The Journal of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Series History

Foreword

Yurii Volosnyk, Sergey Litovchenko — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

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After the Great Terror: Soviet Repressive Policies Against Religious Denominations in Kharkiv Region, 1939–1941

Yurii Volosnyk — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The article examines Soviet persecution of religious groups in Kharkiv region on the eve and at the outset of the German-Soviet war. The author reviews the state of research on this subject in national historiography and argues that, despite the appearance in recent decades of a number of works on the repressive policies of the Soviet totalitarian state against religion and the church in the 1930s, the regional aspects of this subject are still not well understood. This fully applies to Kharkiv region, especially in the immediate prewar period. Attention to the Bolsheviks’ repressive policies against the clergy and believers of the region is usually limited to the 1920s and 1930s, while religious persecution in the last years before the war remains mostly neglected, even though the source base for its study is not lacking. This makes the present work particularly relevant. The article shows that, despite the termination of the Great Terror at the end of 1938, repressions against clergy and believers did not stop, although their scale sharply decreased compared to the period of 1937–1938, which created the illusion of their complete (or almost complete) cessation. It is argued that the main reason for such persistence was the conceptual continuity of the political course of the Soviet totalitarian state regarding religion and the church as a social institution. The programmatic goal of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), with its monopoly on power, remained unchanged: the creation of a religionfree society. Based on both published and newly-discovered archival sources, the author finds that the repressions of 1939–1941 extended to almost all religious denominations of Kharkiv region still active at the time – congregations of the ‘Sergian’ Russian Orthodox Church, Renovated Church, Old Believers, Baptists, and others. The state security apparatus de facto fully controlled and directed the activities of religious organizations while simultaneously carrying out repressions against them. It is shown that during this period both clergymen, including high-placed hierarchs, and ordinary believers were subject to persecution. It is also noted that in the immediate pre-war period the NKVD significantly intensified its campaign against the ‘Jewish clerical underground’ in Kharkiv (and throughout Ukraine), persecuting the most active members of the Hasidic community.

Documenting Vagrants and ‘Cripples’ in Late-18th-Century Sloboda Ukraine (Evidence of Revision Lists from the Kharkiv Viceroyalty)

Olena Vorotyntseva — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The article is concerned with issues of population counting and taxation in Sloboda Ukraine towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the study is to analyze the evidential value of primary census documents (revision lists, literally ‘revision tales,’ revizki kazky) and accompanying administrative records from the period of the Kharkiv Viceroyalty, with a particular focus on the category of vagrants and ‘cripples.’ The author outlines the main phases in the evolution of the census procedure, taking into account its distinctive regional features. It is demonstrated that a reliable categorization of population for tax purposes was introduced in Sloboda Ukraine no earlier than the first quarter of the 18th century. Throughout the century, population counting in the region remained variable in form and approach to the recording of individual information and verification of census results. The fourth ‘revision’ (1782–1783) covered the entire taxable population of the region and most of the non-taxable social groups that had not previously been subject to population counts. In addition to the standard census information, revision lists produced in the last two decades of the 18th century contained supplemental biographical data that make it possible to sketch out collective portraits of individual social groups. The vagrants and ‘cripples’ of Sloboda Ukraine are represented in these statistical records as a numerous population category that required the attention and care of local authorities. Using methods of source criticism, the author was able to indentify characteristics of population counting related to the functioning of the regional bureaucratic apparatus. The article expands the range of mass sources that can be used in historical-demographic, genealogical, and prosopographic research, as well as in the study of the history of medicine and everyday life of marginalized groups in Sloboda Ukraine.

