Українська дивізія «Галичина»
- Автор: Гайке Вольф Дітріх
- Год: 1970
- Язык: украинский
- Год: Братствo кол. Вояків 1-ої УД УНА
- Переводчик: Роман Колісник
- Жанр: История
Электронная книга - «Українська дивізія «Галичина»». Краткое содержание книги:
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 with the British Army and retreat from the front across the mountains into a region agreed upon by the British. A small number surrendered to the American Army. Facing the internment, General Freitag ended his life by suicide, and the German officers [eft the Division.
In his concluding observations, the author summarizes the mistakes made by the German authorities in organization, training and committing the Division to combat. He brings out these points:
In accordance with the initial plans,, the Ukrainian Division should have been a foreign military unit, and not a German unit composed of Ukrainians. An utterly senseless policy regarding command posts in the Division had adverse effects on the Ukrainians for the whole period. The Ukrainian officers of the Division should have been appointed to the command posts and given a greater responsibility in tactical planning;
at least they should have been given an opportunity to receive staff training. It must be marginally noted that the Ukrainian officer and non-commissioned officer cadres fulfilled their assigned tasks and duties well.
The ordering of the Division in the front lines was a mistake; more heed should have been paid to the reports of the Staff of the Division about its specific characteristics and the unique traits, of character of the Ukrainian soldier. Despite this, the Division was thrown without adequate training and battle experience into a main enemy thrust where even battle-tried veteran German divisions succumbed. The High Command of Infantry and the Army Group "Northern Ukraine" ignored great political significance of the Division. The developments at the front in the sector east of Lviv could have been foreseen. The order to send the Division into battle resulted from a typically German way of thinking without taking into account its peculiarity. The sending of the Ukrainians to the most dangerous point at the front without providing them with experience in modern warfare, was doomed from the outset to failure.
This important military unit also lacked of good commander who should have been a talented and politically oriented soldier. Instead, it had the self-seeking, unpleasant and bureaucratic General Freitag.
Permission to use Ukrainian emblems, the Ukrainian anthem, and an oath of loyalty to Ukraine came too late. The creation of the Ukrainian National Committee and the Ukrainian National Army headed by General Pavlo Shandruk came even later, only two months before the end of the war.
UKRAINISCHE DIVISION "GALIZIEN"
GESCHICHTE DER AUFSTELLUNG UND DES EINSATZES UKRAINISCHE DIVISION "GALIZIEN".