Alexander Shumsky


Alexander Shumsky or Oleksandr Shumskyi was a popular Ukrainian-Soviet politician and activist of the 1920s. He was one of the leaders of National communism's movement. Shumskyi actively supported Ukrainization. He was one of the victims of Soviet Totalitarian regime. He was followed, arrested and then killed by NKVD in 1946. A few years later in 1958 he was rehabilitated.

Biography

Earlier period and 1905 Revolution

Shumsky was born in the village of Turchynka, Volhynian Governorate in a family of foresters. Himself, Shumsky wrote that he was born in a family of "batrak". In his article Yuriy Shapoval indicates that Shumnsky was not fully truthful about his origin possibly due to the practice of posing oneself in early Soviet history as of lower class. In reality father of Shumsky Yakiv Danylovych worked as a forester for big landowner Mikhail Muravyov. Muravyov was the one who established the train station in Nova Borova which originally was known as Turchynka. The State Archives of Zhytomyr Oblast showed that Yakiv Danylovych was married to his wife Yeva. Further study of archives discovered that his grandfather Danylo Yakovych was a second generation of priests and in 1862 he was specifically assigned to the village of Turchynka.
In 1906 he finished a five-year public school in a village Saly. There is also information that Shumsky finished only two-year church parish school. After the school, he worked at sawmills, in land improvement, as a surveyor assistant. In 1908 he joined workers' movement and the Ukrainian Social Democratic League. In 1909 he participated in a strike at local sawmill. Since 1911 Shumsky attended the Shanyavsky Moscow People's University, but never finished. During that period he joined the Ukrainian socialist club in Moscow. In 1915 Shumsky received the certificate of matura through expedited testing and enrolled in the Moscow veterinary school. Since 1914 he already was a member of the Ukrainian Party of Socialist Revolutionaries and participated in "revolutionary activities". In 1916 Shumsky was arrested for spreading "revolutionary literature" and sent to serve military duty at the South Western Front.

Ukrainian revolution and war with Soviet Russia

At the frontlines Shumsky continued his revolutionary activity and after the 1917 February Revolution in Russia, he was elected as a delegate of soldiers' congress at various levels, corps, army, and front. In April 1917 Shumsky already was in Kiev where he became a member of the Kiev Governorate Land Committee. At the 3rd Congress of UPSR, he was coopted to the Central Committee of UPSR as one of leaders of the party's left wing and on the party list of UPSR he entered the Ukrainian Central Council. In the parliament he advocated left radical views on social and agrarian matters similar to those of the Bolsheviks.
In 1918 Shumsky was elected to the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly from the Volhynian Governorate. He also became one of authors of the Law of Ukraine about land adopted by the Ukrainian Central Council on 18 January 1918. On Shumsky was arrested after he with a group of left Ukrainian SRs and Social-Democrats attempted a coup-d'état to dissolve the parliament, but was freed by advancing Red Russian detachments of the Muravyov's troops which eventually sacked Kiev.
At the 4th Congress of UPSR after his active support, the party's left wing announced liquidation of the party and transferring it underground. Shumsky defended the course to unfold the struggle against Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi, and later the Direktoria, rapprochement with Bolsheviks, establishing in Ukraine Soviet in its form, but nationalist in its composition state. During 1918 he headed Volhynian Governorate Land Committee, member of the UPSR gubernatorial committee, member of underground revolutionary committee that was preparing anti-Hetman uprising in Zhytomyr. In the beginning of 1919 after his speech at the Labor Congress of Ukraine, Shumsky was arrested again, sentenced to death, but escaped out of escort.

