Background
Stashinskii, Bogdan was born on November 4, 1931 in a village near L’vov, West Ukraine (then Poland).
Stashinskii, Bogdan was born on November 4, 1931 in a village near L’vov, West Ukraine (then Poland).
Recruited by the NKVD-Interior ministry in the early 1950s, trained and sent to West Germany to liquidate Lev Rebet, a Ukrainian nationalist leader. Murdered him by firing into his face an ampoule of prussic acid from a special disguised weapon which he had been trained to use at a SMERSH training school in Karlshorst, East Germany. The inquest verdict was death from natural causes, since the liquid left no trace.
For this ‘perfect murder’ he earned promotion in the Committee for State Security and high decorations. Sent again to Munich in 1959 to trace and liquidate Stefan Bandera, another, more prominent, Ukrainian leader. Carried out the assassination in exactly the same way but the inquest was carried out very shortly after the murder and traces of the acid were found.
Meanwhile, he met and married an East German girl, Inge Pohl. Told his life story to his wife, and under her influence decided to flee to the West (at that time they were living in Moscow). His wife was pregnant and he managed to convince the Committee for State Security to allow her to give birth in her native Berlin near her parents.
She was allowed to go to Berlin, but without her husband. The child died soon after birth, and he was allowed to join his wife. Defected successfully to West Berlin and surrendered himself to the Americans.
Disclosed much valuable information, but was put on trial for the 2 murders. Sentenced to 8 years in prison but released on condition that he cooperated with West German and American intelligence. Now lives in the West under an assumed name.