliography

1. Baran, V. (2022). Ideological Control of the Stalinist Regime over the Intelligentsia in the Ukrainian SSR: 1945 1953. Skhidnoievropeiskyi istorychnyi visnyk East European Historical Bulletin, 25, 181-188.

2. Berdykhovska, B. (2004). Shistdesiatnyky bunt pokolinia [The Sixties are a Generational Rebellion]. In Berdykhovska, B. Bunt pokolinia: rozmova z ukrainskymy intelektualamy, (pp. 10-31). Kyiv: Dukh i Litera. [in Ukrainian]

3. Chornovil, V. (1971). Vid vydavnytstva [From the Publishing House]. In Ukrainskyi visnyk. Vyp. І-ІІ. Sichen-traven 1970r. Dokumenty, (pp. 7-9). Paryzh-Baltymor: Smoloskyp. [in Ukrainian] Chornovil, V. (1987). Vid redaktsii (zakliuchni zauvagy) [From the Editors (concluding remarks)]. Ukrainskyi visnyk Ukrainian Herald, 7, 97-99. [in Ukrainian]

4. Chornovil, V. (1971). Zavdania “Ukrainskogo visnyka” [The Task of “The Ukrainian Herald”]. In Ukrainskyi visnyk. Vyp. І-ІІ. Sichen-traven 1970 r Dokumenty, (pp. 3-4). Paryzh; Baltymor: Smoloskyp. [in Ukrainian]

5. Chornovil, V. (2006). Tvory [Writings], (vol. 3). Kyiv: Smoloskyp. [in Ukrainian]

6. Derevinskyi, V. (2016). Vyacheslav Chornovil: dukh, shcho tilo rve do boiu [Viacheslav Chornovil: the spirit that tears the body to battle]. Kharkiv: Vivat. [in Ukrainian]

7. Derevinskyi, V. (2010). Zhurnal “Ukraunskyi visnyk” yak obiekt kryminalnogo provadzhenia KDB u 1971 1974 rr. [The journal “The Ukrainian Herald” as an Object of Criminal Proceedings by the KGB in 1971 1974]. Ukaina XX st.: kultura, ideologiia. Polityka Ukraine of the 20th century: culture, ideology, politics, 24, 407-417. [in Ukrainian]

8. Golovchuk, P. (2007). Stizhky [Trails]. Lypovliany. [in Ukrainian]

9. Gulyk-Gnatenko, S. (2005). Spogady pro Ninu i toi chas [Memories of Nina and that time]. In O.S. Riznikiv (Comps.), Donka Odesy: Nina Strokata v dokumentakh i spogadakh, (pp. 283-291). Odesa: Druk. [in Ukrainian]

10. Kasianov, G. (2019). Nezgodni: ukrainska intelegentsiia v rusi oporu 1960 80-h rokiv [Dissent: Ukrainian Intelligentsia in the Resistance Movement ofthe 1960s and 1980s]. Kyiv: Klio. [in Ukrainian] Kononenko, V. & Melnychuk, O. (2019). The Role of the Soviet Press in Cultural and Ideological Processes in the Ukrainian SSR (1945 1953). Skhidnoievropeiskyi istorychnyi visnyk East European Historical Bulletin, 11, 169-179.

11. Kosiv, M. (2006). Nemov nevgasymyi vulkan [Like an unquenchable volcano]. In Chornovil, V. Tvory [Writings], (vol. 3, pp. 27-57). Kyiv: Smoloskyp. [in Ukrainian]

12. Kotsur, V., Molotkina, V. & Gulerce, H (2021). The Newspaper Periodic's Distinctive Features Functioning in Ukraine in the 40-s of the XXth century. Skhidnoievropeiskyi istorychnyi visnyk East European Historical Bulletin, 19, 154-164.

13. Lys, S.V. (2008). Slovo poza tsenzuroia. Samvydav yak fenomen kultury I suspilno-politychnoi dymky 1960-h 1980-h rokiv (Zakhidna Ukraina) [The Word is out of Censorship. Self-published as a phenomenon of culture and socio-political thought of the 1960s 1980s (Western Ukraine)]. Lytsk: PVD “Tverdynia”. [in Ukrainian]

14. Obertas, O. (2010). Ukrainskyi samvydav: literaturna Krytyka tapublitsystyka (1960-ti -pochatok 1970-х rokiv) [Ukrainian Self-publisher: Literary Criticism and Journalism (1960s early 1970s)]. Kyiv: Smoloskyp. [in Ukrainian]

15. Paska, B. (2022а). Zakhody KDB pry Radi Ministriv URSR shchodo prypynenia protestnoi aktyvnostu ukrainskykh dysydentiv-politviiazniv u 1970-kh [Measures of the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR to stop the protest activity of Ukrainian dissident political prisoners in the 1970s]. Storinky istorii History Pages, 55, 224-239.

16. Paska, B. (2022b). Measures of the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR against the Editorial Board of the Revived Samizdat Magazine “The Ukrainian Herald” (the Mid Second Half of the 1970s). Skhidno-ievropeiskyi istorychnyi visnyk East European Historical Bulletin, 25, 200-212.

17. Prisovskyi, Ye. (1993). Pershyi ukrainskyi zhumal [The first Ukrainian Journal]. Kyivska starovyna Kyiv Antiquity, 4, 67-69. [in Ukrainian]

18. Rusnachenko, A.M. (1998). Natsionalno-vyzvolnyi rukh v Ukraini: seredyna 1950- pochatok 1990-h rokiv [National Liberation Movement in Ukraine: mid-1950s early 1990s]. Kyiv: Vydavnytstvo imeni Oleny Teligy. [in Ukrainian]

19. Shtuka, I. (2010). Iryna Kalynets: “Nevypadkova vidsutnist doskonalosti” [Iryna Kalynets: “The Lack of Perfection is no Accident”]. Slovo prosvity The Word of Enlightenment, 15 grudnia, 4. [in Ukrainian]

20. Soroka, M. (1997). Vyacheslav Chornovil [Viacheslav Chornovil]. Pamiat stolit The Memory of Centuries, 2, 32-36. [in Ukrainian]

21. Sverstiuk, Ye. (1997). Vin nikoly ne liakavsia y ne vidstupav [He was never Afraid and never Retreated]. Chas-Time, 18-24 grudnia, 5. [in Ukrainian]

22. Vikkha, V. (2002). Do istorii vydania “Ukrainskogo visnyka” [To the history of the “The Ukrainian Herald” Publication]. Vymir chasu Time measurement, (6), 2. [in Ukrainian]

23. Zaitsev, Yu.D. (Comp.). (2005). Ukraina zagalnonarodna organizatsiia (UNF-2). Doslidzenia, dokumenty, materialy [Ukrainian All-People's Organization (UNF-2). Research, documents, materials], (vol. 1). Lviv: Afisha. [in Ukrainian]

24. Zakharov, B. (2003). Narys istorii dysydentskogo rukhu v Ukraini (1956-1987) [Essay on the History of the Dissident Movement in Ukraine (1956-1987)]. Kharkiv: Folio. [in Ukrainian]

Размещено на Allbest.Ru