The Long Road to Freedom: Ukrainian POWs’ Repatriation from Germany and Austria (1918-1920)

The presentation will examine the understudied topic of Ukrainian POWs from the Imperial Russian army detained in Central Powers camps and their repatriation, which occurred at a pivotal moment of geopolitical shifts and national revival, both in Ukraine and in the camps. After the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, efforts of the Union for the Liberation of Ukraine led to the formation of the Blue- and Grey-Coated divisions from a few hundred patriotic Ukrainian POWs. For around 40,000 Ukrainian POWs, imprisonment continued well beyond post-war settlements due to the enduring violence in Central and Eastern Europe and the communist threat. Ukrainian repatriation missions, hindered by diplomatic and financial obstacles, faced difficulties in securing evacuation routes. Drawing on primary sources from Library and Archives Canada and archives in Ukraine, Germany, Austria, and Poland, this presentation will reveal the complex efforts, hardships, and shifting allegiances that shaped Ukrainian POWs’ repatriation, providing insights into the broader struggles for freedom and identity in early 20th-century Europe.

 

Milana Sribniak is a Ph.D. student in History, affiliated at the World History Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. During the Fall term of 2024/2025, she is also an International Graduate Visiting Student of Petro Jacyk Program for the Study of Ukraine at CEES. Her dissertation project concerns the repatriation of Ukrainian prisoners of war from Germany and Austria between 1918 and 1920. Milana Sribniak also had fellowships and scholarships at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, German Historical Institute in Warsaw, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun. Milana Sribniak published articles in Ukrainian, English, and Polish in journals such as Acta Universitatis Lodziensis.

Folia Historica, Studia z Dziejów Historiografii Wojskowej, Facta Simonidis, European Historical Studies, Eminak.