Bohdan Koziy (February 23, 1923 – November 30, 2003) was a suspected war criminal and allegedly a member of the '' Ukrainische Hilfspolizei'' (Ukrainian Auxiliary Police), a Nazi German mobile police force that operated in the

General Government The General Government (, ; ; ), formally the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (), was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia and the Soviet ...

on July 27, 1941. The name of the unit reflected its geographic jurisdiction.

Wartime activities

Koziy was born in the town of Pukasivtsi, then in eastern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

(now in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

). Between 1939 and 1944, Koziy was alleged to be a member of the Ukrainian Auxiliary Police. He was allegedly involved in the displacing of Jews into ghettos. He allegedly shot Bernard Kandler, who had tried to escape from a truck that was taking him to a ghetto; Lusi Rosiner, a fourteen-year-old hiding in a barn, and the four-year-old Monica Singer. In 1944, fleeing the Soviet advance, Koziy and his family moved to Heide,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, where he worked as a farm hand. After Nazi Germany's surrender in 1945, the Koziys lived in a variety of displaced persons camps.

In the United States

After the Displaced Persons Commission interviewed Koziy, he was granted permission to enter the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on 17 December 1949, under the Displaced Persons Act of 1948. On 25 April 1955, Koziy filed his application to file a petition for

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

. On 25 July 1955, he filed a petition for naturalization and on 9 February 1956, Bohdan Koziy became an American citizen. On 20 November 1979, the United States requested the cancellation of Koziy's certificate of naturalization on the grounds that Koziy had illegally procured his citizenship by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation by failing to disclose his involvement in the occupational police in Ukraine. Koziy denied involvement in the Ukrainian Auxiliary Police and contended his actions were insufficient to support revocation of his citizenship. However, his citizenship was revoked on the basis of testimonies of Polish witnesses in a court hearing on 29 March 1982.

Subsequent investigation

Koziy moved to

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

in 1985. On 23 September 2002, the Branch Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation in

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

initiated an investigation into the case of a Nazi crime committed in Łysiec in the Stanisławów Voivodeship. Bohdan Koziy was accused of the murder of three Jews: Bernard Kandler, Lusi Rosiner and Monica Singer. On 21 November 2003, the Polish authorities turned to the government of Costa Rica demanding Koziy's arrest and

extradition In an extradition, one Jurisdiction (area), jurisdiction delivers a person Suspect, accused or Conviction, convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforc ...

. The Costa Rican court granted the deportation order but Koziy died soon after on 30 November 2003, while in hospital in San José, from a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

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