Reception of Biblical Texts in the Unpublished Writings of Mykhaylo Maksymovych from the Holdings of the Institute of Manuscripts of the V. I. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine

Pavlo Yeremieiev — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The article considers the presence and role of biblical images in the unpublished writings of Mykhaylo Maksymovych (1804–1873), a prominent Ukrainian intellectual and the first rector of Kyiv University, with a focus on the connection between Maksymovych’s perception of the Bible and his socio-political and philosophical views. The study draws on the methodological approaches of the Cambridge school of intellectual history, theory of metaphors, and Georg Elwert’s concept of ‘we-groups.’ Based on the analysis of the scholar’s papers preserved at the Institute of Manuscripts of the V. I. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine, the study shows that Maksymovych linked the evangelical image of the Word as the second hypostasis of the Holy Trinity with the specifics of man’s written expression, while simultaneously drawing a parallel between the image of the ‘word’ (slovo) and the term ‘Slavs.’ Maksymovych perceived the imagery of the Great Flood and the Tower of Babel as factual episodes in the history of the human race. As a follower of Friedrich Schelling, he tried to harmonize his own studies in the fields of natural history, history, and philology with biblical historiosophy. The article shows the influence of Romanticism on the reception of biblical images in the writings of Maksymovych. Based on Apostle Paul’s antithesis between the Spirit and the Letter, Maksymovych symbolically connects the image of the Spirit with ‘Holy Rus’’, and the image of the Letter with the West. In his considerations on the history of Slavic translations of the Bible, Maksymovych was influenced by the contemporary discussion on the need to translate the Holy Scriptures into modern languages, as well as by the philosophical and socio-political developments of the first half and middle of the 19th century. The article finds similarities in the views of Maksymovych and Orest Novitsky on the history of Slavic translations of the Bible and shows how characterizations of the Bible found in Maksymovych’s lecture notes from the mid-1830s were later reflected in his published works.

Female Leadership in the Communities of the Khlysty (Flagellants) and Skoptsi (Eunuchs), 17th to Early 20th Centuries

Pavlo Yeremieiev, Oleksandr Shevchenko — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The article sets out to outline the genesis of female leadership in the sects of the Khlysty (Flagellants) and Skoptsi (Eunuchs); find whether its nature changed during the period from the mid-17th to the early 20th centuries; define the types of female leadership in these religious communities; compare its characteristics between the two sects; and trace the mutual influence between the social practices of female leadership and the folklore tradition of the ‘mystical sects.’ The study draws on the principles of gender history. The source base includes both texts produced within the sects and ‘external’ testimony, such as records of state authorities and the official church, works by early Old Believer leaders, and ethnographic observation. The author argues that female leadership among the Khlysty was made possible by their radical rejection of marriage and was closely connected with the gradual strengthening of the role of Virgin Mary in Khlysty folklore. Three types of female leadership among the Khlysty and Skoptsi are distinguished. The first type can be defined through the identification of the leader with the Mother of God, and the second type presupposed community leadership and belief in the special mystical abilities of women, but without conferring on the leader the status of ‘the Mother of God.’ The third type was temporary leadership, in which only at certain moments a woman uttered prophecies that the congregation perceived as the voice of the Holy Spirit. In the period from the mid-17th to early 18th centuries, the institution of Khlysty ‘Mothers of God’ already existed, and in some Khlysty communities women played an important role in cult practices. Most recorded instances of fully independent women leaders among the Khlysty occur in the period from the late 1710s to the middle of the 18th century, primarily because of the spread of Khlysty beliefs in the church milieu, particularly in women’s monasteries. From the mid-18th century on, we can observe a rapid decline of the practice of fullfledged female leadership among the Khlysty and Skoptsi. This is due to the elimination of the most prominent female leader figures, as well as to the fact that at this time monasteries as sectarian centers were almost completely replaced by villages, which were characterized by conservative views and traditional family relations.

The Functioning of the Apparatus of Prykaz Chambers and Development of Prykaz Archives in the Towns of Sloboda Ukraine, 17th to Early 18th Centuries

