Stepan Bandera

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Stepan Bandera Степан Бандера
Stepan Bandera
Born	January 1, 1909 Uhryniv Staryi, Galiсia, Ukraine
Died	October 15, 1959 (aged 50) Munich, Germany
Nationality	Ukrainian
Occupation	Politician

Stepan Andriyovych Bandera (Ukrainian: Степан Андрійович Бандера) (January 1, 1909 – October 15, 1959) was a Ukrainian political activist and statesman who headed the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). Born into a religious family, Stepan played a major role in the history of Ukraine during World War II. Rising through the ranks, he was an activist, a scout, an assassin, and eventually the leader of a movement.

During his political career, the OUN split into the OUN-M and the OUN-B.

Stepan Bandera was responsible for the proclamation of an Independent Ukrainian State in Lviv on June 30, 1941.

He was assassinated by the Soviet KGB in Munich, Germany, on October 15, 1959.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Education 2 Nationalist activities 2.1 Early Activities 2.2 Trial, Conviction, and Release 2.3 Disagreement with Melnyk 2.4 June 30, 1941 2.5 Formation of "Mobilni Hrupy" 2.6 Formation of the UPA 2.7 Arrest and Incarceration by the Nazis 3 Murder Victim 4 Legacy 4.1 The tragedy of the Bandera family 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

He was born in the village of Uhryniv Staryi, in the Kalush District in Galiсia (Ukraine. His father, Andriy Bandera, was a parish priest of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic rite in Uhryniv Staryi. His mother, Myroslava Bandera, was from an old clerical family, also the daughter of a Greek-Catholic priest in Uhryniv Staryi.

Stepan spent his childhood in Uhryniv Staryi, in the house of his parents and grandparents, growing up in the period of growing Ukrainian self awareness.

In the spring of 1922, his mother died from tuberculosis of the throat.

[edit] Education

Bandera attended the fourth form grammar school in Stryy, ^[1], where he also participated with the Sokil sports Society.

In 1923, Bandera joined the Ukrainian scout organization "Plast" (Ukrainian: Пласт), and became a member of the group Chornomortsy.

After graduation in 1927, he had planned to attend the Ukrainian College of Technology and Economics in Podebrady in Czechoslovakia, but was not granted a travel visa by Polish authorities ^[2].

In 1928, Bandera enrolled in the agronomy progam at the Lviv Polytechnical Institute^[3]. This was one of the few progams open to Ukrainians at the time ^[4].

While in both high school and University, Bandera was exposed to many nationalist groups, one of the most active of which was the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, the OUN (Ukrainian: Організація Українських Націоналістів).

[edit] Nationalist activities

[edit] Early Activities

Stefan Bandera had met and associated with members of many Ukrainian nationalist organizations throughout his schooling - from Plast, to the Union for the Liberation of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Українська Визвольна Організація) and also the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, the OUN (Ukrainian: Організація Українських Націоналістів). The most active of these was the OUN, and the leader of the OUN was Andriy Melnyk^[5].

Because of a very charismatic personality, Stefan Bandera quickly rose through the ranks of these organizations, becoming the chief propaganda officer of the OUN in 1931, the second in command of OUN in Galicia in 1932-33, and the head of the National Executive or the OUN in 1933 ^[6].

For Bandera, an inclusive policy of nation building was important - therefore, he focussed on growing support amongst all classes of Ukrainians in all parts of Ukraine. In the early 1930s, Bandera was very active in finding and developing groups of Ukrainian nationalists in both Western and Eastern Ukraine^[7].

[edit] Trial, Conviction, and Release

Stefan Bandera played key roles in the organization and carrying out of activities against the Polish government in Western Ukraine. He was arrested in Lviv in 1934, and tried for two separate crimes: first, a plot to assassinate the minister of internal affairs, Bronisław Pieracki, and second at a general trial of OUN executives. He was found guilty on both counts and sentenced to death^[8].

The death sentence was commuted and reduced to life imprisonment ^[9].

In 1939, when the USSR marched into Western Ukraine, Stefan Bandera was released from prison (as were many other political prisoners at the time). In his Memoirs Khrushchev acknowledged that this was a serious error from the Soviet perspective.

[edit] Disagreement with Melnyk

Upon release from prison, Bandera moved to Cracow, the capital of the Generalgouvernement. There, he was in contact with the leader of the OUN, Andriy Melnyk. In 1940, the diffences between the opinions of the two leaders became too great and the OUN split into two factions - the Melnykivsti (the faction led by Melnyk, which preached a more conservative approach to nation-building, also known as the OUN-M), and the Banderivtsi (the faction led by Bandera, which supported a more active approach, also known as the OUN-B) ^[10].

This split in the OUN was to last well into the 1980s.

[edit] June 30, 1941

Bandera returned to Ukraine in 1941 and resumed activity in planning a Ukrainian state.

Because Nazi Germany had destroyed the Polish threat to Ukrainian Nationalism in Galicia, when Operation Barbarossa entered Ukrainian territory in mid-June 1941, Bandera was not opposed.

On June 30, 1941, the Banderivtsi announced a Ukrainian independent state in Lviv ^[11].

At first, the Nazis were encouraging of any situation which would cause unrest in the USSR and allow them a quick victory. However, once it became clear that there was no cooperation forthcoming, Nazi authorities quickly moved against the OUN, and Bandera was arrested. For his refusal to rescind the decree, Bandera was arrested and spent the period from July 1941 to September 1944 in German prisons and concentration camps, notably Sachsenhausen ^{[12] [13]}.

