- Petro Voinovsky
Petro Voinovsky, _ro. Petru Voinovschi, _ru. Пётр Войновский, _uk. Петро Войновський (
September 8 ,1913 , village Stanivtsi Dolyshni — died after 2003) was a Ukrainian nationalist. He lived in Bukovyna (a region of modern Ukraine that belonged to Romania before 1940), served in the Romanian army in the rank of lieutenant, resigned in 1935 due to the policy of "Romanization" (he refused to change his name into Romanian one). He participated in Ukrainian scouting organizationPlast , joinedOUN in 1930s. Initially supportedStepan Bandera , but later moved toAndriy Melnyk 's faction. Since 1940 Voinovsky was the regional leader of OUN in Bukovyna and Bessarabia.In 1941, with German support, he organized the so-called
Bukovyna Kurin ( _uk. Буковинський курiнь, the Bukovynian Battalion) - the bigest paramilitary unit of Andriy Melnyk's faction, got the rank of a captain (Hauptmann). When the German-Soviet war began, the Bukovyna Kurin came to Ukraine in order to organize pro-German local administration. On July 5, 1941 Voinovsky's unit organized a Jewish massacre in Milievo village and killed about 120 Jews Fact|date=April 2008). Later Voinovsky took part in several other repressive actions against civilians and partisans. In November 1941 his unit was merged with the Kievauxiliary police while Voinovsky and some other of his people were transferred toSchutzmannschaft battalions.According to sources of
Stepan Bandera 's faction, Voinovsky actively helped Germans in their reprisals against Ukrainian nationalists - adherents of Bandera ( [http://oun-upa.org.ua/encyclopaedia/v.html] ). Nevertheless, he was arrested byGestapo inLviv in 1944 and imprisoned in Brez concentration camp where he became paralyzed.Since 1949 Voinovsky resided in the USA.
After Ukraine got independent in 1991, several mass-media proclaimed Voinovsky a national hero of Ukraine. A monument in memory of Bukovyna Kurin was erected in
Chernivtsi . Voinovsky visited Ukraine in 2003 and was interviewed.Links
* [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/pages/B/U/BukovynianBattalionof1941.htm]
* [http://exlibris.org.ua/buk/ Андрій Дуда, Володимир Старик. БУКОВИНСЬКИЙ КУРІНЬ в боях за Українську Державність: 1918-1941-1944]
* [http://www.remember.org/ideas/bukovina.html A Nazi Memorial Opened and Honored in Ukraine]
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