The Tragedy Of a Red Haidamak

The stormy periods in Ukrainian history, which are known as Petliurivshchyna, Makhnovshchyna, Hryhorivshchyna, Volokhovshchyna have left no surviving participants and eyewitnesses. Only archives can tell what actually happened at the time. Whereas much has been written about Symon Petliura, Nestor Makhno and Matviy Hryhoriev during the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917-20, little is known about Otaman Omelian Volokh. The Ukrainian leaders of that period, Volodymyr Vynnychenko and Pavlo Khrystiuk, mention him in their works, as does General Omelianovych-Pavlenko, who led what became known as the first winter campaign. Yuriy Tiutiunnyk wrote an account about him and his name is mentioned in the History section of “Governments of the Ukrainian National Republic in the Period of the Directory” at the government portal [http://www.kmu.gov.ua]. Still, information about his life and activities is scant; some reference sources state that the date and circumstances of his death have yet to be established. It is only recently that the declassification of an increasing number of archival materials has uncovered secret data, and previously unknown facts can now be made public.

Below is an archival study of Otaman Omelian Volokh’s controversial life story.

Omelian Ivanovych Volokh was born on July 18, 1886, in Kalinoblotska, a village in Kuban (today in Krasnodarskiy Krai, Russia), in the family of a Ukrainian farmhand. He was the oldest of three sons, including Petro and Kostiantyn. The family soon moved to the village of Bilotserkivka (currently Pervomaisk, Svativsky district, Luhansk oblast). He was six years old when his mother died, and he became a farmhand with a well-to-do peasant living next door. He would herd his cattle in summer and study at the local parish school in winter. At 14, Omelian worked as a drawer at a coal mine near the Loskutivka railway station in Luhansk oblast.

Even as a boy, Omelian showed a talent for painting. The village priest took him to Kharkiv and arranged for his apprenticeship with a graphic designer, for whom he mostly ran errands. Later he had another teacher, but the story was the same. In the end, he fled home. In winter he worked at a Donbas mine and in summer earned a little money in the Kuban during the mowing season.

Then it was conscription time. Volokh was drafted into the tsarist army and served as an artilleryman at Mykhailivska Fortress near Batumi in Georgia. After demobilization in December 1910, he returned home. First he earned a living loading coal at the railway station of Nasvitevich (today Lysychansk, Luhansk oblast). Later he tried painting again and enrolled in the Rayevska School of Art in Kharkiv. After two months he had to leave the school because he couldn’t pay the tuition. True, his talent was recognized and he was even granted a scholarship by the Kupianka Land Office, in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the abolition of serfdom, but it did not suffice.

In August 1914 the First World War broke out. Omelian Volokh was again conscripted and assigned as an artilleryman to an infantry regiment on the Southwest Front. Both of his brothers also served there. All of them took part in the battles at Przemysl. Omelian Volokh was twice wounded in action, awarded the Cross of St. George, and sent to Kharkiv for medical treatment. There he met the year 1917.

The political events unfolding in February — October 1917 dampened the Russian army’s morale. It was then that Volokh was elected deputy chairman of the regiment’s committee. His statements on ending the war antagonized the officers and won him the reputation of an “enemy of freedom” and even a German agent-provocateur. The soldiers, however, passed a positive resolution and elected Volokh as a member of a delegation to the Provisional Government. After the delegation returned, the soldiers of the Siberian Division gathered for a meeting on April 25, 1917, which was attended by the Provisional Government’s commissar Boris Savinkov. Volokh presided over the meeting during which the speakers failed to capture the attention of the soldiers, who started to leave. Volokh remained on the podium. The division adamantly refused to take its battle stations, and Boris Savinkov ordered the company leader recalled from the military unit.

Omelian Volokh went to Kharkiv, where he came into contact with the Bolsheviks and their supporters who, as he would write later, “were an embodiment of the national spirit to me.” In the summer of 1917 the Kharkiv military authorities tried to exile Volokh to Siberia, but subsequent events intervened. Instead of leaving Kharkiv, he found himself appointed acting commandant of the city. He held the post for one month and then tendered his resignation.

