Stepan Bandera: Nazi Collaborator
Named "Hero of Ukraine"
Ukraine National Police Chief Serhiy Knyazev declared himself a “Banderite.” He wrote on his Facebook page “I am a Banderite, too! Glory to Ukraine!" An entire formation of police officers announced they were Banderites. Interior Ministry adviser Zoryan Shkyryak also called himself a Banderite. As did Interior Ministry spokesman Artem Shevchenko.
What is a Banderite and why do so many Ukrainian officials claim to be one?
Once upon a time, a Banderite was a member of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists Bandera faction or OUN-B. Today, a Banderite is a follower, an acolyte or a disciple of Stepan Bandera.
Stepan Bandera
For a nearly a century, Stepan Bandera loomed large over the Ukraine. In the years leading up to and into World War II, the separatist group Bandera led carried out genocidal crimes to rid what is present-day northwestern Ukraine of Russians, Poles, Jews and other foreigners. At the time, the area of Volynia was part of Poland and 9 of 10 residents were Poles or Jews, giving rise to Bandera’s hatred of both.
Bandera’s paramilitary forces aligned with Nazi Germany when the Wehrmacht launched Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union. They fought alongside the German army through the end of the war.
In recent years, there have been furious efforts to whitewash Bandera’s past by dismissing the atrocities as myths, and portraying him as a selfless Ukrainian freedom fighter.
In 1933, Stepan Bandera organized an attack against the Soviet consulate in the Polish city of Lwów (which is now Lviv, Ukraine) that killed an office secretary. Bandera gained international attention when he organized the June 15, 1934 assassination of Poland’s interior minister, Bronisław Pieracki. The actual gunman who shot Pieracki in the head made his escape and fled to Argentina, which became the favored refuge for Nazis after WWII.
Poland interior minister Bronisław Pieracki lying in state after his assassination
Bandera and other assassination plotters were caught. He was tried and sentenced to death in 1936. In defiance of the courtroom proceedings, Bandera and other co-conspirators gave a Nazi salute and shouted “Slava Ukraini!” (Glory to Ukraine!). The phrase “Slava Ukraini!” was adopted from the Union of Ukrainian Fascists (SUF) by Bandera and his followers. Bandera’s sentence was subsequently commuted to life imprisonment. He was freed from prison during the chaos when the German army invaded Poland in 1939.
Bandera traveled to eastern Poland (present-day western Ukraine) where he assumed leadership of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). OUN was formed in 1929 by the merger of several groups including the Ukrainian Military Organization and the SUF. OUN split into two factions with Bandera leading the one that became known as OUN-Bandera or OUN-B. The OUN-B advocated violence distinguishing it from another faction called OUN-Melnyk, named for Andriy Melnyk, which advocated less violent measures to achieve Ukraine independence.
Roman Shukhevych was a co-conspirator of Bandera in the Polish minister’s assassination. He was acquitted at his trial due to a lack of evidence. During WWII, Shukhevych led the OUN-B’s paramilitary arm, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). The UPA was formed in 1943 primarily by Ukrainians who had joined the German Waffen SS in 1941 and as many as 8,000 Ukrainians who deserted their posts as police officers, auxiliary police or militia. Shukhevych was twice awarded the Iron Cross for his service to the German army while leading the UPA.
SS leader Heinrich Himmler inspects 14th Waffen SS mostly comprised of Ukrainians
The primary goal of the OUN-B was to establish a fascist state modeled after Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany in the Ukraine that was ethnically pure. They would accomplish this purity by cleansing the nation of all foreigners including Romanians and Magyars (Hungarians), but especially Russians, Poles and Jews. Bandera assumed this fascist state would ally with Germany as an independent nation.
When Germany turned on its ally, the USSR, the OUN-B pledged its allegiance to the Third Reich. The OUN-B collaborated with the Wehrmacht (German armed forces) and Abwehr (German military intelligence) in Operation Barbarossa, Germany’s June 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union. As many as 250,000 Ukrainians fought alongside the Wehrmacht.
On June 30, 1941 and after Operation Barbarossa began, Bandera announced an independent Ukraine aligned with Germany. However, Hitler had different ideas. When Bandera refused German requests to withdraw the independence announcement he was arrested and jailed.
