The assassination of Bronisław Pieracki was a

target killing Targeted killing is a form of murder or assassination carried out by governments outside a judicial procedure or a battlefield. Since the late 20th century, the legal status of targeted killing has become a subject of contention within and betw ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

's top politician of the interwar period, Minister of Interior Bronisław Pieracki (1895-1934), by the

Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists ( uk, Організація українських націоналістів, Orhanizatsiya ukrayins'kykh natsionalistiv, abbreviated OUN) was a Ukrainian ultranationalist political organization estab ...

(OUN). OUN was formed in Poland as an amalgamation of a number of extreme right-wing organizations, including the Union of Ukrainian Fascists. From the moment of its founding in 1929, fascism played a central role in the organization, combining extreme ethno-nationalism with terrorism, corporatism, and anti-Semitism. The chosen assassin, Hryhorij Maciejko

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

"Gonta", was a trusted member of OUN.

History

The assassination plan was decided at an OUN meeting in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. Maciejko was supplied with a makeshift bomb and a 7.65mm caliber pistol from Bandera. In the morning of 15 June 1934 Maciejko (aged 31) appeared at the Foksal Street in Warsaw in front of a social club frequented by Pieracki. He waited there for several hours undetected. The minister arrived in his limousine at 3:30 pm; however, Maciejko's bomb failed. He pulled the gun and shot the minister from behind twice in the back of his head. Maciejko escaped successfully with the help of OUN emissaries as far as Czechoslovakia and then to Argentina. The state funeral of Pieracki was attended by some 100,000 people. The coffin was sent to

Nowy Sącz Nowy Sącz (; hu, Újszandec; yi, Tzanz, צאַנז; sk, Nový Sonč; german: Neu-Sandez) is a city in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of southern Poland. It is the district capital of Nowy Sącz County as a separate administrative unit. It has ...

in a special train and laid in his family tomb. The Polish authorities did not realize at first that OUN was behind the assassination and blamed the Polish

National Radical Camp The National Radical Camp ( pl, Obóz Narodowo-Radykalny, ONR) refers to at least three groups that are fascist, far-right, and ultranationalist Polish organisations with doctrines stemming from pre-World War II nationalist ideology. The cur ...

(ONR) for it. The mistake had terrible consequences for Poland's political life. As a result of this, the Bereza Kartuska prison for

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established Political system, political or Organized religion, religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and ...

s was established. A year later, it became known that OUN was behind the assassination of Bronisław Pieracki. The trial of OUN leaders before a Warsaw circuit court took place between 18 November 1935 and 13 January 1936.

Stepan Bandera Stepan Andriyovych Bandera ( uk, Степа́н Андрі́йович Банде́ра, Stepán Andríyovych Bandéra, ; pl, Stepan Andrijowycz Bandera; 1 January 1909 – 15 October 1959) was a Ukrainian far-right leader of the radical, terr ...

Mykola Lebed Mykola Lebed ( uk, Микола Кирилович Лебідь or ; January 11, 1909 – July 18, 1998), also known as Maksym Ruban, Marko or Yevhen Skyrba, was a Ukrainian political activist, Ukrainian nationalist, guerrilla fighter, and war ...

and several other members of the OUN were proven guilty of organizing the assassination. The actual assassin, Hryhorij Maciejko, never faced a judge, he died in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

in 1966.

Accused

16 members of the OUN were tried during the Warsaw process, including

, Bohdan Pidhainy,

, Yaroslav Karpynets, Mykola Klymyshyn, Dariya Hnatkivska, Yaroslav Rak, Yakiv Chorniy, Kateryna Zarytska, Ivan Malyutsa, Roman Myhal and Yevhen Kachmarsky.

Penalty

After a two-month trial in Warsaw, the court sentenced the guilty as follows: * Stepan Bandera, Mykola Lebed and Yaroslav Karpynets were sentenced to death, (commuted to life imprisonment due to amnesty); * Mykola Klymyshyn, Bohdan Pidhainy sentenced to life imprisonment; * Dariya Hnatkivska sentenced to 15 years imprisonment; * Ivan Malyutsa, Roman Myhal and Yevhen Kachmarsky - 12 years imprisonment; * Kateryna Zarytska - 8 years imprisonment; * Yaroslav Rak and Yakiv Chorny - 7 years imprisonment. The court also denied Hnatkivska, Malyutsa, Kachmarsky, Myhal, Chorny, Zarytska and Rak civil rights for 10 years.

History

Accused

Penalty

See also

References

Further reading