An explanation as to the reason for the change (purportedly to have been at Freitag’s behest) was to be made to the Division’s soldiers during Weltanschaulichen (political doctrine) lectures,229 in compliance with the set guide-lines contained in a circular produced by Section VI of the Divisional staff which explained:
The Reichsführer-SS has, following the suggestion of the Division-commander, [sic] ordered the renaming of our Division to 14.Waffen-Gren.Division der SS (ukrainische Nr.1). The meaning of this order is to be explained to the men during ‘Weltanschaulichen’ studies, according to the following guide-lines.
1.) The Division, while in the General Governement was mainly made up of men from the Galician region, hence the designation ‘galician Nr.1’ (galizische Nr.1).
2.) Increasingly as time went by the Division became a melting pot for Ukrainian men from all regions of Ukraine. It is also intended as the future military home for all Ukrainians. Thus the term ‘Galician’ has become too narrow, and [the term] ‘Ukrainian’ has been ordered in accordance with the requirements of the Reichsführer-SS.
3.) The renaming is closely related to the stepping up of the battle against Bolshevism by the entire Ukrainian people.
As the ranks of our Division grow stronger every day, so too the (anti Bolshevik) resistance movement in the Ukrainian homeland grows stronger. We are glad of all comrades who come to us from other Divisions of the Waffen-SS and from the labour camps of the Reich.
We are proud when we hear that the Division commander of the Division ‘Wiking’ bade farewell to our comrades with the following words:
‘Volunteer fighters against Bolshevism!
Here weeks of hardest battle lie behind us. You have, each according to his position, done your duty and thereby contributed to the holding of the front against forces outnumbering us many times.
The Reichsführer-SS has now ordered your release from the Division and your transfer to the Gal.SS-Freiwilligen-Division. I thank you for your proven will to fight against Bolshevism, and in the ranks of the Galiz.SS-Freiwilligen Division I wish you a soldiers luck until the final victory over our arch enemy Bolshevism’.
The renaming has fulfilled a long standing wish for all of us. However, this also brings with it a holy duty: ‘To preserve the unity of Ukraine!’
For this it is required that; We resolve all differences in a brotherly fashion. Everyone, try to help everyone else, wherever necessary; We build a large community of comrades and thus become, for our people and homeland, the necessary fighting community which will enable us to survive all hard battles against our arch-enemy Bolshevism.’
To emphasise the unity that the new title was intended to convey, the document ended by stating that ‘All brotherly differences between east and west Ukrainians must be put aside during this most fateful hour’.230
Along with these changes, new themes were introduced in conjunction with tired and meaningless German propaganda themes such as ‘The New Europe’ which were still being expounded in periodic doctrinal lectures.231 Now for the first time the Ukrainian soldiers were openly urged to continue their military training since after defeat of the Bolsheviks the Division would be the elite of the Ukrainian Army safeguarding Ukrainian statehood.232
The resultant impact of these measures was to raise the morale of the Division’s Ukrainian soldiers and they also helped to alleviate some of the tensions which had built up between the Division’s German and the now predominantly conscript Ukrainian contingent.
Similar considerations almost certainly accounted for Freitag’s order dated 10 November announcing the death of his Excellency the Greek Catholic Arch-Bishop and Metropolitan Andreas Graf von Sheptysky in L’viv on 1 November 1944. In the dedication, Freitag who had once been granted an audience with Sheptysky, wrote ‘Our Division [has] lost in his Excellency one of our most noted friends and oldest benefactors’. In memory of the late Metropolitan he ordered a special requiem to be held on Sunday 19 November 1944 and instructed all units to devote one hour to the personality of the late Metropolitan as part of the Weltanschaulichen lecture in the week 12–19 November 1944.233 This mollifying initiative, despite being well received by the Ukrainians was manifestly insufficient to improve his reputation, which remained irrevocably damaged.
