«CULTURAL AND ЕDUCATIONAL SECTION» IN THE CAMP FOR INTERNED SOLDIERS OF THE UGA AT JOZEFOV, CZECHOSLOVAKIA (1921-1922): ORGANIZATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

Abstract

The article discusses the organizational and educational activities of the «Cultural and Educational Section» in the Jozefov camp (Czechoslovakia), and especially its teachers’ unit. Thanks to the efforts of its members, the work of several educational centers (literacy schools, gymnasiums, and seminaries) was organized, and the teaching of educational courses aimed at different groups of internees was started. The main task of all educational courses was the preparation of the internees for their future life activities in civilian conditions – after the liquidation of the Jozefov camp. The campers without complete secondary education got the opportunity to attend educational courses, and after graduation (provided they successfully pass the final exams) they could apply for admission to high schools in Czechoslovakia. At the same time, in addition to secondary school courses, the members of the teachers’ unit conducted a range of general educational and special lectures, which were attended by hundreds of interned Ukrainian soldiers. The internees had a lot of opportunities to organize their self-education, including the using of the camp library. The intensity of the turnover of books borrowed by the internees testified to their knowing of the impermanence of their stay in the camp and the need to acquire additional knowledge. With a view to facilitate access to books for certain groups of internees, some groups (such as the Subaltern’s section or the Lawyer’s section) founded and maintained their own libraries, which were intended exclusively for the needs of their members. The education and self-education became a consolidating factor for camp residents and a kind of «tool» that allowed them to overcome all the disadvantages of camp existence. At the same time, the internees, by acquiring knowledge in its various fields, received a lot of opportunities for adaptation to the new life’s conditions in Czechoslovakia. The acquisition of high school education by the former internees (after they left the camp) allowed them to successfully integrate into the Czechoslovak society at that time and provide themselves with a decent life and living conditions.