Danylo Shumuk
Encyclopedia
Danylo Lavrentiyovych Shumuk ' onMouseout='HidePop("50139")' href="/topics/Russian_Empire">Russian Empire
, now in Volyn Oblast
, Ukraine
- d. 21 May 2004 in Krasnoarmiisk, Ukraine) was a Ukrainian political activist who served a total of 42 years imprisoned by three different states, Second Polish Republic
, Nazi Germany
and Soviet Union.
, but the Ukrainians in Galicia were alienated after what they saw as a compromise in the Paris Peace Conference with Poland. The Ukrainian People's Republic
delegation could not gain recognition at the Treaty of Versailles
at the end of the World War. The representatives of the exiled government of the Ukrainian People's Republic
fared poorly during Polish-Soviet War
where they formed a late alliance
with Poland and supported the latter's unsuccessful Kiev Offensive
. According to the Peace of Riga
which ended the war, the combined territories of the Ukrainian and West Ukrainian People's Republics ended up split again between the Ukrainian SSR
in the east, and Poland in the west (Galicia and part of Volhynia
).
The ethnic policies in the inter-war Poland were directed towards the Polonization
and cultural assimilation of ethnic minorities. Contrary to the international obligation, Poland had to grant autonomy to ethnic Ukrainian territories. The tensions between Poles and Ukrainians increased in such a political environment.
Danylo began his struggle against Polish control and cultural assimilation of this area when he was 17 years old. In 1933, he was arrested by Polish police four times and detained for a short terms. In 1934, he was arrested by the Polish police and held in jail in Kovel
until he was sentenced in 1935, to eight-year term for his role in the underground Communist Party of Western Ukraine
. He served his term in a prison in Łomża. In 1938 under an amnesty for political prisoners, his sentence was reduced by a third. In the spring of the following year, he was transferred to a jail in Białystok, and on May 24, 1939, he was released.
with Nazi Germany. The two governments announced the agreement merely as a non-aggression treaty
. A secret appendix
to the pact outlined a plan to divide Poland and Eastern Europe
into Soviet and German spheres of influence
.
Initially, the Soviet rule gained much support of the non-Polish population largely alienated by the nationalist policies of the Second Polish Republic. Much of the Ukrainian population initially welcomed the Soviet occupation, hoping for unification with the rest of Ukraine which fell to Bolshevik forces
forming the Ukrainian SSR
, a constituent republic of the Soviet Union
in 1919.
During the round of repressions that followed the Soviet takeover, Danylo's older brother Anton, who worked for the Polish National Railway was arrested as an "enemy of the people".
On 15 May 1941 the Soviet authorities force Danylo Shumuk to join a 'work camp' as a brother of an enemy of the people
. Such treatment did not make Danylo loose faith in the benevolence of communists. When Germany attacked the Soviet Union, the work camps were transformed into Red Army Penal military unit
s, that were usually given the most dangerous assignments and were considered expandable.
Danylo was kept in a POW camp in the town of Khorol in the Poltava Oblast
. He described the German POW camp as a 'pit of death with prisoners dying like flies from hunger, exposure and epidemics.' On a cold rainy night he escaped along with three other prisoners. During his travels he learned from Ukrainian villagers about the artificial famine (now known as Holodomor
genocide) perpetrated by Communists and responsible for close to 10 million deaths from starvation. His deep love of communism faded and he began to describe communism as an abomination. Danylo Shumuk credits Ukrainian farmers who lived through the communist genocide with 'clearing my mind of the opium of communist ideology and opening my eyes.'
In 1943, Danylo joined the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) understanding that Ukrainian struggle for independence was doomed, since the forces involved were unequal. A two front war against Germany and the Soviet Union could not be won. He stated later that he 'considered it my duty to fight to the end.' In February 1945, Danylo Shumuk was captured by the NKVD
and sentenced to death which was commuted to 20 years of hard labor.
. Outbreaks like these throughout the GULAG
led to a wide-ranging release of prisoners.
In 1970 Shumuk shared a prison cell with Eduard Kuznetsov
for five years.
When Andrei Sakharov
accepted his Nobel Peace Prize in 1975 he said:
(province
) in the east of Ukraine. He died there on 21 May 2004 at the age of 89.
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, now in Volyn Oblast
Volyn Oblast
Volyn Oblast is an oblast in north-western Ukraine. Its administrative center is Lutsk. Kovel is the westernmost town and the last station in Ukraine of the rail line running from Kiev to Warsaw.-History:...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
- d. 21 May 2004 in Krasnoarmiisk, Ukraine) was a Ukrainian political activist who served a total of 42 years imprisoned by three different states, Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
, Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and Soviet Union.