There was however, no genuine commitment to address the clear lines of cleavage which had developed between the two sides and the internal policies that Freitag’s continued to pursue offset any progress and ensured that the growing rift became even more pronounced. For example, to circumvent the influence of Major Heike, who enjoyed a close and very good relationship with the Ukrainians, the Ukrainian Liaison Officer Waffen-Obersturmführer Dr Makarushka was given explicit instructions that matters in his jurisdiction were to be discussed only with the commander of the Division.234 The effect of this edict was to limit Heike’s involvement to purely tactical matters and ‘exclude him from dealing with questions off Ukrainian interest.’235 In the most blatant illustration, Freitag permitted the commander of WGR 30 SS-Obersturmbannführer Forstreuter not only to remove a Ukrainian officer Waffen-Untersturmführer Alexander Podolynsky, from his command of the regimental staff company but to then replace him with a German NCO SS-Sturmscharführer Friedrich Bessel.236 To make matters worse, for a few months Podolynsky and Waffen-Untersturmführer Rostislav Chomyn were obligated to serve under Bessel as platoon commanders in the company even though they were his senior in rank.237
Likewise, with the full support of the notoriously ruthless SS-Hauptsturmführer Gerhard Herrmann who had replaced SS-Sturmbannführer Hans Ziegler by 6 November 1944 as the Divisionsrichter des ‘Galizien’ feldgericht (Divisional Judge of the Galician field court), Freitag sought to suppress disquieting developments amongst the Ukrainians in the Division. In a letter dated 7 December 1944, Freitag requested Himmler’s endorsement of the implementation of court martial proceedings (which as often as not resulted in the death penalty) without recourse to what he considered un-necessary bureaucracy in the current regulations, to enforce order and keep the Ukrainians in line. It read:
14. Waffen-Gren.Div. der SS (ukr.Nr.1)
Commander O.U., den 7. Dezember 1944
To the Reichsführer-SS’s judge
for referral to the Reichsführer SS.
Kdo. Stelle Reichsführer-SS
Slovakia. Pressburg
2. Hauptamt SS legal Department For information
1. Court of the German
Senior commander in
Prien/Chiemsee.
The exceptional situation of, and the circumstances within the Division, force me to use the harshest measures and most severe penalties, in dealing with all breaches of military discipline, political unreliability, and in particular cases of desertion.
A section of the Ukrainian members of the Division have a general tendency to put themselves above the demands of military discipline and to disregard the authority of their superiors. This has repeatedly led to incidents that are unthinkable in a German division. Not only have incidents of disobedience reached an above average level, but also things have often gone as far as confrontation and attacks against superiors, including German superiors. Besides these, there have also been countless incidents where pro-Bolshevik, pro-Polish and anti-German propaganda has been promoted. As a result the number of deserters has reached an, at times, unbearable level. This development has been to a large extent assisted by the fact that the Division is in a region were deserters can easily go underground via partisans and a hostile [anti-German] civilian population.
For that reason I saw myself compelled to instruct my court to mete out the severest punishments, and above all committed them to the speediest sentencing and implementation of the verdict, because only the immediate resolution and punishment of these cases will be a deterrent and will contribute to thwart similar transgressions.
Unfortunately I have had to observe that the efforts of my court have often been hindered by formal difficulties that preven
t an immediate resolution of procedure. For example; delays arise because a legal opinion must first be obtained from the court of the senior commander in Slovakia, before a sentence can be confirmed and executed. In addition there exists a regulation, according to which in cases involving political offences or undermining of military strength [Wehrkraft], paragraph 5. Section 1 numbers 1 and 2 KsstVO, states that the main hearing should only take place following [receipt of] instructions from the Hauptamt SS-Gericht [SS Main Legal Department238] (Directive sheet of the Hauptamt’s SS-legal Department Year 1, Number 216). Consequently, according to existing regulations sentences passed against Ukrainian officers must be passed to the Reichsführer -SS for confirmation.
