The Newspaper «Rozsvit» as a Medium for Thoughts and Aspirations of Ukrainian Prisoners of War at the Camp Rastatt in Germany: 1916–1917

Abstract

The article analysses the media content of the camp newspaper «Rozsvit», which concerned the circumstances of the out-of-camp life and life of Ukrainian prisoners from the camp Rastatt (Germany), sent to work as part of worker teams. The aim of the research is to study the peculiarities of the process of retransmission of thoughts and aspirations of the captured Ukrainians of the mentioned camp on the pages of the newspaper «Rozsvit» in 1916–1917s. The historical method, source analysis and synthesis are used to effectively achieve the goal. The study finds that the newspaper effectively served as a communicator between the camp and the worker teams. Regular acquaintance with the materials of the newspaper, which came to the worker teams through the activities of “men of trust”, was an important part of the short evening leisure of prisoners, satisfying their need for news. «Rozsvit’s» editorial office corresponded with Ukrainian activists in worker teams and regularly informed its readers about the achievements of the national circles and organisations founded in them. With its publications, the newspaper had a powerful influence on the formation of the national and political worldview of those prisoners, who were part of the worker teams, serving for them almost the only “window” into the world of politics, public life, agriculture and art. «Rozsvit» regularly reported on donations made to prisoners for charitable purposes, thus demonstrating their high level of civic and national identity. The novelty of the study lies in the introduction into scientific circulation of an array of sources on the specifics of the functioning of the community of captured Ukrainian soldiers in the camp Rastatt in the period of 1916–1917s.