Sergey Kushnarev — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The article explores the development and operation of the archives of prykazni (or z’izhdzhi) izby (prykaz chambers) in the towns of Sloboda Ukraine from the 17th to early 18th centuries. The settlement of Sloboda Ukraine during the 17th century led not only to the spread of prykaz bureaucracy, but also to the appearance of new types of documents, distinctive for this region. The article provides a detailed description of the functioning of the institute of prykaz assistant clerks (subdeacons, piddyachi), directly responsible for day to day paperwork and acting as the principal custodians of records withdrawn from active use. Analyzing for the first time in historiography the inventory of the prykaz archive of Chuhuiv (the oldest known such office) for the 1640s enables the author to outline the bureaucratic procedures that accompanied the founding of a new town, allocation of land, and establishment of a local administration. It is argued that proper record keeping and operational efficiency of local prykaz archives depended solely on the personal qualities of individual voivodes or assistant clerks. While prykaz officials could be punished for poor performance of their direct duties, documents that would regulate archive related aspects of local administration did not exist until the last third of the 17th century. Based on analysis of inventories of prykaz archives, the author argues that this institution played a major role in the everyday life of towns. Both government policy in the development and defense of the new territories and the life of the average inhabitant of the borderlands, who needed to be allocated land and cash salary as quickly as possible, depended on the preservation and effective use of documents. The article gives an overview of modern archival collections where administrative records of prykaz chambers of Sloboda Ukraine from this period can be found today and considers the prospects for further use of these sources in historical research.

The Development and Operation of the Institution of Noble Wardship in Kharkiv, 1775–1796

Kristina Porolova — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Provincial officials as a distinct social group played a leading role in the political, economic, and cultural integration of Sloboda Ukraine into the administrative, social, and legal space of the Russian Empire in the second half of the 18th century. The evolution of the system of provincial governance in the period from 1775 to 1796 reflected the overall transformations aimed at the unification of the Ukrainian lands with the core regions of the Russian Empire. The creation of a new administrative structure required new personnel. Analysis of documents from the holdings of the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine (Kyiv) demonstrates that during the period in question the bureaucratic apparatus was staffed in a variety of ways, attracting representatives of different estates. Traditionally, however, preference was given to members of the nobility, and thus noble wardships were of great importance in supplying the state with qualified, well-educated cadres of noble descent and played a valuable role in the administrative reforms in Sloboda Ukraine. The purpose of the study is to characterize the institution of noble wardship in the context of the formation of a new administrative system in the Sloboda Ukraine Governorate and Kharkiv Viceroyalty during the last quarter of the 18th century. Archival records are used to analyze the structure and operations of noble wardships. It is shown that, while these institutions served as a means of replenishing the region’s bureaucracy with representatives of the noble estate, their range of activities was not limited to this function. Young nobles often became representatives of the administrative class. This was facilitated by the activities of noble wardships, which safeguarded the rights and provided financial support to the local nobility. Using previously overlooked documents enables the author to explore the subject in greater depth.

Symbols of Independence and Sovereignty: The Emergence of Systems of Honours and Awards in Eastern Europe, 1918–1920 (the cases of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, and Czechoslovakia)

Sergiy Potrashkov — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In the countries of Western Europe, honours and awards have a long-established tradition going back centuries. The picture is different in Eastern Europe, where national decorations of merit are much younger. In most countries of the region, the birth of their own systems of honours and awards dates to the period of 1918–1920 and is directly related to the course and outcomes of the First World War. This process had similarities and differences across countries. The political results of the First World War were extremely significant. The largest empires ceased to exist. On their ruins, new independent states emerged, mostly in Eastern Europe. Literally from the first days of their existence, the young states were involved in a series of armed conflicts, both internal and external. In the course of these wars, national armies with their own symbols and insignia emerged. In this regard, it is not surprising that military decorations were the first to appear in all countries of Eastern Europe, and it was with them that the formation of national systems of honours and awards began. For a long time, military awards remained the only decorations of merit. They were occasionally granted to civilians, as well as used for diplomatic purposes, being conferred on foreign statesmen and military leaders. Some countries (Poland, Estonia) tried to overcome the deficit of awards by dividing them into many classes and degrees. All countries in the region, except Poland, lacked their own distinct traditions of awards and decorations. As they wished to avoid copying already known patterns, and even more so imitating former empires, the new states turned to their own mythology, history, and heraldry in search of originality. So, the swastika appeared in the phaleristics of Latvia, the cross of the Jagiellonians in Lithuania, the cross of the Master of the Teutonic Order in Estonia, and linden leaves, branches, and wreaths in Czechoslovakia.

