Читати книгу - "Українська дивізія «Галичина»"

The Staff of the Division and its protector, Governor Waechter, managed to obtain approval from the German High Command through its Commander-in-Chief of the Army Group "Northern Ukraine", Field Marshall Model, that the Division would be assigned to a relatively quiet portion of the front in Western Ukraine, near the City of Stanyslaviv, occupied by the First Panzer Army, where it would complete its training and gradually acquire battle experience.

Unexpectedly, this decision was altered towards the end of June and the Division was assigned a sector of the front lines held by the army group "Northern Ukraine", in the very center of the expected main enemy thrust. It was incorporated into the 13th Army Corps consisting of three Wehrmacht divisions and the Ukrainian Division. At first, the Division was held in reserve but later found itself at the point of greatest pressure from the advancing Red Armies. On the 18th of July, both the Division and the 13th Army Corps were encircled at Brody, and practically annihilated. The Red Army enjoyed a tremendous superiority in the number of troops, tanks and air power. Of the 11,000 soldiers in the Division, only 3,000 managed to break out of the encirclement. The Division had been given the most difficult task of containing the assault of the Red Army to permit the other units to escape. At this point, the Division Commander, Freitag, relinquished his command. The author not only describes the battle, factually illustrating it with drawings, but analyzes the root causes of the catastrophe. A separate chapter is devoted to his personal experiences in this tragic battle and the escape of the survivors from the circle of death. Of the 8,000 who did not break out, the largest number were battlefield casualties, some were taken as prisoners of war and others were able to join the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (U.P.A.) which had begun its struggle in the autumn of 1943. The survivors of the Division passed, on foot, through Sambir and the Uzhotsky Pass in the Carpathian Mountains onto the territory of Carpatho-Ukraine, which, since 1939, had been occupied by Hungary. Here, at Seredne, they camped for a breathing spell. Despite the un-complimentary and biased reports of General Freitag about the behaviour of the Ukrainians during the battle, Himmler accepted other favourable reports about the Division; motivated by political considerations, he ordered Freitag to form a new division, again in Neuhammer. The ranks of the new Division were filled by the 3,000 survivors of the battle at Brody, 8,000 soldiers from the reserve training regiment, and several companies, of Ukrainian officers and non-commissioned officers who had by then completed their various courses. The position of liaison officer was filled by Captain Makarushka, replacing Captain Palijiw, who had been killed in the battle at Brody. But now, even more than earlier, General Freitag appointed young, often inexperienced German officers to command posts in the Division. This only increased the frustration and dissatisfaction of the Ukrainians. Shortly thereafter, a combat group under the command of Lt. Colonel Wildner was detached from the Division and sent into Slovakia to combat the Slovak partisans who, under the leadership of Soviet partisans, were fighting against the pro-German Government of President Joseph Tiso. At the beginning of October, 1944, the rest of the Division was sent to Slovakia. In the region of Zilina it was completing its combat training, maintaining order and clearing the region of the remnants of the partisans. In these forays the Division got the weapons, including artillery, which it sorely lacked. During its stay in Slovakia, the Division was subordinated to the Commander-in-Chief of the German forces in Slovakia, General Hoefle, whose headquarters were in Bratislava. The attempts of Governor Waechter to change the Commander of the Division were not successful.

With the approach of the Eastern Front in the middle of January 1945, the Division was ordered to move to Southern Steiermark and Slovenia, which was annexed to the German Reich. After a forced march through snow-covered secondary roads, the Division arrived at its destination towards the end of February, taking up positions on both sides of the former international boundary line between Austria and Yugoslavia. It was immediately ordered into battle against the Tito partisans. Its order were to secure this region and to complete its training. As in Slovakia, so in Slovenia, Ukrainians maintained the most cordial relations with the local population.

As the front again drew nearer, an order was received on the 20th of March to disarm the Division "temporarily." The disarming of the Division would have spelled a tragic ending for the Ukrainians, but this order as well as other senseless orders, i. e., to transform the Division into a paratroop division with a new Commander, were not carried out, mainly because the Red Army had broken through the front in the region of Gleichenberg-Feldbach. On the 31st of March 1945, the Division was put under the command of the Second Tank Army and ordered into the front lines along the Austro-Hungarian boundary, where it distinguished itself. A sector of this front was held by the Division until Germany capitulated.

During these battles at the front, towards the end of April, General Pavlo Shandruk arrived. He had just become the head of the Ukrainian National Committee, recognized by the German Government as the official representative of Ukrainians in Germany, and had been appointed the Commander of the Ukrainian National Army. His first act was to incorporate the Division into the Ukrainian National Army as, its First Ukrainian Division. The swearing-in ceremony was conducted and the soldiers of the Division swore loyalty to the Ukrainian nation. From this point, the soldiers of the Division wore the Ukrainian National emblem, the Trident, on their headgear.

In the following chapters, the author describes the last days of the existence of the Division: its negotiations