Ukrainians in the Waffen-SS & Wehrmacht

[Askold]

Wonderful photos Danylo, thank you for sharing. The last one is very interesting - it appears the lion emblem is attached on the British battledress uniform.

[Danylo]

1946 New Years postcard from Rimini Ukrainian Camp.

[Danylo]

Here are some more Ukrainian postcards (Christmas and New Years) printed in Germany and possibly elsewhere from the early 50's maybe late 40's.

[Danylo]

Last two... some were used others not used.

[Eugen Pinak]

Interesting postcards - thank you for sharing them.

[dont tell them pike]

Text says Ukrainian ?

[oblongz]

Any photos of ( Ukrainians) in the 33rd -38th Polizei Schutzen Regiments which had Ukrainians in the second and third battalions ?

[Danylo]

Saw this in Kyiv, Ukraine amongst many Soviet propaganda posters.

[Danylo]

This was found when cleaning out my grandparents house. Wartime journal. This is the first page.

[K.Kocjancic]

This was found when cleaning out my grandparents house. Wartime journal. This is the first page.

I hope that you'll transcribe and translate it for others.

BTW. Is there any reference to Slovenia (as the Galizien was here in 1945)?

[Danylo]

That's the plan. To transcribe then translate.
It's too fragile to scan so I've taken photos of about half of the pages (18) so far with my DSLR. I haven't looked into it too much yet. Saw Lodz mentioned.

[BeJimmieRaisa]

The Internet is full of websites about the Waffen SS, not to mention pictures, but Im looking for a site based on facts, and not feelings or opinions. Please do post suggestions on sites about the history of the Waffen SS that you recommend me to visit.

[Stef Duma]

I am interested in a potential visit to memorials that exist for any of the engagements that the division was involved in.

Does anyone have any information.

[Kurti]

Hey guys,
I have a question to the distribution of the ukrainian volunteers.
Who decided whether a volunteer join the Waffen SS, Wehrmacht, Schuma or even the Trawniki guys?
Were there distribution systems or racial requirements?
Or was it much more simple and every Organisation advertised for its own in the POW camps and the occupied zones?

Thanks for your reply.

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi Kurti,

The Waffen-SS was initially constricted by Nazism's racial ideology and at first would only recruit "Nordics".

The Army was not so unimaginative and began (against its government's instructions) to recruit the USSR's minorities as auxiliaries almost immediately after the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. The Police did the same for security battalions.

It was nearly two years (early 1943) before a change in political policy led the W-SS to begin to recruit from similar Soviet-minority sources, and the 14th W-SS Division was the first divisional-sized product of the new policy.

From memory, (so it bears checking) I think much of the experienced Ukrainian manpower taken into the Waffen-SS came from the Police security battalions, some of which had nearly two years of anti-partisan service by then.

Cheers,

Sid.