LETTER OF P. POLTAVA TO EMIGRE OUN OFFICIALS CONCERNING IDEOLOGICAL AND POLITICAL MATTERS

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• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83-00415R009200020002-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 29, 2001
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: December 17, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

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SECURITY INFORMATION
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY USSR. (Ukrainian SSR)
SUBJECT Letter of P. Poltava to imigre O UN Officials
Concerning Ideological and Fo c ;tie A ONS
FOR CRITICAL .:-
PLACE 25X1 A THIS REPORT IS Tit; t' '10 BE 'Ur'TF' R
ACQUIRE T. ANSb:11?I L 1sTiHIIti THE Lai=ii:D
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TLu S'Lij1LS1 VV LIROUT
DATE OF Ci? Tkir, UN1
INFO. 'i`I gpkESS FE11U SIGN OF THE
...'1!"'G ' 25X 1 X
Extraordinary Great Congress of the OUN of 194 and proving constantly
how right they are, the OUN in the Ukraine does not identify itself either
with any philosophical ideas or theories nor with idealistic or materialistic
eastern philosophical tendencies. A more detailed-explanation of such a
basically correct attitude is given in the article by 0, Hornovy, What Fhilosophy -
Materialistic or Idealistic - Is Binding; for the Members of the OUN,,
Here I would like to point out only .the main arguments supporting the
attitude described above:
a. In the first place, the OUN is a political organization which fights for
political. aims. Our supreme goal is to build up in the Ukraine an In-
dependent United Ukrainian State, Every Ukrainian patriot can fight for
an independent Ukraine without having to subscribe to this or that
philosophical theory. It would, therefore, be unwise to condition member-
shi1: in, the OLIN to those belonging to one or the other of the philosophical
systems and in this way limit the number of members and sympathizers. of
our organizations.
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1. I would like here to share with my friends some of my ideas about the current,
ideological, and future ruestions of our organization, These ideas do not
differ basically from the attitude. of the whole of the OUN in the Ukraine,
I am sending you my ideas because I think that no unity is possible between
the two parts of the organization without a wide exchange of views, nor any
real understanding or crystallization of ideological or political beliefs
which would be understood by, and acceptable to, all members of the OUN,
2, Holding fast to the resolutions of the NVZ OUN resum,-1..bly, the Third
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The Ideological nature of the Ukrainian nationalist revolutionary,
movement is such that it does not require a philosophical ?
theoretical justification, Such basic tenets of our ideology as
our belief in nation and a national state and our belief in man
as the main object of a national process are formed on the basis
f
o
an analysisof social or social-political phenomena and do
not require support or amplification in one or another branch of
philosophical science, which is interested primarily in such
questions as which camas first - spirit or matter, Neither
solution by philosophical science could have any Influence either
on our work for the nation and for our national state or even on
our belief in man as the main object of an historical process.
The dispute between idealistic and materialistic tendencies in
philosophy will remain one forever. It existed from the moment
of the establishment of philosophy as a science, it exists now,
and it will continue to exist in the future. Preponderance of
this or that tendency depends on arguments which, at the given
momentA, various ]-ranches of science may furnish. Each new scien-
tific discovery may strengthen one or the other of these tenden..
cies,; Apart-from all that. deduction of two tot-" o sad
4.
flt~
philosophical tendencies is based on two opposite types s
of human
beings: one half of humanity has always been ready to accept
metaphysical explanations, while the other half has been more
inclined to adopt a realistic, definite, and precise attitude.
d. To identify oneself with one or another philosophical system
would mean that any political movement entering into this fight
within philosophical science would either have to resign it.f
to constant changes in the principles of ideology or have to
make an immutable, immovable dogma-of it. Neither the one nor
the other would be advantageous In ,a political movement.