A Group Burial in the Chernyakhiv Culture Cemetery of Viytenky

Mikhailo Lyubichev, Erdmute Schultze — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The cemetery represents part of an archaeological complex of the late Roman to early Great Migration period located in the eastern part of the area of the Chernyakhiv/Sântana de Mureş culture. In all, 273 graves (128 inhumations, 143 cremations, and 2 cenotaphs) were discovered there, belonging to the stages C3–D1 in the system of J. Teiral or to M. V. Lyubichev’s phases B–E of the ‘classical’ Chernyakhiv culture of the DnieperDonets forest-steppe region. Grave 183 sheds additional light on the problem of group burials in the Chernyakhiv/Sântana de Mureş culture. The number and placement of postpits in the grave is analogous to Grave 224 of the Dančeny burial ground, suggesting the similarity of the original wooden chambers. Two skeletons were found in the grave, anthropologically identified as a man of 18-20 years old and a woman of 30-35 years old. The grave inventory includes ceramic vessels, metal clothing accessories, and household utensils. The ceramic vessels form a so-called ‘complete drinking service,’ in which a special place belongs to a ‘decanter’ jug. Its distinction lies in the zoomorphic ornament that decorates it. On the belt, five successive animal figures in motion are depicted in recessed, slashed lines, representing an ornament of a combined type. Figurative images of animals are very rare not only on vessels of the Chernyakhiv culture, but also on those from the areas of Roman-era cultures in Central Europe — the territory of Germania Magna. The closest to the images on the ‘decanter’ jug from Grave 183 in terms of motif, composition, and technique is the zoomorphic image on a three-handled vase from the cremation grave 1 of the Kaborga IV Chernyakhiv cemetery in southwestern Ukraine. The wooden chamber of Grave 183 was built for the burial of several individuals, most likely members of the same family and clan. The chamber has space for more than two bodies, but only two were interred; the free space may be interpreted as the entrance to the chamber. The two deceased were probably buried at the same time, in a similar crouched position. Group burials are not a common phenomenon in Chernyakhiv cemeteries, but they do occur. The fairly high social status of the two deceased from Grave 183 is evidenced by: 1) a large burial chamber; 2) a ceramic ‘drinking service,’ including the ‘decanter’ jug with a unique zoomorphic ornament; 3) a unique fibula (possibly two); 4) remains of sacrificial food.

State of Research on the Typology and Chronology of Chernyakhiv Wheeled Pottery

Vasyl Rusnak — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Wheeled pottery is the most common type of finds on settlements and cemeteries of the Chernyakhiv culture. It is one of the main markers differentiating the Chernyakhiv material complex from other cultures of the late Roman to early Great Migration period in Eastern Europe. Some works on the typology, classification, and chronology of wheeled pottery cover the full spectrum of ceramic artifacts from the entire area of the Chernyakhiv culture, while others focus on individual regions, sites, or categories of wares. Early research on the Chernyakhiv culture produced generalized groupings of ceramic material. The 1960s saw first forays into the classification and typology of wheeled pottery. It was at this time that the main categories of vessels were defined: pots, bowls, vases (bowl vases), beakers, mugs, and jugs. Since the 1970s, with the accumulation of a large mass of finds, works began to be published on the classification and chronology of individual categories and types of wheeled pottery. The 1990s were marked by efforts to rethink the methodological approaches to the typology and classification of ceramic material. Attempts were also made to use ceramic materials in developing a system of relative chronology for the Chernyakhiv culture. Unfortunately, so far such attempts have not been successful — perhaps due to the abundance of centers for the production of wheeled pottery across the different regions and micro-regions of the Chernyakhiv culture, where technology transfer and evolution of forms may have proceeded with varying speed and intensity. In our view, the most promising way forward here may lie in using a microregional approach that would focus on individual pottery production centers and their vicinities. This kind of research requires not only the availability of a well-studied microregion of the Chernyakhiv culture, but also a well-developed methodology for working with ceramic material.

