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  Fonthill Media publishes in the international English language market. One language edition is published worldwide. As there are minor differences in spelling and presentation, especially with regard to American English and British English, a policy is necessary to define which form of English to use. The Fonthill Policy is to use the form of English native to the author. Michael James Melnyk was born and educated in Norwich, England where he currently resides; therefore British English has been adopted in this publication.

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  First published in the United Kingdom

  and the United States of America 2016

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  Copyright © Michael James Melnyk 2016

  ISBN 978-1-78155-538-5

  The right of Michael James Melnyk to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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  Acknowledgments

  The successful production of the second volume of this study was only possible with the assistance of a legion of friends and supporters. As ever my best friend and mentor, divisional veteran Roman Kolisnyk, leads the way as he always has since I first had the great pleasure of being introduced to him. For decades he devoted himself to the study of the Division and his unsurpassed knowledge and unrivalled network of contacts was of immeasureable benefit to me and underpinned many areas of my research. His help in a very real sense made this book a co-operative effort and as a result of his recent passing which coincided with the completion of this project, I would like to dedicate this book to his memory in appreciation of his untireing efforts and enthusiasm.

  Likewise Myron Scharko, Roman Hawrylak, Volodymyr Motyka, Theo Andruszko, and Volodymyr Keczun all made outstanding contributions as did their comrades Ostap Sokolsky, Bohdan Kutny and Eugene Shypailo.

  Two men resident in Ukraine were exceptionally helpful, namely Andrij Zhukevych who has a superb collection of unique material on the subject and fellow author Andrij Usach who clarified many questions and details and whose numerous visits to the Ukrainian archives have opened up many new and important areas of research.

  The considerable respective contributions of Filip Zierfuss, Klemen Luzar, Klemen Kocjancic, Petro Kormylo, Petter Kellander, Andrij Klymchuk, Andy Found and John Moore must also be acknowledged. Horst Wächter, Steve Tyas, and Richard Rygaard also made significant contributions as did Ludmila Pekarska who runs the Schevchenko Archive in L’viv which holds an abundance of useful original source material including the original ‘Rimini List’ (a list of all the internees at the camp at Rimini). My heartfelt thanks also go to Andrew Keys whose technical computer support and extraordinary expertise has saved the day on many occasions.

  Numerous veterans were consulted directly and provide information and material amongst them; Lev Babij, Roman Bilohan, Jaroslav Botiuk, Roman Cholkan, Petro Cisarsky, Roman Chomicky, Julian Chornij, Fedir Cymbaliuk, Stefan Dmytryk, Mychailo Dobriansky, Roman Drazniowsky, Mychailo Duskursky, Jaroslav Hnatkiv, Myron Holowaty, Orest Horodysky, Jaroslav Hunka, Stefan Ilnycky, Roman Jasynsky, Bohdan Kalba, Taras Katzchmarchuk, Markian Kohut, Stefan Kosandiak, Mykola Kostiuk, Volodymyr Kudla, Zenon Kuk, Omelan Kulchysky, Jaoroslav Kunysky, Ewhen Lohaza, Desmond Lusniak, Oleh Lysiak, Myroslav Malecky, Petro Maslij, Ivan Melnyk, Mychailo Mochnaty, Woldymyr Molodecky, Leonid Mucha, Ivan Nyzka, Mychailo Ostapiuk, Myron Pasij, Mychailo Paziuk, Petro Pilkiw, Myron Proczak, Mychailo Prymak, Stefan Reskovych, Bohdan Romanovsky, Bohdan Sadiwsky, Michael Sadiwsky, Stefan Sadiwsky, Ivan Sadovey, Myron Scharko, Eugene Shypailo, Vasyl Sirsky, Volodymyr Skilnyk, Orest Slupchynsky, Vasyl Tomkiv, Vasyl Veryha, Omelan Wawryk and Julian Wilshynsky.

  I trust that these contributors will understand that in cases of conflicting information or interpretation of the available evidence, the pursuit of historical accuracy and intellectual honestly must take precedence over personal appreciation, and that the responsibility for this rests entirely with the author.

  My immediate family members namely my mother Rose Melnyk, my son Myron, my daughter Anya and their mother Julie Schofield have had to put up with a host of trials and tribulations associated with the preparation of this study. It gives me great satisfaction to be able to rely on their unconditional support and understanding which cannot be adequately rewarded with any expression of appreciation.

  This book is dedicated to the memory of Roman Kolisnyk

  The author wishes to hear from readers holding any related material on this subject and can be contacted via the publisher.

