Richard Yary
Encyclopedia
Richard Franz Marian Yary (also: Riko Yary, pseudomyms: Yaryga, Karpat) (1898–1969) was a Ukrainian nationalist journalist, politician and military figure.
He was one of the highest functionaries of the OUN and close associate and advisor to Stepan Bandera
. Born in Rzeszów
, Galicia (then Austria-Hungary
). According the historians O.Kucheruk and Z.Knysh Yary was of partilineal Czech and matrilineal Hungarian-Jewish descent(Polish rather than Hungarian (maiden name "Pollack") according to Patrylyak).. Yary's Jewish descent was affirmed by the historian Z.Knysh, but denied by P.Mirchuk who affirmed that Yary was not Jewish, but was denounced as such by his enemies in OUN-M, and Knysh himself was Yary's personal enemy.
According to the Yary family legend the Yarys descended from a Ukrainian Cossack wounded during the Siege of Vienna in 1685. Yary married Olga Rosalie Spielvogel, a Jewish woman from Peremyshlyany in 1923.
, and commanded a sapper battalion after graduation. In the years of World War I (1914–18), he was an officer in the 9th Dragoons Legion of the Austrian Army. In 1918, he went over to the side of the Ukrainian Galician Army
(UHA) and commanded a sniper division and later the 2nd cavalry. In 1919, he fought with the 5th Kherson battalion of the Ukrainian National Republic. In 1920, as part of the battalion he was interned in Czechoslovakia
and was held at an internment camp in Uzhhorod
.
UVO
, one of the closest advisers to Yevhen Konovaletz. In January 1929, he took part in the First Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists in Vienna where the formation of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists OUN was announced. IN 1933 Yary attempted to obtain a post at the Ukrainian Institute founded by hetman Skoropadsky in Berlin (on OUN's behalf), but he could not secure an appointment due to opposition from the Nazi authorities. This attempt led to a smear campaign in the Polish press that accused Yary and Konovalets of being German agents. From 1937-38, he became the liaison officer between Yevhen Konovaletz and admiral Wilhelm Canaris
of the Abwehr
, and directed espionage training courses of the UVO organized by the Abwehr
. He became an agent of the Special services, and was an adviser during the discussions between Y. Konovaletz and the Japanese Military Attache. During the 1930s Yary was one of the members of the Provid, or leadership council of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists
. He was the only member of the Provid to side with Bandera when the organizations split into Bandera and Melnyk factions. Yary's support for Bandera turned some Ukrainians against Bandera because it was considered suspicious that of all the members of the OUN's leadership council only the one of not fully Ukrainian ethnicity chose to follow Bandera.
Yary's influence on Stepan Bandera
was instrumental in the division of the OUN into its two factions. After the division, he stayed with the OUN(b) (Bandera faction). In November 1940, he arranged contact between Bandera and the Abwehr and set up the Vienna Bureau of the OUN(b). On his initiative the Nachtigall
and Roland Battalion
were formed. After the Proclamation of Ukrainian Independence
he was given the portfolio of Ambassador to Japan. At the same time there were reports by the Einsatzgruppe B that Yary and his wife were Jewish, and as such subject to persecution. After the abrogation by the Nazis of the independent Ukrainian State Yary left the General Government
and from 1942 he lived in the Rumanian-occupied Bukovina
. In 1943, he was arrested by the Gestapo
and was sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp
.
He was one of the highest functionaries of the OUN and close associate and advisor to Stepan Bandera
Stepan Bandera
Stepan Andriyovych Bandera was a Ukrainian politician and one of the leaders of Ukrainian national movement in Western Ukraine , who headed the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists...
. Born in Rzeszów
Rzeszów
Rzeszów is a city in southeastern Poland with a population of 179,455 in 2010. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River, in the heartland of the Sandomierska Valley...
, Galicia (then Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
). According the historians O.Kucheruk and Z.Knysh Yary was of partilineal Czech and matrilineal Hungarian-Jewish descent(Polish rather than Hungarian (maiden name "Pollack") according to Patrylyak).. Yary's Jewish descent was affirmed by the historian Z.Knysh, but denied by P.Mirchuk who affirmed that Yary was not Jewish, but was denounced as such by his enemies in OUN-M, and Knysh himself was Yary's personal enemy.
According to the Yary family legend the Yarys descended from a Ukrainian Cossack wounded during the Siege of Vienna in 1685. Yary married Olga Rosalie Spielvogel, a Jewish woman from Peremyshlyany in 1923.
In the military
In 1912, he completed his studies in the Military Academy in Wiener NeustadtWiener Neustadt
-Main sights:* The Late-Romanesque Dom, consecrated in 1279 and cathedral from 1469 to 1785. The choir and transept, in Gothic style, are from the 14th century. In the late 15th century 12 statues of the Apostles were added in the apse, while the bust of Cardinal Melchior Klesl is attributed to...
