Facinating read on Soviet citizens in German uniform.

Seeing the Dutch pictures of those Russians ( or Ukranians?) makes me think of those who revolted at Texel island and who were exterimnated by the Germans after fierce combats and desperately begging the allied to help them .

 

Skip;

Georgians on Texel Island; Georgian Uprising of Texel: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article
And they had the stark choice of serving Hitler or dying of starvation or disease in the camps. Many chose the latter and opted to desert or turn on NAZI at a later date. NKVD investigated all who ever wore the German uniform for any reason. Stalinist policies were absolutely without pity in this regard-just a bit of guilt about the disasters of '41 Iosip Visarionovich? Others were made to pay for the dictator's screwups.
JEffinMNUSA

 

More on the 14th SS Galychyna

MEMOIRS
---------------------

This section contains various passages copied from the books
and personal account written by the members of the Galicia division.
On the War Crimes of the Soviet Army. Modlin, Poland:</B>
Michael O. Logusz: Galicia Division. Pages 287-288.
Schiffer Military History, Atglen PA, 1997.

At Modlin, the Division's soldiers stood side-by-side with Wiking's German, Belgian, Wallonian, Dutch, French, Swiss, Austrian, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish, Baltic ant other volunteers. Day and night, as they battled the 1st Belorussian Front's 47th Army and the 2nd Belorussian Front's 70th (NKVD) Army, they endured massive artillery and rocket barrages, tank attcks, ground attacks, the screams of men "HURRAH!!!", "POBEDA!!!" and hand-to-hand combat. So close in was the combat one cold night that Zakhary Blushko, after emptying his Kar 98 rifle, swung it over the head of an incoming Siberian regular who had attempted to spray him with a Ppsh 41. Removing an MP 38/40 from the hands of dead 19-year-old Belgian ideologist and Waffen-SS volunteer who seconds before had been killed by the same Siberian eliminated moments later by Zakhary, Zakhary shot and killed four more charging Asians. Emptying the MP's magazine, Zakhary swung the submachine gun to thwart the thrust of bloodied 18-inch bayonet. Continuing to swing up the weapon, Zakhary struck the cursing Russian hulk several times more before dropping him. But before Zakhary could smash the MP down upon the hulk's head, he was struck from behind. Falling down upon the Russian, Zakhary quickly rolled upon his back. As he rolled, Zakhary simultaneously reached for the 9mm Walther pistol tucked into his waistband. Looking up, he glimpsed the eerie background of night sky lit up by descending parachute flare, and he momentarily spotted the dark-skinned and wrinkled face of an Asian warrior. Firing the 9mm, Zakhary heard the Asian's screams of pain as the pistol's red-hot bullets tore the life out of a warrior who, just seconds before, had raised upwards a bayonet-tipped rifle in a fruitless attempt to plunge into Zakhary's body. Transported thousands of miles westward to kill and pillage, the oriental would find nothing but a lonely grave upon s distant Polish hill. Since the night Zakhary broke down the door of a Polish cottage and shot three Mongolians accompanied by an NKVD officer who were in process of raping a young Polish woman, Zakhary found no objections about killing anyone with slanted eyes, or associated with the NKVD. Never would Zakhary forget the screams of the woman, the insane criminal laughter, and the cries of her pleas as he, a fellow Wallonian, and a German, went out late one night to probe for Soviet positions and instead, came upon the cottage... never would Zakahry forget the girl's curses as she reached for the dead NKVD officer's revolver... never would he forget how she placed the revolver's barrel tip against the officer's head, ant emptied its cylinder... never would Zakhary forget the girl's trembling body covered by blotches of blood as she stood up and cried out for her mother, a murdered woman who lay dead in an ajacent room... never would Zakhary forget how the Wallonian slapped her to quiet her, and how they wrapped her in a blanket and took her to their lines... never would Zakhary forget the sadness he felt on the following day when a medical doctor informed him that the girl had died from shock... never would Zakhary forget the cold pitch-black nights shattered by gun-fire, incoming rounds, explosions, screams, and death... never would he forget the faces and screams of the dark-skinned Siberians, Mongolians, Azerbaijans, Tadzhiks, Tartars and the lighter skinned Soviets as he fought and killed them in hand-to-hand combat... never would Zakhary forget his dead friends... and never would he ever pray or believe in a Supreme Being, for Modlin proved to Zakhary that there is no God.
​

 

The millions of citizens which welcomed the German forces were from countries surrounding Russia.... These consisted mainly of the Baltic States, Western Ukraine and some in Belarus. By the time that the Germans actually reached mainland Russia, their atrocities became well know.

