Banderka

A mountain on which, in the forest, there's a village called Girnyky. When I was 12 or 13 y.o., the boys would go there in the early spring to pick snowdrops for our mothers, grandmothers, and sisters for March 8th. Then, we called the mountain Banderka. We inherited that name from older boys. Several years ago, I asked a resident of this village if there were Banderyes there during the war (Bandery – members of OUN-UPA, Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists - Ukrainian Povstanska (Rebel) Army). "Yes, there were," he replied. "There were real Banderas and fake ones. What do you mean fake? - I didn't understand. The real ones wore uniforms, but the fake ones didn't. Father of that man was a tailor in the village, and Banderiyes would come to him to have him sew uniforms for them. They brought their own fabrics and always paid for the work. The "fake Boundaries" were ordinary gangs of armed robbers who roamed nearby villages, collecting food from the peasants, supposedly for the "real Banderites." Near the hotel in the town, there's a memorial stone commemorating the site where, in January 1945, three residents of the village of Rachin were publicly hanged for being members of the OUN-UPA. Those executed were 35, 25, and 23 years old. #oldvillage, #Girnyky, #memorialstone, #Rachin