.e, It would be especially fati,Ie for us to identify our movement
with one or another philosophical tendency at present,- when, in
connection with the most recent monumental discoveries made by
science, philosophy as such is as yet unable to assimilate or
fully explain it,
f. Without identifying ourselves in aai' direction in the sphere of
theoretical philosophy, we are, nevertheless, today, as in the
past. definitely in support of practical idealism in subordinating
every individual interest to that of the whole community or cause
for which the Individual fights,
We are definitely in favor of the Individual being guided throughout
his life, not by his own selfish interests, but by idealistic aims..
we favor a heroic pattern of life, a qualitatively. high individual
as the most Important factor in human progress, as the deciding
factor for victory in this fight;. we regard life as a permanent battle
in which the victor is the one who is stronger than the others In
every respect. This is our philosophy of social, life _ if you can
call it a philosophy, which does not make us into followers of
.materialistic or idealistic philosophical tendencies. Our own poste.,
lates of.practical idealism are clearly postulates of a moral order
or code and, as such, cannot be identified with any particular
doctrine in theoretical philosophy. Having adopted this attribute
towards the problem of philosophy as a whole, we certainly do not
think it desirable to identify the OUlt with the Christian outlook
upon the world as it has been advocated by theZCh OUN (S met for
February4larch 1950*). As r see itv the main belief in the Christian
outlook is the idea that the world was created"by God, that God directs
the world, that there is life beyond the grave, that God rewards the
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good-and punishes the wicked, and all similar legends from the Bible
and the church catechism. All this has nothing in common with the
work of scientific cosmogony and disagrees with the teachings of
science. It seems that today there are very few political organi-
zations whici would be prepared to take up an officially Christian
outlook as their own with a duty. for all their members to subscribe
to it. _For the majority of educated people these legends are not
acceptable. A political organization which accepts them all as its
own outlook upon the world cannot be regarded by educated people
as serious.
5. In the case of the OUN there is one more important reason why I think
it should not proclaim the accepta:?oe of a Chris1an cosmogony as its
own., As a consequence of Bolshevik upbringing, a large part of the
Ukrainian nation in the eastern districts is either completely
atheistic or completely indifferent to all religious matters. And
we have to reckon with them. A Christian cosmogony in our ideo-
logical arsenal will only repulse these people and not attract them
to the organization. I emphasize that we should not take into
account the other element of those eastern Ukrainian communities
which, here and there, are still religiously inclined.
6. The OUN cannot identify itself with Christian ethics. 'Or rather, we
must put to ourselves the following question: which Christian ethics
should we adopt as our own? Those which the, Christian church has
applied in practice throughout her history, or those ideals exposed
in the writings of the church fathers or summed up in the church
*commandments*? In the first ease, the ethics were those of the
Inquisition, the ethics of the Jesuits, the ethics of the Papal
Court in the days of the Renaissance, and the ethics of more or less
rapacious clergy. To accept these ethics and inscribe them on our
banners does not mean that-we have adopted morality of a very high
quality. If we accept the other kind of Christian ethide - the
idealistic kind - it would mean rejecting the morality of our
Rgcalovue and all other documents of our moral code which was
formed on the battle field against oppression and. which formed the
necessary corrective to'this idealistic Christian morality, Is
that in the interest of our revolutionary fight, our revolutionary
movement? Has not the Decd proved to be right? Can the mem..
bars of the liberation.-revolutionary organization of the enslaved
nation be quelled in their fight by the ideals of universal forgive-
ness and love,etc., without which no Christian ethics could be con,-
aidered? And what about the principal idealistic and ethical
slogan of Sian nationalisms. 'The Good of the Ukrainian Nation
Our Supreme Command"? Is it necessary to pull down the Ukrainian
nation from the pinnacle on which we have placed it? I do not
think so. Of course, if we accept Christian ethics as ours we
shall have to do so if we want to be Christians in practice and not
only in theory.
The OUN in the Ukraine considers religion to',e.the private concern
of its members and of all Ukrainians and supports 'freedom of religion
and outlook" (Program
Recolntions of the Thin NVZ OUN
P
i
t
.
,
o
n
i.0,
letter *aw) and, according to these resolutions, supports the separa.
tion of the Church from the State*. It is with great astonishment
that we read in the official paper of 'the ZCh OUN (S No. 18.,19)
that "anti -national and anti-nationalistic fronts in the emigration,
beginning with Socialists of all sectors and vadUW with the Yek
group9 camouflage their destructive work of national outlook and
morality'by slogans of militant atheism and materialism, that
60 religion is the private concern of the human conscience", and that
the"Church should be separated from the State as a-private association
of believers*. Does not the author of this article know that
organization the OUN, the resolutions of the Third NVZ rl'~ctra,, .