 

Not really sure as to the point of this post but....

Are we too believe that the disgruntled SS 14th Galicia Division would have anything good to say about the Red Army? One has to see the humor in a criminal organization yelling war crimes. The SS 14th Galicia was far from a clean and noble unit comprised of heroic men fighting evil, till this day they are considered a traitors and monsters in Russia, and Eastern Ukraine. Not to mention that these individuals were responsible for murders and deportation of Jews and partisan units which they fought.

Isnt that a pot calling the kettle black.

 

If anyone is interested? and if Skipper sees my posting here or in the thread he started for me showing my original pics-in the militaria section, I just bought two pics yesterday that show Russian Hiwis toting ammo for German soldiers. One picture shows two still wearing their Red Army uniforms-toting ammo for three or so German soldiers as they are moving towards a monument in some town. The other pic I just got shows the same Hiwis helping out carrying ammo and are with some Germans as they are moving through a burning town.

Another I got that might be of particular interest to some here shows an American Lend-Lease M3A2 Sherman tank that was knocked out at Kursk by soldiers from the Grossdeutschland Division. Several GD soldiers are standing by the tank.

 

Excerpts from The Report of the
"Commission of Inquiry on War Crimes"
by Honourable Justice Jules Deschenes, Commissioner
Ottawa Dec. 30, 1986 pertaining to Galicia Division

The Commission of Inquiry on War Crimes was established in February 1985 in Canada, with the purpose of exposing and prosecuting war criminals residing in Canada. The Simon Wiesenthal Center and other Jewish groups in Canada have repeatedly denounced the Ukrainian Division Galicia as a perpetrator of war crimes. Because of these allegations, the veterans of the Division came under the scrutiny of this Commission, which during its investigation lasting several years, was not able to establish any base to the accusations. The following are some quotations from the Commission's final report:
Page 250
From the Memorandum from Deputy Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, June 6, 1950:
On May 31, 1950, the Canadian Cabinet decided "that Ukrainians presently residing in United Kingdom, be admitted to Canada notwithstanding their service in the German army provided they are otherwise admissible. These Ukrainians should be subject to special security screening, but should not be rejected on the grounds of their service in the German army."
Page 252
While in Italy these men were screened by Soviet and British missions and neither then nor subsequently has any evidence brought to light which would suggest that any of them fought against the Western Allies or engaged in crimes against humanity. their behaviour since they came to this country has been good and they have never indicated in any way that they are infected with any trace of Nazi ideology.
Ibid.
From the reports of the special mission set up by the War Office to screen these men it seems clear that they volunteered to fight against the Red Army from nationalistic motives which were given greater impetus by the behaviour of the Soviet authorities during their earlier occupation of the Western Ukraine after the Nazi-Soviet Pact. Although Communist propaganda has constantly attempted to depict these, like so many other refugees, as "quislings" and "war criminals" it is interesting to note that no specific charges of war crimes have been made by the Soviet or any other Government against any member of this group.
Ibid.
They volunteered for the division not because of love of the Germans but because of their hatred for the Russians and the Communist tyranny.
Page 257.
In 1984, Simon Wiesenthal had supplied a list of 217 former members of Galicia division who, according to him "survived the war and (were) not living in Europe". Since then the Commission has tried repeatedly to obtain incriminating evidence allegedly in Mr. Wiesenthal's possession, through various oral and written communications with Mr. Wiesenthal himself and with his solicitor, Mr. Martin Mendelsohn of Washington, DC., but to no avail: telephone calls, letters, even a meeting in New York between Mr. Wiesenthal and commission counsel on Nov 1, 1985 followed up by further direct communications, have succeeded in bringing no positive results, outside of promises. This situation is regrettable.
Page 258.
The investigation by the RCMP and the subsequent inquiries by this Commission were carried out quite independently; yet they reached the same results.
It is obvious that the list of 217 officers of Galicia Division furnished by Mr. Wiesenthal was nearly totally useless and put Canadian Government, through RCMP and this Commission, to a considerable amount of purposeless work. That additional information be long in coming may not be surprising, under those circumstances. As a result, evidence of participation in war crimes has remained elusive.
Page 260.
Finally, this is not a case for denaturalization and deportation. The members of Galicia division have never hidden their membership in the division, nor indeed could they. Canadian authorities were fully aware, in 1950, of the history of the division. When they gave the green light to the admission of its members, they knew where these members came from and what they had been through. There was, therefore, neither false representation, nor fraud, nor concealment of material circumstances; admission to Canada and subsequently, citizenship, were not tainted with any irregularity.
Page 261.
The Commission accordingly FINDS that:
56-The Galicia Division ( 14. Waffengrenadierdivision der SS [gal. #1]) should not be indicted as a group.57-The members of Galicia Division were individually screened for security purposes before admission to Canada.58-Charges of war crimes of Galicia Division have never been substantiated, either in 1950 when they were first preferred, or in 1984 when they were renewed, or before this Commission.59-Further, in the absence of evidence of participation or knowledge of specific war crimes, mere membership in the Galicia Division is insufficient to justify prosecution.60-No case can be made against members of Galicia Division for revocation of citizenship or deportation since the Canadian authorities were fully aware of the relevant facts in 1950 and admission to Canada was not granted them because of any false representation, or fraud, or concealment of material circumstances.61-In any event, of the 217 officers of the Galicia Division denounced by Mr. Simon Wiesenthal to the Canadian government, 187 (i.e., 86 percent never set foot in Canada, 11 have died in Canada, 2 have left for another country, no prima facie case has been established against 16 and the last one could not be located.