, and commanded a sapper battalion after graduation. In the years of World War I (1914–18), he was an officer in the 9th Dragoons Legion of the Austrian Army. In 1918, he went over to the side of the Ukrainian Galician Army
Ukrainian Galician Army
Ukrainian Galician Army , was the Ukrainian military of the West Ukrainian National Republic during and after the Polish-Ukrainian War. -Military equipment:...
(UHA) and commanded a sniper division and later the 2nd cavalry. In 1919, he fought with the 5th Kherson battalion of the Ukrainian National Republic. In 1920, as part of the battalion he was interned in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
and was held at an internment camp in Uzhhorod
Uzhhorod
Uzhhorod or Uzhgorod is a city located in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. It is the administrative center of the Zakarpattia Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Uzhhorodskyi Raion within the oblast...
.
In the OUN
From 1921-29, he was an active member of the Ukrainian Military OrganizationUkrainian Military Organization
The Ukrainian Military Organization was a Ukrainian resistance and sabotage movement active in Poland's Eastern Lesser Poland during the years between the world wars...
UVO
UVO
UVO is an acronym. It can mean...* A telematics system from Kia Motors, Kia UVO.* Ukrainian Military Organization , a Ukrainian resistance and sabotage movement active in Poland between the world wars....
, one of the closest advisers to Yevhen Konovaletz. In January 1929, he took part in the First Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists in Vienna where the formation of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists OUN was announced. IN 1933 Yary attempted to obtain a post at the Ukrainian Institute founded by hetman Skoropadsky in Berlin (on OUN's behalf), but he could not secure an appointment due to opposition from the Nazi authorities. This attempt led to a smear campaign in the Polish press that accused Yary and Konovalets of being German agents. From 1937-38, he became the liaison officer between Yevhen Konovaletz and admiral Wilhelm Canaris
Wilhelm Canaris
Wilhelm Franz Canaris was a German admiral, head of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, from 1935 to 1944 and member of the German Resistance.- Early life and World War I :...
of the Abwehr
Abwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
, and directed espionage training courses of the UVO organized by the Abwehr
Abwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
. He became an agent of the Special services, and was an adviser during the discussions between Y. Konovaletz and the Japanese Military Attache. During the 1930s Yary was one of the members of the Provid, or leadership council of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists
Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists
The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists is a Ukrainian political organization which as a movement originally was created in 1929 in Western Ukraine . The OUN accepted violence as an acceptable tool in the fight against foreign and domestic enemies particularly Poland and Russia...
. He was the only member of the Provid to side with Bandera when the organizations split into Bandera and Melnyk factions. Yary's support for Bandera turned some Ukrainians against Bandera because it was considered suspicious that of all the members of the OUN's leadership council only the one of not fully Ukrainian ethnicity chose to follow Bandera.
Yary's influence on Stepan Bandera
Stepan Bandera
Stepan Andriyovych Bandera was a Ukrainian politician and one of the leaders of Ukrainian national movement in Western Ukraine , who headed the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists...
was instrumental in the division of the OUN into its two factions. After the division, he stayed with the OUN(b) (Bandera faction). In November 1940, he arranged contact between Bandera and the Abwehr and set up the Vienna Bureau of the OUN(b). On his initiative the Nachtigall
Nachtigall Battalion
The Nachtigall Battalion , officially known as Special Group Nachtigall, was the subunit under command of the Abwehr special operation unit Lehrregiment "Brandenburg" z.b.V. 800...
and Roland Battalion
Roland Battalion
The Roland Battalion , officially known as Special Group Roland, was the subunit under command of the Abwehr special operation unit Lehrregiment "Brandenburg" z.b.V. 800...
were formed. After the Proclamation of Ukrainian Independence
Proclamation of Ukrainian Independence
The Declaration of Ukrainian Independence of June 30, 1941 was announced by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists under the leadership of Stepan Bandera, who declared an independent Ukrainian State in Lviv...
he was given the portfolio of Ambassador to Japan. At the same time there were reports by the Einsatzgruppe B that Yary and his wife were Jewish, and as such subject to persecution. After the abrogation by the Nazis of the independent Ukrainian State Yary left the General Government
General Government
The General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...
and from 1942 he lived in the Rumanian-occupied Bukovina
Bukovina
Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...
. In 1943, he was arrested by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
and was sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
.
After the 2nd World War
After the war, he returned to his own house in Austria in the Soviet occupational sector. The Soviet occupation forces made no attempt to arrest him, which has led to suspicions that he might have worked for the Soviet intelligence. After the war, he left political life entirely.Sources
- (In Ukrainian) О.Кучерук "Рико Ярий - загадка ОУН" Львів, ЛА "ПІРАМІДА" 2005.
- (In Russian) Chuyev, Sergei - Ukrainskyj Legion - Moscow, 2006
- І.К. Патриляк. Військова діяльність ОУН(Б) у 1940—1942 роках. — Університет імені Шевченко \Ін-т історії України НАН України Київ, 2004 p. 261-262
- "Енциклопедія українознавства" - Riko Yary