Suchergebnisse

Taking into account the polyethnic nature of Ukrainian society, it is important to study the history of ethnic minorities in Ukraine, among which a meaningful place is occupied by Bulgarian minority. It has several historically formed areas of compact settlement in the South of Ukraine, and this had caused certain peculiar regional features of its ethnocultural development. In this paper, we aim to identify the factors that influenced the ethnocultural development of Bulgarian ethnic minority during 1943-1991 in one of the areas of its compact settlement – in the North Azov Sea region. The lower chronological limit is the moment of liberation of the region from Nazi invaders and the restoration of Soviet power with its ethnopolitics, and the upper one is the collapse of the Soviet Union, which led to a qualitatively new period in national history. The influence of a number of internal and external factors on the ethnocultural development of the Bulgarian ethnic minority in the North Azov Sea region is analyzed. Among these factors were the quantitative composition of the ethnic minority, the presence of the institutions that assisted in strengthening ties in its environment, national policy of the state, the possibility of cultural links of the ethnic minority with the core of its ethnic group outside the country of residence (the so-called historical homeland), and the status of interethnic relations at the regional and national levels. At the beginning of the analyzed period, the total number and characteristics of the settlement (mostly compact settlement) played a favorable role in the ethnocultural self-reproduction of the studied ethnic group. Over time, the number of the members of Bulgarian minority in the region began to decline, and the characteristics of the settlement changed to a mixed compactly dispersed, intensifying the assimilation processes. Free ethnocultural development was impeded by the low institutional fullness of Bulgarian ethnic group in the North Azov Sea region, artificially caused by political influence: Bulgarians in the region lacked national education and media. State policy, which was highly discriminatory at the beginning of the studied period, changed to moderately discriminatory from the mid-1950s, and that improved the situation of the Bulgarian ethnic minority. The peaceful nature of interethnic relations had a similar effect. Although there was no direct prohibition on keeping relations with the historical homeland, the Bulgarians of the Azov Sea region had limited opportunities in this regard, unlike the Bulgarians of Bessarabia region. This contributed to the preservation of archaic cultural features, the marginalization of Bulgarian culture. As the result of the study, it has been found out that the combined effect of the above-mentioned factors caused a general vector of influence on the ethnocultural development of the Bulgarian ethnic minority in the North Azov Sea region towards the gradual partial assimilation. ; В статье проанализировано влияние внешних и внутренних факторов на этнокультурное развитие болгарского этнического меньшинства Северного Приазовья в 1943-1991 гг., таких как: численность болгар в регионе, наличие этнических организаций политического, социального или культурного характера, особенности государственной политики в отношении болгарского населения в этот период, связь с исторической родиной, межэтнические отношения в регионе. Выявлено, что совокупное действие названных факторов привело к общему вектору влияния на этнокультурное развитие болгарского этнического меньшинства в Северном Приазовье в направлении постепенной частичной ассимиляции. ; У статті проаналізовано вплив зовнішніх і внутрішніх чинників на етнокультурний розвиток болгарської етнічної меншини Північного Приазов'я у 1943-1991рр., таких як: чисельність болгар у регіоні, наявність етнічних організацій політичного, соціального чи культурного характеру, особливості державної політики стосовно болгарського населення у цей період, зв'язок з історичною батьківщиною, міжетнічні відносини у регіоні. Виявлено, що сукупна дія названих факторів спричинила загальний вектор впливу на етнокультурний розвиток болгарської етнічної меншини у Північному Приазов'ї у напрямку поступової часткової асиміляції.

The goal of the scientific study is to identify the peculiarities of the situation in Bulgarian ethnic minority under the conditions of the Fascist occupation regime. In other words, to determine whether the fact of Bulgaria's allied status with Germany in World WarII affected the situation with a Bulgarian population in the South of Ukraine. Though there are many works in the national historiography devoted to the study of the situation of the rural population of Ukraine during World WarII, its analysis in terms of separate ethnic groups has not been given enough attention. The territorial framework of the study is localized in the North Azov Sea region since there was the largest area of compact Bulgarian settlement on the territories included in the Reich Commissariat Ukraine (Bulgarian villages in Bessarabia were known to be located in Romanian occupation zone). It has been found out that both in their native villages during the occupation and in forced labor in Germany, Bulgarians of the North Azov Sea region did not have any marked preferences on national grounds compared to other residents of the region. Bulgarian population had been fully subjected to economic oppression, physical punishment, executions, and the forced deportation of young people to Germany as a labor force. Local Bulgarians also took part in the resistance movement. In particular, they were members of underground groups in Rainivka and Kolarivka. The status of Bulgarian Ostarbeiters also differed little from that of other Ukrainian workers. The only circumstance that distinguished the status of Bulgarians from the rest of the population of the South of Ukraine was the possibility of establishing contact with the historical homeland in order to seek protection and help. However, the use of that opportunity had not become widespread. In particular, we have evidence of the facts of assistance to the Taurian Bulgarians, the natives of the Azov region, who performed forced labor in Germany at that time, by Georgi Shishkov, the Secretary of the Bulgarian Consulate in Cologne. Some residents of the occupied Bulgarian villages of the North Azov Sea region, oppressed by German rule, also attributed the hopes of salvation to the historical homeland. In April 1942, a group of residents of the village Inzivka (mostly the representatives of the intelligentsia) wrote a letter to Tsar BorisIII of Bulgaria with a request to allow Taurian Bulgarians to resettle to their historical homeland. Eventually, the Bulgarian government agreed with Germany to resettle 2,500 ethnic Bulgarians from Ukraine to Bulgaria. In the period from November 1943 to the autumn of 1944, several parties of immigrants arrived in Bulgaria. However, in 1945, at Stalin's request, the settlers were returned to the USSR, and only a few of them managed to avoid forced repatriation. The initiators of the resettlement got various terms of imprisonment for cooperation with the occupiers and anti-Soviet agitation. ; Аналізу піддано політику окупаційної німецької влади стосовно жителів болгарських сіл Північного Приазов'я. Виявлено, що й у рідному селі, і на примусових роботах у Німеччині, місцеві болгари не мали помітних преференцій за національною ознакою порівняно з іншими жителями регіону. Єдина обставина, що вирізняла болгар, – можливість встановлення зв'язку з історичною батьківщиною з метою пошуку захисту та допомоги. Щоправда, використання цієї можливості не набуло великого поширення. Одним з її виявів стала спроба репатріації деякої кількості таврійських болгар на історичну батьківщину, що завершилася їх примусовим поверненням до СРСР у 1945р.