Stelnykovych S. The Nazi Occupation Regime in the Zhytomyr and Vinnytsia Region and the Local Population: Parallels in Daily Life and Struggle (1941-1944)

The thesis examines a complex research of the German occupation regime in the Zhytomyr and Vinnytsia Region (Zhytomyr general district) in 1941–1944. The current state of the problem under consideration is defined. It is defined in the thesis that at the beginning of the Nazi occupation the Zhytomyr region and a part of the Vinnytsia region as well as adjacent areas of Bilorus were included into Zhytomyr general district. Simultaneously military occupation administration, Ukrainian supporting administration and the local police units were formed. In late autumn of 1941 civil occupation administration was ratified in the region. It began to exterminate nationalist aspirations and took full control of supporting administrations and the police. Moreover, Nazi punitive and repressive system was established in Zhytomyr general district. The research specifies that Nazi national policy was aimed at physical extermination of the Jews, the Romani, and partially Slavs, including Ukrainians, Red Army prisoners of war. During Nazi eastward expansion particular importance was given to Volksdeutsche. Thus, colonies Hegewald and F?rsterstadt were designated on the territory of the Zhytomyr and Vinnytsia Region, which were characterized by multinational population and generally tolerant relations, if not to consider Volksdeutsche. It is reviewed in the investigation that the German economical and colonial policy was directed to totally exploit the agricultural and industrial potential of the occupied territory. The local population was forced to pay numerous taxes, work whithin the region and in Germany, do seasonal agricultural work in the east of Reichskommissariat Ukraine. The daily life of the population was characterized by total control by the Nazi authorities, and shortages of food, medical supplies and daily essentials. Low-income residents were supported by specialized social security departments of supporting administrations and charity organizations. Nazi occupation policy affected the mood of the inhabitants of the region. It evolved from mostly positive or neutral attitude to Germans to entirely negative perception of the regime as their main enemy. The thesis states that during 1941-1944 Ukrainian independence, Soviet partisan and underground movements were active in the region. Starting with a short-term collaboration with Germany against the communist regime, by the end of 1941 National resistance movement went to fight a two-front war. In spring 1943, the propagandist struggle against both Stalin and Hitler totalitarian systems was supplemented by Ukrainian Insurgent Army units. Nazi security service repressions of the local population in 1941-1942 also resulted in the growth of Soviet partisan and underground movements. It is defined in the research that the revival of cultural life in the Zhytomyr and Vinnytsia Region started with the German occupation. That became possible due to Ukrainian independence movement, the representatives of which regarded culture as a means of raising national awareness and spreading the ideas of the Ukrainian state. However, Nazi authorities, having just started repression against nationalists, allowed limited existence of some forms of culture aimed at providing leisure activities for Germans. Systematic propagandist anti-Soviet and anti-Jewish campaigns were held in the region. During the whole period of German occupation in the Zhytomyr and Vinnytsia Region the historical and cultural values of local archives, libraries and museums were plundered by the Nazi.