  Contents

  Acknowledgements

  Notes on Sources

  Introduction

  1Resurrection

  Reformation

  Decorations and Debasement

  Crosses of Iron

  A Margin of Certainty

  2Slovak Rebellion and the Red Army

  Kampfgruppe Wildner

  Tour of Duty in Slovakia

  The Operations of Kampfgruppe Wildner and Kampfgruppe Wittenmeyer in the Final Assault

  Garrison Duties in Slovakia

  The Reich Yields

  Combat in December 1944

  Epiphany—New Year Celebrations

  3Fighting Tito’s Communist Partisans

  Transfer to Slovenia

  Slovenia (a partisan is a partisan)

  The Advent of the Ukrainian National Army

  The Incorporation of the Volhynian Legion

  Operations against Tito’s Partisans

  A German Extravagance

  Waffen-Kameraden No More

  Again the Eastern Front

  The 10 Fallschirmjäger Division

  Combat in Styria

  The Burden

  4The Final Act

  The Last Weeks of the War

  Snipers

  A New Tactic

  The Ukrainian National Army

  Unconditional Surrender

  The Mur

  5The Legacy

  Sanctuary: The British or the Americans?

  Bellaria

  The Mark of Cain

  The Spectre of Extradition

  Rimini

  Exile

  The Great Escape

  Dr Otto Wächter, Founder and Saviour?

  Operation Integral

  Afterword

  Dramatis Personae

  Insignia and Paperwork

  Appendix

  Select Bibliography

  Endnotes

  Books and Articles

  Notes on Sources

  List of abbreviations

  Author’s Archive—[AA]

  Archives of the Brotherhood of Former Combatants—[ABFC]

  Archiwum Panstwowe w Lublinie—[APL]

  Arhiv Republike Slovenije—[ARS]

  *Bundesarchiv, Koblenz1—[BA-KO]

  Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv Freiberg im Breisgau—[BA-MA]

  Central State Archives of Supreme Body and Government of Ukraine [TsDAVO of Ukraine]

  Horst Wächter, private archive. [HWA]

  Imperial War Museum -London.—[IWM]

  National Archives, Washington DC, USA—[NA]

&nbs
p; *National Archives, Kew,2 London.—[NA, PRO, Kew]

  Schevchenko Archive, London.—[SA]

  Statni ustredni archiv v Praze—[SUAP]

  US Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives [USHMM]

  To complete this work I have as far as possible, utilised original source materials. Primary documents relating to the Galician Division can be found at all the institutions cited above and the provenance of each document cited in the text has been carefully referenced in the footnotes.

  Supplementary material has been garnered from manuscripts, unpublished memoirs and papers, questionnaires, personal correspondence spanning over twenty five years and extensive notes of interviews conducted with veterans. Among these several deserve special mention including Volodymyr Keczun, Theo Andruszko, Roman Kolisnyk, Roman Hawrylak, Orest Slupchynskyj, Bohdan Maciw, Bohdan Kutny, Ivan Sadowey and Walter Jankiwsky.

  Despite extensive efforts over the course of almost three decades, it has thus far been impossible to locate the Galician Division’s war diaries which it must be fairly concluded have been lost or destroyed. In their absence I have relied heavily upon personal accounts of veterans. These have been reproduced verbatim. Again, to maintain accuracy I have whenever possible made use of those from veterans who kept written accounts or diaries. In instances where diaries were not kept, I have made every effort to independently corroborate information contained therein.

  Interviews are indicated by name, date and location, questionnaires are quoted by their numbers which follow numerical sequence (i.e.; Q12) and the surname of the individual involved. Further sources of all information and appropriate references can be found in the extensive footnotes. For convenience German technical terms, titles and ranks have been retained.

  Photographic material for use in this publication was provided by The Brotherhood of Former Combatants, Andrij Zhukevich, Petro Kormylo, Andrew Found, Richard Rygaard and Ludmila Pekarska on behalf of the Schevchenko Archive in Linden Gardens, London. It is here that my personal archive has been deposited to ensure long term public access. Contact with the archive can be made via its website whose address is http://www.augb.co.uk. A special thanks is offered to Horst Wächter who kindly provided the author with access to unique personal and insightful material relating to his late father, which would otherwise have been unobtainable.

