PERIODICAL «PROSVITNII LYSTOK» (“ENLIGHTENMENT LEAF”) AS SOURCE FOR RECONSTRUCTION OF HISTORY OF UKRAINIAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN WETZLAR CAMP, GERMANY (1916)

Abstract

The article attempts to reconstruct the course of cultural, educational and national-organisational work in the Wetzlar camp (Germany) in 1916 by frontal elaboration of the annual set of the camp journal «Prosvitnyi Lystok». It was established that his columns contained a huge amount of information about the life and everyday life of Ukrainian prisoners in Wetzlar, which allows a fairly complete reconstruction of the features of organizational and educational work in this camp. In almost every issue of the newspaper there was a column “From Camp Life”, which contained brief information about the activities of all camp groups and organizations, as well as elected bodies of the Ukrainian community. In addition, all donations received were also reported here (for the disabled and sick in the camp hospital, for Volyn schools, etc.). Acquaintance with the camp chronicle allows to determine the circle of donors, which were profitable organizations in the camp (cooperative union, theatre, “artisan workshop”). With its publications, the newspaper had a strong influence on the formation of the national and political worldview of prisoners, publishing materials on the course of socio-political processes in Ukraine and Russia. At the same time, «Prosvitnyi Lystok» effectively expanded the knowledge of prisoners in agronomy with its articles. At the same time, the magazine instilled in the prisoners the basic principles of civic life, emphasizing the injustice of the imperial order in Russia and the enslaved status of Ukraine as part of the empire. Thanks to this, the magazine gained the support of the majority of Ukrainian prisoners, serving them as almost the only “window” into the world of politics, public life and art. Besides, it successfully fulfilled the mission of an information link between the camp organization and the work teams, providing their members with news and socially significant information. The most important feature of the “Enlightenment Leaf” was the Ukrainian-centricity of all its materials, which helped the prisoners to learn the national-state ideals.