SS Galician Division

[iperedruk]

Hi all

My father recently passed away and i have a collection of documents and photos of which i would like to share with you.
Maybe you can shed some light as to their origins etc.

REGARDS



Ivan

[Christian L]

very nice pics and docs!
i like especially the collar tab on the last pic
thanks for sharing christian

[Gaspare]

Ivan , sorry to hear of your loss.... Did your father immagrate to England or Canada right after the war? Is the photo of him with the collartab from his soldbuch? Do you have the soldbuch?

Looks like from his ID pass he was a Ukrainian auxiliary. They kind of got reclassified as Galician so the 14th SS could be formed.. It was a volunteer unit but many were forced to 'volunteer'.. thanks , G.

[iperedruk]

Ivan , sorry to hear of your loss.... Did your father immagrate to England or Canada right after the war? Is the photo of him with the collartab from his soldbuch? Do you have the soldbuch?

Looks like from his ID pass he was a Ukrainian auxiliary. They kind of got reclassified as Galician so the 14th SS could be formed.. It was a volunteer unit but many were forced to 'volunteer'.. thanks , G.

Hi Gaspare

Thanks for your message.
My father was a prisoner of war in Italy and then got shipped to England.
The photo of him with the collartab was from his soldbuch. My father also explained to me that prior to capture many Ukrainians had to destroy their documents so they could not be linked to the German SS Division.
He was actually forced to volunteer with many others as the Russians had taken over their farms which were their homes.
His parents were killed by the Russians and so many Ukrainians ran away and joined the Partizan group called the UPA (Ukrainian Partizan Army) to fight against the Russians.
As the Germans advanced the Ukrainians were caught in the middle and eventually ended up in German hands. Thus were forced to fight wth the newly formed Galicia Division.
Well thats the story as i remember it from my father.

regards

Ivan

[Gaspare]

alright! thanks for the response.. Your story about your father is very interesting..Many historians claim the 14thSS were a all volunteer division. But most were forced to join. Most of the ones that did volunteer did so usually to get training in weapons and tactics so they could fight for a independant Ukraine later. Many fought onto the late 1950s..

The 14thSS I believe still has a veteran group in Canada and L'vov Ukraine. The OUN/UPA currently has a office in Kiev ..Thanks for showing the photos and history , G.

[galizien41]

Ivan,

My grandfather is from Galicia in the Ukraine near L'vov and I have visited there many times, and my grandmother is from Brody and was there during the big battle. There is a mass grave of about 500 Ukrainian ss men across from my grandfathers old house in the village (his sister still lives there). Many of his friends were in this division, and UPA, and Ukrainian 1'st Division... I have met several Vets in the USA, but most are too scared and emotional to talk about it still.
Do you buy chance have a collar patch of his to show??? or sleave shield or any more photos?

Thanks,
Jerry

[Gaspare]

Here is a good site. , G.



http://ssgalicia.onestop.net/main.html

[Si1964]

Ivan,

Sorry for your lose, but thank you for sharing these great items with all of us.

[iperedruk]

Ivan,

My grandfather is from Galicia in the Ukraine near L'vov and I have visited there many times, and my grandmother is from Brody and was there during the big battle. There is a mass grave of about 500 Ukrainian ss men across from my grandfathers old house in the village (his sister still lives there). Many of his friends were in this division, and UPA, and Ukrainian 1'st Division... I have met several Vets in the USA, but most are too scared and emotional to talk about it still.
Do you buy chance have a collar patch of his to show??? or sleave shield or any more photos?

Thanks,
Jerry

Hi Jerry

Thanks for your message.
I am planning to visit the Ukraine this August and hope to see my fathers village where he used to live. I will also enquire (when see my cousins) if there are any remaining photos or sleeve patches. I'm sure in my endeavours that i'll find more photo's and as soon as i do will make sure to post them on this site.

Regards

Ivan

[Askold]

Thanks for advertising my site Gaspare I actually recongnize the first photo - It was taken after "UNA blessing flag" ceremony (you can see the podium in the background). The event took place in internment camp in RImini, Italy. The occasion was a presentation of new flag to division from Ander's 2nd Polish corps (the Ukrainians in the corps made a new flag as a present). By this time, the division was issued DAK uniforms.

P.S. the last picture of your father shows the last type of collar patch - to save time on stichings, the patches were produced BEWO style.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Ivan, sorry to hear about your Dad. Thanks for sharing his photos with us.


I hope you don't mind me adding to your thread, but I was not sure where to place these pics? I picked up a ring two weeks ago. As you can see it bears the insignia of the "Trident of Vladimir" used by the Ukrainians. I bought the ring from a junk stall here in the UK at a steam & vintage vehicle rally.

Cheers, Ade.

[Adrian Stevenson]

As you can see it is pretty crude. But I guess it possibly came to the UK from a Vet of your Dad's unit.

Cheers, Ade.

[iperedruk]

Thanks

As you can see it is pretty crude. But I guess it possibly came to the UK from a Vet of your Dad's unit.

Cheers, Ade.

Hi Ade

Thanks for your kind words.
The ring is certainly an interesting find and could well be from a Ukrainian veteran.
Its always good to see unusual artifacts connected with the hardships that the Ukrainians went through and even though it may be crude i can imagine that the person must have spent a lot of time to make the ring with very little tools to use.

Regards

Ivan

[Si1964]

Ade,
A great find, I wonder how many people would have looked at the item and wouldn't have a clue as to what it was.

It makes you wonder how many similar items, meaning a lot to one or two people, mean nothing to others. A sad but true state of affairs.