"Не гасіть світла!": освітня політика Другої Речі Посполитої в публіцистиці Мирона Кордуби

Abstract

The article clarifies the peculiarities of the work of Korduba-publicist, aimed at preserving the national character of the schooling of Ukrainians of Eastern Galicia in the interwar period. It was emphasized that in the consequence of the defeat of the liberation struggle and the actual occupation of Western Ukrainian lands, the Polish administration initiated large-scale measures designed to limit not only the political but also the natural cultural and educational rights of Ukrainians. At the same time, despite the fact that for a long time the legal status of Eastern Galicia has not been resolved internationally, the new government, in fact, from the very first days, elected an uncompromisingly rigid assimilation model of relations with national minorities. This resulted in brutal harassment of virtually all spheres of public life of Ukrainians in the region. At the same time, the greatest restrictions began to influence the schooling at all levels. It is indicated that the calculation of the Polish invaders was that the people deprived of an educated stratum would not resist and would be much easier to assimilate. It has been proved that the intelligentsia of the region, which has been tempered by a long-standing international conflict, reacted to such a threat to the very existence of Ukrainians. Its ranks in 1919 were supplemented by M. Korduba, who left the occupied Bukovyna by Romanians. It has been emphasized that his inexhaustible journalistic talent and considerable experience of civic work became useful during discussing ways of effective resistance to self-imposed «masters» of Galicia. It was highlighted that M. Korduba's journalism allows us to speak about the existence of a scientifically well-thought-out program for the development of the Ukrainian educational space at all levels. It was based on the requirement of native-language schooling as a prerequisite for the preservation of national identity. The scholar also advocated the exclusive right of national communities to influence the educational practices of the younger generation. The sincerity of these persuasions of the historian is evidenced by the considerable emotionality of his journalistic discourse, the neglect of the numerous dangers that awaited for him, as the speaker of the aspirations of his people. It has been proved that in the focus of the journalistic writings of M. Korduba, most of the problems of higher education were concerning high schools, which at that time were considered a necessary condition for the civilization maturity of each nation. It is noted that the Galician scholar was the creator of the most thought-out model of the creation of a Ukrainian university. Unfortunately, it has never been realized. It is indicated that the perspective direction of further study of the problem is to find out the features of journalistic work M. Korduba during the Second World War.