on the mood of the population of Ukraine and the anti-German propaganda of the OUN

From the message of the head of the Security Police and the SD on the mood of the population of Ukraine and the anti-German propaganda of the OUN

Archive: RGVA. F. 500k. Op. 1.D. 116. Л. 109-123. BA. R 58/222. VI. 94, 99-100, 102-104; Genuine. Translation from German

Berlin  

October 16, 1942

Chief of the Security Police and SD

command headquarters    

Secret!

Messages from the occupied eastern regions No. 25

A. The enemy and the measures taken

Gang activity

[...]1

Among the gangs in Ukraine , there is a division into small and very small groups, as well as support for the gangs by Soviet paratroopers, in addition, the necessary materials are dropped on them in large volumes.

According to the orders of the Soviets, the activity of gangs develops here mainly in 2 directions:

1. destruction of crops, seed stocks, and harvesting and other agricultural machinery essential to food supply;

2. acts of sabotage in transport.

Only in the zone of action of the commander of the Security Police and the SD Rovno , more than 1 thousand centners of grain were destroyed due to arson in the course of several days. Agricultural machinery has been rendered unusable by the removal of important parts. There are constant attacks on forestries, on Ukrainian burgomasters, on employees of the German police and the Wehrmacht, as well as on other representatives of German services.

Gangs act tactically competently. During centralized actions directed against them or large-scale police engagements, they instantly break into small groups to make it impossible to pursue them and to dismember the forces used against them and destroy them individually.

Currently, all forces are involved in the fight against gangs.

In the zone of action of the commander of the Security Police and SD Rovno, among other things, 36 bandits were shot during one week, as well as 263 of their accomplices and supporters, another 42 bandits were arrested.

In the zone of actions of the commander of the Security Police and the SD of Zhitomir, 60 bandits and 4 accomplices were shot at the same time, 11 were arrested.

In the zone of action of the commander of the Security Police and the SD of Chernihiv, 249 bandits and those suspected of bandit activity were arrested.

In Kherson, in the zone of action of the commander of the Security Police and SD Nikolaev, a gang of 13 people was neutralized, led by a 17-year-old youth.The commander forced each of the gang members to take the following oath:

"I, the Bolshevik of Ukraine, swear to defend the Ukrainian land and fight against the German occupiers until my last breath."

During the action against the leading members of the terrorist group in Kiev (cf. messages from the occupied eastern regions No. 24 of October 9, 1942), Falkov's mistress, Georgian Tatyana Makusidze, b. September 21, 1921 in Tiflis. She tried to escape from Kyiv with Falkov and another member of the gang by water. The total number of detainees from this group reached 70. Of those arrested in Kyiv, 21 people there are those who for many years were members of the Communist Party or employees of the NKVD. Until now, some of them were part of the destruction battalions and, before the entry of the German troops, were engaged in the destruction of grain, livestock and factory buildings.

The most frequent and dangerous operations of gangs, as well as active units of the Red Army, were recorded in the zone of operations of the operational group "D" east of the Stepnoe-Novokumskoye line, and also in the swampy area north of Velichayevsky and in the hilly area near Lysagorskaya. Fighting them is possible only with large forces. Gangs here threaten the German-appointed elders, heads of collective farms and the civilian population, requisition food and livestock by force, and also carry out attacks on small German units.

[...]2

Ukrainian resistance movement

The commander of the Security Police and SD in Krakow intercepted a leaflet from the Bandera movement in which an opinion is expressed regarding the activities of gangs organized by the Soviets and Poland. The flyer has this title:

Guerrilla struggle and our attitude towards it.

It says, among other things:

“The Ukrainian people were convinced once again: the goal of those who want to “liberate” Ukraine is the same, regardless of whether their slogan is the defense of the Russian Fatherland, a new Europe, or something else. For, hiding behind slogans, they want to lure part of the Ukrainians to their side and place them as slaves in their service, and liquidate the disobedient as soon as possible, so that after their victory they feel confident in the rich Ukrainian lands.

