Ozernyi, Mykhailo Dmytrovych

OZERNYI, MYKHAILO DMYTROVYCH (b. 1929, in Verkhnie Synovydne, Skole raion, Lviv oblast).
Teacher of Ukrainian and German languages. Political prisoner (1965–1968).
From a poor peasant family. He grew up an orphan, without a father. He served in the army from 1948 to 1952. He worked in the city of Starobesheve in the Donetsk region. He obtained a higher pedagogical education, living on a single scholarship. In 1954, he married; his wife is a doctor, and they have 2 sons. For some time, he worked at the Ternopil Pioneers’ Palace and taught in various schools, including 2 years at the Dorohuniv Secondary School in Ternopil oblast. He unsuccessfully tried to get a job in Ternopil. From 1962, he worked at a school in the village of Ripne, Rozhniativ raion, Ivano-Frankivsk oblast. His family remained in Ternopil. He had 13 years of teaching experience. He published articles in the press about language and literature. He belonged to the circle of young Ukrainian intelligentsia.
He was arrested at the end of August 1965, while returning from vacation in the Carpathians. He was accused of conducting anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda (Part 1, Article 62 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR) and of organizational activity (Article 64).
Over the course of 5 months, he was interrogated 46 times; some interrogations lasted 10 or 11 hours, and one lasted 20 hours, so out of exhaustion, Ozernyi sometimes signed the protocols drafted by the investigator, Captain Rudyi, without reading them. The subjects of the interrogations were: he demanded purity of language from his students and ridiculed Russicisms; he renamed the “Goluboy Ogonyok” (Little Blue Light) evening of entertainment to “Vatra” (Bonfire); in a report about Shevchenko, he emphasized anti-Moscow statements, hung an embroidered towel on Shevchenko’s portrait, and was outraged that the evening began with a Russian song about Lenin; he dictated “nationalist” aphorisms to his students, such as “A sound mind in a sound body” and “The enemies of your nation are your enemies”; in a circle of friends, he spoke out against Russification; at a party at I. GERETA’s home on August 22, 1965, he quoted the anthem “Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished…,” and over drinks, they talked about the fire at the Central Scientific Library, that teachers should instill a love for their native language, and about the possibility of Ukrainian independence.
During the investigation, Ozernyi confessed to reading President Eisenhower’s speech at the unveiling of the T. Shevchenko monument in Washington; to giving I. GERETA a “Letter from Canadian Cultural Figures to Ukrainians” and “The Speech of Pope Paul VI” to read, as well as the article “Ukrainian Education in a Chauvinist Noose,” and he promised to give him the article “Regarding the Trial of Pohruzhalsky.” In addition, during a search of Ozernyi’s home, a 1935 issue of the journal *Zhinocha Dolia* (Woman’s Fate), M. Arkas’s *History of Ukraine*, and an old book, *Ukrainian Bohemia*, were seized.
On November 30, 1965, Ozernyi had a meeting with the head of the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR, V. Nikitchenko, at the Ivano-Frankivsk UKGB building, and the latter “took into account” his confession.
At his trial, which took place on February 3–7, 1966, Ozernyi held himself with dignity. His students were questioned. They did not condemn but praised their teacher. Unexpectedly, witness Antonina Matviienko, a Candidate of Philological Sciences and a lecturer at Kyiv University, protested against the “terrorist methods of conducting interrogations by Captain Rudyi” (referring to moral terror); she defended Ozernyi, stating that he was a “decent person,” and called on other witnesses to retract their incriminating testimony. (The court issued a separate ruling regarding her, sent compromising materials to the rector of Kyiv State University, and on February 19, 1966, A. Matviienko was fired from her job under Article 47, clause “v” of the Labor Code.)
Only people with special invitations and witnesses were allowed into the courtroom. From February 4 to 7, journalist Pavlo Skochok was admitted because he had identification as an employee of the Central Committee of the CPU’s newspaper, *Radians’ka Ukraina*. He recorded the court proceedings in detail and, along with a letter dated March 19, sent it to the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPU, P. Shelest, and also distributed it in samvydav. V. CHORNOVIL published this record as one of the appendices to his work *Justice or Relapses of Terror?*. Thus, the public learned that Ozernyi was forced to repent for teaching children to love their native language and culture. P. Skochok was fired from his job at the newspaper *Radians’ka Ukraina* in the spring of 1966, and in 1979, he was confined to a psychiatric hospital by a court verdict.
Prosecutor Paraskevych said: “It has been proven in court that the defendant committed a particularly dangerous state crime, provided for by Article 62 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR. As for Article 64—it should be excluded from the indictment. There can be no such organization in our modern age. These are isolated phenomena, like Ozernyi, Gereta. I believe that by his repentance, Ozernyi has shed one year, and I demand 6 years.” The lawyer delivered a no less accusatory speech, but concluded thus: “Six years, in my opinion, is too much.”
Stunned and disoriented, Ozernyi repented in his final statement, cried when he mentioned his sons, pleaded for mercy, referred to the “great justice of the Soviet court,” and promised to “atone for my guilt with honest labor.” However, the court was merciless. The Supreme Court of the Ukrainian SSR did, however, reduce the term to 3 years.
Seventy-eight members of the Ukrainian intelligentsia appealed to the Prosecutor of the Ukrainian SSR, F. Hlukh, and the head of the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR, V. Nikitchenko, for admission to the trials, citing the trial of Ozernyi as an example of secrecy. The response: subsequent trials were even more closed.
Ozernyi served his sentence in camp No. 11, in the settlement of Yavas, in Mordovia.
Ozernyi’s subsequent fate is unknown to us.

Bibliography:
Chornovil, V. *Woe from Wit*. 1967, pp. 215-216; Lviv: Memorial, 1991, pp. 119-120.
Chornovil, V. *Works: In 10 vols*. Vol. 2. *Justice or Relapses of Terror?*, *Woe from Wit*. *Materials and Documents 1966–1969*. Compiled by Valentyna Chornovil. Foreword by Les Taniuk. Kyiv: Smoloskyp, 2003, pp. 81, 99-103, 108, 111-114, 126-129, 132, 135-137, 156-159, 236-282, 581-582.
*The Case of M. Ozernyi: P. Skochok. To the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPU, Shelest, P. Yu. (March 10, 1966, in the case of the trial of M. Ozernyi), A Record of the Trial in Ivano-Frankivsk of the Teacher Ozernyi, The Testimony of Witnesses, The State’s Accusation by Prosecutor Paraskevych, The Public Accuser, the School Director, The Lawyer, The Defendant’s Final Statement*. In *The Ukrainian Intelligentsia on Trial by the KGB*, 1970, pp. 118-121, 121-153, 153-156, 157, 157-159, 159-160.
Kasianov, Georgiy. *The Dissenters: The Ukrainian Intelligentsia in the Resistance Movement of the 1960s-80s*. Kyiv: Lybid, 1995, pp. 53-54.
Horyn, Bohdan. *Not Just About Myself: A Documentary Novel-Collage: In 3 books*. Kyiv: Univ. vyd-vo PULSARY, 2006, pp. 121-122.
*The Resistance Movement in Ukraine: 1960–1990. An Encyclopedic Guide*. Foreword by Osyp Zinkevych and Oles Obertas. Kyiv: Smoloskyp, 2010, p. 471.