BOHDAN TEOFILOVYCH KHRYSTYNYCH (b. 1929, in the village of Ozerna, Zboriv Raion, Ternopil Oblast—d. May 12, 2007, in the city of Lviv).
Repressed as a participant in the “Proboyem” nationalist student organization. A founding member of the underground organization “Obiednannia” in the city of Inta, Komi ASSR.
He was born into a nationally conscious, middle-class peasant family. He studied English philology at Ivan Franko Lviv State University. In 1951, he married a fellow student, Maria Bobivska.
In the spring of 1952, a wave of arrests swept through Lviv’s universities. Khrystynych, a fifth-year student on the verge of defending his thesis, was arrested on charges of distributing OUN leaflets and participating in the “Proboyem” nationalist student organization. The Military Tribunal of the MGB Troops of the Lviv Oblast sentenced him under Articles 54-1(a) and 54-11 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR to 25 years of imprisonment in corrective labor camps.
In the autumn of 1952, he was transported to concentration camp No. 6 of the Minlag directorate (Mineralny Lager of the MVD) in the city of Inta, Komi ASSR. At that time, approximately 70,000 prisoners were serving sentences in Inta, half of whom were Ukrainian. Khrystynych’s number was B-2-461. After the death of L. Beria, the numbers were removed from clothing, and the locks and bars were taken off the barracks.
In the autumn of 1954, Khrystynych took part in preparing the escape of seven prisoners from the work zone of mine No. 11.
Khrystynych was transferred to camp No. 3, where the old regime was still in place, but by 1955 he was able to have a visit with his wife, Maria Bobivska. Khrystynych’s circle of contacts included Volodymyr ZATVARSKY, Vasyl Vasylyk, Yaroslav KOBYLETSKY, Dmytro Zhovtiak, and later Yaroslav HASIUK and Petro Klymiuk.
At the end of 1955, Khrystynych was transferred to camp No. 2, where Volodymyr LEONIUK and Yarema Zhukovsky were held.
The prisoners tried to support each other materially and spiritually. Khrystynych, in particular, participated in collecting funds for the sick. The Ukrainians celebrated religious and national holidays and commemorative dates. The funeral of prisoner Mykola Pasternak, who died in a mine on March 4, 1956, turned into a genuine political demonstration.
With a deep knowledge of Ukrainian history, and after consulting with other prisoners, Khrystynych completed a large manuscript in 1955–1956 titled “A Synopsis of the History of the Ukrainian National Revolution” (published in Khrystynych’s book, Na Shliakhakh do Voli [On the Paths to Freedom], pp. 237–304). It was a review of the Ukrainian people’s struggle for national liberation from the fall of the Hetmanate to the 1940s, with a particularly thorough treatment of the last half-century. Khrystynych rewrote a second copy of the “Synopsis”; another copy, handwritten by V. BUCHKOVSKY, was also circulated.
The idea of creating an underground organization that would continue the struggle for a Ukrainian Independent Conciliar State under new conditions was developing concurrently in two groups. The first consisted of V. LEONIUK, Khrystynych, and Y. Zhukovsky; the second included Y. HASIUK, V. ZATVARSKY, and Y. KOBYLETSKY. In February 1956, when prisoners could already leave the camps, the idea was discussed among Khrystynych, V. LEONIUK, and V. ZATVARSKY.
The first meeting took place in March 1956 in the apartment of a Lithuanian on Poliarna Street, for which Y. HASIUK had the keys. The meeting lasted over four hours. The participants were Y. HASIUK, V. ZATVARSKY, B. KHRYSTYNYCH, Bohdan Stefaniuk, Y. KOBYLETSKY, and V. LEONIUK. “The meetings were conducted without formalities,” Khrystynych recalled, “that is, no chairman or secretary was elected, there were no minutes; everything was based on deep trust and conspiracy, as is customary in underground work. We believed that such a practice was the most reliable for our activities under the existing conditions.”
