Stepan Stepanovich Fedak (6 May 1901 in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

– disappeared 1945 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

; aka ''Smok'', "Dragon") was a Ukrainian independence activist and a member of Nazi Einsatzgruppe C who, on 25 September 1921, attempted to

assassinate Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

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 ...

Chief of State A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state. Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of state depends ...

, Marshal

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...

, as the latter visited Lwów (now

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 ...

) for the opening of that city's first

Eastern Trade Fair The Eastern Trade Fair ( Polish: ''Targi Wschodnie'' () was a major trade fair in interbellum Poland. History It was established in 1921 in Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine) right after the end of hostilities there; designed to facilitate new business ...

Early life

Stepan Fedak was the son of a prominent Lwów attorney and Ukrainian activist, Dr. Stepan Fedak. The younger Fedak was a graduate of the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

Military Academy at

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; Lower_Austria.html" ;"title=".e. Lower Austria">.e. Lower Austria , ) is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administr ...

. He served in the Legion of Ukrainian Sich Rifles, then in the

Ukrainian Galician Army The Ukrainian Galician Army ( UGA; ), was the combined military of the West Ukrainian People's Republic during and after the Polish-Ukrainian War. It was called the "Galician army" initially. Dissatisfied with the alliance of Ukraine and Polan ...

and the Army of the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

. In 1920 he joined the clandestine

Ukrainian Military Organization The Ukrainian Military Organization (), was a Ukrainian paramilitary body, engaged in terrorism (especially in Poland) during the interwar period. It was formed after the occupation of Ukraine by Soviet Russia following the Ukrainian–Soviet ...

. Fedak was also a member of the secret Committee of Ukrainian Youth and of ''Volia'', an underground militant organization of Ukrainian students and ex-officers of the

whose purpose was to fight for an independent

. It was steered from abroad by Colonel

Yevhen Konovalets Yevhen Mykhailovych Konovalets (; 14 June 1891 – 23 May 1938) was a Ukrainian military commander and political leader of the Ukrainian nationalist movement. A veteran of the First World War and the Ukrainian War of Independence, he is best kn ...

(UVO), acting in

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

and

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 ...

. The UVO planned to organize underground attacks and

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...

in southeastern Poland, with its majority-Ukrainian population, to be followed by open warfare conducted by the Ukrainians against Poland and the Soviet Union until an independent Ukrainian state was reestablished in southeastern Poland and

Dnieper Ukraine The term Dnieper Ukraine (), usually refers to territory on either side of the middle course of the Dnieper River. The Ukrainian name derives from ''nad‑'' (prefix: "above, over") + ''Dnipró'' ("Dnieper") + ''‑shchyna'' (suffix denoting a g ...

(Great Ukraine).

Assassination plot

A meeting of Lwów ''Volia'' members decided to assassinate Polish

Marshal

during his planned visit to Lwów on 25 September 1921, to help open the first

. The conspirators had detailed information about his visit to the city. ''Volia'' divided itself into five-man groups, one of which was to carry out the assassination. The actual assassin, chosen by lot, was Stepan Fedak. Furnished with a false

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

, immediately after the operation he was to escape to

. He was to be assisted by the remaining members of his group. Paliyiv, a law student, was to stand beside Fedak and, after Fedak had fired, overpower him and summon

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

. Another conspirator, disguised as a

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

, would hasten to assist. The two would conduct Fedak out of the crowd, get into a rented automobile with him, and ostensibly drive him off to

jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...

, but actually out of town.

The attack

Having earlier that day participated in the opening of the Trade Fair and then met with bankers, journalists and civic leaders, about 8 p.m. Piłsudski left the

city hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

, accompanied by Lwów Province

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Kazimierz Grabowski. They got into an open

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment which can be operated mechanically by hand or by a button electronically. A luxu ...

, with Piłsudski seated on the left. Stepan Fedak pushed his way toward them through the crowd. The car was moving very slowly, when a loud noise rang out. The Governor, sure that it was a

back-fire A backfire or afterburn is combustion or an explosion produced by a running internal combustion engine that occurs in the exhaust system, rather than inside the combustion chamber. It is also sometimes referred to as an afterfire, especially ...

, continued sitting upright; Piłsudski, however, immediately recognized it for a

pistol A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a gun barrel, barrel with an integral chamber (firearms), chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the Englis ...

shot Shot may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard *''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck *'' Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy * "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus * ''Shot'' (2017 ...

and reflexively ducked. The bullet had just missed him by a hair and struck the

windshield The windshield (American English and Canadian English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from t ...

. Two more shots rang out. One struck the Governor's right shoulder, the other—his left arm. The Governor slipped off his seat, and was supported by Piłsudski. Police senior

constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other peo ...

Jakub Skweres threw himself at Fedak and seized him by the throat. Fedak, as he fell, fired a fourth round, wounding himself in the chest. The crowd pounced on him; he was saved from certain death by policemen and soldiers of the guard standing before the city hall, who knocked the would-be lynchers aside with their

rifle A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...

butts.

Aftermath

The Governor was treated by physicians and went home, while Piłsudski, as planned, proceeded to Lwów's Great Theatre, where he received an

ovation The ovation ( from ''ovare'': to rejoice) was a lesser form of the Roman triumph. Ovations were granted when war was not declared between enemies on the level of nations or states; when an enemy was considered basely inferior (e.g., slaves, pira ...

from the gathered public. The wounded and badly contused Fedak was taken under police escort to a

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

. Immediately interrogated by the police, he falsely stated that he had wanted to shoot only the Governor, whom he considered an enemy of the Ukrainian people, and had planned to then hand his pistol over to Chief of State Piłsudski. After the performance at the Great Theater, a

banquet A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes inc ...

was held at the provincial administrative offices, with the wounded Governor Grabowski in attendance. The attack led to mass arrests of UVO members in Galicia. Fedak was sentenced to six years in prison. He was released in 1924 in a prisoners' exchange and escaped abroad. He lived in France and Germany. In 1937, he came back to Ukraine and was arrested. After the

German occupation of Poland German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

in September 1939, he escaped from prison again. Subsequently, he became a member of the OUN-M, and joined the '' Einsatzgruppe C'' as a

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

in the summer of 1941. His main duties were translating documents from Russian and Ukrainian into German and participating in arrests. It is known that Fedak was one of the interpreters of the '' Sondercommando 4A'' and participated in the massacre of Babyn Yar. He possibly redacted and/or translated the public notice displayed around the city on 28 September 1941 ordering all Kyivan Jews in Russian, Ukrainian and German to assemble for supposed resettlement. According to testimonies from post-war trials in Western Germany, during the shooting at Babyn Yar, he was patrolling the road which led to the massacre site. According to the Russian secret service SVR, while he was working as an interpreter for the Germans, Fedak delivered information about German spies behind the Russian lines and Nazi ''

Abwehr The (German language, German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', though the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context) ) was the German military intelligence , military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ...

'' structures active in Kyiv to Soviet intelligence agent Ivan Kudrya (1912–1942) present in Kyiv at the time, until he was discovered in July 1942. From 1943 to 1945 Fedak served in the SS Division "Galicia". Toward the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he disappeared without trace in

References

Books

* Włodzimierz Kalicki, "''25 IX 1921. Kula w rękawie'' ("25 September 1921: a Bullet in the Sleeve"), ''

Gazeta Wyborcza (; ''The Electoral Gazette'' in English) is a Polish nationwide daily newspaper based in Warsaw, Poland. It was launched on 8 May 1989 on the basis of the Polish Round Table Agreement and as a press organ of the Solidarity (Polish trade union), t ...