Yuzevsky, Henryk

The author of the so-called Volyn Program , which aimed at building Polish-Ukrainian mutual understanding through the development of Ukrainian self-government and Ukrainian public organizations in Volyn and Eastern Lesser Poland , as well as an increase in the share of Ukrainians in government bodies. The practical goal of the Volyn program was to split the Ukrainian movement by separating Volyn from Galicia . Yuzevsky wrote: “Cutting off Volhynia from Eastern Lesser Poland, I turned away from Lviv - the center of Polish culture and Polish intellectual life, a cell of Ukrainian Galician thought, an extremely attractive city. Lviv semper fidelis. I renounced Lviv as the capital of Volyn. In that situation, Lviv had nothing to tell Volhynia, and the Polish and Ukrainian mentality of Galicia could only poison the Volhynian life ” ^[1] . Yuzevsky believed that it was necessary to synthesize Ukrainian and Polish cultures by “saturating the Ukrainian national features with the shoots of Polish” culture ^[2] . At the same time, he replied to the reproaches for the Ukrainianization of Volyn: “at times they mutter about the denationalization of the Poles, which means Ukrainization. Is it possible to imagine the phenomenon of Ukrainization in the socio-political and state situation in Volyn in 1935 in the territory covered by the activities of the Polish state apparatus? ” ^[3] . To implement his program, Yuzevsky carried out the Ukrainianization of the Orthodox worship of the Volyn diocese , liquidated all Galician Ukrainian organizations (including Enlightenment ) in the province, creating, with the support of Petliurists, pro-Polish organizations (Volyn Ukrainian Association and others, in which there were both Poles and Ukrainians) ^[4] . In school education, Yuzevsky supported Polish schools, but with the obligatory study of the Ukrainian language. As a result, in the 1932–33 school year, the Volyn Voivodeship was dominated by Polish schools with the Ukrainian language as the subject of teaching - 40.9% (853), actually Polish schools were 26.6% (555), and bilingual - 24.9% ( 520) ^[5] . Schools with the Ukrainian language of instruction in Volyn were almost absent - in the academic year 1937/1938 there were only 8 (0.4% of the total number of primary schools) ^[6] . Among school teachers, ethnic Poles from Lesser Poland and the Poznan Voivodeship dominated ^[7] .

In 1939-1940 he served in the General Staff of the Victory Service of Poland, the commandant of the Warsaw-city district, then the commandant of the Warsaw-Voivodeship district. G. Yuzevsky is a co-founder of the Newsletter, the conservative group of Olgerd and the Polish Democratic Party (PSD). Since 1940, he has been the editor of the two-week weekly Polish Włczy (Poland Fights). After 1945, together with the Polish Democratic Party, remained underground.

In the post-war period, the special services of the NDP took measures to capture Yuzevsky, who was hiding and operating underground. In 1953, he was arrested, sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of criminal offenses and counter-revolutionary activities, as well as an attempt to overthrow the Communist government of Poland. In 1956, a military court partially granted amnesty (the term of imprisonment was reduced to 12 years) and was sent for treatment due to poor health. In October of the same year, Henryk Yuzevsky was amnestied. I did not file requests for rehabilitation.

After his release, he was engaged in painting, creating landscapes and portraits. Since 1958 he was a member of the Union of Artists. His works are kept in the Warsaw National Museum .

He died in a Warsaw hospital on April 23, 1981. He was buried in the Old Powzki cemetery.

The wife died in 1939, there were no children in the marriage.

Representatives of various political forces tried to take Yuzevsky several times. In 1932, Soviet agents tried to kill him, in 1934 - Ukrainian nationalists, in 1942 - Polish nationalists, in 1943 - Polish communists, in 1944 - the Gestapo ^[7] .

• Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari (1923),
• Independence Cross with swords,
• Commander's Cross Order of the Renaissance of Poland (1929).