ALL-UKRAINIAN SOCIETY OF FORMER POLITICAL PRISONERS AND EXILE TRIALS (1921–1935)

Abstract

The article examines the activities of the All-Ukrainian Society of Political Prisoners and Exiles during 1921–1935. It is established that after the October Revolution, the Civil War, and foreign intervention, the revolutionary forces were not only faced with the task of consolidating their economic and political power, but there was also a need now, in the absence of tsarist censorship, to deal in detail with the historical past of the revolutionary movement and to describe the steps that led to success. The most significant and large organization created for this purpose under the control of the old Bolsheviks on March 12, 1921, was the Society of Former Political Prisoners and Exiles.In its monthly organ, the magazine “Hard Labor and Exile” (originally “Historical and Revolutionary Bulletin”), the word was now given to “heroes of hard labor”. It published memoirs and recollections about the struggle against tsarism in the underground, in the notorious tsarist prisons, in penal servitude, in Siberian exile and emigration.Obituaries of famous revolutionaries, archival materials and some few scientific articles devoted to the revolutionary movement were also published. It has been found that the Society was so active that, until its liquidation in 1935, it significantly influenced the writing of the history of the revolutionary movement from the beginning of the 19th century to 1917 and, thus, contributed to the creation of a history or myth about the emergence and foundation of the Soviet state. In particular, members of the Society organized reports, public lectures, excursions and literary evenings in various cities of Ukraine. They did this primarily for the purpose of propaganda: to popularize the history of the revolutionary movement and the struggle against the autocracy. It has been determined that, along with caring for traditions, the Society also performed an important social function. It was engaged in the distribution of significant financial support, sanatorium places, medical care and housing among its members, some of whom were severely affected, spiritually and physically, in camps and prisons. Of interest, however, is not only the social function and the great influence of the Society on the historiography of the 20s and 30s, but also its members themselves. It included not only Bolsheviks, but also Mensheviks, anarchists (anarcho-communists and anarcho-syndicalists), Bundists, Social Revolutionaries, etc., as well as a large number of former members of these parties.In 1935, the society was liquidated.