ordinary d~ea Congress and also in the. resolutions of the Second
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General Congress) adopted the attitude whirl, he now condemns? Does
he not know. that the ZCh OUN has officially accepted the resolutions
of the Third fNZ? How can the outside public understand and judge
such declarations of the official publication of the ZCh OUN? Every-
one who wishes it could point to the resolution of the Third NVZ
and prove that our organisation has-also joined this "anti-national
and anti-nationalistic front%'
8. To nv mind.. the following arguments strongly support the belief
that religion should be the private concern of the individual and
that the Church should be separated from the State:
a. As we propagate the idea of political freedom, we should adopt
the attitude of religious freedom as well.
b, No Ukrainian political party or Ukrainian government should
identify itself with any of the existing churches in the Ukraine,
because these are quite numerous and to identify ourselves, with
.any of tl-em would rouse all the others against us. If the, State,
tried to support all churches in equal measure, it would become
the object of attack by certain 'confessional groups, which. aoul..
suspect and accuse the State of favoritism towards one particular
church,
C. In some respects. we regard the Church as socially beneficial, but
not as socially indispensable and the State should, in the first
place,.support institutions which are socially indispensable.. This
solution is based on the experience of many nations and parties
and we should, in this case, take advantage of such experience,
d. It is thus.that the great majority of the constitutions of the
world resolve this question. It should be pointed out that this
solution Is based on the experience of many nations and political
parties. In this case we should benefit from this experience,
e. Such a solution could also bring about a healthier atmosphere
within the Church. If today we are conscious of a certain de-
cadence in the Church and also in religion, this is the result,-to some
extent, of the support received from the State by the Church and
through which the Church often loses. the sense of her higher
mission and becomes merely an institution with worldly ambitions
and aims, providing comfortable jobs for the clergy and an addl.
tioiial source of power in the State with all the negative conse-
quences. We can only purify the Church and help her to return
to her proper character by allowing her to rely on her own strength.
9. The OUN still formulates her supreme idea and the aim of bar struggle
in these wordsa an Independent United Ukrainian State J-847. But
today we realise that such formulation of our principal and supreme
political aims is not sufficient. To give an example: It is obvious
to the eastern Ukrainians that we nationalists fight for independence
and union. They expected something more; they would like to know for
what kind of an independent and united Ukraine we struggle, with what
political and social-economic system, and what kind of state government.
For these people our formula "an Independent United Ukrainian Statep
is quite obvious and does not explain much.
10. As is known, this formula came into being in particular circumstances,
After we lost the election struggle and fought against the Socialist,
parties in the years 1917 - 1920, who placed the question of social
system in the State above the problem of Independence, we found it
necessary to formulate our supreme ideas and alms concerning independence,
This was necessary mainly from the point of view of national education
and instruction. We wished to spread understanding and the desire for
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Independence among the wide masses of the nation, But a political
organization cannot be limited to a formula couched in such general
terms. A political organization fighting for that Independence must
declare quite clearly for what type of State it is fighting - for a
democratic republics for a totalitarian type of State, or perhaps
for one or another system of monarchy.
11. A clear attitude to this question does not mean that a political or...
ganization would elevate'the problem of internal State constitutions
above the independence of the Ukraine. To.all nationally conscious
people, the question of the independence of their country is a
primary concern - above everything else. All this means thatO having
in the first place understood her state-independent character, as it
was necessary to do in those days in circumstances peculiar to the
Ukrainian soil, an organization should clearly define the kind of
political constitution which it envisaged for the Ukrainian state
and this idea of internal constitution should have been propagated
together with the idea of independence and union? We have to admit
that up to now this has not been done and it is one of the weaknesses
in our program. This empty space must be adequately filled, The
formula of USSD in the greater part of the Ukraine has fulfilled its
educational purpose and our nolitically ripe organization should now
proceed to amplify it, It should be mentioned thatyin the Soviet
Ukraine, instead of sayings "We stand for USSD", it would be more
useful to say: "We stand for the separation of the Ukraine from the
1R5SR". There the complex of "union" with the USSR (because that is
what is meant by the so-called all-union complex) is so strong that
the need for separation must be emphasised over and over again. The
word "independent" or "independence", if it does not directly and
clearly emphasise the need for separation from the USSRcompletely
loses its effect@
.12. Today we deplore the idea of the USSD as merely a Ukrainian, independent,
united,democratic republic. Today we cannot be indifferent to the
future fob of the Ukrainian state, We have our own point of view as to
what it should be in order to secure the best possible conditions for the
Ukrainian nation for general progress, We are definitely oonosed to a
totalitarian, dictatorial system of government and also to every form
of monarchy as a decaying institution. The actions of the world today
do not place monarchs on the throne - they kick them out. Of all the
State--constituted forms which humanity has created, we accept that of
the democratic republic, which, although it has a number of negative
points, is the best and most sensible from the noint of view of national
interests as a whole, much more so than a totalitarian dictatorship or &
monarchy.