As the co-author (with V. ZATVARSKY) of the organization’s program and statute, Khrystynych read them aloud. Having far-reaching goals, they agreed to name it “OBIEDNANNIA” (“The Unification”). The core tenets stated that “Obiednannia” would implement the OUN’s program and outline further directions in accordance with current circumstances. Relying on former participants of the underground revolutionary struggle and new dedicated members, it would fight against the irreconcilable enemy—the Communist Party and the Bolshevik administration—primarily through propaganda and exposure. Terrorism was permitted only in exceptional cases. A second goal was to unite the revolutionary element into a single entity both in Ukraine and abroad; to facilitate the mass return of released prisoners and exiles to Ukraine; to raise the national consciousness of the youth; to infiltrate all social structures (labor, trade union, sports); and to educate the organization’s members in the spirit of discipline, accountability, deep conspiracy, and constant readiness for the “decisive moment.”
Regarding the statute, the older members (V. ZATVARSKY and Y. KOBYLETSKY) held the view that “Obiednannia” was an integral part of the OUN, but they were hesitant about creating an organization on their own without permission from the OUN leadership in Ukraine. The younger members, including Khrystynych, successfully advocated for a provision stating that “Obiednannia” considered itself an integral part of the OUN. “Obiednannia” would establish its organizational network in Ukraine and abroad, and any conscious Ukrainian who had not stained the honor of the Ukrainian nation could become a member. The highest body of “Obiednannia” was the Leadership Center, consisting of six people headed by an elected Leader. The Leader would appoint deputies (or assistants) and heads of subordinate bodies. The smallest component was the “zveno” (link), a three-person cell. Each member swore allegiance to “Obiednannia” and the ideas of Ukrainian nationalism and bore responsibility for betrayal, punishable by death.
On Zhukovsky’s proposal, Y. HASIUK was elected leader, V. LEONIUK became deputy leader, Y. KOBYLETSKY became deputy leader and head of the Security Service, Khrystynych and V. ZATVARSKY became propaganda officers, Petro Klymiuk became the treasurer, and Volodymyr Slyviak and Yarema Zhukovsky served as couriers.
Khrystynych took part in one more meeting, which was held in July 1956 at P. Klymiuk’s apartment. On July 28, 1956, by a decree of the Commission of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, he was released from his sentence ahead of schedule. Before his departure for Ukraine, Khrystynych received instructions from HASIUK and LEONIUK. They developed a numerical cipher for exchanging information. Khrystynych was to prepare a base for transferring the main activities of “Obiednannia” to Ukraine, for which they collected 1,000 rubles for him.
In early August, Khrystynych left Inta with a like-minded associate, Yaroslav Ivanchenko. He carried with him one copy each of the program, the statute, and his “Synopsis.” In Kyiv, they prayed at St. Sophia’s Cathedral and visited the monuments to T. Shevchenko and B. Khmelnytsky.
Khrystynych went to live with his wife, Maria Bobivska, in the town of Turka, Lviv Oblast. He tried in vain to get a job as an English teacher. In February 1957, he managed to get a job as an assistant accountant and cashier at the Turka children’s hospital, where he worked until his arrest in October 1959.
As early as the autumn of 1956, on the instructions of V. LEONIUK, Khrystynych purchased a typewriter and paper in Lviv for the organization’s needs, and V. ZATVARSKY took it all to Inta in February 1957. Learning of the difficult situation of former prisoner Vasyl BUCHKOVSKY and knowing his expertise in printing, Khrystynych convinced him to go to Inta to set up a printing press. There, about a dozen and a half leaflets were printed, with a total circulation of 5,000 copies. Released prisoners traveled to Ukraine and distributed them in the Kirovohrad, Poltava, and Rivne oblasts.
In the summer of 1958, Khrystynych had a meeting with V. LEONIUK in Turka and Lviv. They agreed to move the printing press to Lviv. It was to be transported to Roman Ivasyk, who was building a house in Lviv with a cellar and a secret passage. In the autumn of 1958, V. BUCHKOVSKY visited Khrystynych.
On V. LEONIUK’s instructions, Khrystynych organized a secret contact point in Lviv at the apartment of Daria Melnyk, where he was to receive literature and 5,000 rubles from LEONIUK and HASIUK to set up the printing press.
Meanwhile, several members of “Obiednannia” who had distributed leaflets printed in Inta in the Kirovohrad Oblast were arrested (Anatoliy BULAVSKY, Yosyp SLABINA, Kyrylo BANATSKY, Hryhoriy RIABCHUN, Stepan OLENYCH). They were tried by the Supreme Court of the Ukrainian SSR on April 29, 1960.
