In Luxembourg, the Remains of Andriy Melnyk, the Second Head of the OUN, Were Exhumed—He Will Be Reburied in Ukraine

In Luxembourg, the remains of Andriy Melnyk, the second leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), and his wife Sofiya were exhumed. The remains are expected to be transferred to Ukraine for reburial.

In Luxembourg, the remains of Andriy Melnyk, the second leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), and his wife Sofiya were exhumed. The remains are expected to be transferred to Ukraine for reburial.

Melnyk became head of the OUN in 1938 after the assassination of Yevhen Konovalets in Rotterdam. In 1940, the organization split into two rival factions — the Bandera faction and the Melnyk faction. During World War II, Melnyk and his supporters cooperated with Nazi Germany, although relations with the Germans were often difficult: some Melnyk supporters were arrested and executed. Melnyk himself was sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in February 1944, but was released in October of the same year. A month earlier, Stepan Bandera had also been released from the same camp. German authorities hoped to use Ukrainian nationalists for operations behind the advancing Red Army’s front lines.

After 1945, Melnyk lived in Western Europe. He spent his final years primarily in Luxembourg, where he died in 1964.