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Best regards, Andrew Stewart - - - Subscribe to the Washington Babylon newsletter via https://washingtonbabylon.com/newsletter/ Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: April 27, 2020 at 11:24:23 AM EDT > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Empire]: Vsetecka on Hnatiuk, 'Courage and Fear' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Ola Hnatiuk. Courage and Fear. Trans. Ewa Siwak. Ukrainian Studies > Series. Boston Academic Studies Press, 2020. xvii + 534 pp. $45.00 > (paper), ISBN 978-1-64469-251-6. > > Reviewed by John Vsetecka (Michigan State University) > Published on H-Empire (April, 2020) > Commissioned by Gemma Masson > > Originally published in Polish in 2015 (Odwaga i strach), Ola > Hnatiuk's book Courage and Fear is now available in English > translation thanks to Academic Studies Press. The text, which is > translated by Hnatiuk's sister, Ewa Siwak, is an exemplary history of > the city of Lviv and its intellectual milieu during World War II. The > book is not a typical history of war and destruction in the standard > sense; rather, Hnatiuk chooses to construct a narrative built from > carefully examined sources that provide the reader with intimate > insight into the personal lives of academics, scientists, painters, > musicians, and nationalist sympathizers as they navigate their lives > during the war. The book is divided into seven chapters, and the list > of protagonists grows with each. The author's carefully organized > text allows her to introduce new faces in each chapter to the > ever-growing circle of Lviv's intellectual society. The characters > represent the diverse populations that inhabited the city during the > war, but the author pays acute attention to the role of Ukrainians, > Poles, and Jews. Hnatiuk is careful to avoid reducing these personal > relationships to ones based solely on nationalist leanings and ethnic > hatreds, and she rightfully points to several examples of interethnic > cooperation among the individuals and families who occupy her > monograph. The purpose of the book is to overcome simple definitions > of people and places, and it is Hnatiuk's goal "to cross-examine > historical verdicts so often mandated by ethnic loyalties" (p. x). In > doing so, she demonstrates that Poles, Jews, and Ukrainians often > crossed personal, professional, and state-dictated boundaries as a > way to survive and help each other during the war years. > > During World War II, the multilingual and multinational city of Lviv, > also known as Lwów, Lvov, and Lemberg, among others, faced a > constant rotation of Soviet and German occupations. Depending on who > the occupier was on a specific day meant the difference between life > and death. Hnatiuk states that "for some, that day meant a flight > ridden with obstacles; for others, a no less difficult return; for > many, death; for a few, liberation" (p. 25). The constant threat from > occupying forces changed life trajectories for many. For example, in > Hnatiuk's second chapter, "Haven at the Clinic," readers are > introduced to Fryderyka Lille (also known as Irena) who worked as > Lviv's only female hematologist. She was also Jewish. After > establishing herself as a successful scientist and academic, rising > antisemitism in the city forced her to give up her noted academic > career and move her medical practice into a private location. Only > with help from her mentor and former boss, Franciszek Groër, was > Lille able to continue with her work. This all changed when the > Germans arrived in Lviv on June 30, 1941, and Lille and her family > were forced to evacuate their apartment out of fear. Hnatiuk writes, > "Barely two weeks later Lille and her mother-in-law found shelter in > the home of a mixed Polish-Ukrainian couple" (p. 71). The courage of > neighbors and other ethnic groups allowed some, like Lille, a chance > at survival. Like many of their contemporaries, the Lille family > became adept at navigating their established networks in Lviv. > > Perhaps of most significance to the Soviets were the universities. > Hnatiuk dedicates ninety pages to her chapter "Academic Snapshots," > which speaks to the importance of education and propaganda in Soviet > ideology during the war. Academics and the institutions in which they > worked were targeted as spaces in which professors could teach their > students how to fit in to the new Soviet order. The author contends > that "the Soviets restructured the university and quickly politicized > the campus, turning it into an ideological instrument" (p. 221). The > Soviets relied on local party functionaries, such as Mykhailo > Marchenko, to implement these new policies. Marchenko was a historian > and member of the Communist Party of Ukraine, and he prepared special > reports about the seizure of western Ukraine for first secretary of > the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Nikita > Khrushchev. The dedicated work of Marchenko made him a trusted man, > and he was rewarded with the position of university president at the > State University in Lviv. A major function of Marchenko's position > was to admit more Ukrainian students and to shift the language of > instruction from Polish to Ukrainian. The Soviets knew that they > would need the help of local populations to carry out their orders, > so they turned their attention to stirring up ethnic rivalries in the > media. This is where Hnatiuk's scrupulous reading of sources unveils > a much more complex story. Using various newspaper articles from the > early war years, especially from _Pravda _and _Izvestiia_, the author > finds that "the media repeatedly emphasized how Poland had > economically handicapped the Ukrainian and Jewish populations, > stirring up hatred for the oppressors as well as hope for a change of > fortunes" (p. 135). This is how the Soviets justified their existence > in Lviv. These rivalries were played upon further in the university > setting where Ukrainians were privileged in admissions and native > tongue, at least theoretically. > > To make matters worse for their Polish and Jewish colleagues, > Ukrainians were once again granted higher status under the Germans. > During the German occupation, nationality served as a marker of > status. The Germans used their own identity markers (_Kennkarte_) to > distinguish between nationalities and to maintain control of the > various populations under their occupation. Hnatiuk asserts, "The > General Government imposed a hierarchy of nationalities, according to > which a _Kennkarte _with the letter 