V. Prokopov, PhD in History, Senior Lecturer

Dnipro State Agrarian and Economic University, Dnipro, Ukraine

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/1728-2640.2021.149.11


ALCOHOL IN THE OUN AND UPA COMMUNITY IN ZAKERZONNIA (1944–1947)


Abstract. The article deals with the attitude towards alcohol among the members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in Zakerzonnia region 1944-1947. The issue of everyday practices of alcohol consumption is investigated. The article is based on wide base on sources mostly personal origin, the memoirs and diaries of UIA’s companies. A brief review of historiography and historical sources are represented also. The author starts with telling about few theoretical remarks about methods of military-historical anthropology. Historical anthropology is related to the existential problems of man, because it contains and takes into account the world of individual experiences and actions during the military actions.

The author stressed that alcohol consumption in the OUN and UIA community was under rather strict disciplinary supervision. Alcohol could be consumed in small doses with the permission of the commander in exceptional situations or on major holidays – at Christmas or Easter. Various holidays not always could be held with a little alcohol. However it is explored that the commanders of UIA, in many ways, ignored the rebels' alcohol consumption, if it did not exceed the permissible norms. It was explored that in the community of the Ukrainian liberation movement in Zakerzonnia there were cases of deviant behavior based on alcohol consumption. It was emphasized that at the institutional level, the OUN and the UIA in Zakerzonnia really struggled with drunkenness and severely punished them. Many options for punishment for alcohol are also scrutinized here, including the death penalty or beating with sticks.

The author concludes that in a military environment in the horrors of hostilities and the constant stress of guerrilla warfare that surrounded the combatants, alcohol could indeed be a compensatory and relaxing tool. It is observed that alcohol was consumed more often by soldiers of UPA units than by OUN members. This was due to the different number of insurgents and underground fighters and their different roles in the liberation movement.

Keywords: UIA, OUN, Zakerzonnia, everyday life, underground, rebels, insurgents, Poland, war-historical anthropology.

Submitted: 25.05.2021

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