TY - JOUR AU - Antoniuk, Ya. M. PY - 2019/12/29 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Relationships Between SB OUN and Volyn Czechs JF - Zaporizhzhia Historical Review JA - ZHR VL - 1 IS - 53 SE - History of Ukraine DO - UR - https://istznu.org/index.php/journal/article/view/122 SP - 151-158 AB - The article analyzes the relationship between the Security Service (hereinafter – SB) of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (hereinafter – OUN) and the Volyn Czechs. The attitudes of the both parts are clarified and their cooperation establishment preconditions are examined. It was confirmed that the Volyn Czechs had enduring friendly relationships with the local Ukrainian population and supported Ukrainian aspirations for national liberation. Many of the Czechs assisted the OUN, and some of the SB OUN leaders were connected with the Czechs by family ties.Since the summer of 1943, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (hereinafter – UPA) leadership attempted to establish a cooperation with the Czech underground organization «Blanik». That task was entrusted to the intelligence unit of the UPA-South. The negotiations on the matter were held during October – December of 1943. Both sides agreed on neutrality and mutual assistance in their resistance to the Germans. At the same time, the Czechs stated that they would adhere to the instructions given by their government in exile. It was a reason why, the Czechs could not oppose the Soviet partisans.A small part of the Volyn Czechs was aimed at the cooperation with the Poles or Germans. Those were the only ones who were the objects of persecution by the SB, due to the fact that, they were considered as a hostile agents.With the Red Army approach to the Volyn territories the Czechs took the clear pro-Soviet position. They actively supported the «red» partisans, and subsequently joined massively the brigade of Ludwika Svoboda. Thus they tried to contribute to the liberation of the Czechoslovakia from the Germans. Despite their position, the Czechs managed to maintain a friendly relationship with the OUN underground. The Volyn Czechs had not undergone any particular persecutions in the large-scale SB action on the extermination of the Soviet agents.During the population exchange between Soviet Ukraine and Czechoslovakia in 1947, the Czechs helped many of the OUN members to legalize themselves and immigrate to the West. The SB employees were among those who received their help. The most part of them managed to hide their past and start a new life. ER -