OUN-B forces gathering Jews for transport to Belzec death camp in July 1941
Once German troops secured Ukraine the OUN-B began its purification of the region by helping ship Jews to the Belzec death camp in eastern Poland (present-day Ukraine). It’s believed as many as 800,000 Jews were sent to Belzec by the German forces and the OUN-B. A total of about 1.4 million or one-in-four of all Holocaust victims came from what is present-day Ukraine (including then-eastern Poland). An estimated 50,000 Jews who weren’t shipped-out were killed by the OUN-B.
By 1943 with nearly all the Jews gone, the OUN-B turned its attention to the Poles. It began to systematically wipe out entire villages in eastern Poland (present-day Ukraine) including killing women, children and the elderly. Leaving no survivors made death totals difficult to determine. It’s estimated the OUN-B massacred at least 100,000 and possibly as many as 130,000 Poles in 1943-1944. Shukhevych reportedly said, “The death of one Pole is a meter of free Ukraine; either there will be Ukraine, or Lechite blood up to the knees, Poles to be cut to pieces.”
Polish villagers massacred by OUN-B forces
After the defeat of Germany, many of the Ukraine Nazis, including some of the 8,000 who served in Germany’s 14th Waffen SS, fled to North America with many settling in Canada. Even today, there is a monument in Edmonton that honors the 14th Waffen SS. A military wing of the Nazi party, the Waffen SS was notorious for committing atrocities against both military and civilians. After the war, this military unit was indicted for war crimes, but Waffen veterans that settled in Canada were given protected status by the Canadian government. (It was a 14th Waffen SS veteran the Canadian parliament praised in late 2023, leading to the resignation of the speaker of the House of Commons.)
Neo-Nazi marches in Ukraine occur with greater frequency
Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, neo-Nazis have grown in influence throughout the Ukraine. They hold elected office and populate the police forces and the military. In 2007 and in 2010, respectively, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko posthumously awarded Shukhevych and Bandera the title “Hero of Ukraine.” This designation was condemned by the European Parliament, Poland, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, among others. Relying on a legal technicality, those honorary titles were revoked by Yushchenko’s successor, Viktor Yanukovich, after he took office. This action angered neo-Nazi groups who viewed Yanukovich’s act as traitorous.
Roman Shukhevych honored on a Ukraine postage stamp
It was Yanukovich who was overthrown in early 2014 at the urging of US officials. The US State Department began offering support to protestors in 2013. Just weeks after protests erupted in Kyiv, Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) openly met with Oleh Tyahnybok in Kyiv encouraging Tyahnybok’s group to unseat the democratically-elected Yanukovich.
Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT) and John McCain (R-AZ) with neo-Nazi Oleh Tyahnybok
Tahnybok led the Svoboda Party, the largest antisemitic, neo-Nazi party in Ukraine. The Svoboda Party uses Nazi symbology such as the Wolfsangel symbol as its party badge. This was the same insignia used by Germany’s notorious SS-units and other units of the Third Reich. Svoboda Party members elected to the Ukrainian general assembly quoted chief Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, spoke favorably of the Holocaust, and brawled on the assembly floor with deputies of opposing parties.
Tahnybok has been fully transparent regarding his antisemitic views. In 2004, he declared Ukraine was controlled by a “Jewish-Russian mafia.” The following year he urged the president to “put an end to the criminal activities of Ukrainian Jewry.” He praised Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk as “fighting for truth.” His top advisor, Yuri Mykhailyshyn, founded the ‘Joseph Goebbels Political Research Center’ in 2005.
Neo-Nazi leader Oleh Tyahnybok claims Ukraine is run by a “Jewish-Russian mafia”
His over-the-top antisemitic behavior led to Tahnybok’s expulsion from his previous political party, Our Ukraine. Prior to changing its name to Svoboda it was called the Social-National Party. Founded in 1991, the Social-National Party was a nod to Hitler’s National-Socialist Party.
Days after McCain and Murphy met with Tahnybok, about 15,000 members of his Svoboda party did a torchlight march through Kyiv streets to honor Bandera’s birthday.
Ukrainians march to honor Nazi-collaborator Stepan Bandera
Svoboda is noted for its propensity for violence. In August 2015, Svoboda-led protests outside the Verkhovna Rada (general assembly) resulted in the deaths of four Ukrainian national guardsmen. Deputies in the assembly were debating the autonomy status of eastern Ukraine when the violence erupted.
