Creation and Activity of the Dumen Camp in Carpatho-Ukraine (1938–1939) in the Light of New Archival Documents

The purpose of the work is to fill the gap in historical knowledge about the history of the Dumen camp and to refute a few myths associated with its existence, based on new archival documents. Research methodology. At the core of the study’s scientific approach are the principles of objectivity, historicism, multi-vectoriality (multi-factoriality) and systematicity. Problem-chronological and dialectical methods have been applied in the research. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the introduction into scientific circulation of new data, which allows to clarify and revise several statements in historiography about the internal regime, the composition of the prison contingent, government subordination and purpose of the Dumen camp. Prospects of further research are related to the reconstruction (based on various archival data) of lists of prisoners and prosopographic analysis of the camp contingent. Conclusions. The Dumen camp arose in specific military and political circumstances of the existence of autonomous Carpatho-Ukraine as part of the Second Czech-Slovak Republic in the post-Munich period, which were marked by a departure from democratic traditions and the transformation of political regimes both in the centre and on the periphery, towards a hybrid model of «authoritarian democracy». The available source base allows us to assert that the Dumen camp, despite its formal name, in terms of its internal regime, detention conditions and purpose, was not a concentration camp, but performed the functions of an internment camp. Therefore, there is no basis for comparing the Dumen camp with classic concentration camps of authoritarian and totalitarian countries, which were characterized by such features as high mortality, hunger, torture, and mass executions. Contrary to the prevailing view in historiography, among the prisoners of Dumen were not only opponents of the political regime in Carpatho-Ukraine , but also its sympathizers. At the same time, responsibility for imprisonment in the Dumen camp was borne by both Czechoslovak security agencies and regional and local authorities of Carpatho-Ukraine . References: 1. Jarnecki, M. & Kołakowski, P. (2017). «Ukraiński Piemont». Ruś Zakarpacka w okresie autonomii 1938–1939 [«Ukrainian Piedmont». Transcarpathian Rus’ in the period of autonomy 1938–1939]. Warszawa [in Polish].2. Kosztyó, G. (2020). Kárpátalja, mint Északkeleti Hadműveleti Terület (1944) [Transcarpathia as the Northeastern Operational Area (1944)]. Doktori (PhD) értekezés. Budapest [in Hungarian].3. Magocsi, P. (2015). With the Backs to the Mountains. A History of Carpathian Rus’ and Carpatho-Rusyns. Budapest–New York [in English]. https://doi.org/10.1515/97896338610734. Małkiewicz, A. (2013). Samobójstwo demokracji: Czechosłowacja w okresie II Republiki 1938–1939 [The Suicide of Democracy : Czechoslovakia in the Second Republic, 1938–1939]. Zielona Góra [in Polish].5. Stenge, Cz. (2020). Sources about the Voloshyn Regime’s Concentration Camp at Dumen Hill in 1938–1939. In Limes, VII, 2, 39–48 [in English]. 6. Vasylyna, N. (2014). Karpatska Ukraina (Pidkarpatska Rus) – derzhava avtorytarnoho typu (zhovten 1938 – berezen 1939 rokiv) [Carpatho-Ukraine (Subcarpathian Rus’) – an authoritarian state (July 1938 – March 1939)]. Arkhivy Ukrainy, 2, 119–127 [in Ukrainian].7. Vehesh, M. (2020). Derzhavotvorchi protsesy u Karpatskii Ukraini (1938–1939) [State building processes in Carpatho-Ukraine (1938–1939)]. Uzhhorod : Vydavnytstvo PP «AUTDOR-ShARK» [in Ukrainian].8. Wein, M. (2015). History of the Jews in the Bohemian Lands. Boston [in English]. https://doi.org/10.1163/97890043012769. Winch, M. (2012). «Odnodenna derzhava» : svidchennia anhliiskoho ochevydtsia pro podii Karpatskoi Ukrainy [«One-day state» : evidence of an English witness about the events in Carpatho-Ukraine]. Kyiv : Tempora [in Ukrainian].