During this period Omelian Volokh befriended Symon Petliura. After the latter resigned from his post as Military Secretary of the Central Rada’s General Secretariat (he was strongly criticized for losing battles fought by the government’s troops with various military forces operating in Ukraine), he proceeded to set up an insurgent camp in Poltava “to protect Ukrainian independence.” Some sources indicate that he was funded by French emissaries. Petliura’s populism had served to build his image as a “savior of the state.” He appointed Volokh commander of a Haidamak unit, which he called the Kish of Slobodian Ukraine. However, organizing the military unit proved very time-consuming.

After the Bolshevik coup in Petrograd in November 1917, the People’s Secretariat formed Red Army units in Ukraine to combat the Central Rada and Kaledin’s troops. It announced the creation of new regular Ukrainian forces, the Red Cossack Regiments. Volokh agreed to take command of the 2nd Ukrainian Regiment (Ukrainized in the days of the Provisional Government) and his unit took part in battles against Kornilov’s Volunteer Army.

The next year, 1918, marked exciting entries in Volokh’s combat record, including successful operations against German forces in Luhansk oblast (at the stations of Popasna, Kamysheva, Pereyizna). The operations map looked increasingly sinister. There was scant intelligence about the movements of German troops and the commander of the rebellious regiment decided to retreat from Kharkiv. At Lyman station they were ordered by Otaman Bolbochan, Commander of the Left Bank Front, to “join forces with the Don troops to combat the common enemy, the Bolsheviks.” Omelian Volokh declared that the Red Haidamaks would not turn traitor; he also strongly doubted that joining forces with the “black hats” would last long. After another military council, Volokh decided to arrest Bolbochan. His Haidamaks secretly boarded a train of boxcars and arrived at Kremenchuk station, under the guise of an empty train supposedly meant for evacuation. There they seized a steam locomotive standing ready to tow the cars with Bolbochan’s headquarters to Odesa. The commander and his staff were arrested quietly, without a single shot being fired, and after receiving instructions from the Directory, they were dispatched under escort to Kyiv.

In his memoirs Volodymyr Vynnychenko writes that all insurgent leaders at the time acted absolutely on their own, each taking risks, and that they were not united by a single program, plan of action, or tactic. Omelian Volokh, however, can be categorized as an ideological combatant.

He fell ill with typhus after the events in Kremenchuk and upon his recovery in March 1919 he arrived at the station of Ziatkivtsi (Haisyn district, Vinnytsia oblast) to join the Zaporozhian Corps of the UNR Army. After taking a good look around, he realized that the Haidamaks had no solid objective to pursue, and that morale was poor. He took advantage of the situation and issued a Universal [Decree] of the Zaporozhian Host to the Ukrainian People. The document reads in part: “...We are at a very difficult and responsible moment, when Ukraine is being torn to pieces by outsiders, when we are forced to fight each other, when others want to build their own happy life on our blood and our bones, to eat our hard-earned bread; at this responsible moment, when there are no local authorities in the Ukrainian National Republic, we, the Zaporozhians, descendants of the free Ukrainian Cossacks, hereby proclaim the Councils of Peasants’ and Workers’ Deputies the only legitimate power in Ukraine and will defend them with arms in hand, to the last man...” The Universal ended with this line: “Drawn up on 21 March, 1919 by front-line forces, on behalf of the Zaporozhians, Otaman Omelko Volokh...” It should be noted that only some of the Zaporozhians supported the decree and followed the otaman.

Arriving at the station of Vapniarka in Vinnytsia oblast, Volokh and his Haidamaks found a Soviet council of people’s commissars in command. The newspaper Borotba (The Struggle), the organ of the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionary Party (Communists), reported that on March 21, 1919, an uprising had erupted in the vicinity of the so-called Southwest Front in Vapniarka and Birzula (today the town of Kotovsk in Odesa oblast), and that a military revolutionary committee (VRK) made up of members of the Communist, left Socialist Revolutionary, and independent Social Democratic parties had come to power. The VRK sent delegates to Vinnytsia for talks with the Soviets on a platform with the following demands: (1) All power to the Soviets/Councils; (2) independence for the Ukrainian Soviet Republic; (3) a struggle against world imperialism jointly with all the other Soviet republics. This was the key objective as seen by the Vapniarka VRK. Omelian Volokh was appointed commander of the local front.

