The "Ukrainian National Revolution" of 1941: Discourse and Practice of a Fascist Movement.

In July, August, and September 1941, in the aftermath of the German attack on the Soviet Union, hundreds of letters were addressed to the leader (providnyk) of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), Stepan Bandera; to the German Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler; and to the head of the Ukrainian government proclaimed by the OUN-B shortly after the beginning of the German-Soviet war, Iaroslav Stets'ko. (1) The letters expressed feelings of respect for Hitler, love for Bandera, and gratitude to Stets'ko; affixed to them were several thousand signatures of mainly, but not only, western Ukrainian supporters of the OUN-B state. The collection of these letters en masse was the OUN-B's last attempt to rescue the "Ukrainian National Revolution." (2) The OUN-B had initiated this program of action with the outbreak of the German-Soviet war on 22 June 1941 and had been preparing, with Nazi acquiescence, in the General Government in 1940-41, as well as in western Ukraine as an underground movement. The two main goals of the revolution were, first, to proclaim and establish a Ukrainian state and, second, to clear the territory of this state of Jews, Poles, Soviets, and other enemies, according to the slogan "Ukraine for Ukrainians." The "Ukrainian National Revolution" thus appears to be the main missing link between the proclamation of the Ukrainian state by Iaroslav Stets'ko in L'viv on 30 June 1941 and the involvement of the OUN-B in pogroms against Jews, either in collaboration with the Nazis or of its own accord. (3)