Ukrainian Youth Educational Societies

Ukrainian Youth Educational Societies (Виховні спільноти української молоді; Vykhovni spilnoty ukrainskoi molodi, or ВСУМ; VSUM). Youth organizations set up in the Generalgouvernement between 1941 and 1944 at elementary schools and secondary schools. VSUM were modeled on the Plast Ukrainian Youth Association, which was banned by the German occupational authorities. Among the chief organizers were Kekyliia Paliiv, R. Olesnytsky, T. Samotulka, and I. Khoinatska-Chaikivska. The organ of VSUM was Doroha. In 1944 VSUM had a membership of over 2,500, organized in more than 60 cells.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]