Volodymyr Kubiyovych
Encyclopedia
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
- 2 November 1985, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) was a Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
geographer with a specialty in demography, a cartographer, an encyclopedist, politician, and statesman. Of mixed Ukrainian
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
and Polish
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
family background, he was an important intellectual supporting the Ukrainian national movement in inter-war Poland
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
, and his scholarly works from this period dealt with the Ukrainian ethnic presence in Poland, Czechoslovakia
First Republic of Czechoslovakia
-Independence:The Czechoslovak declaration of independence was published by the Czechoslovak National Council, signed by Masaryk, Štefánik and Beneš on October 18, 1918 in Paris, and proclaimed on October 28 in Prague...
, and Romania
Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania was the Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania...
, and with the geographical boundaries of ethnographic Ukraine.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he headed the Cracow-based Ukrainian Central Committee which organized social and charitable work among Ukrainians in occupied Poland. Kubiyovych became a main proponent of the cooperation between certain Ukrainian Nationalist organizations and Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
with the ultimate goal of achieving an independent Ukrainian national state. After the war, he retired from political work but became one of the leading scholars of the Ukrainian diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
in the West. After 1945, and throughout the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, Kubiyovych remained a target of vicious attacks by the Soviet propaganda, focusing on some of his wartime activities, in particular his sponsoring of the Ukrainian division of Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
.
Early life
From 1918, Kubiyovych was educated at the Jagiellonian UniversityJagiellonian University
The Jagiellonian University was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kazimierz . It is the oldest university in Poland, the second oldest university in Central Europe and one of the oldest universities in the world....
in Cracow. After the collapse of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, he served in the ranks of the Ukrainian Galician Army
Ukrainian Galician Army
Ukrainian Galician Army , was the Ukrainian military of the West Ukrainian National Republic during and after the Polish-Ukrainian War. -Military equipment:...
which unsuccessfully fought the Poles for control of the eastern part of the former Austrian province of Galicia. At the end of the Ukrainian-Polish war, he returned to his studies in geography at the Jagiellonian University. During the years 1928 to 1939, Kubiyovych taught at this institution as a lecturer (docent
Docent
Docent is a title at some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks below professor . Docent is also used at some universities generically for a person who has the right to teach...
) but in 1939, was denied further tenure under political pressure from the Polish Ministry of War. In 1940, he was appointed professor of the Ukrainian Free University
Ukrainian Free University
The Ukrainian Free University is a private graduate university located in Munich, Germany.-History:The Ukrainian Free University was established in Vienna, January 17, 1921. The idea to organize a Ukrainian university-in-exile came from Ukrainian academics, some of whom had held chairs at...
in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
which managed to preserve a precarious existence in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
. From 1931, Kubiyovych had been a full member of the Galician-based Shevchenko Scientific Society
Shevchenko Scientific Society
The Shevchenko Scientific Society is a Ukrainian scientific society devoted to the promotion of scholarly research and publication. Unlike the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine the society is a public organization that was reestablished in Ukraine in 1989 after almost 50 years of exile...
, which had with some difficulty carried on its scholarly work under Polish rule; Kubiyovych headed its geography commission.
Before 1939, Kubiyovych's scholarly works concentrated on the geography and demography of the Carpathian Mountains
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
, especially the eastern Beskids, populated largely by the Ukrainian-speaking minority. At this time, he questioned official Polish statistics concerning the ethnic make-up of the inter-war Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
and maintained that the official numbers on Ukrainians were grossly understated. He was an editor and co-author of the pioneering Ukrainian-language Atlas of Ukraine and Adjacent Lands (1937) and the equally pioneering Ukrainian-language Geography of Ukraine and Neighbouring Lands (1938, 1943).
Second World War
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he headed the Ukrainian Central Committee (UCC) in Cracow which was the officially recognized Ukrainian community and quasi-political organization under the Nazi occupation. It was responsible for social services, veteran affairs, education, youth and economic activities. For example, after a flood and famine in Transcarpathia, the Committee was able to save and resettle 30,000 children. By late 1943 it operated 1,366 kitchens and was able to feed 100,000 people. When the Germans began to kill Ukrainian peasants in the Zamosc region for alleged resistance, Kubiyovych's protest to Hans Frank was able to halt that slaughter. The Committee was also able to build studnt residences housing 7,000 students, provided scholarships worth 1.35 million zlotys, and organized over 100 youth groups, camps and sports clubs.
