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THE CHRONICLE OF THE LIFE OF INTERNED SOLDIERS-UKRAINIANS IN THE CAMP OF KALISZ, POLAND (1922)
Authors: Sribnyak I. V. Dr. (History), Professor (Ukraine), Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University. ORCID 0000-0001- 9750-4958
Number of views: 385
1921 here there were two full-fledged divisions of the Army of the Ukrainian People’s
Republic (in a quantitative composition of more than three thousand people, including about
100 women and children). While retaining its structure and headquarters, these divisions were
consolidated into one group of interned UPR troops. The camp had all necessary infrastructures,
which allowed to properly organizing the lives and lives of the interned, while adhering to the
military background. The camp continued to replenish all the time, but the number of its
“inhabitants” was steadily decreasing in connection with the desertion of part of the camp,
dismissal from the camp by the decision of the Polish authorities, departure to study and
employment of certain categories of soldiers within Poland.
At the beginning of 1922, interned units of the UPR Army in Kalisz, due to the economic
crisis in Poland were in an extremely difficult position as a result of almost complete cessation
of funding. This led to the fact that almost all areas of the activity of interned Ukrainian armies
in the camps were temporarily paralyzed. With a few exceptions, almost all military schools and
colleges have ceased their work for some time. The moral condition of the Ukrainian part of the
war was at a low level, because food was not always at the proper level, and part of the war was
lacking in clothing and footwear. Nevertheless, the majority of the interned was ready to continue
to withstand the disadvantages of the camp’s existence, sincerely believing in the ideals of the
Ukrainian People’s Republic.
In the summer of 1922, the situation of the interned improved in connection with the
assignment of a significant part of them to perform various jobs within the working teams. For
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this, interns received daily cash rewards, which allowed them to save or spend to buy the most
necessary things, as well as improve your nutrition. The command of the Army of the UPR took
steps to ensure that the departure of the interned from the camp for work did not lead to the loss
of ties between the workers’ units and the headquarters of the units, who were left in the camp.
At this time, a powerful consolidating factor was the camp press, which, in addition to uniting
belligerence around the idea of restoration of the UNR, also met their information needs.
With the approach of the fall, the need for workers was gradually diminishing, and the
interned again were in a difficult position. Against them, the sad prospect of hibernating in the
barracks that were not fit for this purpose arose again. Although, in connection with the
significant decrease in the number of interned in the camps of the huts there was no shortage for
them, their heating (especially in severe frosts) remains one of the most urgent problems of the
campers. But this did not shake their commitment to the idea of restoration of the UPR. The
camp itself remained one of the largest places of the accumulation of Ukrainian warfare, who in
their overwhelming majority consistently advocated national liberation slogans, and were
ready to continue the fight against red Russia.