Memorandum of the OUN (Bandera) on the terms of cooperation between the OUN and Nazi Germany

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Memorandum of the OUN (Bandera) on the terms of cooperation between the OUN and Nazi Germany

Archive: AA Politarchiv. XIII/ R 105191. Bl. E292431-292441. Copy. Translation from German.

August 14, 1941

Memorandum

Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists – OUN

regarding the demand to dissolve the government of the Ukrainian state, formed on June 30, 1941 in Lemberg

Cooperation of the OUN with Germany

The Ukrainian Military Organization (UVO) and its successor, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), under the leadership of Yevgen Konovalets, from the very beginning of their existence, took a course towards cooperation with the German Reich against Poland and Moscow, with the realization that the German Reich would patronize the emergence of an Independent Unified Ukrainian State. The foreign policy concept of the OUN was based on the union of Ukraine and Germany. This concept of the OUN did not change either when the Carpathian Ukraine was occupied by Hungary with the approval of Germany, or when Bolshevik Moscow occupied Western Ukraine, as a result of which it was possible to prevent the entry of the Soviet Union into the war during the campaign in the west.

Although Western Ukraine suffered great losses during the two-year Bolshevik occupation because of this, especially in the early days of the campaign against Bolshevism, the OUN knew that in the joint struggle of Ukraine and Germany for a just order in Eastern Europe, Ukraine must make a great bloody sacrifice. Ukrainian rebels in Western Europe, organized within the framework of the OUN, are known to have contributed to the rapid advance of the German troops.

The cooperation of the OUN with the competent German institutions required the OUN to sacrifice many human lives over the years. The OUN fought for the independence of Ukraine, and, based on the conviction that Germany would help the OUN in this struggle, every sacrifice for the OUN was natural and necessary.

OUN and the New Order in Eastern Europe

The Ukrainian people are fighting for an independent state with a foreign policy concept of a new order in the Eastern European space, which is based on the organization of the joint struggle of all the peoples who have been oppressed by Moscow until now, on the principle of friendly and sincere cooperation of the states of the liberated peoples against Moscow imperialism. This imperialism will still be very dangerous even after the war now being waged, even if its present guise, Bolshevism, is destroyed, because messianic imperialism is immanent in the soul of the Russian people, whether it appears in the guise of Pan-Slavism, the unity of the orthodox faith, or Bolshevism.

The geopolitical position requires that the eastern front of Europe and thus Germany be protected. This protection can only be provided by Ukraine as an independent state. Ukraine will become an intermediary between Germany, the leading power of the new order, and other peoples of the former Muscovite Empire. After all, the Ukrainians live scattered throughout the entire territory of the Soviet Union, and are already most closely connected with these peoples in their common struggle against Moscow imperialism.

So far, Germany has not made public any plan for a new order in the Eastern European space. The policy pursued by her even admits the possibility that the Russian empire will remain, and only the government and regime will change, and that Germany will transform the east of Europe not on the principle of the state freedom of peoples.

The Ukrainian people are against any oppression of Ukraine, whether it comes from Jewish Bolshevism or Russian imperialism. If German policy does not want to strengthen Muscovite Soviet patriotism by putting forward slogans about the destruction of the Russian prison of peoples, then it should be stated that so far not only Russian patriots from the Red Army have not been involved in the fight against the Bolshevik regime, but Ukraine and other nationalities are deeply disappointed because -for the lack of such slogans. This disappointment can also be transferred to faith in the validity of the idea of a new order, which Germany is the bearer of.

Even if, given the conduct of the war, it is impossible for Germany to openly contribute to the dismemberment of the Russian empire, then two paths must be chosen: Germany must undermine the Russian, Soviet-patriotic forces; and Ukraine, through its propaganda and organization of state life in the liberated territories, must set before the Ukrainians on the other side of the front the goal of creating an independent Ukrainian state, which Germany will patronize. The formation of the Ukrainian Wehrmacht, which will fight on the side of Germany, will then be the best proof that Germany will not invade Ukraine with the intention of occupying it.

With the help of these two methods, it will be much easier and faster to achieve victory and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The act of June 30, 1941 has already marked this path from the Ukrainian side.

Foundations of Ukrainian-German friendship

Not only long-term Ukrainian-German cooperation is proof of the OUN's friendly attitude towards Germany, but even in the very act of proclaiming the Ukrainian state on June 30, 1941, the general foreign policy line of the government of the Ukrainian state was declared. The Ukrainian state must have a close alliance with Germany in order to secure its borders in the west and be in constant readiness to fight Moscow, which will always be a great danger to Ukraine.

