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| 65 years later, Soviet officer faces prosecution in Ukraine |
| 2017-05-01 |
| [IsraelNationalNews] Prosecutors in Ukraine initiated a murder investigation against a Jewish former Soviet officer who is suspected of killing a nationalist in 1952. The General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine opened the probe against 94-year-old Boris Steckler on April 18, the Ist Pravda news website reported last week based on documents it obtained from the National Advocacy Center, a nationalist and anti-Russian not-for-profit group. Steckler is accused of killing Neil Hasevych, an artist who was a member of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, or OUN, which fought during the first half of the 20th century against Soviet domination. Leaders of OUN briefly collaborated with Nazi occupation forces before turning against them. Once they ran out of Jews to kill. Steckler is accused of throwing a grenade into a bunker where Hasevych and several other underground fighters were hiding. Now, that's a war crime - ask any UN expert. Following a bloody revolution in 2014 that unleashed a wave of nationalist sentiment in Ukraine, the state has celebrated the legacy of various personalities from OUN and its military wing, the UPA, including commanders who are accused of responsibility for the murder of thousands of Jews and Poles. Following in the hallowed tradition of Bohdan Khmelnytsky. |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #5 I like the symbolism. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2017-05-01 14:16 |
| #4 Ynet has more on the man's history: Ukrainian authorities have decided to open a criminal investigation into a 94-year-old Jewish WWII hero who is being accused of killing a Nazi collaborator. Col. Boris Steckler was warned that he is expected to stand trial for killing a Ukrainian nationalist in 1952. Steckler was a senior officer in the Soviet Army and after the war was appointed as an officer in the KGB and was responsible for capturing Nazis and collaborators in western Ukraine. During a battle in the Rivne Oblast in western Ukraine, Steckler was involved in a confrontation with nationalists who cooperated with the Nazis. During the confrontation, a man by the name of Neil Hasiewicz, who was a propagandist and district judge during the war, was shot and killed. Local nationalist groups recently filed a complaint against Steckler, accusing him of responsibility for the assassination of Hasiewicz—a fact that Steckler does not deny. In an unprecedented move, this is the first time Ukrainian authorities have sought to arrest a person who worked against Nazi collaborators during and after the Second World War. Steckler was recognized as a local war hero and is regularly invited to the parades commemorating the victory over the Nazis. He was wounded during the war and received countless medals for courage. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2017-05-01 12:48 |
| #3 65 years? As Yogi Berra might say: "65 years is a lifetime." |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2017-05-01 10:12 |
| #2 Khmelnytsky led an uprising against the Ukrainian oligarchy(1648–1654) which resulted in the creation of a state led by the Zaparoschi Cossacks of Ukraine. In 1654, he concluded the Treaty of Pereyaslav with the Tsardom of Russia. The Khmelnytsky Uprising led to the deaths of an estimated 18,000 [100,000 Jews. The old Cossacks vs the Jewzzz thing. It goes way back. |
| Posted by: Captain Bluetooth6551 2017-05-01 10:11 |
| #1 Steckler is accused of throwing a grenade into a bunker where Hasevych and several other underground fighters were hiding. Underground fighters? Anyone who uses a grenade against underground fighters is at risk of being prosecuted for a war crime? That is low a standard to achieve since it would include soldiers who use grenades while fighting against terrorism. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2017-05-01 10:06 |