Lebed, Mykola

UPA, Ukrains'ka Povstans'ka Armiia: ii heneza, rist, i dii u vyzvol’nii borot'y ukrains'koho narodu za Ukrains'ku samotstiinu sobornu derzhavu; 1 chastina, Nimets'ka okupatsiia Ukrainy [UPA, The Ukrainian Insurgent Army: Origins, Expansion, and Role in the Ukrainian People's Fight for an Independent Sovereign State; Part 1, The German Occupation of Ukraine]

Vydannia Presovoho Biura UGVR, 1946. First Displaced Persons (DP) Edition. Original wrappers. Item #791

Book measures: 20 x 14 cm. 124 pages, 20 unnumbered leaves of plates: illustrations. Text in Ukrainian. A copy in fair condition with damaged wrappers and spine in addition to chipped corners.

This book illuminates the Ukrainian people's fight for freedom during World War II, a period marked by their confrontation with two major adversaries: Nazi Germany and Bolshevik Moscow.

Produced in a limited batch by Ukrainian refugees for the Displaced Persons (DP) camps of post-war Germany, this book acquires added importance due to the difficult circumstances in these camps, including limited resources and heavy military censorship.

From the publisher's note: This book, authored in 1945, is being published with a significant delay. Due to various constraints, not all available archival materials could be incorporated at the time of its writing. Additionally, it was not possible to provide exhaustive coverage of every mentioned event. The author's primary goal was to offer readers a comprehensive portrayal of the Ukrainian people's struggle for liberation during the German occupation of Ukraine. This publication represents the initial release, and we anticipate the release of an expanded second edition in the near future.

The second edition was eventually published in 1987.

Mykola Lebed (1909–1998) was a revolutionary and Ukrainian nationalist leader. He organized the youth wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) in Western Ukraine in the early 1930s and later served as a liaison between the OUN's national executive and its leadership abroad. Lebed was initially sentenced to death for his role in the 1934 assassination of Bronisław Pieracki, but the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He escaped from prison in 1939 and aligned himself with Stepan Bandera, becoming a top leader in the OUN's Bandera faction. During World War II, he played a crucial role in organizing the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and became the OUN's chief of foreign affairs. Lebed later settled in the United States, where he headed the Prolog Research Corporation.

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