The first of the main echelon of “Obiednannia” members to be arrested was V. LEONIUK (on July 29, 1959)—he was identified by A. BULAVSKY and K. BANATSKY.
Khrystynych was studying at the D. Korotchenko Lviv Institute of Finance and Economics. After his examination session, he returned to Turka. He was summoned to the institute by a fake telegram on June 1, 1959, and detained on his way home. For an entire day, he was interrogated by the deputy head of the investigative department of the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR, Lieutenant Colonel Gezeyev. Khrystynych confessed to nothing. He was not swayed by promises of help in obtaining his university diploma and a job as an English teacher if he confessed and betrayed his associates. He was released for the night. He stayed with his sister and brother-in-law, Volodymyr Zvarych, whom he told about the interrogation. Zvarych advised him to continue to confess to nothing. On June 2, Khrystynych was sent by plane under an assumed name to the republican KGB in Kyiv. Here, they arranged a face-to-face confrontation with A. BULAVSKY, who insisted that Khrystynych was a member of “Obiednannia.” Khrystynych denied it. He was released so that his contacts could be tracked, but he met with no one. Then, on October 26, 1959, he was arrested in Turka. Searches of his in-laws’ and his sister’s homes yielded nothing. At the time of the arrest, the Khrystynyches had a two-year-old son and a six-month-old daughter.
Khrystynych was taken by car to Kyiv. Although the investigation already had V. ZATVARSKY’s testimony about Khrystynych’s involvement in “Obiednannia,” he denied it for over three months. He finally admitted to what had already been established, but insisted that the investigation had an inauthentic program and statute, and that the real ones were purely of a national-educational nature.
This was the period of the Khrushchev “Thaw”; investigators no longer used violence, and at the closing of the case, a junior lieutenant named Yanovsky even said: “Now you have entered into history. I’m not joking. I’m serious.”
During the investigation, Khrystynych had a conversation with the head of the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR, Major General V. Nikitchenko, who said: “As a communist and a Ukrainian, I do not want the sons of my people to rot in prison.” “Then let us go,” Khrystynych replied. “Ah, my son, if only it were that simple.”
From the case materials of “Obiednannia,” the KGB leadership organized an exhibition for its employees. Lieutenant Colonel Ionov, an investigator for especially important cases, told Khrystynych, “We have never sent such a complicated case to court, but let the court sort it out.” This was an admission of the scale of “Obiednannia’s” activities and an emphasis on their own Chekist talents.
The case of Y. HASIUK (arrested January 12, 1960), V. LEONIUK (July 29, 1959), Khrystynych (October 26, 1959), V. ZATVARSKY (September 9, 1959), and Y. KOBYLETSKY (July 1, 1960), which consisted of 20 volumes of investigative materials and a photo album, was heard in the Supreme Court of the Ukrainian SSR from October 3 to 10, 1960 (presiding judge O. N. Zbarazhchenko; assessors: H. Y. Tsaryk, M. F. Yarmolenko; prosecutor: I. Y. Yankovsky). All the defendants refused the services of a lawyer, but the wives of Y. HASIUK and Y. KOBYLETSKY hired Moscow lawyers Y. M. Kulberg and P. Y. Bogachov to defend their husbands.
The trial was closed, but an attempt was made to give it a Ukrainian and popular character: the presiding judge wore an embroidered shirt and tried to speak Ukrainian, although the indictment was written in Russian.
All five were accused under Articles 1 and 9 of the then-current USSR Law of December 25, 1958, “On Criminal Liability for State Crimes” of conspiracy to overthrow the existing state order and seize power. Yaroslav HASIUK and Volodymyr LEONIUK received 12 years each, Bohdan KHRYSTYNYCH received 10, Volodymyr ZATVARSKY received 8, and Yaroslav KOBYLETSKY received 5 years of imprisonment.
Copies of the verdict were taken from them before they were transported to the camps.
