14. granátnická divize Waffen-SS (ukrajinská č.1) [1945-1945]

14th SS Waffen Grenadier Division (Ukrainian No. 1)

Velitelé:
SS-Gruppenführer Walther Schimana (30.6.1943 - 20.11.1943)
SS-Brigadeführer Fritz Freitag (20.11.1943 - 22.4.1944)
SS-Brigadeführer Sylvester Stadler (22.4.1944 - ?.7.1944)
SS-Brigadeführer Nikolaus Heilmann (?.7.1944 - 5.9.1944)
SS-Brigadeführer Fritz Freitag (5.9.1944 - 24.4.1945)
SS-Brigadeführer Pavlo Schandruk (24.4.1945 - 8.5.1945)

STRUCTURE:


Waffen-Grenadier Regiment of the SS 29 (gal. Nr 1)
Waffen-Grenadier Regiment of the SS 30 (gal. Nr 2)
Waffen-Grenadier Regiment of the SS 31 (gal. Nr 3)
Waffen-Artillerie Regiment der SS 14
SS-Waffen-Füsilier-Battalion 14
SS-Waffen-Panzerjäger-Kompanie 14
SS-Freiwilligen-Panzerjäger-Kompanie 14
SS-Freiwilligen-Flak-Abteilung 14
Waffen-Nachrichten-Abteilung der SS 14
SS-Radfahr-Battalion 14 Waffen-Pioneer Battalion of the SS 14
SS Supply Company 14
SS Division Supply Troops 14
SS Medical Detachment 14
SS Veterinary Company 14
SS Field Post Office 14
SS War Reporter Platoon 14
SS Field Gendarmerie Squad 14
SS Field Replacement Battalion 14

27.6.1943 was established as 14. ganatnická division SS Galizein (14. Waffen Granadierdivision der SS, galizische Nr. 1)


It was not allowed to call itself Ukrainian even though it was formed from Ukrainians.


The soldiers wore a shield on their sleeve with the emblem of a 13th century Galician lion and three crowns.


Some of the men were ethnic Germans from the General Gouvernement.


The division had two grenadier regiments, one artillery regiment and a supply battalion.

in the course of training had in February 1944 had to withdraw part of its soldiers to fight the guerrillas. fully combat-ready declared in May. From červember 44 on the frontě in the following 14 days the core of the division (11,000 men) was surrounded at Brodů. only about 3,000 of them managed to break through to the German side and about a thousand then joined the units of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.


Later on, a new unit was formed under the name of 14. Waffen Grenadierdivision der SS, ukrainische Nr. 1


A part of the soldiers were suppressed during the formation of the uprising in Slovakia.


The entire division was deployed in Yugoslavia against Tito's National Liberation Army from January 1945.

designation:
SS Freiwilligen Division "Galicia"
14th Galician SS Freiwilligen Division
14th Galician SS Freiwilligen Infantry Division
14th Weapons Grenadier Division of the SS
1. Ukrainian Division of the Ukrainian National Army

It consists of:
29th Waffen-SS Grenadier Regiment
30th Waffen-SS Grenadier Regiment
31st Waffen-SS Grenadier Regiment
14th Waffen-SS Artillery Regiment


Operation:
Balkans
June 1943 - March 1944
Eastern Front
March 1944 - July 1944
Poland, Czechoslovakia
July 1944 - May 1945

The origin of this division is quite neglected in the literature, so I would just like to add some information about the origin of this unit.


In August 1941, Western Halych (by that time conquered by the USSR) is incorporated into the "Polish" Governor General's Office as the 4th Area (district). This assignment is very logical, as this area belonged to Poland until 1921, April, when the agreement was signed in Riga, Latvia. Moreover, according to the 1914 census, of the 8 million people living in this area, 4.3 million were Polish .


The administrator of this district was the SS-Brigadeführer Dr. Otto Wächter, who, unlike the other rulers of the eastern countries, was at least a little thoughtful and thus focused on co-partnership with the Halychians rather than on forced Germanization, etc.


He also tried to persuade Himmler to allow Slavs to serve in the SS - he was given permission to form the "Polizei Regiment Galizien". In 1943, after the tragedy at Stalingrad, he succeeded, and so the recruitment campaign began in April. And this campaign is very interesting in terms of propaganda and content - its content was an appeal to the Halychians (not Ukrainians, I will explain later) to join the fight against ASIAN Bolshevism It is also interesting to note that Himmler insisted that no Ukrainians were to be accepted into this division, but only Halychians, as he believed that the presence of German blood made the Halychians more than Slavs (a reference to the fact that this area was part of Austria-Hungary until 1918, while the rest of Ukraine was under the Tsarist regime).Along with this, the second decree was to distinguish these Halychians from Slavs. The religious aspect was chosen, i.e. all members must be Uniates, i.e. of Eastern Catholicism. With this Himmler wanted to distinguish the Poles, the Volhynian Bohemians (Roman Catholic) and the Russians, the Eastern Ukrainians (Greek Orthodox, Orthodox) from the Halychians (i.e. rather the Ruthenians and Western Ukrainians).


On April 28, 1943, 70,000 volunteers (according to German sources, up to 100,000) were gathered. According to their physical dispositions, they were distributed among the police forces within the German police (Heidelager training camp in Dubica), as well as sent to officer schools (350 officers and 2,500 NCOs for the Waffen-SS). The rest then formed the men for the SS-Schützen-Division "Galizien", which later became the 14th SS Freiwilligen-Division "Galizien".


Zdroj:
Foreign Legions of the third Reich, D. Littlejohn - volume 4
SS: Hitler's Instrument of Terror, G. Williamson
Author's archive
HItler's Black Angels, R. Butler

In January 1945, the division (or part of it) was stationed in the towns and villages of the Modra district, where, according to the district notary's report, its soldiers did a lot of damage to the farms.
(source : OÚ Modra 1945, reports of horses stolen by retreating soldiers)


On 6.2.1945 in Pezinok, local part of Grinava, members of the division executed a local citizen Dominik Virgovic for persuading some soldiers to defect to the partisans.

Interesting fact: people of Orthodox faith were not allowed to join the unit, only Uniates (Greek Catholics), so Uniate priests could join. They were then marked by having three crosses around the lion instead of three crowns in the coat of arms above


[Note: In Ukrainian, the division was called Halychyna. This name is derived from the geographical name of the territory of western Ukraine - thus Halychyna i Volodymyria (Галичина Володимирія). The Czech name of this area is thus Halic and Vladimir, hence the division is then Halic.

I still managed to find a few photos in my archive related to this division.

Collar tabs division





Source: http://fremd.sweb.cz/o3.htm