The Communist Party of Transcarpathian Ukraine (, abbreviated KPZU) was a political party in Transcarpathia 1944–1945, set up in the area after the Soviet Red Army took over the territory. Previously Transcarpathian communists were organized in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, but the KPZU had no linkage with that party. The KPZU dominated the provisional government of the territory. In December 1945 the KPZU merged into the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine.
Background The region known as Transcarpathia, Carpathian Ruthenia or Subcarpathian Rus', which became part of Czechoslovakia after World War I, was one of the main strongholds of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. In the 1924 elections of deputies from Subcarpathian Rus' to the Czechoslovak parliament, the Communist Party won over 100,000 votes (nearly 40% of the votes cast).Fedinec, Csilla. A kárpátaljai magyarság történeti kronológiája 1918–1944. MEK The communist movement operated underground during the Hungarian occupation of the region, and partisan units assisted the arrival of the Red Army. In 1942 the partisan leader and First Secretary of the , , was hanged by the Hungarian authorities.Андрей Сульдин. Герои Великой войны. 1941-1945. ООО «Издательство АСТ», 2025.
With the defeat of the Hungarian forces in Carpathian Ruthenia/Transcarpathia, communist organizations that had operated in the underground started emerging into the open.Soviet Ukraine. Editorial Office of the Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia, Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian S.S.R., 1969. p. 182 The first legal public meeting of communists in Mukachevo was held on October 31, 1944, four days after Liberation. The first public call for unification of Transcarpathia with Soviet Ukraine was made at a meeting at the Mukachevo city theater on November 3, 1944.
Founding congress The First Conference of Communist Organizations of Transcarpathia was held in Mukachevo on November 19, 1944.Закарпатская область. Glavnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Ukrainskoĭ sovetskoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii, 1982. pp. 64, 68 The gathering would become the founding congress of the Communist Party of Transcarpathian Ukraine as an independent party. It was held in the city theater. Ivan Turyanitsa, chairman of the organizing committee, opened the meeting. In his speech Turyanitsa made no references to the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia whatsoever. All elections at the conference were done by acclamation. The conference elected Joseph Stalin, Mikhail Kalinin, Vyacheslav Molotov, Nikita Khrushchev, Lazar Kaganovich, Georgy Zhukov and Kliment Voroshilov as members of the honorary presidium of the conference.
The conference had 418 participants – 294 delegates and 124 guests.Торжество історичної справедливості: закономірність возз'єднання Західне-українських земель в єдиній українській державі. Vyd-vo Lʹvivsʹkoho universytetu, 1968. p. 653 The 294 delegates represented some 3,500 party members. Around half of the delegates came from the peasantry, 35% were workers and 15% from the working intelligentsia.
The two main agenda points of the conference was reunification with Soviet Ukraine and party program. delivered the report on reunification with Soviet Ukraine. According to the conference protocol, his speech received a stormy ovation from the attendees. After Kercha's speech Vasil Rusin read out a draft resolution on the topic. The resolution On the reunification of Transcarpathian Ukraine with Soviet Ukraine was adopted unanimously by the conference delegates. The resolution argued that Transcarpathian Ukrainians had been placed under the rule of the Czechoslovak Republic against their will, later to handed over to 'Hungarian slavery'. Per the resolution it was the wish of the Transcarpathian Ukrainians to reunite "with their elder brother - the people of Soviet Union". Furthermore the resolution that that "[f]rom now on, we are not a small people in need of protection. We are an integral part of the great Ukrainian people."
The other main resolution adopted at the conference was titled "On the immediate tasks of the Communist Party of Transcarpathian Ukraine". The resolution stated that main objective of the party was "the organization of the popular forces for the final defeat of Hitler Germany, the destruction of fascist tyranny and the resolution of national, cultural and social issues through unification with Soviet Ukraine". The resolution stressed that one of the main tasks of the party is the fight for redistribution of lands to landless peasants by expropriating lands belonging to the nobility and the multinational company Latorica. The resolution called for the implementation of eight-hour workday, re-establishing trade unions, expropriation of factories, reconstruction of forest and wood industry enterprises, establishing schools with education in native language, opening a State University of Transcarpathian Ukraine and rebuilding cities and towns.Воззьєднання українських земель в єдиній українській радянській державі: торжество ленінської національної політики КПРС : матеріали республіканської науково-теоретічної конференції, присвяченої 30-річчю воззьєднання Закарпаття з Радянською Україною 17-18 квітня 1975 року. Ужгородський держ. університет, 1976. pp. 4, 24, 27 It called for the creation of youth and peasants organizations. The resolution ended with a call to convene a congress of people's committees on November 26, 1944 and to elect a people's council.
The conference sent congratulatory telegrams to Stalin and Khrushchev. The message to Stalin expressed gratitude for the liberation of Transcarpathia, but also touched upon the issue of unification with Soviet Ukraine, reading "Only you, Joseph Vissarionovich, only the Ukrainian and Russian peoples can understand our feelings and our aspirations [...] Return us to the bosom of our motherland — the Ukrainian state. Our people will be eternally grateful to you for this assistance." The desire of the party to promote unification with Ukraine was also the key theme of the telegram to Khruschev, which referred to the recipient as 'the leader of the Ukrainian people, the leader of the Ukrainian Bolsheviks'.