The Glass Beaker from Bilche-Zolote: On the Chronological and Cultural Attribution of the Find

Vladyslav Shchepachenko — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The paper represents an attempt at a cultural and chronological attribution of the glass vessel found in the vicinity of the village of Bilche-Zolote in Ternopil region. The cup was purchased from local residents by Princess Teresa Sapieha around the turn of the 20th century. Information about the find was first published by V. Demetrykiewicz in 1904. Later, in his list of Roman imports H.-J. Eggers designated the vessel from BilcheZolote as variant b of Eggers type 188; this type also includes finds from Bugno (variant c) and Linowiec (variant a) in the north of today’s Poland. The typological connection between the beakers from Bilche-Zolote and Linowiec was also noted by A. T. Braichevska (Smilenko), who was one of the first researchers to include the find from Ternopil region among the Chernyakhiv artifacts of Roman origin. Given the dating of the Linowiec vessel, she proposed to assign the beaker from Bilche-Zolote to the 3rd century. This cultural attribution remained widely accepted in historiography for several decades. Today, the dating of the vessel from Bilche-Zolote may be seen as one of the main arguments against such an interpretation. Its closest equivalents are beakers of Eggers type 188a. They are mainly known from the Wielbark culture of the lower Vistula, where their presence is localized in the last third of the 2nd and first third of the 3rd centuries. Their origin is obviously connected with the northwestern provinces of the Roman Empire. The period of their circulation in the Barbaricum precedes the formation of the Chernyakhiv culture, which began no earlier than the second third of the 3rd century. Given the localization of the various cultural groups of the period from the last third of the 2nd to first third of the 3rd centuries in the upper Dniester region, we may suppose that the Bilche-Zolote vessel could be contextually connected to the sites of the Przeworsk or Lypytsya cultures in the area. If so, the glass beaker may have reached the upper Dniester via the northern route, through the mediation of the Wielbark and Przeworsk cultures.

Source Studies Notebooks: A Series Overview (to the 60th Anniversary of the Department of Historiography, Source Studies, and Archaeology)

Serhii Kudelko, Oleksii Yankul — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The overview is dedicated to the series of publications Source Studies Notebooks, launched in 2002 at the Department of Historiography, Source Studies, and Archaeology of the School of History, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. A total of 10 Notebooks have been published. In addition to in-depth articles on various aspects of its chosen theme, each issue includes information about the authors (or compilers) and the editorial board, scholarly commentary, an introductory article and bibliography, and illustrations if necessary. The overview shows that, since the start of the series, most individual issues focused on special historical disciplines, with fewer issues devoted to collections of documents, memoirs and epistolary heritage, and papers presented at an international research and practice seminar on source studies.

On the Archaeographic Project “Kharkiv University in the Memories of Its Faculty and Students, 1941‒1945”

Sergiy Posokhov — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The report discusses a continuing series of archaeographic publications dedicated to Kharkiv University in the memories of members of its student body, faculty, and staff, focusing in particular on the fourth volume of the series, which deals with World War II, or more specifically with the period of 1941‒1945. The collection, published in 2023, includes various types of ego-documents: not only memoirs, but also diaries, letters, transcripts, and official autobiographies. The contents of the texts are also quite diverse, reflecting the often divergent life paths of the authors (some of them found themselves in emigration). Taken together, these writings create opportunities for factual comparison, help achieve a more complete and comprehensive understanding of the history of Kharkiv university during World War II, and illustrate the mechanisms of construction and functioning of historical memory.

Kharkiv Trial of 1943 in the Mirror of Documents

Olha Vovk — Sun, 29 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

A review of the collection of documents and materials “The Beginning of the Road to Nuremberg. The Kharkiv Trial (December 15–18, 1943)” (Kharkiv, 2022), which was published in the series “Notebooks in Source Studies”, was conducted. The book contains valuable historical sources that were previously scattered and little known to the public; some of them are being published for the first time. The collection, based on extensive documentary material, allows us to form an idea of the preparation, course, and consequences of the Kharkiv trial, which laid the foundations for the famous Nuremberg Trial.