The OUN wants to cooperate with Germany not out of opportunism, but out of awareness of the need for this cooperation for the benefit of Ukraine. In cooperation with Ukraine, Germany must rely on Ukrainian revolutionary, nationalist elements who sincerely recognize the German leadership in Europe, but who at the same time are filled with the desire that their Fatherland, as an independent state, take the appropriate position of one of the guarantors of the new order in Eastern Europe. There are opportunistic elements in every people; but the fate of peoples and questions of fruitful cooperation with other peoples are decided only by heroic elements.

There is no better guarantee of Ukrainian-German friendship than the fact that the Ukrainian state will be recognized by Germany, and the [Ukrainian] government recognized by it will organize an armed power that will wage a joint struggle on the side of Germany for so long until Germany and the new order she has introduced in Europe are finally won't win.

European states and peoples such as Finland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Spain, Norway, Denmark and others already have the opportunity to fight against Moscow. Only the Ukrainians are denied that they openly participate in this European struggle against Bolshevism with their military formations with weapons in their hands.

The state as a prerequisite for the creative work of the people

Labor enthusiasm for the restoration of the devastated Ukrainian land can only be evoked by the idea of an independent Ukrainian state, just as the National Socialist idea led the German people to renewal in national, social and economic terms. Otherwise, the population, suspicious of any foreign power (because for many years they were promised prosperity, but instead they brought oppression and poverty), will continue their usual passive tactics - they will produce only what they need for personal consumption, but not will take care of what is needed for the war.

The most incorrect opinion presented in some German circles is that in Eastern Ukraine the issue of the Ukrainian state is generally irrelevant, because the local population there asks the Germans not about the future Ukrainian state, but only about grain rations, wage increases, harvests, etc. The Ukrainian population draws from German propaganda that the German army fights only against Jewish Bolshevism, and from Bolshevik propaganda that Germany wages war only for economic reasons (grain). The population, which is distrustful of every stranger, and even in military uniform, speaks only about everyday things and tries to find answers only to everyday questions. The Bolshevik regime taught: it is inexpedient and dangerous to openly express one's thoughts and wishes, because the death penalty is imposed for this.

Is it possible at all that the population, which saw the cause of any trouble in the absence of state independence of Ukraine, would not want to independently manage the property and wealth of Ukraine, as German observers say?

The OUN has already pointed out many times (unfortunately, without success) that some German circles are misinformed about the real state of affairs in Ukraine, as well as in Eastern Europe.

The Ukrainian state is the goal of the OUN

The goal of the struggle of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists - OUN - is the Ukrainian state as such, and not a state in which the OUN must necessarily occupy a leading position. The OUN is subordinate to the Ukrainian state, and not vice versa. The OUN proceeds from the fact that the Ukrainian government is evidence of Ukrainian statehood, and we are not talking about a specific government, and therefore not about some specific persons.

If Germany had declared the restoration of the Ukrainian state or the reorganization of Eastern Europe on the principle of nation-states as one of its military goals in the struggle against Bolshevism, then the question of the government of the Ukrainian state could take other forms. Regardless of what methods will be used to build the Ukrainian state, taking into account the requirements of the war, the act of June 30, 1941, as a spontaneous expression of the will of the Ukrainian people and the government of the Ukrainian state, as evidence of the revived Ukrainian state, will create a solid foundation for German-Ukrainian friendship.

The dissolution of the already existing government, which arose on Ukrainian soil at the behest of the Ukrainian people, despite the fact that Germany did not declare its position regarding the formation of the Ukrainian state, can only indicate that Germany does not want the Ukrainian state.

Act of June 30, 1941 and Ukrainian-German cooperation

In our opinion, the act of June 30, 1941 is entirely consistent with the Ukrainian-German cooperation:

1) Until this war began, the Ukrainians fought against Moscow for many years, and they are willing to continue to fight against Moscow as a warring power.

2) In their struggle for an independent state, and also as a result of cooperation with Germany, the Ukrainians suffered countless victims, as the facts prove.

3) Germany and Ukraine fought for the destruction of the Versailles system, an integral part of which in relation to Eastern Europe forms the Treaty of Riga, according to which Ukraine was enslaved by Moscow and Poland 1 .

4) Germany and Ukraine are striving for a new just order in which young and healthy peoples will be able to develop completely freely.

