Pavlo Feofanovich Shandruk ( uk, Павло Шандрук, pl, Pawło Szandruk, February 28, 1889 in

Volhynia Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. The ...

– February 15, 1979 in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

in the army of the

Ukrainian National Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), or Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), was a country in Eastern Europe that existed between 1917 and 1920. It was declared following the February Revolution in Russia by the First Universal. In March 1 ...

, a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

of the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stre ...

, and a prominent general of the

Ukrainian National Army Ukrainian National Army (UNA) was a World War II Ukrainian military group, created on March 17, 1945 in Weimar, Germany, and subordinate to Ukrainian National Committee. The army, formed on April 15, 1945, and commanded by General Pavlo Shandruk ...

, a military force that fought against the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

under

Nazi German Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

command at the close of World War II. Shandruk was born in the village of Borsuky, near

Kremenets Kremenets ( uk, Крем'янець, Кременець, translit. ''Kremianets'', ''Kremenets''; pl, Krzemieniec; yi, קרעמעניץ, Kremenits) is a city in Ternopil Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center o ...

in the

Volhynia Governorate Volhynian Governorate or Volyn Governorate (russian: Волы́нская губе́рния, translit=Volynskaja gubernija, uk, Волинська губернія, translit=Volynska huberniia) was an administrative-territorial unit initially ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(present-day

Ternopil Oblast Ternopil Oblast ( uk, Тернопі́льська о́бласть, translit=Ternopilska oblast; also referred to as Ternopilshchyna, uk, Терно́пільщина, label=none, or Ternopillia, uk, Тернопілля, label=none) is an obl ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

). He completed his studies in 1911 at the Nizhyn Institute majoring in history and languages and later underwent post graduate studies at the Alexandrovsk Military Academy in Moscow.

Military career

In the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Shandruk was the commander of the IIIrd Battalion of the 232nd Reserve Infantry Regiment of the Russian Imperial Army. With the outbreak of the Russian Revolution he joined the

in its struggle against both White and Red Russian forces. He was successively in command of the Zaporozhian Independent Rifle Battalion, the 9th Infantry Regiment and the 1st Recruit Regiment of the Ukrainian National Republic forces. After the reorganization of the army in 1920, he led the 4th Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division. After the failed Kiev Offensive and the subsequent collapse of the Ukrainian National republic, he was interned in

Kalisz (The oldest city of Poland) , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''Top:'' Town Hall, Former "Calisia" Piano Factory''Middle:'' Courthouse, "Gołębnik" tenement''Bottom:'' Aerial view of the Kalisz Old Town , image_flag = POL Kalisz flag.svg ...

, Poland together with the remaining Ukrainian soldiers. He testified for

Symon Petliura Symon Vasylyovych Petliura ( uk, Си́мон Васи́льович Петлю́ра; – May 25, 1926) was a Ukrainian politician and journalist. He became the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian Army and the President of the Ukrainian Peop ...

at Schwartzbard trial along with Mykola Shapoval, and

Oleksandr Shulhin Oleksander Yakovych Shulhyn ( uk, Олександр Шульгин; russian: Александр Шульгин; french: Alexandre Choulguine) was a prominent political, public, scientific and cultural figure of Ukraine and the Ukrainian governmen ...

. Until 1936, he worked in different positions for the Ukrainian National Republic government in exile initially led by

. In 1936 he joined the

, after which he obtained further training in the Wyższa Szkoła Wojenna (Military Academy). Upon the completion of his training he accepted a commission and was promoted to the rank of major in the Polish Army. As a colonel he fought in the Polish Army in September 1939. On September 23 Colonel Shandruk rescued the 19th Polish brigade from annihilation in a trap. After the war he received the

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King St ...

cross from

Władysław Anders ) , birth_name = Władysław Albert Anders , birth_date = , birth_place = Krośniewice-Błonie, Warsaw Governorate, Congress Poland, Russian Empire , death_date = , death_place = London, England, United Kingdom , serviceyear ...

for this action. After capitulation, Shandruk, as a Polish officer, was captured and sent to a German POW Camp, from where he was later released due to his injuries. After falling ill, he was arrested by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

but set free before the Germans attacked the Soviet Union. From 1940 till 1944 he worked as a cinema manager in Skierniewice. During this time he was employing and giving shelter to Polish underground members, hunted by the Gestapo.

The Ukrainian National Army

In February 1945 he accepted the position of the head of the

Ukrainian National Committee The Ukrainian National Committee ( uk, Український Національний Комітет) was a Ukrainian political structure created under the leadership of Pavlo Shandruk, on March 17 (or March 12), 1945 in Weimar, Nazi Germany, nea ...

and simultaneously became the commander of the newly formed

into which all Ukrainian formations who had fought on the German side on the Eastern front were merged. (It came to about 50,000 men). In April 1945 now General Shandruk joined the soldiers of the

located at the front in Austria. On 28 April the UNA swore an oath of allegiance to Ukraine.

Surrender

On May 8, 1945, Shandruk and the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Ukrainian), the main part of the

, surrendered to American and British forces in Austria. After that, he requested a meeting with the Polish general

in London, and asked him to protect the army from deportation to Soviet Union. After the personal intervention of General Anders, Shandruk and his soldiers were considered by the Western Allies as Polish pre-war citizens (without checking whether they had Polish citizenship or not) and so, unlike most Ukrainian soldiers, they were not sent to the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. This provoked fierce protests from the Soviets.

Post World War II

Later, he lived in Germany and the United States. Shandruk penned a number of works regarding military history in Ukrainian, Polish and English, among them
«Arms of Valor» (Нью-Йорк 1959)
«Arms of Valor» NY, 1959. He was the editor of the collection of documents regarding the Ukrainian-Russian war of 1920. Shandruk was decorated with Polish

order for his performance in

during the

1939 defensive war The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 Septem ...

. He became a full member of the

Shevchenko Scientific Society The Shevchenko Scientific Society () is a Ukrainian scientific society devoted to the promotion of scholarly research and publication that was founded in 1873. Unlike the government-funded National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the society ...

in 1948.http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CS%5CH%5CShandrukPavlo.htm «Encyclopedia of Ukraine vol 4. 1993»

References

External links