Auxiliary Police, OUN and the Holocaust in the Sumy Region (1941–1943) Cover Image

Policja pomocnicza, OUN a Holokaust na terenie obwodu sumskiego (1941–1943)
Auxiliary Police, OUN and the Holocaust in the Sumy Region (1941–1943)

Author(s): Jurij Radczenko
Subject(s): Jewish studies, WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), History of the Holocaust
Published by: Instytut Pamięci Narodowej
Keywords: The Holocaust; Germany; Occupation; Police; Sumy OUN; Motivations; Semen Sapun; Semen Baranowski;

Summary/Abstract: The participation of Ukrainian Hilfspolizei in murders of the Jewish population in eastern Ukraine has been poorly investigated, especially at the local level. The article focuses on the activity of the Ukrainian Hilfspolizei with regard to the murder of Jews and the plundering of Jewish property. It also investigates the motivations of those who joined the Ukrainian police in the Sumy oblast. Ukrainian auxiliary forces took part in extermination of Jewish population and communities in many regions of Ukraine. But how high was level participation in persecutions, plundering and murders of Jews by Ukrainian policemen in Sumy Oblast – a Borderland between Ukraine and Russia? Did they take part in mass shooting or played auxiliary role? Who were members of Ukrainian police in Sumy oblasts? What about their background and collective social portrait? The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (Organizatsia Ukra’inskych Nationalistiv) took active part in creation and activity of the Ukrainian militia (Ukrains’ka narodna militsia) in western and central regions of Ukraine. After disband of the militia OUN infiltrated its member in structures of police. The same situation we can see in case of Russian right radical party National-Labor Union of New Generation (Nazional’no-Trudodvoy Souz Novogo Pokolenia) and its actions in Russia Nazis occupied. How strong was influence and infiltration to Ukrainian police abovementioned totalitarian nationalistic organization in mostly Russian speaking regional centre like Sumy? What influence to local police did the Soviet intelligence have? How deeply did integral nationalistic ideology penetrate in Weltanschauung of Ukrainian policemen in Sumy oblast? What were motivations which forced Ukrainian policeman take part in anti-Jewish actions? Could we speak about specific social-psychological motivations of members Ukrainian police in Sumy oblasts? Such questions in the context of “ordinary men/willing executors discussion” using new unpublished sources from German, Ukrainian, American and Israeli archives are addressed here.

  • Issue Year: 29/2017
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 413-446
  • Page Count: 34
  • Language: Polish