I have read from a few sources, (including, if memoery servers, "enemy at the gates", by william craig), that soon after the start of Barbarossa, the Wehrmact high command advocated the idea of raising an Army of one million men from the Ukraine (where the Germans were welcomed, at least initially, as Christian Liberators from the Godless Commies). I think they were overruled by Hilter, who didnt like the idea of using Slav personnell. Imagine the difference this might have made to the outcome of the war. The Ukrainians would surely have fought like demons against their former Soviet oppressors. What are your thoughts on this, has anyone else heard of similar references?
The Ukrainians were ready enough to fight the Soviet Union, but it was unacceptable for Hitler to view them as anything else than subhumans. Alfred Rosenberg advocated the idea of an independent Ukraine, and raising an Ukrainian army, but was opposed by Hitler and Erich Koch, the Reichkommissar for the Ukraine. And so the atrocities began. Laurence Rees gives a good, although short account of these events in his book "War of the Century".
the problem was that hitler considered all the soviet peoples subhumans. hence the treatment they got from the germans
I believe that if the germans had well treated the soviet population in the occupied territories, gave them some liberties, dismantle the kolkhozes,allow private ownership, reintroduce religion....the communist regime could well have fallen, and Russia would have known a second civil war. But then again, Hitler had other stuff in mind than freeing the poor soviets from Stalin's murderous regime, and between two evils the soviets quickly realized which one was the lesser.
hittler used russin troops at stalingrad but they were officaly cossack troop which was raicaly acceptable to hittler
It should not be forgotten that even after the red army had recaptured their countries, there still were anti-communist guerilla groups in Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia.... Some of these groups fought on till the early 50's. In 1943, ukrainian nationalists assasinated soviet marshal Malinovski.