Living in the Second Polish Republic
In 1918 in what now is western Ukraine, the Ukrainian forces fought in the Polish-Ukrainian WarPolish-Ukrainian War
The Polish–Ukrainian War of 1918 and 1919 was a conflict between the forces of the Second Polish Republic and West Ukrainian People's Republic for the control over Eastern Galicia after the dissolution of Austria-Hungary.-Background:...
, but the Ukrainians in Galicia were alienated after what they saw as a compromise in the Paris Peace Conference with Poland. The Ukrainian People's Republic
Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic or Ukrainian National Republic was a republic that was declared in part of the territory of modern Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, eventually headed by Symon Petliura.-Revolutionary Wave:...
delegation could not gain recognition at the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
at the end of the World War. The representatives of the exiled government of the Ukrainian People's Republic
Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic or Ukrainian National Republic was a republic that was declared in part of the territory of modern Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, eventually headed by Symon Petliura.-Revolutionary Wave:...
fared poorly during Polish-Soviet War
Polish-Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine and the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic—four states in post–World War I Europe...
where they formed a late alliance
Treaty of Warsaw (1920)
The Treaty of Warsaw of April 1920 was an alliance between the Second Polish Republic, represented by Józef Piłsudski, and the Ukrainian People's Republic, represented by Symon Petlura, against Bolshevik Russia...
with Poland and supported the latter's unsuccessful Kiev Offensive
Kiev Offensive
The 1920 Kiev Offensive , sometimes considered to have started the Soviet-Polish War, was an attempt by the newly re-emerged Poland, led by Józef Piłsudski, to seize central and eastern Ukraine, torn in the warring among various factions, both domestic and foreign, from Soviet control.The stated...
. According to the Peace of Riga
Peace of Riga
The Peace of Riga, also known as the Treaty of Riga; was signed in Riga on 18 March 1921, between Poland, Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine. The treaty ended the Polish-Soviet War....
which ended the war, the combined territories of the Ukrainian and West Ukrainian People's Republics ended up split again between the Ukrainian SSR
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...
in the east, and Poland in the west (Galicia and part of Volhynia
Volhynia
Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...
).
The ethnic policies in the inter-war Poland were directed towards the Polonization
Polonization
Polonization was the acquisition or imposition of elements of Polish culture, in particular, Polish language, as experienced in some historic periods by non-Polish populations of territories controlled or substantially influenced by Poland...
and cultural assimilation of ethnic minorities. Contrary to the international obligation, Poland had to grant autonomy to ethnic Ukrainian territories. The tensions between Poles and Ukrainians increased in such a political environment.
Danylo began his struggle against Polish control and cultural assimilation of this area when he was 17 years old. In 1933, he was arrested by Polish police four times and detained for a short terms. In 1934, he was arrested by the Polish police and held in jail in Kovel
Kovel
Kovel is a city located in the Volyn Oblast , in northwestern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Kovelskyi Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast. The current estimated population is around 65,777.Kovel gives its name to one of the...
until he was sentenced in 1935, to eight-year term for his role in the underground Communist Party of Western Ukraine
Communist Party of Western Ukraine
Communist Party of Western Ukraine was a political party in eastern interbellum Poland. Until 1923 it was known as the Communist Party of Eastern Galicia.Young Communist League of Western Ukraine was the youth league of the party....
. He served his term in a prison in Łomża. In 1938 under an amnesty for political prisoners, his sentence was reduced by a third. In the spring of the following year, he was transferred to a jail in Białystok, and on May 24, 1939, he was released.
Living under Soviet Government
On 23 August 1939, the Soviet Union signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop PactMolotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
with Nazi Germany. The two governments announced the agreement merely as a non-aggression treaty
Non-aggression pact
A non-aggression pact is an international treaty between two or more states/countries agreeing to avoid war or armed conflict between them and resolve their disputes through peaceful negotiations...
. A secret appendix
Addendum
An addendum, in general, is an addition required to be made to a document by its reader subsequent to its printing or publication. It comes from the Latin verbal phrase addendum est, being the gerundive form of the verb addo, addere, addidi, additum, "to give to, add to", meaning " must be added"...
to the pact outlined a plan to divide Poland and Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
into Soviet and German spheres of influence
Sphere of influence
In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence is a spatial region or conceptual division over which a state or organization has significant cultural, economic, military or political influence....
.