The partisan struggle of the Poles or the Bolsheviks should not interest us, they can conduct it on their own, if its edge is not directed against us. Stalin and Sikorsky wanted to kill two birds with one stone; harm the Germans and defeat the Ukrainians with the hands of the Germans.

Ukrainians did not and do not take part in the partisan struggle. All Stalin's aspirations to stage a partisan struggle in Ukraine had no success from the beginning of the German campaign. The Germans know the real situation, and they use the Bolshevik partisan struggle to destroy us as well.

We consider the partisan struggle not from the point of view of the world communist revolution (Muscovite imperialism), nor from the point of view of the “New Europe” (German imperialism), but from the point of view of the interests of Ukraine. We are fighting for an independent Ukrainian state, and not for foreign imperialisms.

We must conserve our strength, because we believe that the war in its final stage will give us the opportunity to fight and build our own Ukrainian state. Our path is not a partisan struggle of hundreds or thousands, but a national liberation revolution of millions of Ukrainian masses.”

A note signed by Bandera, attached to a barn, was found near Gorokhov, in which Ukrainians are urged to liberate themselves from the crazy Germans.

A teacher from Tiveroff, Zhytomyr District, was arrested while transporting illegal Bandera print materials to Kyiv. False identification papers were found on him.

In Gaissin, 7 people were arrested for propaganda in favor of the Bandera movement. As a result of the search of the houses, numerous propaganda materials were found. The leader of the group had a Russian army pistol.

In Zaporizhzhya, it should be noted the increased activity of Bandera. One worker was arrested for distributing illegal printed materials in the Sofievka area, as well as a merchant from Krivoy Rog on suspicion of recruiting Bandera supporters among the Ukrainian intelligentsia.

As a result of further investigative measures regarding the movement of Melnyk in Kiev and Eastern Ukraine, 2 people were detained.

In the region of Nikolaev, 5 supporters of Melnik were forced to be arrested, including the head and 2 employees of the local Ukrainian security team (Schutzmannschaft).

In Kirovograd, the junior commander of the Ukrainian security battalion was arrested, who, being a supporter of Melnik, promised to transfer recruiting materials to others.

One copy of the instructions of the Melnikov organization was intercepted by the commander of the Security Police and SD in Krakow.

The following points of the program deserve attention:

“The vital need of the Ukrainian people is to achieve freedom, to have an independent state to which all Ukrainian lands will belong. The prerequisite for achieving this goal is an organized struggle.

Every Ukrainian and every Ukrainian woman can become a member of the OUN. The real member is the one who took the oath.

Taking an oath

Youth from 4 to 14 years old is the growing change of the OUN, from 14 to 18 years old is the youth of the OUN. Anyone who sympathizes with the OUN must make the following promise before being accepted as a candidate:

“Before God and the spirits of my ancestors, I promise to remain faithful to Ukraine until my death, to protect all the secrets of the organization and unquestioningly serve the organization.”

Persons who want to become full members of the OUN remain candidates for 6 months; they do test work and assignments. Upon admission to membership in the OUN, candidates must, in the presence of two witnesses, take an oath, the text of which is as follows:

“By my own will and according to my firm convictions, I dedicate myself and my life to the sacrificial service of the Ukrainian nation and the national idea. Before God and the holy memory of the fighters, I swear eternal allegiance to the OUN, devotion to my leader Andrey Melnik and obedience to the leadership appointed by Melnik. I give all my deeds and, if necessary, I will sacrifice my life to the struggle for the Ukrainian state. I know that if I break my oath, I will answer with my honor and my life.

Long live Ukraine."

OUN is subdivided into:

lanku (link), consists of 3-5 people,

viddil (department), consists of Lanka one village,

stanipu . consists of several villages district .

district ( district )

region / district (Gau / Distrikt).

Only the leaders of the organization can impose punishment on members of the OUN. A distinction should be made between a warning, a reprimand, an exclusion (temporarily or permanently), a boycott, a revolutionary tribunal (in the case of serious accusations, a liquidation order is issued).

