Edward Prus, Wiadyka Swiftojurski: Rzecz of arcybiskupie Andrze.fu Szeptyckim (1865-1944) by Shimon Redlich

Summary

Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, Archbishop of Lwów and head of the Ukrainian Uniate Church stood at the triangular junction of Ukrainian Polish- Jewish relations in Eastern Galicia for almost half a century. As a young man he was a product of the multi-national and multi-cultural Habsburg Empire, however throughout his adult life and up to his elderly age he was forced to face and act within an increasingly national-minded reality. The personality, views and acts of Sheptytsky were subject to various and at times conflicting interpretations. Before reviewing Prus's book one should, at least fleetingly, place it within the context of this historiographical debate.

Most Ukrainian publications in the West dealing with Sheptytsky are of a rather laudatory nature. He is viewed in them as a towering spiritual and moral father-figure. Soviet historiography and propaganda have usually presented an extremely negative image of the Metropolitan. He has been described as a reactionary religious potentate, enemy of progress, and worst of all - as an ardent collaborator with Ukrainian nationalists and the Nazis. The Sheptytsky issue in Poland has been of particular sensitivity. He has been viewed there as a traitor to the nation, who not only denied his Polish roots but who in time openly joined the ranks of Poland's ethnic enemies - the Ukrainians. Most of the official Polish communist publications, when presenting Sheptytsky, did it in a manner similar to the Soviet approach. However, some favourable opinions have also been voiced, particularly in the liberal Catholic press. A local underground Solidarity periodical, Konkret, recently published an extremely favourable article on Sheptytsky. As for Jewish Holocaust-related historiography, Sheptytsky is mentioned hardly at all and his Ukrainian identity is at times completely omitted. The only Jewish historian who has discussed Sheptytsy at some length was the late Philip Friedman.

Prus's book was published by the Publishing Institute of the Trade Unions and it opens with the remarks of Professor Ludwik Bazylow, who served as the reader of the manuscript. Bazylow, it seems, is quite harsh and sarcastic in his evaluation of Sheptytsky, more so than the author.