Waffen-SS by Adrian Gilbert

Author:Adrian Gilbert
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Hachette Books
Published: 2019-06-25T00:00:00+00:00

STALIN’S BRUTAL TREATMENT of the Ukrainian people during the 1930s helped create a groundswell of support for the Germans as they drove into Ukraine in 1941. Berger had argued from the start that the Waffen-SS should exploit this support, but Himmler and Hitler rebuffed all Ukrainian offers, not only for racial reasons but also because this would provide an opportunity for the well-organized Ukrainian nationalist movement to press for independence. The Germans preferred to use Ukrainians in paramilitary antipartisan battalions or as forced labor. Despite the Nazis’ vicious overlordship of the Ukraine, many Ukrainians still held hopes of accommodation with Germany in order to free themselves from the Soviet-Russian yoke. And post-Stalingrad, offers of military support became more acceptable to the Nazi hierarchy.

In April 1943 the order was given for the creation of a Ukrainian Waffen-SS division. Himmler overcame his scruples in accepting Slavs into the SS on the basis that the western Ukraine had formerly been the Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia and consequently had a German connection; his race experts claimed that roughly half of the people from the former province had a substantial amount of “Germanic blood.”21 This was reflected in the name of the new formation, which after several changes became the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (Galician).

Recruiting centers were established across the western Ukraine, and the response to this call for arms proved remarkably effective, with some 80,000 men registering to join the division by November 1943. The motivations for joining were not pro-German but anti-Soviet. One anonymous volunteer described his reasons: “There were three choices, work in Germany, join the Division, or wait for the Russians and be conscripted into the Soviet Army to fight and die for the hated Stalin and his regime or be sent to Siberia.”22 The numbers seemed impressive but were progressively winnowed down to a far smaller figure: 53,000 were admitted to the Waffen-SS; 25,000 were considered fit for military service, and 13,245 of the volunteers went forward to undergo training.23 Some dropped out during training, but others arrived to provide sufficient men for an infantry division.

The quality of the Ukrainian volunteers was generally considered to be good, and their training was taken seriously. But by the end of 1943 the whole Nazi empire was facing a universal and chronic shortage of almost every important war material, and this became apparent to the Ukrainian recruits who not only lacked suitable weapons and equipment but were often short of such basics as food and uniforms as well.

Although these shortages were eventually overcome, a more fundamental problem remained in the quality and attitude of the German officers and NCOs assigned to the division. As was the case with most of the other foreign SS formations, the instructing staff had little knowledge of the men they were expected to train, with language barriers a continual hindrance. This problem extended to the top with the appointment of Brigadeführer Fritz Freitag as commander. Freitag, promoted from 4th SS Polizei Division, was a difficult, inflexible character who showed little interest in his Ukrainian troops.

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