13. In our struggle we always like to refer to the traditions of the struggle
for liberation and the building of the State. I think the best we cah.do
is to accept the name for the Ukrainian state which was accented by the
Ukrainian nation in the years 1918 . 1920, namely the Ukrainian People
Republic (UNR). This name, on the whole, is in'accordance with the
character which we would like to give our State ..a character of State
goverment by the people, I do not think that this interpretation wouldB
in any way, be contradictory to the idea expressed in the USSD; on the
contrary, it merely defines it more exactly and clearly,
2l+.,, It Ia, therefore, comprehensible that I myself and other friends do not
agree with the accusation** to the effect that the ZP UHVR, in the
declaration concerning the UNR, "has abandoned the principle of the USSD
and has replaced it by a State constitutional conception of the UNR".
We also do not agree with the ideas of Surina (number mentioned above)
that, as our main object is to destroy the reign of an eternal enemy,
such "important matters as decisions concerning the form of internal sys.
tem of the State are at present pointless"; also ",,...,members and
fellow-travellers of revolutionary nationalism are trying to substitute
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the supreme political aim of tre Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists
the State - by the *Ukrainian PeoplesaRepublic", which was a symbol of
class struggle within the Ukrainian nation in 1920 - a symbol of national
treachery in these. years ....etc.* We do not agree because we read. in a
declaration of the ZP UHVRs *At this time when we want to clarify the
position of the UHPRamong others, the attitude towards State constitution,
even'now the ZP M1VR tries to throw some light on'the interpretation of
State constitutional conception of the UBVR,,,...,and declares that the
real meaning of the ideas behind the Independent United Ukrainian State is
best expressed in the name of- the Ukrainian People's Republie...,,.?."
15. Accepting the Interpretation of the USSD as a democratic Ukrainian
Peopleis Republic, the ZP UHVR does not identity these traditions or ideas
with the contemporary UNR in exile in its historical and conte norary
composition...,etc, To my mind, this statement is clearly concerned with
the State-controlled constitution of the future Ukrainian state and not
with the policy of the UNR office in the sphere of party politics, social
eeconomy, or military forces, and its attitude towards, Russians, all of
which could not be accepted without reserve. I emphasize that our con..
ception of a democratic republic rests on people; it is not a conception
of an aristocratic democratic republic (if such a thing were possible).
It is in that direction that we try to define the idea of the USSD at
home. And as such an idea inspired the creators of the UNR in the years
1917 - 1920, we, who consider ourselves direct heirs to the lengthy
revolutionary struggle of 1917 - 1920, should, return to this name. It
does not mean that we exalt the traditions of the UNR of 1917 - 1920
or that we wish to continue them entirely with all their mistakes and
anti.-State moves; We only accept what is positive and healthy in theme
and this to the idea of the Ukrainian Democratic Peopled Republic where
all Ukrainians are masters; we reject all that was negative, unhealthy,
anti-national, and anti-State.
16. The OUN in the Ukraine approves democracy in the State constitution of
the future independent Ukraine.
IT, While we approve democracy, we must emphasize that we do not put it on
the pedestal of a political fetish; we do not make a God out of it. We
are conscious of all its negative sides, those which were manifested in
our own history and those which we now observe in the contemporary his.
tory of some nations. We accept this idea of democracy because the e1Cr?
patience of the past and especially of the past decade has shown that,
in spite of its weaknesses, democracy, not only in theory, but also in
practice, has proved to be the beat system of State government and the
least evil form of government. On the one hand we definitely reject the
type of democracy which exists today in Prance or Italy, is., anarchic
democracy, and on the other hand we reject the type of Bolshevik
*peoples" or "Soviets democracy, which only covers up the reality of a
terroristic totalitarian dictatorial regime. Generally speaking, our
democracy should, on the one hand, secure free expression of all serious
political tendencies in the nation, and should give them the possibility
of organizing activities and influencing the policies of the State; on
the other hand our democracy must not allow a free development of anti-
national forces. This democracy must also provide an energetic govern..
went and-administration. The State government should be the instrument
of the will of the nation. It does not mean that it should beocme a
plaything in the hands of party politicians, of political parties or
that it should entirely depend on continously changing whims and com-
binations of these parties. This should not happen. To secure.a free
expression of the will of the nation and to. secure stability, energy, and
the strength of the State government - these are the two equally import..
tant aims to the realisation of which our democracy should devote her
strength. The main task of the authors of the future constitution in the
Ukrainian state will be to reconcile these two principles.
