ACADEMIC TEXTS REPOSITORY

Summary

The publication, based on a wide historiographical and source base, the archival and criminal case of the repressed educator Vasyl Mytynkov, analyzes the key factors of the repressive and punitive policy of the Bolshevik regime against the educational community of the Mykolaiv region. The mechanisms of combating oppositional and alternative points of view are reflected. With the help of archival materials, the mechanisms of falsifying accusations in the context of exposing the so-called «counter-revolutionary nationalist organizations» are presented. The analysis of scientific publications shows that despite the increased research interest in the study of issues related to the formation and genesis of the Soviet totalitarian system during the period of independent Ukraine, the historiography of the problem under study is generally insufficient. It has been proven that the main purpose of implementing repressive measures was to establish an «atmosphere of fear» in society, fight against any alternative official point of view, destroy the personnel potential of public education, and impose total control over society in all spheres of activity. The scientific novelty of the study is determined by the factual material, first introduced into scientific circulation, aimed at a comprehensive analysis of the repressive policy of the Soviet authorities against various strata of the region’s population, and the disclosure of specific features and regularities of the implementation of terror at the regional level. It was revealed that the origins of the repressive system date back to the early 1920s; the culmination of repressive activities was the next decade, when the necessary background was created for the fight against «anti-Soviet elements». The author proves that the dominant principle of the Soviet state system was the doctrine of a «class struggle», in which the success of the Soviet society in building socialism caused resistance from internal and external enemies, who filled the country with various kinds of spies and «wrecking elements». For the teachers of the Mykolaiv region, as well as Ukraine as a whole, charges of «bourgeois nationalism» were added. Under these slogans, a large-scale «purge» of public education institutions was carried out, which claimed the lives of thousands of citizens.