The Archives of Underground of OUN and UPA: Document Storage Methods

The purpose of the work is to reveal the practice of preserving documents of the Underground of Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) archives; is to study of the specifics of carrying out the specified work in the difficult conditions of intensified conspiracy and lack of support of state institutions; as well as is to highlight the key areas of the outlined task. The methodological principles of the article are the principles of historicism, which involves consideration of all historical facts and events in accordance with specific historical circumstances, in their interconnection and interdependence. The work uses both empirical general scientific (analysis, synthesis, abstraction, generalization, induction, deduction, explanation, classification) and special-historical research methods (historical-comparative, problem-chronological, structural-systemic, historical-typological, periodization). Scientific novelty. The research for the first time comprehensively analyzed the process of preserving documents in the archives of the Underground of OUN and UPA. A number of little-known aspects of this problem have been clarified and supplemented. Analogies were drawn regarding the use of document storage containers in individual underground organizations in Lithuania and Poland. Conclusions. Archiving and preservation of documents was an important part of the functioning of the OUN and UPA network. Their loss or capture by the enemy could cause significant damage to the underground, and therefore preventing this was the focus of this line of work. Underground methods of activity made it impossible to place documents in specially adapted premises and prompted the search for the most effective ways of preserving them. Documents were usually packed and labeled, and then placed in appropriate containers. They buried archives in remote places with the possibility of easily masking the traces of visits. Periodically, the archives were inspected and, if necessary, moved to another place.