Mandyk Khasman (born in 1929 as Mandel Khasman, also 'Volodymyr Dmytrenko') is a former soldier in the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), and an ethnic Jew.
Biography
Khasman was born in Drohobych, Galicia (now in western Ukraine). His parents were shot by the Einsatzkommandos in 1942 during the liquidation of the Drohobych ghetto. 12-year old Khasman escaped with a younger brother and a cousin, and hid in the woods; eventually finding refuge with a peasant family. He was baptized into the Ukrainian Catholic faith and given false documents under the Ukrainian name of "Volodymyr Dmytrenko".
He escaped an impending deportation as a Ukrainian to slave labor in Germany, and joined a UPA unit in the woods in Volyn. His unit was ambushed by a Red Army unit in 1945, and he suffered several machine gun bullet wounds to his legs. Khasman was taken prisoner, and deported to the Soviet Far East. He was eventually released, to be drafted into the Soviet Army when he came of age.