Threatening mobility: Cycling during World War II from a Ukrainian perspective

Abstract

Although bicycles hardly figure in studies of World War II, their use was often a life-and-death matter. This article explores cycling in Ukraine as part of survival strategies and as an object of mobility policies under the Soviet and Nazi regimes. By analysing newspapers, interviews, diaries and rare archival documents, the article concludes that using a bicycle marked a privilege and at the same time put the rider under suspicion of collaboration with an enemy. During the Nazi occupation, the authorities used bicycles to maintain power over subjugated populations. Later, as the Soviet Army proceeded westwards, many civilians and military persons acquired bicycles, first as war trophies and then from the development of the Soviet bicycle industry in response to wartime experiences. The article proposes understanding World War II as a radical exercise in forcing and limiting mobility. In this context, survival implied an ability to transgress established borders.