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Stepan Bandera was a Ukrainian fascist, nationalist and Nazi-collaborator who led the Bandera faction of the OUN (Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists).
Life
Bandera was born on 1 January 1909 in the village of Staryi Uhryniv, located in the eastern part of Galicia, the easternmost province of the Habsburg Empire.[1] He was involved in the nationalist movement from a very early age. He joined the UVO, a precursor to the OUN, in 1927, shortly before moving Lvov.[1] The OUN was established in 1929, which the UVO merged into. Bandera became active in the nationalist movement, being arrested many times by Polish authorities until the Nazi invasion of Poland.
When the Nazis invaded Poland, Bandera escaped from prison and continued to organize with other nationalists under the new Nazi government. While most Ukrainian nationalists at the time were not anti-semitic, Bandera was a pioneer. Bandera even petitioned the Nazi governor of Poland, Hanz Frank, to kill all the Jews and Poles in what he considered to be Ukrainian territories.[1]
Rise to leadership
A split grew in the OUN as some members didn't trust the Nazis. On February 10th, 1940, Bandera gathered members that supported the Nazis in Krakow to proclaim a new organization - the OUN-B (OUN-Bandera). The other faction became the OUN-M (OUN-Mel’nyk)
On 31 March, 1941, the OUN-B organized the second great congress of the Ukrainian nationalists. Since the first great congress was organized by the OUN, this second congress was intended to show that the new OUN-B was the real successor. At this congress several resolutions were adopted, such as the concept of “One nation, one party, one leader”, the beginning of Ukrainian "race science", and declaring Jews as an enemy of the OUN-B.
The congress also introduced a set of fascist rituals. This included the red-and-black flag, which symbolizes blood and soil as well as the slogan "Slava Ukraїni!" (Glory to Ukraine) to which the response was "Heroiam Slava!" (Glory to the Heroes).
Stepan Bandera was then declared Providnyk, their new equivalent to the Nazi Fuhrer.
Participation in the Holocaust
Rehabilitation
On 7th July, 2016, Kiev renamed Moscow Street to Stepan Bandera Street.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Rossolinski-Liebe, Grzegorz (2015). Stepan Bandera: The Life and Afterlife of a Ukrainian Nationalist. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9783838266848
- ↑ "Kyiv's Moskovskiy Avenue renamed after Stepan Bandera" (2016-07-07). Unian.