Hrytsai, Dmytro

Hrytsai, Dmytro [Грицай, Дмитро; Hrycaj; nom de guerre: Перебийніс; Perebyinis], b 1 April 1907 in Dorozhiv, Sambir county, Galicia, d 19 December 1945 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Prominent leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and an officer of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), in 1933–4 he served as chief of the military and organizational department of the national executive of the OUN in Galicia. In 1934 Hrytsai was imprisoned for two years in the Bereza Kartuzka Polish concentration camp. In 1940–2 he was chief of the military department of the OUN (Bandera faction). Arrested by the Nazis in 1942, in May 1943 he was rescued from a Gestapo prison. Promoted from major to general in November 1945, he was appointed UPA chief of staff. At the end of 1945 he was entrusted with an important mission to the OUN Leadership abroad, and was captured by Czechoslovak guards while attempting to cross the border to West Germany. Hrytsai committed suicide in prison.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 2 (1988).]