During World War I, a soldier of the Army of the Austro–Hungarian Monarchy. Served in the Germ. Infanterieregiment Freiherr von Georgi Nr. 15 (Eng. 15th Galician Infantry Regiment of Count von Georgi), in 1914 part of the 22nd Infantry Brigade in Lviv. In the Regiment, c. 62% were Ukrainians, 29% Poles. On the eve of the war, most of the Regiment and its command were stationed in Ternopil, and one of its battalions in Lviv. As part of his service in 1914‐1916, was in Berettyóújfalu in Hungary — prob. after the Austro–Hungarian defeats in Galicia in the battles with the Russians; then in 1916‐1917 in Prešov in Slovakia — prob. as a soldier of rear‐line formations; in Šumperk in Czechia, where completed a non‐commissioned officer course; in 1917 at the construction of roads in the territory of the former Rus. Радомская губерния (Eng. Radom Governorate), the so‐called Rus. Царство Польское (Eng. Kingdom of Poland), conquered by the German Empire and the Austrian Monarchy after the Russian defeat in the Battle of Gorlice in 05.1915, which was then within the territory of the Austro–Hungarian occupation Germ. Militärgeneralgouvernement in Polen (Eng. General Military Government in Poland); In 1917‐1918 served in the military censorship offices in Cieszyn and Lublin in the Germ. Militärgeneralgouvernement in Polen; finally, at the end of the war, from 08.1918 to 11.1918, at the officers" school in Vienna.

After the fall of the Austro–Hungarian Monarchy, the end of World War I, and the rebirth of the Polish state in 11.1918, applied for accession to the Polish Army and was assigned as a military attaché to the Polish legation in Vienna. Served there until 10.04.1921, after which was demobilized on 20.05.1921.

From 1937 was parish priest based in Stoyaniv, a small town in Radekhiv district, in the very north of the Polish Ternopil Voivodeship, on the railway line connecting Lviv with Lutsk in Volyn. Stoyaniv, since 1772 and the first partition of Poland, was de facto a border town, on the Galician side: when Poland was partitioned between the Germ. Königreich Galizien und Lodomerien (Eng. Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria), i.e. the province and crown land of the partitioning Austro–Hungarian Monarchy, and initially the restricted Poland, and after the third partition of Poland in 1795 the Rus. Волынская губерния (Eng. Volyn Governorate) of the partitioning Russian Empire; and after Poland regained independence in 1918, between the Ternopil Voivodeship and the Volyn Voivodeship. In 1939, it had a population of c. 3,400 people, of whom Roman Catholic Poles constituted c. 33%, Greek Catholic Ukrainians c. 47%, and Jews c. 18%.

During the German and Russian invasion of the Poland in 09.1939, Ukrainian nationalists under the banner of the genocidal Ukrainian organization OUN in the vicinity of Stoyaniv carried out attacks on Polish soldiers from units defeated or those after 17.09.1939 retreating west under the pressure of the Russian army. Those caught were murdered — in the vicinity of Stoyaniv this happened to least 30 Polish soldiers. The genocidal German–Russian agreement of 23.08.1939, known as the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, confirmed on 28.09.1939 by the so‐called „Treaty on the Borders and Friendship between Germany and Russia”, also known as the Second Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, which sparked World War II, had another ally in the OUN. According to the biography of his parish vicar, Fr Francis Kutrowski, after the beginning of the Russian occupation, the parish „organized help for the poor, cared for orphans and lonely women, [and] in the rectory, those sentenced to death were hidden and helped to organize their escape”.

Must have known about it — more than that: must have initiated and approved it. This was a response to the arrests of Polish intelligentsia, teachers, doctors, landowners, government officials, foresters, policemen, and the families of Polish servicemen. In 1940‐1941, many other Poles became victims of four large waves of deportations „to Siberia”. Accounts often mention that „they came at night, without warning, and took away entire families, from infants to the elderly”. „When we went out into the yard, they allowed my mother to look into the chest‐unfortunately, it was empty, because our neighbors had already emptied it. We took practically nothing, because they didn't let us move around the house […] There were large snowdrifts and heavy frosts”. In addition, 150,000–200,000 men were conscripted into the Russian army, and c. 100,000 were forced to work for Russian industry, mainly in the mines of the Donets Basin, in heavy industry plants in the Urals and in Siberia. Then the surveillance of priests and monks began. High taxes were imposed on the clergy.

At the same time, the OUN did not stop infiltrating the region. An OUN agent appeared in Stoyaniv — clandestinely — whose task was to organize a network of Ukrainian nationalists in Volyn, and who later became one of the main organizers of „personal communication between OUN units”.

After the German attack on 22.06.1941, on its erstwhile ally, the Russians, and the beginning of the German occupation, his parish found itself in the Germ. Kreishauptmannschaft Kamionka Strumiłowa (Eng. Kamyanka Strumilova County) in the Germ. Distrikt Galizien (Eng. Galicia District), part of the German‐occupied and run quasi‐state called the Germ. Generalgouvernement (Eng. General Governorate), i.e. GG. And once again, Stoyaniv became a border town, this time between the GG and the Germ. Reichskommissariat Ukraine (Eng. Reich Commissariat of Ukraine), another occupational entity, including Volyn.