The president of the new republic was Yaroslav Stetsko.

[edit] Formation of "Mobilni Hrupy"

After the independence proclamation of June 30, 1941, Bandera oversaw the formation of so-called "Mobilni Hrupy", or "Mobile Groups" (Ukrainian: мобільні групи) which were small (5-15 members) groups of OUN members who would travel from Western Ukraine to Eastern Ukraine to encourage support for the state. This included handing out pamphlets and growing membership in OUN.

In total, approximately 7,000 people participated in these Mobilny Hrupy, and they ound followers among a wide circle of intellectuals, such as Ivan Bahriany, Vasyl Barka, Hryhorii Vashchenko, and many others ^[14].

[edit] Formation of the UPA

When it became clear that Nazi Germany was not interested in supporting the aims of the OUN, a military wing became necessary. Ukrainian World War I veterans had been receiving training in Germany with the Roland and Nachtigall divisions.

In 1941 relations between Nazi Germany and the OUN-B soured to the point where a Nazi document dated November 25, 1941 stated that "... the Bandera Movement is preparing a revolt in the Reichskommissariat which has as its ultimate aim the establishment of an independent Ukraine. All functionaries of the Bandera Movement must be arrested at once and, after thorough interrogation, are to be liquidated..." ^[15]. Military oppression of the population increased, and it soon became evident that military action against Nazi Germany was necessary. Meetings of the OUN leadership held between April and November of 1942 the creation of the military wing of the OUN, which was the Ukrayinska Povstanska Armiya, or Ukrainian Insurgent Army (Ukrainian: Українська Повстанська Армія) ^[16].

[edit] Arrest and Incarceration by the Nazis

Once it became clear to Nazi Germany that Bandera was interested only in the creation of an independent Ukrainian state and not in cooperation, Bandera and many leading members of OUN-B - as well as Bandera's two brothers - were arrested. Bandera was taken to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp ^[17].

Bandera's brothers were taken to the Aushwitz concentration camp, where they were later shot.

In 1943, Bandera was asked by Nazi officers whether he would support Hitler. According to one source, "Bandera quickly replied that it was clear that the Nazis would lose the war, and there was nothing to be gained for Ukraine by siding with them" ^[18].

Bandera was released from Sachsenhausen in 1944 and transported to Ukraine in order to intensify Ukraininan resistance to the advancing Red Army ^[19].

[edit] Murder Victim

On October 15, 1959, Stepan Bandera was found bleeding and barely alive outside of Kreittmayr street, 7 (Kreittmayrstraße), in Munich. A medical examination established that the cause of his death was poison (cyanide gas^[20]). On October 20, 1959 Stepan Bandera was buried in the Waldfriedhof Cemetery in Munich.

Two years later, on November 17, 1961, the German judicial bodies announced that Bandera's murderer had been KGB defector Bohdan Stashynsky who acted on the orders of Soviet KGB head Alexander Shelepin and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev.^[21] After a detailed investigation against Stashynskyi, a trial took place from October 8 to October 15, 1962. The sentence was handed down on October 19, in which Stashynskyi was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment. The Federal Court of Justice of Germany confirmed at Karlsruhe that in the Bandera murder, the Soviet regime was the main guilty party.

[edit] Legacy

In an interview with Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda in 2005 former KGB Chief Vladimir Kryuchkov claimed that "the murder of Stepan Bandera was one of the last cases when the KGB disposed of undesired people by means of violence."^[22]

In late 2006 the Lviv city administration announced the future transference of the tombs of Stepan Bandera, Andriy Melnyk, Yevhen Konovalets and other key leaders of OUN/UPA to a new area of Lychakivskiy Cemetery specifically dedicated to Ukrainian national liberation struggle.^[23]

In October 2007, the city of Lviv erected, after many years of delays, a statue dedicated to the OUN and UPA leader Stepan Bandera^[24]. The appearance of the statue has engendered a far-reaching debate about the role of Stepan Bandera and UPA in Ukrainian History. On October 18, 2007, the Lviv City Council adopted a resolution establishing the "Award of Stepan Bandera."^[25][26]

On January 1, 2009 his 100 year old birthday was celebrated in several Ukrainian places.^{[27][28][29][30][31]}

[edit] The tragedy of the Bandera family

Stepan's brother Bohdan died in the 1942 fighting the Nazis after they had entered Lviv. On July 5, 1941 Stepan Bandera was arrested in Krakow and taken to Berlin where he was initially kept in a jail before being transfered to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp where he remained interned until 1944. His brother Oleksandr, who had a PhD in Political Economy which he received in Rome and brother Vasyl (graduate of Philosophy, Lviv University) were arrested, interred and killed in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp in 1942. Andriy Bandera, Stepan's father was killed by the Soviets during an interegation. His sisters Oksana and Marta-Maria were arrested by the Soviets in 1941 and sent to Siberia without the right to return to Ukraine. Marta-Maria died in Siberia in 1982, and her sister Oksana returned to Ukraine in 1989 where she died in 2004. Another sister, Volodymyra - was sentenced to a term in Soviet labour correction camps from 1946-1956.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Stepan Bandera

• Stepan Bandera, His Life and Struggle