Soviet regime and Russian civil war

From Spring of 1919 to March 1920 Shumsky was a leader of the Ukrainian Communist Party. His initiated attempt to created national communist party that would have been associated with Russian Bolsheviks through Communist International and become alternative to Party-Soviet system that was developing, failed because of its rejection by leadership of RKP and personally by Lenin.
Following establishment of the Soviet regime in Ukraine, Shumsky was added to collegium of People's Commissariat of Education of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic. Soon in the summer of 1919 after the occupation of Ukraine by the Armed Forces of South Russia he had taken part in underground struggle against the Russian Whites and was a member of Galician Bureau at the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. From under the pressure of Bolsheviks, the Ukrainian Communist Party was dissolved and in March 1920 Shumsky was added to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine as well as its Political and Organizational bureaus where he headed department in people relations with rural areas. In March 1920 he also was added to the Russian Communist Party. In May – June 1920 Shumsky was a governor of Poltava region, in July – August 1920 he was a head of Odessa gubernatorial revkom. In September 1920 Shumsky was in political administration and the Revolutionary Military Council of the 12th Army. After defeat of Pyotr Vrangel, Shumsky was a head of Kiev gubernatorial revkom, member of the Soviet delegation at the Riga talks with Poland.
In April 1921 – February 1923 he was plenipotentiary representative of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic to Poland. At that position Shumsky was actively requesting liquidation of Ukrainian emigrant organizations and internment camps for the Ukrainian People's Republic Army detachments. He was let go after separate embassies of Ukraine were replaced with one of the Soviet Union. Soon after being appointed to the position of ambassador, in May 1921 Shumsky also participated in show trials that took place in Kharkiv against the Central Committee of Ukrainian Party of Socialist Revolutionaries where he served as a witness. Since 1922 Shumsky was a member of the Ukrainian Central Executive Committee.

Commissar of Education and conflict with Kaganovich

Following return to Kharkiv, Shumsky is at party work and at trade union work. On 29 September 1924 – February 1927 he served as People's Commissar of Education of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic. About that time he also served as a chief editor of a political magazine Chervonyi Shlyakh. At his commissariat position he actively was implementing reform of system of education institutions, policy of revival of national culture in educational institutions and state offices, supported development of Ukrainian culture and literature, particularly writer Mykola Khvylyovy. On the issue there took place a conflict with general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine Lazar Kaganovich who was appointed back in April 1925; Shumsky was requesting to replace him with Vlas Chubar. The argument was intervened by general secretary of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party Joseph Stalin who in his letter to members of Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine laying on Shumsky responsibility for spreading anti-Russian sentiments in Ukraine. In May 1926 at a plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Shumsky was forced officially recognize his mistake, but it did not save him. In 1927 he was removed from office in accusation of disruptive activities in the People's Commissariat of Education of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic. In February–March 1927 the plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine ascertained existence of the Shumsky's "national deviation". In protection of Shumsky reacted leading representatives of the Communist Party of Western Ukraine which led to the party's split and later its liquidation. After that, Shumsky was forced to leave Ukraine.

Exile and further persecution

In 1927–33 he was a rector of the Leningrad Institute of National Economy, Leningrad Polytechnic Institute, a deputy head of mass agitation department of the Central Committee of All-Union Communist Party, a head of the Central Committee of Trade Union of Education officials, a Presidium member of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions. Shumsky expected to return to Ukraine, but in Ukraine he continued to be persecuted; in 1930 at the 11th Congress of CPU it was mentioned about defeat of Shumskism, in November 1933 at plenum it was talked about anti-party Shumsky group and "counterrevolutionary" essence of its national deviation. On 13 May 1933 he was arrested on charges in fabricated "UVO case" and sentenced to 10 years in prison. After spending 2 years in Solovki prison camp of special assignment by decision of Special meeting at the NKVD of the Soviet Union on 10 December 1935 he was sentenced on charges in leadership of "counterrevolutionary borotbist organization" to 10 years exile to Krasnoyarsk. In 1936, demanding acquittal, Shumsky announced a hunger strike. In October 1937 he was accused in belonging to another nationalist organization of former Borotbists and was arrested in place of exile. Only in November 1939 the case due to lack of evidences was closed which did not become a reason for his acquittal. After the end of his sentence term, Shumsky was left in Krasnoyarsk "on a treatment". Throughout his time of imprisonment, he did not stop fighting for his public rehabilitation, did not admit to any of allegations, repeatedly was appealing to the Central Committee of VKP. In his letter to Joseph Stalin on 18 October 1945 Shumsky sharply criticized the national policy of the Soviet Union, in particular exaltation of the Russian people as "senior brother".
In the exile he was writing a monograph "Malorosy", but destroyed it because of the impossibility of publishing.

After release

In 1946 Shumsky twice unsuccessfully tried to end his life in suicide. In September 1946 on his way to Ukraine, he was killed by special group of the Ministry of State Security of the Soviet Union on personal order of Joseph Stalin.
On 11 September 1958 Shumsky was rehabilitated.