Witnesses recalled that „Ukrainian nationalists were the most delighted with the new situation. In marches and demonstrations, manifested the creation of a free Ukraine and proclaimed anti‐Polish and anti‐Jewish slogans”. The Germans quickly dissuaded the Ukrainians from their hopes for a „free Ukraine”. But they exploited the revealed anti‐Polish and anti‐Jewish sentiments. For the years 1941‐1943 were marked, in particular, by the extermination of Jews and the participation of collaborative Ukrainian units in it. From 25.10.1941, the decree of Hans Frank, the Germ. Generalgouverneur (Eng. General Governor) of the GG, came into effect, according to which „Jews who leave their assigned district without authorization are subject to the death penalty. The same punishment applies to persons who knowingly provide such Jews with a hiding place”, and „Instigators and accomplices are subject to the same punishment as the perpetrator; an attempted act will be punished as the deed accomplished. In less serious cases, heavy imprisonment or prison may be imposed”. Strict observance of the ban was enforced by members of the collaborative Germ. Ukrainische Hilfspolizei (Eng. Ukrainian Auxiliary Police), in some regions also referred to as the Germ. Schutzmannschaft (Eng. Protection Battalions), i.e. Schuma.

And at the turn of 1941/1942, the Germans began implementing the genocidal plan Germ. «Endlösung der Judenfrage» (Eng. Final Solution of the Jewish Question), which in the GG was codenamed «Aktion Reinhardt» (Eng. Operation Reinhardt). The center of Jewish concentration in the vicinity of his parish was Radekhiv, c. 11 km to the south. There, immediately after the beginning of the German occupation, in the summer of 1941, the Germans established the Germ. Judenrat (Eng. Jewish Council), which was to represent the interests of the Jewish population before the occupation authorities. The Germ. Judenrat run the Germ. Jüdischer Ordnungsdienst (Eng. Jewish Order Service), responsible for maintaining order among the Jews. At the beginning of 1942, an open ghetto was established there, to which Jews from nearby towns and villages were systematically brought. The first deportation Germ. Aktion (Eng. action) took place on 15.09.1942, when c. 1,400 Jews — including Jews from Stoyaniv — were loaded onto a train and transported to the Germ. Vernichtungslager (Eng. extermination camp) VL Belzec, where all were murdered. The second took place on 21.09.1942, when c. 500 Jews were driven on foot by the Germans and the Germ. Ukrainian Hilfspolizei to Kamyanka Strumilova, c. 30 km away — along the way adding groups of Jews from the villages they passed by — and there they were all murdered in the nearby forests, where sandy death pits awaited them. On 07.10.1942 another group of over 1,000 Jews was taken to VL Belzec. The remaining survivors were locked in a ghetto surrounded by a fence and murdered on 15.03.1943.

And it was then, in 02.1943, when the murders of Jews were ending, Roman Shukhevych, nom de guerre „Taras Chuprynka”, the chief commander of the Ukrainian, genocidal OUN/UPA organisation, who in 1941 was a member of the Ukrainian Germ. Sondergruppe Nachtigall (Eng. Special Group Nightingale) — a unit of the Germ. Wehrmacht (Eng. Armed Forces) that took part in the German attack on Russians in 1941, accused of participating in the Jewish pogrom in Lviv in 1941 — and later a member of the Germ. Schutzmannschaftsbataillon 201 (Eng. 201st Protection team Battalion) — responsible for the murder of Jews and civilians in the territory of Belarus — issued in Volyn, i.e. in Germ. Reichskommissariat Ukraine, an order: „The extermination operation should be carried out according to the following principles: Polish villages are to be burned, and their populations massacred. Attacks on towns will take place in broad daylight, not at night. In mixed villages, the Polish population alone should be liquidated, and farmsteads should be burned only if they are 15 meters away and when there is no risk of the fire spreading to neighboring Ukrainian buildings. The Ukrainian population will receive instructions as to where to gather during the attack […] For every Ukrainian murdered, whether by Poles or Germans, 100 (one hundred) Poles will be executed”.

It was the de facto signal for the commencement of the «Genocidium Atrox» — i.e. the genocide perpetrated by Ukrainians, known as „Volyn genocide”.

Immediately thereafter, in 03.1943, the UPA issued an appeal to members of the Germ. Ukrainische Hilfspolizei to desert and join the UPA ranks. Perhaps as many as 10,000 Ukrainians did so.

The tactics of the genocidal Ukrainians were detailed in an order issued by the UPA commander in Volyn — from 11.1943 commander of the Operational Group „UPA‐North” — Dmytro Klachkivsky, nom de guerre „Klym Savur”, in 06.1943. Anticipating Germany's defeat in the war with Russia, explained and ordered: „We should carry out a major operation to eliminate the Polish element. When the German troops withdraw, we should use this opportune moment to eliminate the entire male population aged 16 to 60 […] We cannot lose this fight, and we must weaken Polish forces at all costs. Forest villages and villages located near forest massifs should disappear from the face of the earth”.