Khrystynych and V. ZATVARSKY served their first year of imprisonment in Taishet, Irkutsk Oblast. In the early spring of 1961, Khrystynych was transported to Mordovia, to camp No. 7 in Sosnovka. He served his sentence alongside LEONIUK, HASIUK, and KOBYLETSKY. Yarema TKACHUK, who was convicted in the OPVU (Organization for the Liberation of Ukraine) case, testifies that Khrystynych behaved with dignity: he gave him lectures on Ukrainian history, participated in cultural life, and communicated with the shestydesiatnyky (Sixtiers). Levko LUKYANENKO writes about his conversations with Khrystynych.
After his release, he lived in Lviv with his wife (until 1982), Maria Bobivska. In 1986, he married Daria Melnyk, a former courier for “Obiednannia.” He took an active part in public and political life. He was a member of the People’s Movement of Ukraine, the Union of Political Prisoners of Ukraine, and “Prosvita,” and a participant in most of the all-Ukrainian actions of 1990–1996, in particular, the numerous large-scale trips to Kyiv to the building of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. From 1993 to 1997, he regularly lectured on Ukrainian history in one of the military units in Lviv, and from 1993 to 1998, he was the chairman of the board of the Lviv Regional Fund for Aid to the Repressed under the Lviv Oblast Council.
Khrystynych dedicated the last years of his life to collecting materials and memoirs about “Obiednannia.” He used materials from the so-called Organizational Archive No. 1, which were seized on February 8, 1960, from Yaroslav Kopach in Inta, as well as materials preserved by V. BUCHKOVSKY, his wife, and Ivan Dovhoruk in the Vinnytsia region. He also used materials from his own investigative and judicial case, which are stored in the Central Archive of the SBU in Kyiv. He was not allowed access to the case of those sentenced on April 29, 1960. He collected oral memoirs from participants of “Obiednannia,” including K. BANATSKY, V. BUCHKOVSKY, Y. HASIUK, D. Zhovtiak, V. ZATVARSKY, V. LEONIUK, and others. Relying also on his own memory, Khrystynych published a fundamental book about “Obiednannia,” which included his account of the organization (116 pages), biographical notes on 94 individuals, the program and statute, leaflets, reports, collections, his “Synopsis of History…,” verdicts, photographs, and other materials, thereby immortalizing the feat of his comrades.
He is buried in Lviv.
Bibliography:
1.
Khrystynych, Bohdan. Na Shliakhakh do Voli. Pidpilna Orhanizatsiia “Obiednannia” (1956–1959) [On the Paths to Freedom. The Underground Organization “Obiednannia” (1956–1959)]. Lviv, 2004. 416 pp.
2.
Leoniuk, Volodymyr. “Na priu staie Obiednannia” [The Unification Rises to the Challenge]. Zona, 1994, no. 6, pp. 163–180.
Rusnachenko, Anatoliy. Natsionalno-vyzvolnyi rukh v Ukraini. Seredyna 1950-kh – pochatok 1990-kh rokiv [The National Liberation Movement in Ukraine. Mid-1950s – Early 1990s]. Kyiv: Vyd. im. Oleny Telihy, 1998, pp. 63–72; 370–389.
“58-10. Nadzornye proizvodstva Prokuratury SSSR po delam ob antisovetskoi agitatsii i propagande. Mart 1953 – 1991. Annotirovannyi katalog” [Article 58-10. Supervisory Proceedings of the USSR Prosecutor’s Office in Cases of Anti-Soviet Agitation and Propaganda. March 1953 – 1991. An Annotated Catalog]. Edited by V.A. Kozlov and S.V. Mironenko; compiled by O.V. Edelman. Moscow: Mezhdunarodnyi Fond “Demokratiia,” 1999. 944 pp. (Rossiia. XX vek. Dokumenty), p. 550.
Tkachuk, Yarema. Bureviyi. Knyha pamiati [Storms. A Book of Memory]. Lviv: V-vo “SPOLOM,” 2004, pp. 112–114. .
Lukyanenko, Levko. “Halytske ‘Obiednannia’” [The Galician “Unification”]. In Z chasiv nevoli. Sosnova-7 [From Times of Captivity. Sosnovka-7]. Kyiv: MAUP, 2005, pp. 421–436.
Compiled on January 9, 2009, by Vasyl Ovsienko. Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group.
The second photograph is a group photo, March 19, 1956, Inta. 
