Volodymyr Kubijovyč
Volodymyr Kubijovyč | |
|---|---|
Володимир Кубійович | |
| Deputy of the President of the Ukrainian National Committee | |
| In office 17 March 1945 – 1945 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Chairman of the Ukrainian Central Committee | |
| In office 1939–1945 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 23 September 1900 Nowy Sącz, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria–Hungary |
| Died | 2 November 1985 (aged 85) Paris, France |
Volodymyr Kubijovyč (also spelled Kubiiovych or Kubiyovych; Ukrainian: Володи́мир Миха́йлович Кубійо́вич, romanized: Volodymyr Mykhailovych Kubiiovych; 23 September 1900 – 2 November 1985) was a well-known anthropological geographer in prewar Polish-ruled Western Ukraine, a leading wartime Ukrainian nationalist politician who collaborated with German authorities, and an important post-war émigré intellectual of mixed Ukrainian-Polish background.
Kubijovyč, like many other Ukrainians, had experienced ethnic discrimination in the Second Polish Republic, a background that influenced his perception of Germany as a counterpart in matters of Ukrainian political aspirations. During the World War II, he became head of the Ukrainian Central Committee (UCC) in Kraków, a nonpolitical, but influential social welfare and relief agency, which set up a network of Ukrainian cooperatives, schools, and youth organizations in the General Government. Overall, Kubijovyč tried to safeguard Ukrainian interests there.
He advocated the creation of an autonomous, ethnically homogeneous Ukrainian enclave within the General Government, free from Jews and Poles, and the transfer of Jewish property confiscated by the German authorities to Ukrainian control. In light of this, and given that the UCC's press, subject to heavy German censorship, carried anti-Jewish content, some historians have described Kubijovyč as an anti-Semite. In 1943, he was involved in the formation of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS. On the other hand, in 1944 a politician appealed for an end to the hostilities between Poles and Ukrainians in Volyn and Eastern Galicia.
Kubijovyč was loyal to the OUN-M, Andriy Melnyk's faction in the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. After the war, Volodymyr settled in France, where he primarily devoted himself to scholarly work. He later became the chief editor of the Encyclopedia of Ukraine and the General Secretary of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. Kubijovyč also supported other projects of the Ukrainian diaspora. He died in Paris on 2 November 1985.