Central Committee The KPZU founding conference elected a 24-member Central Committee. The party leadership included both returnees from the Soviet Union and local communist organizers. The Central Committee included a number of functionaries of the Subcarpathian Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia who were returning from the Soviet Union, like Samuel Weiss, S. Borkanyuk, M. Klimpotyuk, P. Varha and D. Tarakhonych.Godʹmash, Pëtr, and Godʹmash, Sergeĭ. История Республики Подкарпатская Русь. Patent, 2008. p. 375 The Central Committee also included a number of staff from the Czechoslovak Army Corps; I. Vash, I. Ledney and M. Matskaniuk - all from the group of Bedřich Reicin. A list of the Central Committee members was published in Zakarpatska Pravda on November 21, 1944;ТРОЯН М.В., ЧІЧУР A.A. Возз'єднання Закарпаття з Радянською Україною у складі СРСР – торжество історичної справедливості. Число 6. Український історичний журнал .- Київ. - 1980. - Вип. 6. pp. 40–46.I͡U. V. Ilʹnyt͡skyĭ, I͡Uriĭ Vasylʹovych Ilʹnyt͡sʹkyĭ, Ю. В Ільницкий Нариси історії Закарпатської обласної партійної організації: 1918-1945 pp. Karpaty, 1968. pp. 125, 301Boldyzhar, Mykhailo, and Hrin, Oleksandr. Zakarpatsʹka Ukraïna: derz︠h︡avno-pravovyĭ status i dii︠a︡lʹnistʹ (kinet︠s︡ʹ 1944 r. - pochatok 1946 r.). Polychka "Karpatskoho krai͡u", 1999. p. 22-23
Turyanytsia, Ivan Ivanovych (1901–1955) – Born in Mukachevo. Joined the Hungarian Red Army in 1919. Took part in the proclamation of the Slovak Soviet Republic in Prešov on June 16, 1919. The defeat of the Hungarian and Slovak soviet republics, he returned to Mukachevo and would lead the organization of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia there, and later leading the party organization in Uzhhorod. Studied at the in Kharkiv 1930–1933. Arrested in connection with the December 1935 forest workers strike, but released after popular protest movement. Escaped to the Soviet Union after the Hungarian occupation. In the Soviet Union he worked at MOPR, and later at the Voroshilovgrad Locomotive Works. Volunteered to join the Czechoslovak Battalion in 1942. In October 1944 he arrived in Khust along with minister and general , but on November 4, 1944 defected from the Czechoslovak armed forces and would dedicate himself for the cause of unification with Soviet Ukraine.
(1899–1971) –Born in Dunaszerdahely, in a Jewish working class family. Studied at the Veszprém Trade School between 1914 and 1917. In 1919 he joined the Hungarian Red Army, in August 1919 he joined the left wing of the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Workers Party. Weiss became a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in 1921. He worked at a brewery in Nové Zámky, but was fired for political reasons. Migrated to the Soviet Union in 1928, to join the Interhelpo commune. He returned to Czechoslovakia in 1930, and he would lead party organization in Košice, Nové Zamky, Žilina and České Budějovice. He was frequently arrested for his political activities. Between 1934 and 1935 Weiss studied at the International Lenin School in Moscow. After returning again to Czechoslovakia, he served as secretary of the Red Trade Unions in Nitra. In 1937 he was sent to Subcarpathian Rus' to conduct political work among the Hungarian-speaking population there. He led several strike actions in Subcarpathian Rus'. He was a member of the Subcarpathian Ruthenian Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Escaped to the Soviet Union after the Hungarian occupation, and would work in Luhansk and Alma-Ata, as well as working at the Czech and Hungarian language editorial offices of Radio Moscow. In May 1944 began working at the political department of the 4th Ukrainian Front. Soon after the Liberation of Transcarpathian Ukraine, he took charge as first secretary of the Uzhhorod City Party Committee. Delegate of Uzhhorod at the First Congress of People's Committees of Transcarpathian Ukraine. Elected to the People's Council of Transcarpathian Ukraine (in charge Industry and Trade). After the merger into the Soviet Union, he served as deputy chairman of the regional executive committee. Awarded the Order of the Red Star.
(1904–1966) –Born in into a poor peasant family, became a labourer at age 12. Attending Kharkiv Party School 1931-1933. Labour organizer in Subcarpathian Rus' and took part in many workers agitations, leader of the 1935 Bohdan loggers strike. In 1939 he escaped to the Soviet Union, where he was arrested and placed in labour camp. He joined the Czechoslovak Army Corps. Delegate at the First Congress of People's Committees of Transcarpathian Ukraine, and was elected member of the People's Council of Transcarpathian Ukraine (in charge of internal affairs and state security). After the merger into the Soviet Union, he served as the secretary of the Regional Executive Committee and first secretary of the regional party committee. Elected to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR four times. Brother of .