B. Life support issues

General mood and situation of the population in the Reichskommissariat Ukraine

Judging by the incoming information, the general mood of the population presents a heterogeneous picture. While a deterioration in mood or a persistent bad mood has been repeatedly reported, information comes from individual regions that it is impossible not to notice some improvement in mood, for example, in Kharkiv, Vinnitsa and Rivne . Of course, it should by no means be taken as a prolonged state or a general upsurge in mood, since it is only due to a temporary comparatively improved supply situation.

Again and again the opinion has been expressed that the food situation is of decisive importance and that the mood of the population depends chiefly on it. So, when the provision of the population was taken over by the food service in Kharkov, and they immediately began to distribute the prescribed rations, the mood improved. In the Vinnipka region, enterprises have moved on to the creation and opening of factory canteens, as a result of which they have taken on a significant part of the care of providing daily food for employees of enterprises. This measure in any case had a positive effect on the mood. Also good yield .and the fact that they were able to harvest well contributed to a certain improvement in mood ( Rivne ).

Related to the plight of supply is the desire of individuals to provide themselves somehow through barter and speculation. So, from Nikolaev they report that practically the majority of the population is aimed at getting additional food products as soon as possible, resorting to speculation. There are also reports from the Vinnytsia region that barter and speculation are on the rise. In Kharkovareas are already resorting to crackdowns on any black trade that has moved into buying or earning income or whatever way to get food. To what prices it comes in barter and speculation, shows one report from Chernigov , which says that the cost of a glass of salt sometimes reaches 100 rubles . . and a gift to uska flint is regarded as a great boon .

The large gap between wages and prices is also increasingly contributing to the growth of discontent among the population. There are complaints from all counties about the discrepancy between wages and prices. As reported from Kharkiv, practically no one can buy other everyday things besides food. Reports are coming in from Nikolaev that the wage policy hitherto practiced , which hardly gave the working population a wage to live on, is the subject of harsh criticism . Salaries have nothing to do with prices. which the population is not able to endure, providing themselves with food.

As before, the active spread of rumors invariably negatively affects the mood of the population . Rumors appear as soon as difficulties of a general and local nature arise, such as sending workers [to Germany] , high prices , food difficulties , etc. In addition, rumors constantly arise about the state of affairs at the front. However, military and political events play an extremely insignificant role for the majority of the population . Conversations, no matter whether they concern the present or the future, revolve mainly around material and economic things.

From the latest reports it is clear that in Kiev and Dnepropetrovsk there are more and more moods in which one can recognize hostile attitudes towards the Germans . This is especially true of the urban intelligentsia and the intelligentsia . The circle of those who believe in the possibility of open cooperation between Germans and Ukrainians in the name of building the country is constantly narrowing. In addition, it is becoming more and more obvious that groups of opponents are inclined to unite, and such an association has often already taken place. For example, it is noteworthy that a rumor has recently spread in Kiev that allegedly the German garrisons will leave Kiev, and Kiev will be occupied by the Romanians, and will also come under Romanian control. This rumor was animatedly discussed in the widest circles, since, allegedly , under the Romanians, living conditions would be better. an example of this is Odessa . Vinnitsa also reports similar rumors.

The harvest in Ukraine continues. If in individual districts and different economic services the results of the current year's harvest are estimated differently, then in general the harvest can be described as relatively good .

According to the reports, the activities of the gangs are still unabated. Especially in the northern part of Ukraine, it came to gang actions, moreover, the activities of the gangs are mainly aimed at destroying crops, at destroying harvesting machines, as well as devices necessary for providing food, at acts of sabotage in transport.

In communist subversion, one can note the desire to work on a wider base, especially by infiltrating government bodies in order to thereby have a good communication service at their disposal, as well as to infect those who work there with communist ideas.

Anti-communist groups also try to influence the population through propaganda or rumors and spread rumors and false reports. In printed propaganda, the national trend continues to be in force, encouraging the national aspirations existing in Ukraine.

[...]3

1 Information about the partisan movement in Lithuania and Belarus has been omitted.

2 Information about the fight against underground communist organizations is omitted.

3 Omitted reports of the situation in the territory occupied by Army Group Center.