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was born a Polish nobleman and betrayed his
nation, he stressed that he “was returning to
Ukrainian people once forsaken by ancestors”
and “by untiring labour and love… award all
the evil done to people” and “the only weapon
we want to give to our people is not a knife or
a scythe, but conscience and science.”. The
Community members opened Sabbath and
everyday schools, worked as teachers there,
lectured, organized public libraries and spread
T. Shevchenko’s and M. Vovchok’s literary
works among population, etc.
In 1862 active members of several
communities were arrested; Sabbath schools
were closed, ‘Osnova” edition stopped to
exist.
February, 19 The abolition of serfdom in the Russian
1861 Empire. Oleksandr II signed the ‘Manifest”
about serfdom abolition and „Basic
regulations about peasants liberated from
serfdom”. In Ukraine those documents were
promulgated on March, 9. As a result of the
reform, peasant personal dependence on the
landlord was abolished. Peasants obtained
personal freedom:
- landlord did not have the right to buy or
present peasants;
- peasants got the right to marry without the
landlord’s consent;
- peasants could work or study, change social
stratum (they could become lower middle
class citizens, merchants, etc.).
Peasants obtained economic rights:

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