Ivan Maistrenko’s Letters as a Source for Studying the Activities of the Taras Shevchenko Kyiv Bandurist Capella in Germany (1942–1943)

The purpose of the article is to find out the peculiarities and conditions of being of the Taras Shevchenko Kyiv Bandurist Capella in Nazi Germany and their concert activity through the prism of the epistolary heritage of the director of the Capella Ivan Maistrenko letters to his son Levko; deepen the imagination of his family relationships and survival strategy in the extreme conditions of the Second World War, both artists and the population in the occupied Ukrainian territories. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism and scientific objectivity, archival heuristics, verification, and application of general scientific methods of source analysis and synthesis. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that the letters of I. Maistrenko, published for the first time, more accurately reflect the geography of the concert tour of the Bandurist Capella in Germany, draw attention to the topical everyday problems of the artists in real historical times, and informatively supplement and clarify the memoirs of the director of the Capella, written many years later. The analysis of the letters has helped to recreate the circle of communication of I. Maistrenko with representatives of the nationally conscious Volyn intelligentsia, who took care of his son's life in Rivne the center of the Reichskommissariat «Ukraine». Conclusions. The epistolary of I. Maistrenko is a valuable written source for studying the activities of the Taras Shevchenko Kyiv Bandurist Capella during the Second World War, who represented Ukrainian national culture in the Ostarbeiter camps of Nazi Germany. The verification of the concert activity of the Bandurist Capella through the German press of the Ukrainian ostarbaiters – «Holos» and «Ukrainets» proved the important role of national culture in the emotional support of the Ukrainian ostarbaiters. The direct content of personal correspondence, taking into account the limitations due to the specifics of wartime, recreated the grueling working conditions, the repertoire and the chronicle of concert performances of Ukrainian artists. The synthesized information of the private correspondence of I. Maistrenko, oriented towards the addressee, helped to trace the boundaries of personal feelings for the fate of the only son and the mutual assistance of the Ukrainian intelligentsia during the war.