Рукописна та книжкова спадщина України (Jan 2024)
Archive of the Ukrainian Free University as a source for studying Ukrainian scientific life in displaced persons camps (1945-1952)
Abstract
The goal of the research. The research aim is to provide a general overview of significant unpublished sources based on the analysis of the archival funds of the Ukrainian Free University in Munich. These sources enable the exploration of the development of Ukrainian scientific life in displaced persons camps in the Western occupation zones of Germany and Austria. Additionally, they allow for the reconstruction of unknown facts from the biographies of prominent Ukrainian scholars, primarily historians, who lived and worked during this period. The research methodology is based on the utilization of interdisciplinary methods of source analysis and synthesis, including critical analysis, typologization, and verification. Historical analysis, employing chronological methods, is also employed, alongside both quantitative and qualitative analysis of documents. The scientific novelty of our research lies in the identification of the potential of the archive of the Ukrainian Free University for researchers of the history of science during the years 1945-1952. Conclusions. A significant body of unpublished sources preserved in the archive of the Ukrainian Free University provides an opportunity to investigate Ukrainian scientific life in Displaced Persons Camps (DPCs). This includes examining the main directions of functioning, the results of work, implemented and unrealized projects of organizations such as the Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, the Shevchenko Scientific Society, the German-Ukrainian Society, the Ukrainian Free University, the Theological-Pedagogical Academy, as well as the intellectual legacy of leading Ukrainian historians such as B. Krupnytskyi, P. Kurinnyi, D. Olianchyn, N. Polonska-Vasylenko, and V. Shcherbakivskyi, all of which is housed in one of the prominent centers of Ukrainian archival materials in Europe - Ukrainian Free University. Statistical sources stored in the archive allow determining the number of Ukrainian scientists who lived in and around the American, British, and French occupation zones, as well as the dynamics of emigration of Ukrainian intellectuals from Germany and Austria to the USA, Canada, the UK, France, and other countries. The comprehensive personal archive of historian D. Olianchyn enables the reconstruction of his life and activities, which have not yet received adequate coverage in Ukrainian historiography. Periodicals and the press from 1945-1952 allow for a deeper analysis of the influence of the socio-cultural environment on Ukrainian science and the intellectual legacy of the DPCs.
