The paper considers
the scientific work of the academician in the study of various areas of the
history of the Kholm land. His interest in that region was not accidental,
because he had Kholm and Pidlashshia roots. The influence of Prof. M.
Hrushevskyi on the formation of I. Krypiakevich as a historian, his first
papers on religious and cultural life in the Kholm region in the XIX century in
Memoirs of the Shevchenko Scientific Society, and scientific work in society
are emphasized.
An extremely serious
study of the Kholm region was conducted during World War I, especially after
the successful Austro-German occupation of the Kholm region, parts of Volhynia,
Pidlashshia, and Polissia in the summer of 1915. It is noted that in the
reports "On Ukrainian Affairs in the Kholm Region", "On Church
Relations in Northwestern Ukrainian Lands", "On Church Affairs in the
Kholm Region", "On the Need for Ukrainian Schooling in the Occupied
Ukrainian Lands", the historian stated the importance of the Kholm Region
for Ukraine.
The need to carry out
Ukrainization of the region was emphasized, for which it was recommended: to
gain real power locally; to form the Ukrainian Church - to restore the GCC, to
de-Russify the Orthodox Church; to create a Ukrainian school by training
personnel from the local population; establish examplar educational
institutions in larger cities and villages as soon as possible; publish school
textbooks; to restore the activities of educational and economic organizations.
Much attention is
given to the historian's work in the Bureau of Cultural Assistance for ensuring
the development of national and cultural life, primarily, schooling, in the
Ukrainian lands occupied by the Central Powers. The resistance to the
aspirations of the Ukrainians by some part of the Poles and the Austrian
military and governance factors have been revealed. The destruction of
Ukrainian lands in 1915 by the retreating Russian troops and the displacement
of almost the entire Ukrainian population of the Kholm region deep into Russia
are shown.
It is pointed out
that the scholar recreated the fate of public, scientific, and religious
figures of the Kholm region, who put up a persistent resistance to
Russification and Polonization of the region, first of all, Greek Catholic
bishops Metodii Terletskyi, Yakiv Susha, and Maksymilian Ryll.
The professional
assistance of I. Krypiakevich and other figures of Halychyna to the Ukrainian
delegation at the Brest Peace Conference, regarding Ukraine's western borders,
was emphasized, which gave a positive result for Ukrainians in the negotiations
between the People's Republic of Ukraine and the Quadruple Alliance. It is
mentioned that a large manuscript part of the academician's on a Kholm subject
still needs scientific research.
