21:01 GMT, 21 June 2014 dailymail.co.uk
Revealed: Great-grandfather living in a Lancashire cul-de-sac is a Nazi from notorious SS unit that massacred hundreds in Holocaust
By Martin Delgado

A great-grandfather living in a quiet Lancashire street has been named as a former soldier in a notorious Nazi SS-led unit responsible for the massacre of hundreds of Jewish and Polish civilians in the Second World War.

Retired coal miner Mychajlo Ostapenko, 88, has lived in Britain for more than 65 years – but documents discovered by a Holocaust researcher reveal that he served in the feared 31st Punitive Battalion.

The unit carried out appalling atrocities, including the murder of more than 100 prisoners in 1944  and the destruction of the Polish village of Chlaniow, when 44 civilians, including five children, were killed.

When contacted by The Mail on Sunday, Mr Ostapenko said he could not remember joining the battalion and insisted he had done nothing wrong.

But now his name has been passed by British historian Stephen Ankier to Scotland Yard, which is responsible for investigating war crime suspects.

Mr Ostapenko, who was born in Ukraine, was let into Britain in 1947 with no questions asked about his wartime activities and has lived here ever since, marrying an English woman and fathering two daughters.

He is thought to be one of the  last veterans of the battalion still alive in Britain, following the death of 89-year-old Serhij Woronyj in a London hospital 15 months ago.

Mr Ostapenko lives alone in a council house in a quiet cul-de-sac in Nelson, Lancashire, and is described by neighbours as a friendly man who is often visited by relatives. His wife Sheila died in 1993.

Military rosters, payment lists  and other documents found by Dr Ankier in Polish and German archives show Mr Ostapenko had the rank of rifleman in the unit and that in 1945 he was captured by British forces and transferred to a PoW camp at Rimini in Italy.

He was granted British citizenship in 1956 and his certificate of naturalisation said he was a miner from Accrington.

The 31st Punitive Battalion, also known as the Ukrainian Self-Defence League, comprised volunteers led by SS officers and was involved in brutal operations such as the suppression of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.

There is no evidence Mr Ostapenko took part in any war crimes, but campaigners say he may have been a witness.

Former Labour MP Andrew Dismore said: ‘Even if people like Ostapenko were not directly involved in war crimes, they may have a great deal of first-hand knowledge.

'If they have a clear conscience, there is no reason why they should not co-operate [with police].’

Last week Mr Ostapenko, who speaks ungrammatical English with a strong Ukrainian accent, confirmed he was in Poland during the war but said he never harmed civilians. ‘I don’t know nothing about what was going on. I was in hospital in Poland for about nine months with appendicitis. Then I was at home. I was in an army but I never fought anyone. I haven’t done anything wrong. I haven’t killed anybody. I was in the Rimini camp. The British looked after us well. I can’t remember anything else. I’m sorry.’

Dr Ankier said: ‘These people ought to be held accountable for what they have done, even if it happened many years ago.’

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