'U' (which certified documented > Ukrainian origin) entitled its carrier to more than a card with a 'P' > (that is, of Polish ethnicity), while the Jewish population was > completely stripped of all rights" (pp. 369-370). However, as the > author reminds us, it is important to note that these simple > categorizations of peoples reflected Nazi policy and not those of > Ukrainians, Poles, or Jews. Both the Soviets and the Germans were > responsible for creating hierarchies among Lviv's diverse population > as a way to control, manipulate, and influence. These actions did not > always reflect the ideas and beliefs of those who were subjected to > them, but the legacy of national and ethnic tensions created by the > occupying forces continue to haunt Ukrainians, Poles, and Jews to > this day. > > Following the lives of other intellectuals in Lviv, Hnatiuk > highlights Maksym and Iaroslava Muzyka in her chapter titled "Artists > from Café de la Paix." Maksym was a microbiologist, doctor, and dean > of the Ukrainian Underground University. His wife, Iaroslava, was a > painter and chairman of the Association of Independent Ukrainian > Artists (ANUM). In 1944, the Soviets launched an operation called > "Shchos" (Something) to locate members of the Ukrainian underground > resistance movement. Iaroslava was tapped to become an intermediary > between the Soviets and the Ukrainian underground, and she regularly > relayed messages between the two groups. The Soviets leveraged their > connection to the Muzykas to infiltrate their wider circle of > friends, which the Soviets believed to be spies, traitors, and > members of the resistance movement. Hnatiuk states that "the NKVD > [People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs] began working the artist > and her closest circle. They named the operation 'Muzykanty,' and > targeted the artist along with her husband and friends from ANUM" (p. > 444). Iaroslava was later arrested on trumped-up charges of owning a > personal library and working for the Organization of Ukrainian > Nationalists (OUN). She was imprisoned in Kyiv but later released. > She continued painting for a time before devoting her energy to the > _Shistdesiatnyky _(the 1960s generation) where she published poems > outside of official circulation. Her artistic endeavors were once > again targeted by the Soviet secret police in 1972, and she > eventually passed away in 1973. Iaroslava and her husband Maksym were > just two members of a much larger network of artists, doctors, > professors, and lawyers who befriended each other and created a human > chain of support during times of occupation. These men and women were > the graticules on the intellectual map of Lviv, and while these > connections helped them locate each other in times of need, they also > ironically led authorities to find them when their very existence was > meant to prevent them from doing so. > > To write a book that privileges the experiences of individuals rather > than states requires a master historian. Hnatiuk is this and much > more. She is a tactician of sources, moving seamlessly between > Ukrainian, Polish, Russian, and English. Anyone who researches in > central and eastern Europe will understand that knowledge of multiple > languages is required to work in even one country. To sort through > documents in a variety of tongues allows one to access the most > personal details of past lives. Hnatiuk uses an array of sources, > including memoirs, testimonies, newspapers, ego-documents, and > security files. She ambitiously wades through nine Ukrainian archives > and libraries, six Polish ones, and several others in the UK and the > US. This is in addition to the twenty-seven newspapers and > periodicals from which she draws. Hnatiuk should also be praised for > her ability to make sense of such a large amount of material. She is > at her best, I think, when she reveals to the reader the nuances of > overlooked sources like song lyrics and magazine articles. In one > instance, Hnatiuk dissects Pavel Grigeoriev's lyrics in "Only in > Lviv." The song was rewritten to fit new political standards, and > Hnatiuk cleverly reveals the hidden meaning in the new version: "This > simple metaphor for the Soviet order was meant to convince the > listeners of the city's sunny atmosphere and hospitality. The Russian > version ended with an invitation to Lviv" (p. 280). In another case, > the author reads between the lines of a magazine article written by > Mykhailo Dmytrenko in _Literatura i mystetstvo_. She concludes her > reading of this source by noting that "an eye accustomed to reading > between the lines will immediately catch the intimation. Conversely, > a person who grew up without censorship will not even register the > difference between propagandist stencils and Dmytrenko's cautious > attempt to break through them" (p. 416). In essence, Hnatiuk sees > what many others cannot. > > Overall, _Courage and Fear_ is an excellent assessment of > intellectual society in Lviv during World War II. While scientists, > doctors, artists, and professors rightfully receive Hnatiuk's full > attention in this book, one might be left wondering about the lives > of those who did not belong to Lviv's intellectual class. And at the > same time, one might also wonder why the author did not substantially > include religious figures in her intellectual circle. Such a focus on > Lviv also left me wondering what the intellectual milieus in other > prominent cities, such as Kyiv, might have looked like in comparison > to the one presented here. Aside from these remaining questions, > Hnatiuk has written a wonderful history of Lviv through the eyes of > some of the city's most prominent people. Unlike other works of > history, this book avoids jargon, and Hnatiuk commits to telling the > stories of individuals with an abundance of evidence and passion. The > index of names in the back of the book is most helpful, and even the > most seasoned historian will find themselves turning to it to > maintain some order of the characters that the author presents. The > book will be mandatory reading for those interested in central and > east European history, intellectual circles, and urban studies. For > those wishing to read a book that creatively and intelligently > untangles the entanglements of personal motivations and actions, this > is simply one of the best. > > Citation: John Vsetecka. Review of Hnatiuk, Ola, _Courage and Fear_. > H-Empire, H-Net Reviews. April, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=54986 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