In order to avoid these delays, which at this time can simply no longer be tolerated in the interests of maintaining disciplined conduct, I have ordered my court to disregard the questionable regulations, for the time being. In this respect I have allowed the legal opinion to be given by my own court as a matter of principle in the trial of Ukrainians. Further to this I have also allowed the trial of Ukrainians for undermining of military strength [Wehrkraft] to proceed without authorisation from the Hauptamt-SS Legal Department, and in some cases I have myself confirmed sentences against Ukrainian officers and arranged for the sentences to be carried out.
I now request a special authorisation according to which;
1./The legal opinion for the trial of Ukrainians can be given by the Divisional court as a matter of principle.
2./The trial of Ukrainians for sabotage and political offences does not require authorisation by the Hauptamt SS-legal Department.
3./Sentences against Ukrainian officers can be confirmed by myself, and that even so, I be allowed to sign penal ordinances and injunctions without presenting them to the Reichsführer-SS or the Hauptamt SS legal Department’.239
FREITAG
SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS
The authorisation was duly approved and by the time the Division left Slovakia a few weeks later, Freitag had granted all commanders of regiments and independent battalions the right to form their own ‘Kriegsgericht’ (court under the war-measures act) which were empowered to pass sentence on any soldier guilty of a breach of discipline and to carry out executions when necessary. As a direct result of this, a significant number of Ukrainians were put to death in the remaining six months of the war. According to the records of the veterans association 101 named individuals were shot or hanged. It is noteworthy that this did not always apply to the Germans despite several instances of Germans of all ranks being found guilty of serious infractions including the accidental shooting dead of a Ukrainian sentry by a drunk German NCO.240 Their sentences were often remitted to transfer to a penal company unlike the Ukrainians for whom capital punishment was commonplace.
To further safeguard his own position and avoid any unpleasant surprises, Freitag instigated additional mechanisms, including the nomination of an individual in each company who was required to produce regular monthly written reports. The subject of the reports was ‘what were the main topics of conversation amongst the troops’? On completion, these were passed on to battalion and then regimental headquarters, where they were collated before finally being presented to sub-section Ic (a) (counter-intelligence) of the Division’s staff, headed by SS-Hauptsturmführer Wiens, which was responsible for the collection and analysis of this data. Partly because there was little time available to complete these reports, the contents were either fabricated or deliberately misrepresentative, typically mentioning either a belief in Germanys’ invincibility and the new ‘V’ weapons which would guarantee ultimate victory. Alternatively they focused on trivialities such as food, cigarettes and Marketenderwaren (commodities such as alcoholic beverages, soap, tooth paste, shaving supplies etc. supplied regularly to the soldiers) effectively sabotaging the enterprise with reports that were generally of no real benefit.241
One exception was the report submitted by Waffen-Obersturmführer Bohdan Pidhayny, the officer for special assignments with WGR 30 who wrote truthfully that when the Division was sent to the front he was afraid that it wouldn’t fight for the ‘New Order in Europe’ which had no meaning for the Ukrainians. When presented with his report, the regimental commander SS-Obersturmbannführer Forstreuter was incensed by the content and promptly summoned Pidhayny. Much as he would have liked, Forstreuter was not however able to punish him because of his high profile in the Division and popularity amongst his country men. According to the testimony of his Ukrainian Ordonnanz Offizier Waffen-Untersturmführer Myron Scharko who witnessed the event, Forstreuter said to Pidhayny ‘You are a lost man’, but despite Forstreuter’s threats, Pidhayny remained in service and continued to be one of the leading OUN activists within the Division until the end of the war.
Combat in December 1944
In the aftermath of the most recent Soviet offensives on the eastern front, the German position in Slovakia in late 1944 was now threatened from two directions; in the east the Red Army had already entered Slovak territory and was involved in an exhausting struggle with the German 1 Panzer Army in the Carpathian Mountains; in the south, a westward drive through Hungary had brought the Red Army close to the southern Slovak border which was defended by the 6 Army (reconstituted after its almost total annihilation at Stalingrad).
