Union for the Freedom of Ukraine process
| Union for the Freedom of Ukraine vs Soviet Union | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Court | Ukrainian State Central Opera, Kharkiv |
| Citation(s) | anti-state activities |
| Case history | |
| Subsequent action(s) | imprisonment and exile |
| Court membership | |
| Judge(s) sitting | Anton Prykhodko |
The trial of the Union for the Liberation of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Процес Спілки Визволення України (СВУ); Protses Spilky Vyzvolennia Ukrayiny (SVU)) was a court trial considered one of the show trials in the Soviet Union.
The event took place in the Opera Theatre in Kharkiv (at that time the Ukrainian State Central Opera) from March 9 to April 19, 1930. Forty-five Ukrainian intellectuals, theologians, writers, and a librarian were accused of anti-state activities (or counter-revolutionary activities for some). Fifteen of the defendants worked in the organization of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Science. About thirty of them were members of former Ukrainian political parties. One was a former prime-minister while two others were ministers of the Ukrainian People's Republic. Finally, six were members of the Central Rada. Amongst those 45 defendants, two were of Jewish background and three were female.
According to the Museum of Soviet Occupation, this proceeding became a sort of political slogan to persecute Ukraine's older and foremost academical intelligentsia, as well as representatives of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC). According to one of the defendants, the Senior attorney of the secret department of Kiev okrug department of GPU Solomon Bruk was repeating during the interrogations: "We must put the Ukrainian intelligentsia on its knees, it is our duty and it will be executed; those whom we would not be able [to subdue], we're going to shoot!" Soon after that, 700 other people were arrested in connection with the process. The total number is not known, but up to 30 thousand people are estimated to have been arrested, exiled, and/or executed during and after the trial.
According to Soviet sources, the SVU was an underground organization which supposedly existed in Ukraine from June 1926 to July 1929, when it was exposed by the State Political Directorate. The SVU allegedly existed in the Ukrainian diaspora (it should not be confused with the Union of Liberation of Ukraine, which operated during World War II abroad).
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