Bulbutzye

   Between the two world wars, areas of present day Ukraine were part of Polish territory. Following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, the Wehrmacht occupied the former Soviet zone in the eastern part of Poland. In the areas inhabited by Ukrainians, roving bands of Ukrainian nationalist called “Bulbutzye,” named after the fictional Cossack warrior Taras Bulba, with ties to the Orthodox Church felt an affinity with Adolf Hitler, who they thought would reward them with Ukrainian statehood. They fought Soviet partisans, assaulted ethnic Poles, and hunted down Jews who had escaped into the nearby forests. Many Jewish survivors who hid in the forests viewed the Bulbutzye as more threatening than the Germans.

   See also Operation Zeppelin.