According to Volokh, Ukrainian national groups started breaking apart just as Denikin’s forces were squeezing Petliura’s army out of Kyiv in August 1919. People from Halychyna were the first to seek an alliance with the Volunteer Army, followed by practically all general staff officers and the shaky Directory leadership. Volokh was convinced that this factor played into the Soviets’ hands. During this turbulent period, relying on Vynnychenko’s recollections, the Otamanate was in its death throes, ending with insurgent operations led by Omelian Volokh.

There are several characteristic details relating to the military and political situation before the above- mentioned events took place. There was a no man’s land between Starokostiantyniv and Berdychiv on the Polish front line (the city was first occupied by the insurgents and then the Bolsheviks). The Poles agreed to hand that area over to Petliura so he could regroup what remained of his forces.

In Starokostiantyniv Petliura held counsel with the UNR government and delegates of political parties, as well as with commanding officers, including company leaders on November 26, 1919. The Chief Otaman urged his listeners to pluck up their courage and continue the struggle despite the critical situation. The commanding officers also sounded encouraging.

The only discordant note was struck by Omelian Volokh, who lashed out at all the governmental institutions and openly propagandized a Soviet political course. His dispute with the Chief Otaman made those present aware of an approaching internal crisis. In fact, the council at Starokostiantyniv prophesied an armed revolt by Volokh and his men. He returned to his Haidamaks and led them to Liubar in Zhytomyr oblast. The next day the entire political leadership joined him and there Omelian Volokh began a Haidamak uprising under the red banner. He sent an ultimatum to the Chief Otaman, demanding his abdication. Symon Petliura ordered the insolent otaman arrested, but Volokh entrenched himself on the opposite river bank, where he had set up camp and launched the revolt. Later, he sent two ultimatums. The insurgents’ motto was Ukraine as a Soviet republic and with it they launched an offensive against the troops that remained loyal to Petliura’s government. They opened machinegun fire on the building housing the Chief Otaman and his staff. The numerically weaker government troops could not rebuff the attack and Volokh’s men seized the Chief Otaman’s shelter. According to eyewitness accounts, on December 2, 1919, the insurgents captured some 2.5 million Directory karbovantsi and 30,000 silver tsarist rubles; other sources point to 190,000 gold francs, 39,000 gold rubles, and other valuables. Be that as it may, M. Omelianovych-Pavlenko wrote that Petliura’s army was left almost without money.

A handful of officers and men under a golden-blue standard were surrounded by three flags: the Polish one in Shepetivka, the Volunteer Army’s in Starokostiantyniv, and the red one in Liubar. Volokh’s rebellion added to what General Omelianovych-Pavlenko described as a “horrible situation” for what was left of the UNR army.

Omelian Volokh, in the meantime, was seeking ideological supporters. The first to respond to his quest was the Ukrainian Communist Party (Borotbists). At his request two Borotbist propagandists arrived at the insurgents’ headquarters. The Central Committee of the UCP(b) set up a Revolutionary Right Bank Committee made up of three officials: Omelian Volokh, I. Nemylovsky, and S. Savytsky. The rebellious otaman was appointed Commander of the Red Ukrainian Troops.

Now, as the commander of what he tried to present as a regular army, Omelian Volokh led his troops on a march through Chudniv, Yanushpil, Ulaniv, Pikiv, Kalynivka, Lypovets, Voronovytsi, Ilyintsi, Dashiv, Hraniv, and Uman. En route they gathered the remainder of Petliura’s forces and government institutions. After quick marches, Volokh stopped his army, now numerically considerably stronger (some 5,000 officers and men), in the vicinity of the villages of Ropotukha and Shepetukha (Uman district, Cherkasy oblast).