After the Soviet-Nazi alliance ended in June 1941, Kubiyovych worked with the Germans in the creation of the "Galicia Division", 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Galicia (1st Ukrainian) and took a leading role in its organization. The division was organized after the battle of Stalingrad as part of the German program of creating foreign formations of the Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
to fight on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and was to be commanded by German officers. These foreign units were formed mainly with volunteers recruited from nations that suffered enormously under the Soviet rule: Estonians, Latvians, Ukrainians, but also ethnic Russians (e.g. ROA
ROA
ROA can refer to:*Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, in the United Kingdom*Removable Orthodontic Appliance, a type of tooth-straightening device* The IATA code for Roanoke Regional Airport in Roanoke, Virginia, USA.*Return On Assets, a financial metric...
). The proponent and formal organizer of the division was SS Brigadeführer Otto Wächter
Otto Wächter
The Baron Otto Gustav von Wächter , was an Austrian lawyer and later German SS officer and National Socialist official...
, the Nazi governor of the newly created Galicia District and former governor of Cracow. The proposal was made to Himmler on March 1, 1943 and the division was publicly inaugurated on 28 April. With the examples before him of the Polish and Ukrainian legions formed in Austria-Hungary during the First World War, Kubiyovych was hoping to influence its essence and structure as the core of a future national army which would defend the interests of the Ukrainian people after the defeat of Germany and the chaos that was expected to ensue. However, the Germans would not allow the use of the name "Ukrainian" in the division's name and the end of the Second World War turned out to be quite different from the end of the first.
During the war, on more than one occasion Kubiyovych protested to the German authorities against the rough treatment of the local Ukrainian population. Some of this material was later brought up as evidence at the famous Nuremberg Trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
of Nazi war criminals.
Some Ukrainian sources claim that during the war Kubiyovych used his official position to ameliorate Ukrainian-Polish tensions in Galicia and in 1944 called for a halt to the fierce armed underground conflict between the two sides. These sources also credit him with saving some three hundred people, "basically Jews", from persecution by the Nazi authorities.
Emigration
In 1944, Kubiyovych, moved to Germany where he at first settled in the American occupation zone in West GermanyWest Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, and then later moved to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. In Germany, he reorganized the Shevchenko Scientific Society
Shevchenko Scientific Society
The Shevchenko Scientific Society is a Ukrainian scientific society devoted to the promotion of scholarly research and publication. Unlike the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine the society is a public organization that was reestablished in Ukraine in 1989 after almost 50 years of exile...
as an émigré
Émigré
Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out", but often carries a connotation of politico-social self-exile....
institution. He was its Secretary General from 1947 to 1963, and, from 1952, President of its European branch.
In exile, Kubiyovych became the chief editor of the Ukrainian-language Encyclopedia of Ukrainian Studies (Entsyklopediya ukrayinoznavstva, ten volumes, 1949–84), the largest scholarly project undertaken by Ukrainian émigrés during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. While written largely reflecting Kubiyovych's own strong Ukrainophile views, his encyclopedia
Encyclopedia
An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....
, was meant to preserve Ukrainian national heritage which, at that time, was intentionally neglected and downgraded by the Soviet Russian-speaking regime in Ukraine. Kubiyovych's encyklopedia continues to be a valuable source of reference to this day.
Kubiyovych later became the chief editor of Ukraine: A Concise Encyclopædia published in two volumes (1963–71), an English translation of the thematic part of the Entsyklopediya ukrayinoznavstva. A new revised and expanded English-language edition of the great ten-volume alphabetic part was published under the title Encyclopedia of Ukraine in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in the 1980s and 1990s, and was only completed after Kubiyovych's death. It is presently being put on-line.
During his exile in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Kubiyovych enjoyed considerable prestige as the most prominent Ukrainian scholar in the free world. He also enjoyed the respect of the influential Polish intellectual, Jerzy Giedroyć
Jerzy Giedroyc
Jerzy Giedroyc was a Polish writer and political activist....
, another resident of Paris, and who wrote in his autobiography that he thought that Kubiyovych had behaved honourably during the war ("Zachowal się świetnie"). In 1991, after Ukraine declared independence from the Soviets, scholars in Ukraine began reprinting Kubiyovych's major works, especially his encyclopedias, making them available to a wider readership in the home country for the first time.
In his later years, Kubiyovych published three volumes of memoirs describing his experiences in inter-war Poland, the Second World War, and émigré scholarly life in Germany and France during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. The most wide-ranging of these was the Ukrainian-language volume titled I am 85 Years Old (Paris-Munich, 1985).
Volodymyr Kubiyovych died on 2 November 1985 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Modern legacy
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, the hostile Soviet propaganda line on Kubiyovych lost its official status, and the scholar's role in Ukrainian history became a matter of free debate. His works, including his encyclopedias, were published in Ukraine where they are now in wide circulation. In 2000 a pre-stamped envelope was issued by the Ukrainian postal service
Ukrposhta
Ukrposhta is the national state enterprise of postal service of Ukraine, a member of Universal Postal Union since 1947. It is governed by the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine...
honouring 100-year anniversary of Kubiyovych's birthday.