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3.8. Further detailed ideas on this matter were published in an article of a
controversial character under the heading: "Type of Organised Democracy
in the Future: Independent Ukrainian State", published here in 1949.
19. Regarding'the question of ownership of means of production, our views
are identical with those of the Third fttraordinary Great Congress of.
the OCN. The only change made was in allowing the ownership of sarmll
farms. We have made this change for political reasons. We consider'
that, In view of the asisting universal hatred of the Bolshevik kolkhos
system, only such a solution can mobilise the Ukrainian peasants for er
fight for an independent Ukraine and also. prevent our political ad.
versaries from accusing us before the peasants of being against private
ownership of land by them and that our program only' talks.about'land
exploitation and that we a" against the interests of the peasants.
To a lesser degree in this-case we also considered the arguments from
the social-economic aspect.
20. Ay do we advocate national State ownership or communal cooperative
ownership of the principal means of production? Speaking. of "principal
means of production", we mean that, in accordance with the program of
the.Third Congress,,uhich also-represents our present attitude,. national
and State ownership should definitely predominate over private ownership.
This question was extensively dealt with in our various articles..mbleh
were also known abroad. A3. arguments taken from other economic theories
are also generally known, i.e.$,Socialist conceptions, and we shall not
reneat them here, They are either similar to or even identical with' our
own conceptions,.
21. We admit private ownership in crafts, retail trade, and land ownership
in small farms. It would also be possible to admit ownership in light
industry; up to now mention had been made about this in our program.
The social, national and State, or ca munal.-cooperative area of national
eeoflcn should. definitely predominate over the area,of private ownership.
Only under such conditions -can the social-natioimal character of planned
economy be preserved. Without this safeguard the'capitalist system of
economy would soon predominate with all the negative social and economic
consequences'. The attitude displayed by some of our friends in the'
ZCh OUN, which found expression in the above-mentioned article of
.?M= and other hints in various letters and documents,, we consider to
be erroneous. The author of the above-mentioned article in Burma,
simply exnresses.his support of capitalism when he writes: ..Qthe basic
principle of the social-economic order. and relations in the State should
be the personal and individual social-economic integrity of each person on
the basis of ownership of means of.production and production as such,..
etc". This is an open propagation of capitalism,of which the OUN has so
far been innocent, We admit that Socialised economy has some negative
factors. The State is being handed over a new powerful instrument of
pressure on the co?unity but, because of the economic interest of people
in State activities in the really democratic nations in which the State
economic policy is controlled by the nation,, in such conditions the
-danger of. the governmentsmisusirig its power for the economic 'exploitation
of'the community or trying to exercise undue economic pressure is non-
existents Also, by using the right policy, it would be. possible to create
economic interest among those whoare.engaged production and so. create
a stimulus which would next Nord is illegible the country'a economy.
I? one were. to strike a balance bgtweon the social state system and the
capitalist system, taking into consideration all social and economic
positive and negative elements, the credit will always remain on the side
of the social state system. Anar * in production, the sharpening of
economic differences between the rich and poor, exploitation by one
individual of another, unemplo~+aent? 'and .a chronic state of crisis ?? all
these are inherent to capitalism and militate against it,
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22. I do not admit as justifiable the attacks made by bontsov*** against the
publications at.home in which he denies the necessity for considering the
existing economic situation in the Ukraine on the grounds that this was
created by the enemy occupying power. Such an attitude may be in agree.
ment with the classic theory of revolution, but it does not correripond to
the true state of affairs or to the real interest of the Ukrainian libera.