5) The restoration of the Ukrainian state means the involvement of the initiative and creative forces of Ukraine in the construction of a new order in Europe.

6) In the declaration of the government of the Ukrainian state of July 3, 1941, the common struggle until the final victory in this war and cooperation in all areas between Ukraine and Germany were taken as the basis of Ukrainian policy.

7) The initiative of the Ukrainians in restoring their state only proves that the peoples who were oppressed by Bolshevism and sentenced to death in the German political system can spontaneously and freely implement their ideals.

8) All efforts of the OUN leadership to establish contact with the political authorities of the German Reich in order to create a political basis and agree on joint tactics were unsuccessful. Those instances of the German Reich, with which the OUN was connected, declared their incompetence in these matters. Immediately before the war, they made it clear that the solution of the Ukrainian question depends on how events develop on Ukrainian soil itself. Shortly before the war, the head of the political service of the OUN, the current head of the government of the Ukrainian state, Yaroslav Stetsko, through the authorized representative of the OUN in Berlin, made an attempt to negotiate with the foreign policy department of the NSDAP on political issues relating to Ukraine. The attempt was, unfortunately, unsuccessful. and the OUN had no opportunity to coordinate its tactics and political line with the competent German political authorities. Responsibility for this in no way lies with the OUN. Even in the first days of the war, Mr. Captain Professor Dr. Koch also could not give the leader of the OUN any answers to political inquiries.

The attitude of the OUN to the Ukrainian state government

The government of the Ukrainian state was formed on the initiative of the OUN, which does not mean, however, that this government is dependent on the leadership of the OUN.

The head of government is a member of the OUN, and most of the members of the government were appointed on a professional basis. The Ukrainian public recognized the government and created a broad legal framework for it. The government was recognized by the population of the Ukrainian regions liberated from Bolshevism. The mandate of the government, which took over from the OUN, thus became the mandate of the entire Ukrainian people.

The OUN has no legal right to dissolve the government. This can only be done by the Ukrainian Legislative National Assembly.

Today the OUN and the government are two independent factors; the government is supra-party and formed on an all-Ukrainian basis: it includes representatives of both Eastern and Western Ukraine (the latter from Galicia and Volhynia). The head of the Ukrainian government is subordinate to the head of the OUN only in organizational matters (in party matters). Not only the OUN and its members, but also Ukrainians of various political movements obeyed the government.

Taking into account the all-Ukrainian mood and the above-mentioned unfavorable moments for the Ukrainian-German cooperation, the OUN can neither take a negative position in relation to the government, nor recall its representatives.

Mr. Captain Professor Dr. Koch, as a representative of the Reich Ministry of the Occupied Eastern Territories, substantiated the first two conditions set before the OUN by the need to exclude party-political discord and disagreements among Ukrainians. The Ukrainian government forms a basis acceptable to all Ukrainians, because the entrance to the government is open to all Ukrainian patriots.

OUN for further cooperation with Germany

The solution of the Ukrainian question is a touchstone for all peoples oppressed by Moscow, especially since Ukraine has never in its history been hostile to Germany. Why should Ukrainian-German friendship be put to the test at the present moment? The Ukrainian people have already accepted extremely painfully the separation of the Ukrainian land of Galicia from Ukraine. After the accession of Galicia to the General Government, the withdrawal, respectively, the dissolution of the Ukrainian government will mean an additional moral burden for Ukrainian-German cooperation. Enemy propaganda, especially Bolshevik propaganda, would have been enriched by one argument, namely, that Ukraine in the Soviet Union had its own state rights.

The dissolution of the government would weaken the labor enthusiasm and the will to create the Ukrainian people, which will most of all be reflected in economic life. The Ukrainian popular masses, in their disappointment, will not know for whom and for what they are working, because the Ukrainian state, which is the goal of their struggle at the moment, will not be realized. The hostile attitude towards any occupying economy that has been formed over many years, as well as the art of sabotage developed to the heights with its invisible methods, would not only have not weakened, but, on the contrary, would have strengthened even more under the influence of the economy destroyed as a result of the events of the war. The question arises why it is necessary to invent new arguments for Bolshevik, English and Polish propaganda in order to defeat the Ukrainian liberation movement and destroy its cooperation with Germany.