 

YOUR REPORT, WAS ESTABLISHED IN FEBRUARY 1985 WITH THE SOLE PURPOSE OF EXPOSING AND PROSECUTING WAR CRIMINALAS RESIDING IN CANADA ONLY.

If your read your OWN source, you will notice that that the Galicia division was not credited with any crimes or military engagments in the WEST. This was NOT the case in the EAST. Their treatment of Soviet POW's and civilians suspected of helping the Red Army in Eastern Ukraine is no secret.

 

The historical sources I have been able to reference do not place the 14th SS Galacian Division at any time in Eastern Ukraine. If you have any information to the contrary I would be very interested in following up any references available.

 

Hmm the men of the ''Galicia Division'' are at the very least traitors by both Ukrainian nationalist and Soviet reckoning. As they were fighting for a regime with the stated aim of wiping out most of the Ukrainian people and keep a few as slaves, on that basis they are utterly odious and their own accounts revel them as squalid bigots in general and anti-semites in particular.

While prosecuting individual SS troopers for crimes 50 years after the war would be hard (the Allies never did that with the bulk of the German SS officers after all even in the 40's) but the Galicia Division in general is guilty of numerous war crimes no doubt about that at all unless you’re a revisionist .

On to the main topic, I notice no-one points out the obvious fact these million odd ''Soviet citizens in the German Army'' were used as slave labour and had little choice other than starving to death in the German prison camps (or other grim fates).. Only a tiny number were ever used combat troops. (and even then they didn’t fight too hard) 95% dug latrines, dug trenches unloaded supplies and all the other dirty jobs German soldiers wouldn’t want to do themselves. The way you post it these poor bastrad were fervent supporters of the Heer, that is simply laughable. Hell the Japanese used huge numbers of Chinese slaves in their army, no-one claims these Chinese slaves were supporters of Japan or were against Ching-Kai Shek/Mao.

Also the Germans were never welcomed as liberators by the Soviet population, (except in some of the the areas annexed in 1941 which in the case of ‘’West Ukraine’’ had never even been part of the Tsarist Empire let alone the U.S.S.R) The local population in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia were overwhelmingly hostile to the German invaders.

So I honestly don’t know where this BS about ‘’if only Hitler had been less mean the Soviet people would’ve rallied to him against Stalin’’ comes from, it is demonstrably utter BS. Simply by the fact the Red Army kept fighting (with around 4 million Ukrainians figting for the Red Army during the war BTW)

Seriously if they were all that hostile to the regime why not turn-coat en masse? People here seriously underestimate the degree of support the Soviet regime had, while ridiculously hyping up a few isolated instances of Germans being welcomed by a few newly annexed provinces. (and even these places had bands of nationalist partisans operating since the 20’a against the Poles and hated all outsiders German-Soviet-Pole-whatever)

Lastly Red rmy men surrendering after encirclement, then joining a slave labour gang/Vichy-style collaborationist gang to save their own life doesn’t count as ''switching sides'' or being intrinsically hostile to the Soviet regime in my book. Instead 'it reflects mans desire to save his own ass by any means. Many British or US POW's would've done the same if their only other choice was slowly starving to death.

 

Read the article; Russian Volunteers in the German Wehrmacht in WWII

JeffinMNUSA

 

I would seriously recomend the book To Battle,The formation and history of the Galacian Waffen SS Divison, by Michael James Melnyk. published by Helion. see helion.co.uk