Initially, the Soviet rule gained much support of the non-Polish population largely alienated by the nationalist policies of the Second Polish Republic. Much of the Ukrainian population initially welcomed the Soviet occupation, hoping for unification with the rest of Ukraine which fell to Bolshevik forces
Ukrainian-Soviet War
The Ukrainian–Soviet War of 1917–21 was a military conflict between the Ukrainian People's Republic and pro-Bolshevik forces for the control of Ukraine after the dissolution of the Russian Empire.-Background:...
forming the Ukrainian SSR
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...
, a constituent republic of the Soviet Union
Republics of the Soviet Union
The Republics of the Soviet Union or the Union Republics of the Soviet Union were ethnically-based administrative units that were subordinated directly to the Government of the Soviet Union...
in 1919.
During the round of repressions that followed the Soviet takeover, Danylo's older brother Anton, who worked for the Polish National Railway was arrested as an "enemy of the people".
On 15 May 1941 the Soviet authorities force Danylo Shumuk to join a 'work camp' as a brother of an enemy of the people
Enemy of the people
The term enemy of the people is a fluid designation of political or class opponents of the group using the term. The term implies that the "enemies" in question are acting against society as a whole. It is similar to the notion of "enemy of the state". The term originated in Roman times as ,...
. Such treatment did not make Danylo loose faith in the benevolence of communists. When Germany attacked the Soviet Union, the work camps were transformed into Red Army Penal military unit
Penal military unit
Penal battalions, penal companies, etc., are military formations consisting of convicted persons for which military service in such units was either the assigned punishment or an alternative to imprisonment or the death penalty.-Nazi Germany:...
s, that were usually given the most dangerous assignments and were considered expandable.
Living under German Occupation
Danylo Shumuk and his penal battalion never received military training, proper equipment and few weapons. They were forced to attack German tanks unarmed while screaming "For Stalin!". To prevent desertion, communist political officers aimed machine guns at their backs and shot anyone unwilling to charge the advancing tanks. Yet Danylo's deep belief in communism never wavered even after thousands of his comrades died around him, miserably failing to penetrate the 8 centimeter thick armor of the German Panzer tanks, possessing only their fingernails as weapons. Danylo Shumuk, along with 600,000 other soldiers were captured by the Germans on the Kiev front.Danylo was kept in a POW camp in the town of Khorol in the Poltava Oblast
Poltava Oblast
Poltava Oblast is an oblast of central Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Poltava.Other important cities within the oblast include: Komsomolsk, Kremenchuk, Lubny and Myrhorod.-Geography:...
. He described the German POW camp as a 'pit of death with prisoners dying like flies from hunger, exposure and epidemics.' On a cold rainy night he escaped along with three other prisoners. During his travels he learned from Ukrainian villagers about the artificial famine (now known as Holodomor
Holodomor
The Holodomor was a man-made famine in the Ukrainian SSR between 1932 and 1933. During the famine, which is also known as the "terror-famine in Ukraine" and "famine-genocide in Ukraine", millions of Ukrainians died of starvation in a peacetime catastrophe unprecedented in the history of...
genocide) perpetrated by Communists and responsible for close to 10 million deaths from starvation. His deep love of communism faded and he began to describe communism as an abomination. Danylo Shumuk credits Ukrainian farmers who lived through the communist genocide with 'clearing my mind of the opium of communist ideology and opening my eyes.'
In 1943, Danylo joined the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) understanding that Ukrainian struggle for independence was doomed, since the forces involved were unequal. A two front war against Germany and the Soviet Union could not be won. He stated later that he 'considered it my duty to fight to the end.' In February 1945, Danylo Shumuk was captured by the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
and sentenced to death which was commuted to 20 years of hard labor.
Living under Ukrainian SSR government
In 1953 when Stalin died, Shumuk was one of the leaders of prison revolt called the Norilsk UprisingNorilsk uprising
The Norilsk uprising was a major uprising of the GULAG labor camp inmates in [Gorlag] and later in two camps of Norillag [ITL], Norilsk, URSS, now Russia, in the summer of 1953, shortly after Joseph Stalin's death...
. Outbreaks like these throughout the GULAG
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
led to a wide-ranging release of prisoners.
In 1970 Shumuk shared a prison cell with Eduard Kuznetsov
Eduard Kuznetsov
Eduard Kuznetsov is a Soviet dissident, human rights activist, and writer.In 1961, Kuznetsov was arrested for the first time and served seven years in Soviet prisons for making overtly political speeches in poetry readings at Mayakovsky Square in the centre of Moscow and for publishing samizdat...
for five years.
When Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov was a Soviet nuclear physicist, dissident and human rights activist. He earned renown as the designer of the Soviet Union's Third Idea, a codename for Soviet development of thermonuclear weapons. Sakharov was an advocate of civil liberties and civil reforms in the...
accepted his Nobel Peace Prize in 1975 he said:
Here in this hall I should just like to mention the names of some of the internees I am acquainted with. As you were told yesterday, I would ask you to remember that all prisoners of conscience and all political prisoners in my country share with me the honor of the Nobel Prize. Here are some of the names that are known to me:
Plyushch, BukovskyVladimir BukovskyVladimir Konstantinovich Bukovsky is a leading member of the dissident movement of the 1960s and 1970s, writer, neurophysiologist, and political activist....
, Glusman, Moros, Maria Seminoova, Nadeshda SvetlishnayaNadiya SvitlychnaNadiya Oleksiyivna Svitlychna was a Ukrainian dissident and human rights activist, and an active member of the Ukrainian Helsinki group. She was a writer and editor and for a time was a political prisoner of the Soviet regime....
, Stefania Shabatura, Irina Klynets-Stasiv, Irina Senik, Niyola Sadunaite, Anait Karapetian, Osipov, Kronid Ljubarsky, Shumuk, Vins, Rumachek, Khaustov, Superfin, Paulaitis, Simutis, Karavanskiy, Valery, Martshenko, Shuchevich, Pavlenkov, Chernoglas, Abanckin, Suslenskiy, Meshener, Svetlichny, Sofronov, Rode, Shakirov, Heifetz, Afanashev, Mo-Chun, Butman, ŁukianenkoLevko LukyanenkoLevko Lukyanenko ; is a Ukrainian politician, and Soviet dissident and Hero of Ukraine.-Biography:Lukyanenko was born on 24 August 1928 in the Khrypivka village of Chernihiv Oblast, in the USSR...
, Ogurtsov, Sergeyenko, Antoniuk, Lupynos, Ruban, Plachotniuk, Kovgar, Belov, Igrunov, Soldatov, Miattik, Kierend, Jushkevich, Zdorovyy, Tovmajan, Shachverdjan, Zagrobian, Arikian, Markoshan, Arshakian, Mirauskas, Stus, Sverstiuk, Chandyba, Uboshko, Romaniuk, Vorobiov, Gel, Pronjuk, Gladko, Malchevsky, Grazis, Prishliak, Sapeliak, Kolynets, Suprei, Valdman, Demidov, Bernitshuk, Shovkovy, Gorbatiov, Berchov, Turik, Ziukauskas, Bolonkin, Lisovoi, Petrov, Chekalin, Gorodetsky, ChernovolVyacheslav ChornovilViacheslav Chornovil was a Ukrainian politician. A prominent Ukrainian dissident to the Soviet policies, he was arrested multiple times in the 1960s and 1970s for his political views...
, Balakonov, Bondar, Kalintchenko, Kolomin, Plumpa, Jaugelis, Fedoseyev, Osadchij, Budulak-Sharigin, Makarenko, Malkin, Shtern, Lazar Liubarsky, Feldman, Roitburt, Shkolnik, Murzienko, Fedorov, Dymshits, KuznetsovKuznetsovKuznetsov, Kuznyetsov, or Kuznetsoff or Kuznetsova is the third most common Russian surname, an equivalent of the English "Smith" ....
, Mendelevich, Altman, Penson, Knoch, Vulf Zalmanson, Izrail Zalmanson, and many, many others.
Living in exile to Canada
In 1987, having spent a total of 42 years in Soviet and Polish prisons, a Nazi POW Camp, Soviet penal colonies and a forced exile, Shumuk was allowed to leave the country. He moved to Toronto, Canada, where his memoirs "Life sentence : memoirs of a Ukrainian political prisoner" were published in English by the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (1984).Living in an independent Ukraine
On 28 November 2002 he returned to Ukraine, independent by then, and moved to Krasnoarmiysk of the Donetsk OblastDonetsk Oblast
Donetsk Oblast is an oblast of eastern Ukraine. Its administrative center is Donetsk. Historically, the province is an important part of the Donbas region...
(province
Oblast
Oblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"...
) in the east of Ukraine. He died there on 21 May 2004 at the age of 89.
Works
By Danylo Shumuk:- Life sentence: Memoirs of a Ukrainian political prisoner. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Study, 1984, 401 pp., ISBN 978-0920862179.
- Za Chidnim Obriyam -(Beyond The Eastern Horizon). Paris, Baltimore: Smoloskyp, 1974, 447 pp.