| Yaroslav Stetsko Ярослав Стецько |
|
|---|---|
| Yaroslav Stetsko | |
| Leader of the OUN-B | |
| In office 1968–1986 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 19, 1912 Ternopil, Austria–Hungary |
| Died | July 5, 1986 (aged 74) Munich, Germany |
| Nationality | Ukrainian |
| Political party | OUN-B |
| Spouse(s) | Yaroslava Stetsko |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Religion | Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church |
Yaroslav Stetsko (Ukrainian: Ярослав Стецько) (19 January 1912, Ternopil, Austria–Hungary - 5 July 1986, Munich, Germany) was the leader of the Bandera's Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), from 1968 until death. In 1941, during Nazi Germany invasion into the Soviet Union he was self-proclaimed temporary head of the self-proclaimed Ukrainian statehood. Stetsko was the head of the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations from the time of foundation until 1986, the year of his death.
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Yaroslav Stetsko was born on January 12, 1912 in Ternopil, Austria–Hungary (now Ukraine) into a Ukrainian Catholic priest's family.[1] His father, Semen, and his mother, Teodoziya, née Chubaty, encouraged him to pursue a higher education, which was very difficult for ethnic Ukrainians. Yaroslav not only graduated high school in Ternopil, but later studied Law and Philosophy at the Kraków and Lwów Universities, graduating in 1934.[2]
Yaroslav Stetsko was active in Ukrainian nationalist organizations from an early age. He was a member of three separate organizations: "Ukrayinska Natsionalistychna Molod'" (Ukrainian Nationalist Youth; Ukrainian: Українська Націоналістична Молодь) where he became a member of the National Executive in 1932, Ukrainian Military Organization the UVO (Ukrainian: Українська Військова Організація) and eventually the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) (Ukrainian: Організація Українських Націоналістів).
Because of his pro-Ukrainian activities and the recent assassination of Piernacki by Ukrainian nationalists, Stetsko was arrested by Polish authorities in 1934 and sentenced to a 5 year term.[2] This sentence was reduced, and Stetsko was released in 1937 in a general amnesty.
In 1929-1934, he studied philosophy at the Universities of Lwow and Kraków in Poland. In the 1930s, he became one of the leaders of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN).
According to the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and other sources, OUN leaders had meetings with the heads of Nazi Germany's intelligence, regarding the formation of "Nachtigall" and "Roland" Battalions. In spring the OUN received 2.5 million marks for subversive activities inside the USSR.[3][4]
On 30 June 1941, Stetsko declared in Lviv the formation of a Ukrainian state which "will closely cooperate with the National-Socialist Greater Germany, under the leadership of its leader Adolf Hitler which is forming a new order in Europe and the world" - as stated in the text of the "Act of Proclamation of Ukrainian Statehood"[4] Gestapo and Abwehr officials protected Bandera followers, as both organizations intended to use them for their own purposes.[5]
On July 5, OUN-B leader Bandera was placed under honorary arrest (Latin: custodia honesta) in Kraków, and transported to Berlin the next day. 14 July he was released, but required to stay in Berlin. 12 July 1941 he was joined in Berlin by his deputy Yaroslav Stetsko, whom the Germans had moved from Lviv after an unsuccessful attempt by unknown persons to assassinate him.[6] During July–August both of them submitted dozens of proposals for cooperation to different Nazi institutions (OKW, RSHA etc.) and freely communicate with their followers. [7]
After the assassination of two key members of Melnyk OUN, said to have been committed by members of OUN-B, Bandera and Stetsko after 15 September 1941 were held in the central Berlin prison at Spandau and, in January 1942, transferred to Sachsenhausen concentration camp's special barrack for high profile political prisoners Zellenbau.[8]
In April 1944 Bandera and his deputy Yaroslav Stetsko were approached by an RSHA official to discuss plans for diversions and sabotage against Soviet Army.[9]
In September 1944 Stetsko and Bandera were released by the German authorities in the hope that he would rouse the native populace to fight the advancing Soviet Army. With German consent Bandera set up headquarters in Berlin.>[10] Germans supplied OUN-B and UIA by air with arms and equipment. Assigned German personnel and agents trained to conduct terrorist and intelligence activities behind Soviet lines, as well as some OUN-B leaders, were also transported by air until early 1945.[11][12]
In April 1945 Stetsko was seriously injured during Allied air-attack on Nazi military vehicles convoy at the Bohemia.[13]
Stetsko continued to be very active politically after World War II. In 1968 he became a suprime leader of the OUN-B.
In 1946, Stetsko spearheaded the creation of a new anti-soviet organization, the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations, the ABN. He was president of this organization until his death.
On July 5, 1986, Yaroslav Stetsko died in Munich, Germany. He was 74 years old.