The archival branch of Ukraine from 1917 to 1960 ...
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its activities . On August 11 , 1919 , V . Modzalevskyi protested against the dismissals . He insisted on non-political and non-party aspects of the Main Archi val Administration activity as he had done previously 15 . On August 17 , 1919 , troops of the Ukrainian People ’ s Republic under the command of Symon Petliura ( 1879 – 1926 ) entered the capital of Ukraine , and the next day the Volunteer Army of General Anton Denikin ( 1872 – 1947 ) appeared in Kyiv as well . The staff of the Main Archival Administration had not left Kyiv together with the Bolsheviks . Moreover , the employees continued their work until October 15 , 1919 , after which according to an order of the Head of the Kyiv educational district the door of the archival office was sealed and all employees were finally dismissed . V . Modzalewskyi wrote about this fact later :
The fading Archival Administration established in September 1917 under the General Secretariat of Ukraine had different names and eventually became the Main Archival Administration . It was almost exclusively engaged in saving archives which were being destroyed everywhere during the times of ruin and putting in order the items that were saved . So the Archival Administration activity was divided into two parts : the struggle for the preservation of archives and the organizational work aimed at implementing the fundamental archival reform in Ukraine . Of course , it is arguable whether the Archival Administration understood its tasks correctly ; whether the principles that formed the basis of its activity were appropriate ; whether it was able to separate the primary issues from the secondary ones , and so on . However , there is no doubt that the Archival Administration pursued only archival purposes and its activities were apolitical . Therefore , it is not surprising that this entity seemed useful and necessary to all the governments in Ukraine . The necessity and usefulness of a special body that protects archival materials from destruction in such a tumultuous and chaotic period of history as we have been experiencing were clear to the General Secretariat of the Ukrainian Central Council , the Hetmanate , the Directory , the Soviet powers , and only nowadays has the existence of the Archival Administration been deemed absolutely unnecessary , and been destroyed . Why ? Perhaps its nature has changed , life may have regained normality and archives are safe , accommodated , and accessible to every researcher . Unfortunately , that is not true ... 16 .
After the Volunteer Army had entered Kyiv the Historical Monuments and Arts Protection Committee began functioning at the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences initially and at the University of St . Volodymyr subsequently . The Committee was headed by Prof . M . Dovnar-Zapolskyi . V . Modzalevskyi wrote that the Committee was to take the place of the VUKOPYS , but instead of that it became ‘ an arena for settling private and national scores ’. The member of the Committee Mykhailo Yasinskyi ( 1862 – 1935 ) inspected the
15
TsDAVO of Ukraine , F . 166 , Op . 1 , Spr . 709 , Ark . 28 .
16
The Institute of Manuscript of the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine , F . XXIX , Spr . 1823 , Ark . 1 – 4 .