With the gradual retrograde movement of the German front line, the 1 Panzer Army transferred its rear echelon and supply units to Zilina. This sudden influx of such a large military force into the Division’s district resulted in the almost complete cessation of local partisan activity, consequently the Divisions’ operational area was expanded to encompass the Nitra Valley effectively doubling its size. At the same time it was ordered to assist the Wehrmacht command in the Army rear defence zone with the establishment of fortifications. In anticipation of the next Soviet onslaught, the building of defensive positions had commenced along the valleys of the Kysuca and Váh Rivers running from the town of Cadca in the north via Zilina to Bratislava in the south. These lines were constructed with the objective of blocking the Váh Valley in the east and the Nitra Valley in the south, thereby eliminating the threat outflanking the German front in Poland. To expedite the work, elements of all units both frontal and reserve irrespective of their other duties, were ordered to co-operate and each regiment and sub unit appointed appropriate liaison officers who worked in conjunction with army units in their respective localities.242 The Divisions’ sub-units played an active part in these preparations especially in the valley of the Turiec River, where HSSPF Höfle on his own volition had ordered the building of a second line. This new line, (built 10 kms to the east of the first position) ran from Martin to Vrutky and northward on the northern extension of the Nitra line where to its credit, WGR 31 (stationed at Turciansky Svaty Martin) entrenched facing east very quickly.
Equally important was the contribution of the Pioneer Battalion commanded by SS-Sturmbannführer Josef Remberger which carried out technical work and received a special commendation for its efforts. The battalion built concealed emplacements at strategic points in the mountains and valleys in the district, prepared the defence of critical points along natural avenues of approach, erected a number of anti-tank obstacles, set up minefields, blocked rivers and viaducts and rigged numerous tunnels and bridges with explosives for subsequent demolition. Finally, over a three week period in December 1944, the battalion rebuilt an important twelve ton wooden road bridge some 40 m’s long in Vrutky that had been destroyed before the arrival of the Division.243
To the extent that its other tasks allowed, the Division continued with its training and reformation, making minor refinements to its organisational structure in the process.244 Regular progress reports were filed with the appropriate German political and military institutions and because of the close proximity of the front line, with both 1 Panzer Army and 6 Army. In the event of it being given a combat role, its command had adopted a flexible strategy for the deployment of t
he Division which made allowances for deployment as a whole unit, or alternatively as three self contained battle groups based around its three infantry regiments, each of which would have additional support from artillery, pioneer, communications and supply units. In the case of the latter, the first battlegroup was to be ready for marching at short notice (that is within 24 hours) and a motorised column was formed with the newly acquired trucks to assist with its rapid movement.245
In mid December 1944 Red Army units reached the Slovakian/Hungarian border where part of Plijews’ 6.Guards Tank Army had penetrated the German front and was advancing up the Sikenica Valley along the main road from Levice towards Banska Stiavnica. As overall commander in Slovakia, SS-Obergruppenführer Höfle responded with the urgent deployment of his available forces into the area which included one battlegroup from the Galician Division formed around SS-Standartenführer Friedrich Dern’s WGR 29. In the event it appears that only the experienced III. battalion (which had formed the basis for KGr. Wildner) actually saw action, the remainder of Dern’s group being held in reserve.246 In the early hours of the morning of 18 December 1944, the III. battalion was rushed to Banska Stiavnica in a convoy of military trucks and a conglomeration of requisitioned civilian motor cars, arriving late in the evening of the same day. It joined elements of the 18.SS-Freiw. Pz.Gren.Div. ‘Horst Wessel’ together with parts of the 24.Panzer-Division and the Dirlewanger Brigade which were holding the German line in this area. KGr Schäfer (from 18.SS-Freiw. Pz Gren.Div. ‘Horst Wessel’) reinforced by a pioneer battalion from an army unit and part of the 24.Panzer-Division moved to the vicinity of Batovce to try and close the local breech. As they did so, the III. battalion was given orders to take up a reserve position directly south west of Banska Stiavnica. Waffen-Grenadier 12./III./WGR 29, Volodymyr Keczun wrote in his memoirs:
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