FORMATION OF FUNDS OF THE LVIV BRANCH OF THE LIBRARY OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE USSR IN 1939–1941

  • R. Dziuban Vasyl Stefanyk National Scientific Library of Ukraine in Lviv
  • A. Ohar Ivan Franko Drohobych State Pedagogical University
Keywords: Lviv Acadamy of scientific Ukrainian SSR library department, archives, library, kollection, deposit

Abstract

The subject of the research is the process of formation of book, manuscript and art collections of the Lviv branch of the Library of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (LFBAN of the USSR) in 1939–1941. This period is of exceptional importance, because at that time the main collections of the current Lviv National Scientific Library of Ukraine named after V. Stefanyk were formed. After the incorporation of the western Ukrainian lands (previously occupied by Poland) into the USSR in September 1939, the process of Sovietization of cultural institutions, including Lviv, began. Cultural, religious, educational figures and politically active people in the annexed territories found themselves under pressure from a new and unknown totalitarian system, in conditions of virtually complete lawlessness. Political, religious, cultural and public institutions were deprived of legal protection. This situation lasted until the war between Germany and the USSR. Cultural monuments, books, manuscripts and museum collections are under threat of destruction and theft. The Moscow military, functionaries of the communist party apparatus, were largely unaware of the value of books, often printed in a language they did not understand, and considered it hostile. They destroyed and burned valuable books in ovens, stole and damaged paintings, old furniture, and so on. Fear of confiscation forced people to transfer their collections for temporary storage to public institutions. Intensive and rapid reorganization of Lviv cultural institutions was accompanied by significant movements of cultural values, and hence their losses in Lviv libraries, archives and museums. At the same time, the funds of the LfBAN of the USSR were replenished in the initial period of its operation from private and public collections. Soon some of them were looted by the German occupiers during the German-Soviet war, some more were destroyed in special funds and dispersed after the war. Study and comprehension of losses of these so-called. "Repressed books" are necessary among the many factors that contribute to the restoration, development and consolidation of national memory. The purpose of the article is to shed light on the process of formation of these collections in 1939–1941 and to establish in what period of time the period of replenishment of the library funds of the Lviv branch of the Library of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR was most intensive.

Published
2020-12-27
How to Cite
Dziuban, R., & Ohar, A. (2020). FORMATION OF FUNDS OF THE LVIV BRANCH OF THE LIBRARY OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE USSR IN 1939–1941. Zaporizhzhia Historical Review, 2(54). Retrieved from https://istznu.org/index.php/journal/article/view/913