ACTION OF “REVINDICATION OF SOULS” IN VOLYN IN THE SECOND HALF OF 1930S”

Abstract

For Ukrainians, religion was not only a means of national identity, but also the subject of Poland’s repressive policy against Orthodoxy. Such a policy, suffered by Ukrainians in the second half of the 1930s, was the action of “revindication of souls”, which manifested itself as a result of the conversion of Orthodox members to the Latin order. The “revindication of souls” campaign was initiated by the government. Despite the protests, even in government circles, the vindication plans were purposefully implemented. That is why this policy and methods of its implementation had especially severe consequences for the Orthodox people of Volyn. The aim of the study is to analyze the policy of the Polish government aimed at implementing the action “revindication of souls” of Orthodox Ukrainians. The methodological basis of the study is the principles of objectivity, historicism and ideological pluralism in covering the phenomena of the past. The applied methods of systematization, comparative analysis, periodization, classification are based on the priority of documentary facts. Together, these methods have become an important mechanism for revealing the goal and made it possible to identify features of church-religious processes in Volhynia, analyze internal and external factors of these processes, trace their dynamics in the context of state-church relations in interwar Poland. The scientific novelty of the work is that on the basis of elaboration of systematization and generalization of archival and published documents, statistical sources the important scientific problem “Action of “revindication of souls” in Volyn in the second half of 1930s” is comprehensively investigated. Сhurch in Volhynia, but also shows the relationships and interactions of various factors in church and religious processes in Poland in general, and in Volhynia in particular. The paper emphasizes the constant desire of Volyn Ukrainians to restore and preserve the cathedral and national traditions in Orthodoxy, as well as the importance of the church-religious aspect for the realization and preservation of their own religious and national identity. Finding and using a number of little-known and unknown source materials, as well as taking into account the achievements of domestic and foreign special literature, made it possible to cover this topic holistically. Conclusions. Orthodoxy in interwar Poland was constantly assimilated. This was most evident in the implementation of a campaign in favor of Catholicism, which was directed directly against the Orthodox population. The conversion to Catholicism was accompanied by enticement, various persecutions of the Orthodox, threats, repression, and even promises and encouragement. In Volyn, there was not a single case where the population voluntarily declared their transfer to the RCC. The reluctance to convert provoked a reaction from the revindicators, who corrected the situation not by preaching but by deception and open repression against the Orthodox. Despite constant assimilation attempts by both the government and the RCC, the Ukrainian Orthodox community has not been an easy achievement. Neither Polonization nor attempts at Catholicization could stop national processes in Ukrainian society and eliminate the need for its ethnic and religious self-identification. The more active the attack on Orthodoxy, the stronger the resistance against Ukrainians. Therefore, it can be argued that the Orthodox Church in the Polish state has become a powerful unifying and consolidating factor for the Ukrainian community.