Borys Steklyar facts for kids
Borys Steklyar (born January 29, 1923, in Novohrad-Volynskyi – died January 18, 2018, in Rivne) was a Soviet military officer. He served as a colonel in the KGB, which was the main security agency of the Soviet Union. He was known for his work in the Rivne region, where he dealt with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.
In 2017, Steklyar was linked to an event in March 1952. This event involved the death of Nil Khasevych, an artist and member of the OUN, along with two of his colleagues. Steklyar stated he was not guilty of murder. Eduard Dolinsky, who leads the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, suggested that Khasevych should be seen as responsible for actions during the war, saying that the Ukrainian Insurgent Army had committed serious actions against Jews and Poles.
Life Story
Borys Steklyar was born in Novohrad-Volynskyi. His father was a soldier in the Red Army.
He joined the army in August 1941, during what is known as the Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union (part of World War II). He started as a machine gunner in a special communication unit. He was injured during a retreat near Uman. After recovering, he was sent to the Kalinin Front and later fought near Stalingrad.
From 1943 to 1944, he studied at the 1st Leningrad Artillery School. He finished with high honors, specializing in artillery reconnaissance, and became a lieutenant.
After his training, he became a platoon commander. He helped liberate Belarus and Riga, for which he received the Order of the Great Patriotic War, Second Class. In November 1944, he went to Poland and helped free Warsaw, earning the Order of the Great Patriotic War, First Class. He was in Wittenberg, Germany, when the war ended in May 1945. He then worked for SMERSH in Berlin.
He later attended the Novosibirsk School of Counterintelligence and graduated with honors. After this, he was sent to Rivne to work for the state security services.
Borys Steklyar retired in 1976 as the head of the KGB in the Rivne Oblast. For 33 years after that, he managed the international travel agency "Intourist" in Rivne. He passed away on January 18, 2018.
The Case of Nil Khasevych
Nil Khasevych was an artist for the OUN and the UPA. He created propaganda materials that were shared in Western countries, including at the UN. The Soviet state security decided to stop his activities. Borys Steklyar was involved in the final part of this operation.
According to Steklyar's memories, on March 4, 1952, Khasevych and two other people were found in an underground bunker in the village of Sukhivtsi. After they were asked to surrender, a grenade was thrown into the bunker. One of Khasevych's guards was found shot, and Steklyar thought he might have been trying to surrender.
On April 26, 2017, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine began looking into the death of Nil Khasevych, with Borys Steklyar's involvement. Steklyar did not accept guilt for murder. Eduard Dolinsky, director of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, suggested that Khasehych, not Steklyar, should be seen as responsible for actions during the war. He stated that the Ukrainian Insurgent Army had committed serious actions against Jews and Poles.
In 2016, a court case took place in Rivne. Borys Steklyar asked the court to prevent his personal file from being reviewed. The court did not grant his request.
Later, looking at his personal file and other documents, it was found that Steklyar also worked against Ukrainian nationalists in Soviet prison camps, known as the Gulag, in the 1960s. He was recognized for his "skillfully prepared measures to explain the ideology of Ukrainian nationalists and show the achievements of the Ukrainian SSR during the Soviet period." This work was done in the Dubravny corrective labor camp.
Many well-known Ukrainian dissidents and former rebels were held in this camp, such as Svyatoslav Karavansky, Ivan Gel, and Vyacheslav Chornovil. A historian named Vladimir Birchak suggested that the "measures" Steklyar was involved in at the camps might have been more serious than just showing achievements.
Awards and Honors
- Two Order of the Patriotic War First Class
- Order of the Patriotic War Second Class
- Order of the Red Banner
- Order of the Red Star
- Medal "For Courage"
- Medal "For Battle Merit"
- Medal "For the Capture of Berlin"
- «Honored veteran of Ukraine» — from the Organization of Veterans of Ukraine.
Books
- Чекисты рассказывают ... Книга 6 / Т. Гладков, Б. Стекляр. Рассказы полковника Бондаря. — С. 121—178. — Москва : Советская Россия, 1985. — 272 с.
- Со щитом и мечом : очерки и статьи. — Львов : Каменяр, 1988. — 203,[2] с. — ISBN: 5-7745-0107-8
- Ніл Хасевич — провідник Зот // Dmytro Vyedyenyeyev, Serhii Shevchenko Ukrainian Solovki. — Київ : ЕксОб, 2001. — С. 191—199. — ISBN: 966-7769-06-2
