Dmytro-Yaroslav Vitovsky (1919 – 1947) and His Role in the Struggle Against the Soviet Authority

Abstract

In the article, on the basis of archival and memoir materials and scientific publications, the author has done the research on a little-studied biography of the famous military figure Dmytro-Yaroslav Vitovsky and analysed his role and place in the activities of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) in 1943 – 1946. In addition, in the article there has been covered the history of the first Slovak campaign of the UPA in 1945. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, systematicity, verification, objectivity, as well as the use of general scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization), special and historical (historical and genetic, historical and typological, historical and systemic) methods. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that Dmytro-Yaroslav Vitovsky’s figure, who held prominent positions in the UPA (a head of the Military Field Gendarmerie, a commander of the UPA raiding units in Slovakia in 1945 and the tactical division “Makivka”), is poorly researched and the only significant source is the materials of the criminal case of the Soviet special services, which remain unverified. The Conclusion. The phenomenon of Dmytro-Yaroslav Vitovsky’s figure has been revealed in the very fact that, despite being brought up in the family of a Polish officer and going to the Soviet aviation school, under the influence of Plast, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and with the help of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, he was formed as a Ukrainian patriot and contributed to the creation and functioning of the UPA significantly. Together with the UPA, Dmytro-Yaroslav Vitovsky acted in various areas of the army’s life effectively: he participated in the formation of the Ukrainian officer elite at the senior school of the UPA “Oleni” (Deer), ensured discipline among the insurgent formations members as the head of the Military Field Gendarmerie, organized the first propaganda raid in Slovakia and headed the units of the Tactical Division-24 “Makivka”. Unsuccessful attempts to commit a suicide during detention in March of 1946 and in the prison hospital, the materials of the criminal case and the very court verdict of the Soviet punitive and repressive system (execution) lead to the opinion that Dmytro- Yaroslav Vitovsky remained loyal to the Ukrainian national idea and refute the versions spread by the Soviet special services about his betrayal of insurgents.