Neo-Nazis march through streets of Kyiv
The Azov battalion is the elite Ukraine military unit. It is an openly neo-Nazi paramilitary unit comprised of skinheads, Nazis and other anti-government agitators. In 2016, its commander offered to lead the Azov battalion in battle “against Semite-led Untermenschen [subhumans].” Svoboda party members and Azov militia were among those who helped overthrow President Yanukovich in 2014 despite his calling for early elections.
Azov Battalion with Nazi Wolfsangel symbology
In May 2015, President Pyotr Poroshenko signed a law declaring the organizations OUN and UPA national heroes and making it a criminal offense to deny them of that recognition. More than 40 monuments to Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevich have been erected across Ukraine. A museum honoring Bandera is in Ivano-Frankivsk and another museum dedicated to Shukhevich is in Lviv. Memorial events and torchlight processions often take place in their memory, and streets have been named after them.
Stepan Bandera statue
Ukraine’s neo-Nazis have become emboldened with each passing year. On January 1, 2017, thousands of Ukrainians gathered in Kyiv chanting “Jews out!” January 1st is the birthdate of Bandera who was born in 1909. A festival was also held that year honoring UPA commander Shukhevych.
Neo-Nazi torchlight protest
Antisemitism is widespread in the Ukraine. Professional footballer Roman Zozulya found himself unwelcome in many countries. Fans booed and jeered him during some of his international appearances. He was labeled a neo-Nazi because he shared Nazi symbology and likened himself to Bandera.
After one such episode in 2019 that caused a football match to be canceled, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came to his defense. On his Facebook page Zelenskyy posted “You are supported not only by your team, you are supported by the whole Ukraine! Not only are you a great football player, you are a true patriot who loves his country and helps our military. We are with you! I'm shaking my hand!”
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Facebook post praising neo-Nazi footballer
In 2018, Ukraine designated Bandera’s January 1st birthday a national holiday. The resolution by the Verkhovna Rada stated "Stepan Bandera was an outstanding figure and theorist of Ukraine’s national liberation movement." The resolution was criticized by the Simon Wiesenthal Center and by the Polish and Israeli governments because of Bandera-led genocide against their people. The Wiesenthal Center also denounced the decision to erect a monument honoring the OUN at a cemetery in Sambir in western Ukraine. The remains of more than 1,200 Jews killed by the UPA are buried in that one cemetery. A Jewish leader observed, “It’s like putting a monument to killers on the top of the graves of their victims.”
Stepan Bandera monument in Lviv
In late 2018, about 15,000 Ukrainians marched through the center of Kyiv to honor the UPA. By then, the whitewashing of Ukraine’s past deeds was in full force. Western media outlets and advocacy organizations that joined in erasing history by dismissing OUN-B atrocities as exaggerated or fabricated include the New York Times, Washington Post, Time, Reuters, NPR, and the Atlantic Council.
Kyiv march honoring WWII Nazi collaborators
The Ukraine government office regulating radio and television banned a historical work documenting Ukrainian atrocities against Jews during the Russian revolution. These atrocities included the Ukrainian National Army killing tens of thousands of Jews in pogroms during the years 1917-1921. That army was led by Symon Petliura who ruled a short-lived anti-Bolshevik republic in 1919-1920. Bandera’s father, Andriy, served in the army under Petliura.
Despite the ugly history, according to a 2022 Ukraine poll, Ukrainians hold overwhelmingly positive views of past Nazi-aligned leaders and organizations. Seven in 10 (71%) have a positive view of the UPA, 81% for the OUN, 74% for Bandera, and 49% have a favorable opinion of Petliura.
Ukraine general assembly tweet of armed forces commander praising Bandera
On January 1, 2023, the Verkhovna Rada, tweeted a photo of Valeri Zaloujny giving a thumbs-up to a portrait of Stepan Bandera. Zaloujny is the commander of the Ukrainian armed forces. Weeks earlier, Zaloujny and several senior generals posed with a display honoring Bandera and Shukhevych.
Ukraine armed forces senior generals with display honoring WWII Nazi collaborators
While western media is preoccupied with whitewashing Ukraine’s Nazi past, key Ukraine leaders and officials are busy in the here-and-now praising and honoring Nazi collaborators.
Mark Hyman is an Emmy award-winning investigative journalist. Follow him on Twitter, Gettr, Parler, and Mastodon.world at @markhyman, and on Truth Social at @markhyman81.
His books Washington Babylon: From George Washington to Donald Trump, Scandals That Rocked the Nation and Pardongate: How Bill and Hillary Clinton and their Brothers Profited from Pardons are on sale now (here and here).