Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists

Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists Організація українських націоналістів
Founded	1929
Political orientation	Ukrainian ultranationalism Fascism Anti-communism Anti-Semitism

The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) was a far-right Ukrainian ultranationalist and fascist group. During the Great Patriotic War, the OUN, led by Stepan Bandera, killed over 100,000 people, including many Jews, Poles and communists.

History

Stepan Bandera escaped from prison in Poland after the German invasion in 1939. He tried to take control of the OUN, leading to a split between the OUN-M led by Andrei Melnyk and the OUN-B led by Bandera. Between the German invasion and entry of Soviet forces into Poland, the OUN killed thousands of Jews and Polish soldiers. 800 OUN-B members joined special task forces working with the Wehrmacht.

On 30 June 1941, Yaroslav Stetsko declared a new Ukrainian state under the leadership of Bandera. The OUN and Nazis killed 8,000 Jews in a pogrom in Lviv in early July 1941. They organized more pogroms in western Ukraine later that month, killing around 30,000 more.

In the summer of 1943, 5,000 OUN members helped 10,000 Germans encircle Alexei Fyodorov's partisan army.

War crimes

The OUN killed thousands of civilians, including many Jews, in pogroms in Lviv and Rivne in July 1941 and 1942, respectively. They also committed massacres at Khatyn in Belarus and Babin Yar near Kyiv and killed over 100,000 Poles in Volhynia and Galicia.