OUN for further close cooperation with Germany. It takes the view that the dissolution or disavowal of the Ukrainian government formed in Lemberg would only unnecessarily burden this cooperation. Already today, the OUN can predict what a devastating effect the promulgation of the order to dissolve the government will have on the Ukrainian masses, especially if they are told that the OUN leadership was forced to take this step at the suggestion of the Reichsministry of the occupied eastern regions in the name of Ukrainian-German cooperation. It can be interpreted one way or the other, and without special statements to that effect. After that, Ukrainians will lose all hope that Germany wants to help young developing nations in building their statehood.

Summary

The OUN believes that:

a) at present, when there is no other Ukrainian government as evidence of the restoration of the Ukrainian state,

b) when no official position of the German Reich was expressed on the issue of Ukrainian statehood and

c) when the latest decisions on the Ukrainian question (it remains to be assumed that they are only transient) are directed against the unity of the Ukrainian lands,

d) the dissolution of the government of the Ukrainian state formed on June 30, 1941 in Lemberg can cause the greatest harm not only to Ukraine, but also to Germany.

In our opinion, such a decision would only interfere with Ukrainian-German relations, would significantly harm the establishment of a new order in Eastern Europe, and would have a negative impact not only on political, but subsequently also on economic development and cooperation.

The demand that the OUN disband the government of the Ukrainian state has far-reaching domestic political implications: this demand is tantamount to the OUN's renunciation of the leading role in Ukrainian political life in the liberation struggle and state claims.

We cannot join the opinion of Mr. Captain Professor Dr. Koch that the refusal to dissolve the Ukrainian government is tantamount for the German competent organs of the Reich to refuse to cooperate with the OUN with Germany. We hold the opposite opinion and cannot take this step so as not to undermine the Ukrainian-German cooperation in the present and in the future.

For the OUN, cooperation with Germany is not declarative, but it was realized over time through great and heavy sacrifices. Only the OUN directed Ukraine's aspirations for an independent state to the path of cooperation with Germany and bears full responsibility for this to Ukrainian history. The OUN continues to strive on this path of cooperation with Germany to make it possible to restore the Ukrainian state.

The OUN cannot contribute to the fact that Ukrainian-German cooperation is deprived of ideological and political content and that Ukrainian aspirations to create a Ukrainian state violate this cooperation. The OUN does not want Ukrainian aspirations for freedom to be carried out underground, illegally and to the detriment of Germany.

The OUN does not want to give grounds for Ukrainian history to condemn the cooperation of the OUN with Germany and for the place of the leading revolutionary and state-forming factor that it occupies today in Ukrainian political life to be occupied by new anti-German forces.

The OUN defends its political concept of liberation, for which it has sacrificed many of its comrades-in-arms. The OUN hereby defends its concept of the liberation of Ukraine and the restoration of the Ukrainian state in cooperation with Germany. In open and sincere cooperation, which must be proved by deeds not only in peacetime, but also in war, and which, in happiness and misfortune, will be equally strong and just as significant.

We fear that the demand put before us already harbors a germ that could lead in the Ukrainian people to the destruction of the concept that the OUN represented and represents.

All political, military and economic moments speak for cooperation between Ukraine and Germany. Therefore, Germany should neither patronize Ukraine nor put obstacles in the way of its free development.

And it is in the interests of Germany to cooperate with the ideological, dynamic Ukrainian forces, which were prompted to this cooperation by ideological, political and patriotic motives.

The wording of Mr. Captain Professor Dr. Koch to the effect that the demand to dissolve the government of the Ukrainian state is neither political nor administrative in nature, but exclusively disciplinary, is incomprehensible. It is difficult to assume that Germany would like to exclude the proactive activity of Ukrainians in establishing a new order in Eastern Europe, especially if it is fundamentally and in all its practical manifestations aimed at cooperation with Germany.

We raise these objections because the question of what happened on June 30, 1941 is of fundamental importance and far-reaching implications for Ukrainian politics.

In our opinion, the demand to dissolve the government of the Ukrainian state was presented to us without taking into account these important points. The whole thing was decided only from the point of view of the current moment.

If the situation is clarified, it is not difficult to find a way out in which the demands of urgent necessity can be taken into account, but not to the detriment of a principled position, because there are no fundamental contradictions.

Berlin, 14 August 1941

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1 The Riga Peace Treaty between the RSFSR, the Ukrainian SSR and Poland was signed on March 18, 1921. The border of Ukraine was established along the river. Zbruch, and the western part of Volyn departed to Poland. The parties renounced territorial claims, assumed the obligation to ensure the rights of national minorities in their territories.