In the morning of January 1, 1920, they launched an offensive on Volunteer Army units retreating from Kyiv to Odesa. The insurgents engaged General Grekov’s brigade at Holovanivske (Kirovohrad oblast) and sustained heavy losses. Omelian Volokh was nearly captured by the enemy. After that they set up camp at the village of Kuzmyna Hreblia (currently in Khrystynivka district, Cherkasy oblast). The defeat shattered the troops’ morale. The situation was once again abnormal and the otaman decided to act more energetically. He led the remaining troops to Uman and then sent delegates to Red Army units advancing from Khrystynivka. Without a doubt, he was counting on his previous popularity with the Zaporozhians. If it was a military maneuver, it worked just fine. At 04:00 Volokh’s Haidamaks attacked Uman. A Petliurite division was captured and disarmed. The next day the Red Army’s Tarashchanska Division entered Uman. The insurgents and Red Army men came to terms and a month later Volokh was invited to merge his troops with the Red Army.

The Soviet period in Volokh’s life, it should be noted, was not as stormy as the Haidamak one. The former Red Haidamak commander now worked at the People’s Commissariat of Agriculture of the Ukrainian SSR (he joined the Communist Party in September 1920), then held a number of important posts at the VUTSIK (All-Ukraine Central Executive Committee), and at the Derzhstrakh State Insurance Company of Ukraine.

Omelian Volokh was arrested on the night of May 5, 1933. The GPU was then preparing dossiers on what would become known as the Ukrainian Military Organization (UVO) Case, whose members were charged with “preparations for an armed uprising to overthrow Soviet power and restore a bourgeois United Ukraine.” The former insurgent leader was reminded of his eventful otamanship; the investigating officers thought that such a brave man with such a spectacular service record was perfectly capable of planning and carrying out acts of terrorism. Although Volokh was in solitary confinement, he turned out to be a hard nut to crack. Seven others had already testified against him, “confessing” their UVO membership, but Volokh adamantly rejected all accusations.

The following is a statement written in his hand. It needs no commentary: “...Deprived of human existence, being in a condition worse than that of a slave, I have for 107 days and nights suffered inhuman moral tortures and pain, refusing to clutch at any straws to survive; I have decided to combine my moral torture with physical pain. Since August 24, 1933, I have refused all food. My only possibility of protest against being treated so unjustly is to speed up my end within the four walls of the GPU of the Ukrainian SSR. I believe that the investigating authorities will not regard my decision as a hostile maneuver, but as the only way for a Communist to rid himself of shame and bondage. I have suffered from your unjust decision for a hundred days. [Signed] O. Volokh.”

The indictment read that Omelian Volokh “belonged to the Kharkiv group of a Ukrainian counterrevolutionary organization, and since 1931, was a member of its all-Ukraine center, making active preparations for an armed uprising in Ukraine, supervising espionage and terrorist activities; on orders of the organization, he was to carry out a number of acts of terrorism prior to the uprising (e.g., demolishing the Kyiv and Vinnytsia bridges) and make a provocative attempt on the life of a foreigner in order to expedite the intervention in the USSR; was in personal contact with the Moscow center of the organization; in April 1933, was elected a member of a council of three to prepare the uprising.” Volokh never agreed to any of the above accusations based on his wide network of acquaintances. On September 23, 1933, a tribunal of three of the GPU Board of the Ukrainian SSR sentenced him to ten years to be served at a GPU-run prison camp. The place of incarceration turned out to be the notorious Solovetsky (Solovki) Islands.

On October 9, 1937, an NKVD tribunal of three in Leningrad oblast sentenced him and 134 “Ukrainian bourgeois nationalists serving various terms for counterrevolutionary, espionage, and terrorist activities in Ukraine, who maintained their previous stand and continued their espionage and terrorist activities, setting up a counterrevolutionary organization known as the All-Ukraine Central Bloc (in the Solovki Special Purpose Camp — Author) to death by firing squad. The verdict was carried out November 3, 1937.

In concluding this tragic life story, I would like to add that Omelian Volokh was indeed an important political figure of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917-20. At the same time, his zigzagging life path allows one to see how people’s outlooks changed and affected their destinies, given the difficult, at times confusing, circumstances and ideological collisions of that tempestuous period.