BETWEEN HITLER AND STALIN

ROMAN SHUKHEVYCH

b. 17 July, 1907, Yavoriv County, Galicia, d. 5 March, 1950, near Lviv

Shukhevych was the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and chairman of the General Secretariat of the Ukrainian Supreme Liberation Council (UVHR). Shukevych began his nationalist activity at an early age, joining the Ukrainian Military Organization in 1923. In 1929 he joined the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and was active in its combat branch.

In 1926 Shukhevych took part in the assassination of the school superintendent of Lviv, and from 1930-4 he headed the combat branch of OUN. He was arrested for his involvement in the assassination of a leading Polish politician, and was sentenced in 1936 to four years in prison. After serving two years, Shukhevych was released as part of an amnesty. After the declaration of an independent Carpatho Ukraine, Shukhevych served as a staff officer in its military formation, the Carpathian Sich.

From 1941 to 1943 Shukhevych served as an officer in the Nachtigall and Roland Battalions, Ukrainian units under German command; after the battalions were demobilized, disarmed and it officers arrested, Shukhevych escaped and joined UPA. In August 1943 at the Third OUN Congress he was appointed head of OUN Home Leadership, and in November appointed Supreme Commander of UPA.

As Supreme Commander of UPA, Shukhevych led the desperate struggle of the Ukrainian insurgency against both the German and Soviet occupations. Though under equipped UPA enjoyed the support of the local Ukrainian population and soon proved to be a formidable opponent of both tyrannical regimes. It is largely due to Shukhevych’s organizational abilities and personal courage that UPA carried on its struggle for Ukrainian independence for years after the end of WWII.

The Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) hunted Shukhevych for years; only in March 1950 did MVD troops find him and surround the safe house in which he was staying. Shukhevych died in a firefight with MVD troops on 5 March 1950. He was posthumously awarded UPA’s highest decorations. For Ukrainians both under Soviet occupation and abroad Shukhevych came to symbolized the struggle for independence.