Abstract
The purpose of the article is to highlight the main directions of the national-cultural and spiritual life of the Vinnytsia during the initial period of Nazi occupation. The methodology of the research is based on the combination of general scientific (abstraction, analysis, synthesis, synthesis, modeling) and special-historical (historical-critical, historical-typological, historical-systemic, concrete-problematic, quantitative) methods with the principles of historicism, systematicity, scientificity . The scientific novelty of the work is that the authors, for the first time, based on the analysis of the materials of the local newspaper "Vinnitsa News" as a source, revealed the course of national-cultural and spiritual life of the inhabitants of Vinnitsa in the Nazi occupation. Conclusions. The materials published on the pages of the newspaper "Vinnytsia Visti" testify to the revival of the national-cultural and spiritual life of the Vinnytsia during the initial period of Nazi occupation. This was reflected in: the resumption of the work of a number of educational institutions which instilled the principles of national education; dissemination of national ideas through the Ukrainian media; creation of a number of public associations of national orientation; the revival of the Ukrainian language as a foundation for the spiritual culture of the people and their cultivation in everyday life. A special activity was noted for cultural and artistic life, which was characterized by the appearance and activity of a number of theaters of various directions, cinemas and clubs. The favorable factors for such a revival were, first of all, the elimination of the Soviet totalitarian regime (imperial in essence) and the loyal attitude of the occupying power (initially). The revival of national-cultural and spiritual life was facilitated by active advocacy and education work among the population conducted by national-oriented Ukrainian intelligentsia, members of OUN affiliated groups, national-conscious figures of Ukrainian local authorities. Through their activities, they strengthened the unity of the Ukrainian nation, formed the basic principles of national ideology, set clear goals for national construction.