OUN documents found in a can in the forest will be restored in the Frankivsk region
On April 8, 2025, archival documents of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, which had been underground for 80 years, were handed over for restoration. They were found by local residents in a can under a tree uprooted after a bad weather in the forest near the village of Kozakivka in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. The container contained at least half a hundred OUN propaganda publications, a correspondent for “Suspilny” reported.
80 years underground
For the first time, documents belonging to leading structures of the Ukrainian underground were found in the Carpathian region, says the director of the municipal enterprise “Pam’yat” Vasyl Tymkiv.
“This is a unique part of our history and a great mission, so that these documents are restored, preserved, so that those who are not indifferent to our history can see these documents, these publications,” Vasyl Tymkiv said.
The canister with the OUN archives was found in the forest by local residents of the village of Kozakivka, Bolekhivska community, on April 4, 2025. They handed them over to the participants of the search and historical club of the neighboring village of Tysiv, says Viktor Savchuk, the head of the club’s primary branch.
“The storm overturned the tree, and people saw part of some broken metal vessel. And when they found out that these were documents, they immediately contacted us. It’s hard for me to even convey the feeling of realizing that Mother Nature herself showed the archive. You understand, the NKVD and the Soviets destroyed everything. And all these archives, as we see, are in our forests,” says Viktor Savchuk.
“One of the largest finds in the region”
Vasyl Tymkiv says this is one of the largest finds in the region. There are at least fifty documents issued in 1948-1950. These are unique propaganda publications of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the UPA.
“These publications obviously belonged to the propaganda center of the Ukrainian Main Liberation Council. This is a kind of underground government that was created by the OUN. It was supposed to represent the Ukrainian state in a state of war. The head of the information bureau of the Ukrainian Main Liberation Council was Petro “Poltava” Fedun. Perhaps this could be partly his personal archive or the structure he headed,” explains Vasyl Tymkiv.
Among the finds is the brochure “Instructions for Parents in Raising Children.” Vasyl Tymkiv says that despite communist propaganda in educational institutions, the OUN prepared recommendations for parents on how to raise nationally conscious children, “leaving in them the seeds of nationalism.”
How will the restoration of the OUN documents take place
The restoration of the find will be carried out by specialists in the restoration of archival documents from the municipal enterprise “Pam’yat” and historian and restorer Anatoly Yevstigneev. According to him, some of the documents can be restored in six months, while others may take several years to work on.
“This is the first time I have seen the documents in such good condition. This was influenced by the fact that they were damp. That is, there was no oxygen, they did not dry out. And now some pages almost open by themselves. The worst thing will be with the archival documents that are in the swamp. In general, there is a lot of interesting stuff. Here they found an appeal to the Czech brotherly people to rise up to fight against the Bolsheviks in the Czech Republic. There are documents in Russian here so that Russians can read them, and in Ukrainian – multinational ones,” says Anatoly Yevstigneev.
Documents found near the bunker of the UPA fighter under the pseudonym Dolya
Documents in a can were found about a kilometer from the bunker of the UPA fighter under the pseudonym Dolya — editor and writer Bohdana Svitlyk. The hiding place was discovered in 2018 by the search group “Robert”. Its leader Mykola Torko says: these are probably documents that Bohdana Svitlyk printed.
“This bunker was liquidated in 1948. It is possible that this archive is from the bunker. They didn’t keep all the archives in the hiding place, because there was a risk of discovery. So they kept such things outside of them,” says Mykola Torko.
After restoration, the documents will be exhibited in the museum of historical finds in the village of Tysiv.
Experience of working with found documents
In general, three search groups work in the Bolekhiv community: “Tustan”, “Robert” and “Noble Mountain Wanderers”. In 2021, members of the Tustan club found educational materials that UPA recruits studied with.
Searcher Maryan Shturmak says: they usually find the rebels’ household items, military equipment, ammunition remnants, cartridges, bags, badges and cockades.
Also, specialists from the Pam’yat communal enterprise restored 70% of the found documents in 2021. After four years of work, on April 8, 2025, Vasyl Tymkiv returned them to the museum of historical finds in the village of Tysiv.
Iryna Karazub,
Nataliya Vesolovska, Chas
