Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists
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Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists
Організація Українських Націоналістів |
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| Abbreviation | OUN |
| Leader | Bohdan Kravciv (first) Volodymyr Timtchyj (last) |
| Membership | 300,000 |
| Colors | Red, Black |
| Established | 1929 |
The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) (Ukrainian: Організація Українських Націоналістів, Orhanizatsiya Ukrayins'kykh Natsionalistiv or ОУН) was a Ukrainian political organization created in 1929 in Vienna and acting in Western Ukraine (at the time interwar Poland). The OUN emerged as a union between the Ukrainian Military Organization, smaller radical right-wing groups, and right-wing Ukrainian nationalists and intellectuals represented by Dmytro Dontsov, Yevhen Konovalets, Mykola Stsyborsky and other figures.
The OUN sought to infiltrate legal political parties, universities and other political structures and institutions. As revolutionary ultra-nationalists the OUN have been characterized by some historians as fascist. The OUN's strategy to achieve Ukrainian independence included violence and terrorism against perceived foreign and domestic enemies, particularly Poland, Czechoslovakia and Russia.
In 1940, the OUN split into two parts. The older, more moderate members, supported Andriy Melnyk (OUN-M) while the younger and more radical members supported Stepan Bandera (OUN-B). The OUN-B, namely Yaroslav Stetsko declared an independent Ukrainian state on 30 June 1941 in Lviv, while the region was under the control of Nazi Germany. In response, the OUN leadership was suppressed by Nazi authorities. In October 1942 OUN-B established the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).
In 1943 UPA military units carried out large-scale genocide against Polish people. Historians estimate that 60,000-100,000 Polish civilians were massacred in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia.
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