tion movement. For what reason and on what grounds should the Ukrainian
government begin to distribute metallurgical, chemical, mechanical, buM&
ing, and other works and factories in the Ukraine which,, since they were
taken from the foreign capitalists nearly 30 years ago, have b&m under
public ownership? Why should they be handed over to private ownership'
Is it because we must reintroduce capitalism with all its negative factors
into the Ukraine? A similar situation exists with regard to au ler
enterprises. It would not be difficult to imagine the storm I,) the
community if the government started to distribute all these p&lio goods
among private individuals, I consider that we have to reckon seriously
with the economic state of affairs created by the thirty years of Bolshevik
regime, although in marq respects this. regime is hateful to us,,
23. The society which we are actively engaged in building up and which is based
economically on national, State, and ec mnnal cooperative ownerahip of the
means of production and politically on democracy in the State tonstitutiom
is. a classless one. We consider classless a society in which there is no
divijsion ' of exploiting and exploited,,. or ' small groans of rich ar d a large
as of poor people. where one man will not exploit another as is the case
in capitalist society, nor groups of politically and economicaally, privileged
people who are beyond the control of the nation-msagnates who politically
and economically exploit the masses, as is happening at presmit in Bolsheviks
society?
240 The word "class" has various meanings, among others, a difference in final.
eial status of various groups of society, a difference in pc:.itical or
economic spheres of various groups, etc. Recently the word 'class" has
been used mostly in the negative sense to denote the privileged or oppressed
groups. We have recently. learned to associate this word "cllass" with all.
those social irregularities and social injustices which exdst in a capitalist
society, When we describe our society as classless, we arm emphasising our
desire 'to build up a social order in which there will be 'n{, classes in the
negative sense of the word. There will be no division vita exploiters and
exploited, wLth rich and poor. Everyone should ttnderstane that we obviously
do not mean to abolish classes in the sense of dr:scribing an occupation,
profession, or trade as, for instance, farmers and labor'rs. Such divisions
are - a natural outcome.of a division of labor among the vaoole and we do not
intend to liquidate them in our classless society, as th!.s would be absurd.
Such a division will be purely one of different production groans, division
of people of the same financial standing. with equal rights and equal economic
and political standing, but not a division of people according to their
property or economic position. Such a division will not be contrary to the
idea of social and economic equality of the citi:meas of the state which is
the principal idea. of the Ukrainian national moveiment,. Such a division does
not lead to class struggle9 on the contrary, by destroying financial
differences between individuals in society, it e,:clucdes the noossibi'!ity of
class warfare and is the only real supposition of unity and solida'ity within
the nation,
25. While striving after social equality and Justice in the Ukraine, ve are, at
the same time aware that the ideal of absolute social equality and justice
cannot be realised because the material ine~qualit'.among human beings cannot
be remedied. People are different .. they are more or less talented, more or
less practical, etc. It will also be"necessary in social econorjy to rstimclate,
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In various ways, economic interest of labor in production (inducement to
output, prerniuIna, and bonuses)., This will also create certain inequalities,
It is, therefore, Utopian to think of a classless society as a state of
absolute equality. This will, however, be a society-in which no group of
speculators may exist, no group of social parasites tolerated, a society
which will be snared the-most glaring inequalities which are today character
istic of the capitalist or Soviet society. It may be that scare elements
abroad are afraid that. the principle of social ownership of the means of
production will bring about a new enslavement of the people by the State
and to governmental tyranny, in short, to all those phenomena which we
observe in the Soviet system.
26, First of all, a.guarantee against the enslavement of people by the State,
against tyrant y of the government over the nation, should'be found in a
democratic constitution. When the nation, through parliament, will exercise
its. influence on all State policy, including the economic policy, when the
nation controls the administration and exercises its influence on the
,drawing u, of national.-economic plans, when the administration itself will
be changed periodically, then it would be impossible for the government to
tyrannize the nation, to enslave the people by the State, all of which
would be very dangerous for the nation.
27, Secondly, we have to resign ourselves to'the thought that today order and
harmony in society are only possible if the social life 16 organized and
guided by institutions armed with special powers. We all agree that such
institutions in the national framework should form their own states and
state ?governents., 'This guiding and organizing of social life by the. State
leads to certain limits being imposed upon the liberties and rights. of the
Individual, and the individual today must agree to such limitation of his.