The culminating day was 11.07.1943, „Bloody Sunday”, when Ukrainian génocidaires attacked 99 localities where Poles lived. Throughout 07.1943, they attacked c. 520 villages and settlements. Volyn was drenched in Polish blood. Tens of thousands of Poles were murdered by the Ukrainians — with German passivity — in an extremely barbaric manner. Hundreds of villages were burned.

When at the turn of 1943/1944 it became clear that Germany was losing the war in the East — on 24.12.1943, a large Russian offensive called the Dnieper–Carpathian Operation began, which in 04.1944 reached a line c. 80 km east of Lviv — the OUN/UPA decided to extend the genocide «Genocidium Atrox» to the Germ. Distrikt Galizien. Until then, the main forces operating there — in order not to „annoy” the Germans — were the armed OUN groups operating under the euphemistic Ukrainian name Ukr. Українська Народна Самооборона (Eng. Ukrainian National Self‐Defense), i.e. UNS, reinforced by „unemployed” deserters from the Germ. Ukrainische Hilfspolizei and Schuma, seasoned in the genocide of Jews. Among others, the Ukrainian génocidaires formed the OUN/UPA operational group „UPA‐West”, under the command of Vasyl Sydor, nom de guerre „Shelest”, who ordered „to constantly strike at Poles until they are exterminated to the last one from these lands”. The Military District WO‐2 „Bug”, subordinate to „UPA‐West”, commanded by Ostap Łynda, nom de guerre „Yarema”, and from 06.1944 by Vasyl Levkovych, nom de guerre „Voronyi”, was responsible for implementing the «Genocidium Atrox» in the vicinity of Stoyaniv. Levkovych, immediately after taking up the position.

confirmed Sydor's stance and ordered „the liquidation of strong and active Polish clusters”. The first two degenerates boasted a similar „career path” to their main commander, the aforementioned Roman Shukhevych — through the Ukrainian Germ. Sondergruppe Nachtigall and the Germ. Schutzmannschaftsbataillon 201 to the UNS; the latter, Levkovych, was „only” a policeman in Schuma in Dubno in Volyn, which bears co–responsibility for the Germ. «Endlösung der Judenfrage» there, and then — after deserting to the genocidal OUN/UPA — participated in the «Genocidium Atrox» in Volyn and the murder of Poles.

On 17.04.1944, when the Russians suspended the Dnieper–Carpathian Operation for the spring thaw, the fighting front was established c. 30 km east of Stoyaniv, near Berestechko. On 13.07.1944, the Russians resumed the offensive and began the so‐called Lviv–Sandomierz Operation. Stoyaniv found itself on the axis of attack towards Sokal and then Rava‐Ruska, north of Lviv. The fighting to break through the German defensive line lasted several days.

And it was then, literally on the eve of the Russian invasion, was kidnapped from his rectory by OUN/UPA murderers.

On the night of 15‐15.07.1944, Poles and Ukrainians gathered in the rectory, waiting for the front to pass. Despite the threat — also, and perhaps above all, from «Genocidium Atrox», as his parish was located right on the border with Volyn — did not want to abandon his faithful and used to say: „I am a parish priest even for the poorest who cannot go west”.

Various accounts emphasize different details of the event. For example, the vicar, the aforementioned Fr Francis Starzewicz, is said to have recalled that his parish priest „was led out of the rectory building by the UPA, threw on a fur coat [sic!; it was summer!] and held a breviary in his hand”.

Terrified, the parishioners, sheltering in the rectory, were helpless.

As Fr Starzewicz related, his body „was found 1.5 kilometers from the rectory in a field among hemp, face down. He was stripped of his clothes, and in one hand he held a breviary, and in the other a handkerchief, with which he wiped the deadly sweat after regaining consciousness.

He died from three bullet wounds”.

Another recollection includes a passage that „he was murdered in terrible torment (they cut the vestment from the skin on his back)”.

According to the latter source, the génocidaires were also said to have murdered his niece and mother along with him.

According to some sources, the OUN/UPA executioners were „disguised as Russian soldiers”" On 16‐17.07.1944, the Russians entered Stoyaniv.

On 12.10.2007, the génocidaire Roman Shukhevych was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine. In 12.2020, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, in a resolution, recognized génocidaire Dmitry Klachkivsky as „the leader of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in Volyn and a participant in the struggle for Ukraine's independence in the 20th century”. On 05.03.2008, the génocidaire Vasyl Levkovych ceremoniously received again the Golden Cross of Military Merit of the UPA, 2nd class (for the first time in 1946). On 10.12.2017, on behalf of the „Coordination Council for the Commemoration of Decorated Knights of the OUN and UPA”, génocidaire Vasyl Sydor was posthumously awarded in Lviv the Silver Cross of Military Merit of the UPA, 1st Class (No. 009). In several locations, monuments and commemorative plaques have been erected to these Lat. „hostis humani generis”, the schools were named after them, and they were included in the list of honorary citizens of Ukrainian cities (e.g. Levkovych in Sheptytskyi).

Lat. „O Tempora! O mores!”