Yaroslava Yosypivna Stetsko ( uk, Ярослава Йосипівна Стецько, pl, Sława Stećko; 14 May 1920 – 12 March 2003), also popularly known as Slava Stetsko, was a Ukrainian politician and a World War II veteran. Born Anna Yevheniia Muzyka ( uk, Анна Євгенія Музика) in Romanówka near

Ternopil Ternópil ( uk, Тернопіль, Ternopil' ; pl, Tarnopol; yi, טאַרנאָפּל, Tarnopl, or ; he, טארנופול (טַרְנוֹפּוֹל), Tarnopol; german: Tarnopol) is a city in the west of Ukraine. Administratively, Ternopi ...

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 ...

, she became a member of 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) in 1938. When a schism occurred within the OUN in 1940, Stetsko went with the wing of the OUN-B led by

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 ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she served as an orderly and nurse in the

Ukrainian Insurgent Army The Ukrainian Insurgent Army ( uk, Українська повстанська армія, УПА, translit=Ukrayins'ka povstans'ka armiia, abbreviated UPA) was a Ukrainian nationalist paramilitary and later partisan formation. During World ...

. In 1943 Stesko was arrested by Germans in

Lwów Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

. She remained in Germany as an émigré after her release in 1944. After the war, she married

Yaroslav Stetsko Yaroslav Semenovich Stetsko (; 19 January 1912 – 5 July 1986) was a Ukrainian politician, writer and Nazi collaborator, who served as the leader of Stepan Bandera's Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), from 1968 until his death. Dur ...

in Munich, and became a member of the central committee of the

Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations (ABN) was an international ultra-nationalist organization founded as a coordinating center for anti-communist and nationalist émigré political organizations from Soviet and other socialist countries. The ABN formati ...

(ABN) and its chairman after the death of her husband in 1986. At that time she also became an executive member of the World Anti-Communist League. Slava Stetsko returned to Ukraine in July 1991. The following year, she formed and became a chairman of the

Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists The Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists ( uk, Конгрес українських націоналістів ''Konhres ukrayinskykh natsionalistiv'') is a far-right political party in Ukraine. It was founded on October 18, 1992, and registered wit ...

(CUN), the political party that was established in Ukraine on the basis of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), which she also led for the last decade. She died in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, after a short illness, and was buried at

Baikove Cemetery Baikove Cemetery ( uk, Байкове кладовище) is a historic cemetery memorial in Holosiiv Raion of Kyiv, Ukraine. It is a National Historic Landmark of Ukraine and is known as a necropolis of distinguished people. It was established in ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

References

External links

Slava Stetsko biography on Ukrainian OUN-UPA history site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stetsko, Slava 1920 births 2003 deaths People from Ternopil Oblast Members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists politicians Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists politicians Second convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Third convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Fourth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Ukrainian nationalists Ukrainian women in World War II Ukrainian refugees Naturalized citizens of Ukraine Lviv Polytechnic alumni Burials at Baikove Cemetery 20th-century Ukrainian women politicians Soviet women in World War II Soviet expatriates in Germany Women members of the Verkhovna Rada