,rights. I think that humanity today is faced with the dilemma of people
either resigning themselves to a lose-of certain of their existing rights
and allowing'the State to organize the whole of the fabric of society in
the Interest of society, or of insisting on all their rights, in which
ease the State will not be able to exercise sufficient control over the
social life which will develop in a haphazard way and the whole of social
activity will develop into a "free for a11" fight. The rights of the
individual. will be safeguarded but the whole nation.will perish and with
the nation the individual too with all his rights, Let the English liberals
fight for the unlimited rights of the individual,. there is no known remedy
for a second childhood in old age. Perhaps the columns of the Soviet Army
marching through London will bring them to their senses. But it will be too
late.. We'should already today take the attitude-that it is essential to
limit some of the prerogatives of the individual in the name of a healthy
national community, In the name of the healthy development of the Ukrainian
nation. This should follow as a natural consequence of our national ideology.
28, I consider that a revolution is not an absolute negation of a system against
which it has revolted, nor an expression of opposition to old forms and the
propagation of something new, wrioh has not previously existed;. I consider
revolution to mean a synthesis of experience gained through a'healthy develop..
:went into a new whole, in-which the various, frequently opposing elements
are blended together into one system, often revolution gives old forms an
entirely now meaning. It is not the form that counts but the sense, the
content. And If the form is good and the contents reactionary, why reject
the `form together with the content? In doing so the revolution becomes too
theoretical, too dogmatic,. and not practical enough. There are many cases
in history, of revolution having had to march in a different direction.
29,, If we look upon revolution from a similar point of view, it becomes clear
that some of our friends have drawn wrong conclusions from the methods
employed by our own revolution in the Ukraine,.
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30. The letter of the leader S. Biylich, for instance,' mentions that "it is
wrong to attack. only the factual and to agree with the ideas." It is
necessary to attack the whole system, the ideology and the practice.
310, From the practical point of view this is what it looks like. The
Bolsheviks in their propaganda speak of national liberty, independence of all
nations, the sovereignty of all national states, the abolishment of ex-4
ploitation by one man of another, of the cultural and prosperous life
of the great national masses, of the liquidation of differences between
town and country, between physical and mental work, etc.
32. Can we say that these ideas as ideas are wrong? Can we say that they are
anti national and reactionary? I am sure that every working man will
agree that these ideas are right and'sane.. And so do the masses of the
population under the Soviets. If that is so, then we must not attack
these ideas or we shall find ourselves opposing the national masses as
reactionaries hostile to progress. This does not mean that we should not
attack the Bolsheviks who only formally propagate these ideas. They
only talk about them but do not practice them; they use these good ideas
as a cover to camouflage their radically anti-national policy. That is
where we must attack them?and in doing so we attack the Bolshevik practice
and not the ideas. Experience proves to us that, so far, we are on the
right road? otherwise we should not have a proper ideological basis for
fighting the Bolsheviks.
33.. It is quite a different thing when we meet with Bolshevik ideological
theories which are wrong, as for instance, Stalin's theory of the. possibility
of building Communism in the country or the theory of the: superiority
of the Russian nation, etc, In such cases we attack the theory as well,
340 I do not consider that "such an attitude is equivalent to capitulation
or weakness," There are no feelings of capitulation, no ideological.
vacillations or weaknesses amongst our cadres,' On the contrary I must
affirm here with all authority that our cadres live in a state of such
ideological exaltation, In a state. of such consciousness of their
ideological value and strengths of:' Mull consciousness of their ideological
superiority over the enemyyg, as never before in the history or the
organization.
35 I do not altogether agree with the statement that only a "categorical,
total, and radical negation of the enemy, of his ftaitht ideology, the
whole of his teaching, his theory (as I understand it - it would be
necessary to reject all the ideas propagated by the enemy), and his-
practice will give our revolution a strong,
ideological basis and will attract the masses by the strength of its
faith; it will convince and inspire." I repeat: the negation of the
enemy need not be absolute in the sense that it is necessary to reject
even the good ideas which the enemy is applying by false methods.
Furthermore, this negation need not be extended to certain forms created
by the enemy if they are not anti-national in themselves. For instance,,
we reject-Bo.lshevism but we must acknowledge as right the idea that ex-
ploitation of one man by another should be abolished; or again, In re-
jecting Bolsheviks, we cannot attack the wides/read school net in the
USSR, since the secondary schools in villages, in themselves, are not
anti national. We can only attack the very special use to which the
Bolsheviks subject their school system. We also cannot reject the
Bolshevik system of health centers in the villages or free medicines,
we could not entirely reject them and yet you could not maintain that
such an attitude would not influence the mass of the people or would not
"convince them or inspire them."
