Dmytro Hrytsai

Dmytro Hrytsai
Clockwise: Roman Shukhevych, Dmytro Hrytsai, and Kateryna Meshko in Buchach in November 1943 shortly before the penultimate phase of massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia in Rivne, Lutsk, Volodymyr, and Kovel
Native name
Дмитро Грицай
NicknamePerebyinis (Перебийніс)
Born(1907-04-01)1 April 1907
Verkhnii Dorozhiv, Drohobych Raion, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
Died19 December 1945(1945-12-19) (aged 38)
Prague, Czechoslovakia
Cause of death
Death by hanging (suicide)
Allegiance
Branch
Service years
1928–1929
1941–1945
Rank
 Brigadier General
Conflicts
World War II
Awards Cross of Merit
EducationUniversity of Lviv

Dmytro Hrytsai (Nom de guerre"Perebyinis"[1]; Ukrainian: Дмитрó Грицáй-Переб́ийніс; 1 April 1907 – 22 December 1945) was a leader in the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and a general in the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.

Life

Born in Dorozhiv in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (now Verkhii Dorozhiv, Lviv Oblast), Hrytsai graduated from gymnasium in Drohobych (then part of eastern Poland) and became a member of the Ukrainian Military Organization (UVO). In 1928, he matriculated in the Lviv University Department of Physics and Mathematics. He did not graduate, being called to military service in the Polish Army. He completed officers' school with distinction.

In this period of his life, he joined the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). From 1933, he directed the OUN Executive's military department. In 1934, he was arrested by the Polish police and was held for over two years at Bereza Kartuska Prison. After his release, he resumed his studies at Lwów University.[2]

In 1939 he was again incarcerated at Bereza Kartuska, but was released after Poland had been overrun by Germany and the Soviet Union.[2]

In 1940–41, Hrytsai was a member of the OUN Revolutionary Directorate and took part in the second Great OUN Congress. In 1941–43 he actively participated in partisan operations against Nazi German forces. From 1941, he headed the OUN's Military Staff, working to discover the German command's tactical plans, creating weapons and supply depots, and training officer cadres for a Ukrainian army.[2]

In 1943, Hrytsai was arrested by the German Gestapo, but was freed by a Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) attack on the prison. He directed UPA's General Staff. In 1945, he became UPA Chief of Staff and received the rank of general.[2]

In 1945, together with OUN Directorate member Taras Maivski, while carrying out assignments for the Ukrainian Chief Council of Liberation, he fell into a Czech police trap while crossing the Czech-German border. Hrytsai committed suicide by hanging while imprisoned in Prague.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ukrainian ssr mgb Agent "D-2". Failed the Screening by the OUN Security Service". szru.gov.ua. April 23, 2026. Retrieved June 24, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Kubijovyč, Volodymyr (1984). Encyclopedia of Ukraine: G-K. Vol. 2. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 260. ISBN 0802034446.


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