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.36; In these lettersia view was expressed that we should avoid in oUr propaganda
literature the use of.-Bolshevik terminology, such as nationalization of
tha means and reserves of production, classless society, etc. 1 consider
that in most cases it is impossible todo so. To oppose the enemy even
in the sphere of lexicology is simply beyond our power'. How would one
change and find a substitute for such Ukrainian expressions as "Znaryaddia"
Lot translatabl7, "Zasovy" Lmeans, of production, and'Mir-obnit" CaanufacturinJ,
.a Ukrainian word for production and private property.?or communal property
(State-national or cooperative), which the Ukrainian lexicologists expressed
by a word "Uauspilnennya" focialization7o And as we Ukrainians-from Galicia
have to learn the Ukrainian language from. the eastern. Ukrainians also; why
should we look for other expressions of the same idea? and how to express
this idea in a different way?. We have to make use of-such lexicons as are.
already in existence and not worry about creating a now terminology. Apart
from this, we write and compose our publications with a.view to.reaching the
Eastern Ukrainian public brought up in the Soviet school in the Eastern
Ukraine, orrif you prefer it, Bolshevik terminology., and we have to write in
such a way as to be understood, by theca.
37.- I do not consider right the point.of view expressed by Ivanov (unidentified
pseudony7 in one of his articles in which he states that our organization
up to 1941 was "no more than a camp of active battle against the occupying
powers," that the organization was "not a political party in the right sense
of the word, but rather an all-embracing resistance movement.,etc," Our
organization, from the moment of its inception, had clear political aims and
was always a political organization; it had its weak spots as a political
body but that is a different matter and it does not deny the political character
of the organization. I consider it wrong to talk of our organization as
merely "a camp of active battle" and to deny it any political character
before 1941,,
396 .1 also consider wrong the-statement made by M. Prokop Zaitmember of the ZP URV 7
in the. article Ideo o ical and Pro ram Questions of'the Ukrainian Independence
hPAIM as , to the effect that, up to the year 19 e t e r3r ' o properly value the :role of the masses engaged in the struggle. The cult of heroes,
in the OUN, the emphasis on quality in selecting the cadres, and the endeavor
to develop-high-quality characters' have nothing in comiion with the conception
of the Russian popular idea of "heroes" and "mob," The OUN rightly understands.
the value and meaning of advance-guard in the revolutionary liberation fight.
The masses will rise in the struggle if they are led by carefully trained and
organized advance->guards. The liberation movement will be victorious if. the
revolutionary advance-guards are followed by the national masses,, Such are
the mechanics of the liberating revolution, and the OUN has full?' understood
this,,
390, D. Kamyaneteki an unidentified pseudony7 in his letter said a few bitter
words about the low political ideas of the cadres in the Ukraine. He said
the same about our publications and used the proverb "not good in writing, not
good in the head" (this was addressed to the authors of the publications at
home).
40. It Is.not for us to correct these charges. ? We hallo accepted them. But, as we
are critical of ourselves, so we have the right to criticize others. In my
opinion the proverb 90no good in writing, no good in the head" is true, not
with regard to certain people only, but it is generally true and concerns
friend Kamyanetski.also:t It is true that I only know friend Kamyanetski
from his letter. but even so.this proverb may be extended to this letter.....
4l0 With this I wish to end. I am aware that in the whole of this letter I have
not said:anything new, have often repeated what has been stated long ago
or what was mentioned in other documents enclosed in this mail. t,ae.with
letters from 'our friend abroad, although written on the same subjects, yet
always br.inging'something. new, I also hope it will be.possible to find some-
thing new between these lines and to share some peaceful thoughts of which wee
are in such great need.. That is why I have decided to burden our mail by
these additional, sheets of paper.
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loo I send you revolutionary greetings and'wishes for best success in the
work for the good of the cause which is-so dear to us.
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Glory to the Ukraine's
August 1950 P. boltava
Comments:
*~ is one of the emigre publications of the ZCh OUN under Bandera.
**Contained In a letter from S. Biylich,, a pnsudonym of Stefan Bandera.
***Dymytro Dontsov? presently in Canada,, was one of the ideologists of
nationalism and revolution whose theories were popular among the OUN
members in Galicia up to 1943. Dontsov?s brand of nationalism resembled
German nationalism and therefore fell into disfavor along with the Germans.
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