  Due to several changes in nomenclature, with a few exceptions, I have referred to the formation as ‘The Galician Division’/the ‘Division’ or by part or all of the title by which it was officially known at that time. Similarly, following the German occupation, the Galician capital city of L’viv was subsequently renamed ‘Lemberg’, however I have continued to refer to it as L’viv unless I have quoted directly from period German documents in which case L’viv appears in parenthesis after ‘Lemberg’ . It should also be noted that the term ‘Wehrmacht’ when referring to soldiers of the German Army (i.e. Heer) as opposed to those of the Waffen-SS is often incorrectly used in many of the personal accounts of veterans, but as this was commonly accepted, I have made no attempt to correct it. Likewise the terms ‘Russians’, ‘Bolshevik’, or occasionally ‘Muscovities’ are often used in the personal accounts whereas in fact they are referring to Soviet or Red Army personnel.

  For those wishing to obtain more data about the Division, other useful web sites include the official web site of the veterans organisation http://www.infoukes.com/galiciadivision, whilst Petro Kormylo’s excellent site http://www.tryzubscotland.com provides lots of useful information about post war internment of Divisional members in Scotland.

  Introduction

  This is second of a two-volume history of the 14 Galician Division covering the period from the Division’s reformation after the disaster at Brody and concluding with the eventual fate of its personnel. The extension of the Divisional history beyond the cessation of hostilities in Europe in May 1945, increases the scope of this work significantly. For the first time I have included new chapters on internment in Italy and England as well as the involvement of a number of former Divisional veterans in secret operations conducted by MI6 during the cold war.

  My objective in producing both this and its companion volume ‘The Eastern Front’, has been to document as accurately as available resources permit, the entire history of this formation.

  Readers wishing to find additional information, photographs and details of its war time activities are referred to my first divisional history entitled To Battle, The Formation and History of The 14 Galician Division of the Waffen-SS.

  Michael James Melnyk

  Norwich 2016

  1

  Resurrection

  Reformation

  On 28 April 1943, amid much pomp and ceremony, the inauguration of a Ukrainian Galician Waffen-SS division was pronounced in L’viv’ [Lemberg]. The initiative behind the plan was the German Governor of Galicia Otto Wächter, who sought to secure Ukrainian support in the war against the Soviet Union, whilst the Galician-Ukrainians themselves backed the project believing that it would eventually become the basis of a Ukrainian National Army. The unit was over subscribed with recruits and the additional manpower was initially funnelled into an additional 4 independent Polizei Regiments numbered 4-7. Basic training for the Division began in July 1943, at Heidelager and in October 1944, Fritz Freitag was appointed as its commander, a German who had little confidence in the Ukrainians and who in line with Nazi racial policies believed them to be fundamentally inferior.

  In February 1944 the Division was required to form a temporary Kampfgruppe (battle group), which along with Polizei Regiments 4 and 5 were sent to fight partisans operating in the rear of the German forces in the General Government, following which it relocated to a new bigger training facility at Neuhammer were it continued its training. During this period the 4 Polizei Regiments were dissolved and their personnel transferred to the Galician Division which in May 1944 received a visit from the Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler.

  In the last days of July 1944, after almost a year in training, the ‘14. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (galizische Nr.1) was committed to battle against the Red Army as part of XIII AK on the eastern front. As a result of a massive Soviet offensive which steamrollered everything in its path, it was surrounded near Brody and like all its veteran German counter parts rapidly disintegrated. This caused its commander SS-Brigadeführer Freitag to lose his nerve and relinquish his command at a critical point of the battle. After 10 days of hard fighting and suffering devastating losses in men and war matériel it was virtually destroyed.

  Approximately 3,000 exhausted survivors successfully broke out of the encirclement and in early August regrouped close to the town of Serednje in the last remaining corner of German occupied western Ukraine. Here in an atmosphere full of bitter recriminations Freitag once again assumed command of the remnants and together with the Division’s German staff which had largely escaped unscathed, prepared the necessary after action reports for evaluation by the appropriate military and political authorities.1 Having done so, Freitag and his 1(a) Major Heike were then summoned to the SS Main Office in Berlin for debriefing.

  On 2 August the day before their departure, at a meeting of the surviving officers, an account prepared of the recent fighting was read out in which according to Waffen-Hauptsturmführer Dmytro Ferkuniak who was present, everything positive was omitted—even Freitag’s earlier comments made at the village of Spas that initially the Ukrainians had fought bravely. It went on to say that the Division had not yet matured and proved itself in battle and that this was proof that the Ukrainians were not ready for independence. The reasons for Freitag’s resignation were repeated and underscored in the report which recommended the Division be disbanded.2 On 3 August both men flew to Berlin, leaving the senior regimental commander SS-Obersturmbannführer Beyersdorff in charge of the remnants in Serednje.3

  In Berlin, Freitag reported directly to Himmler, who prior to the meeting had already received detailed factual information concerning the tacti
cal developments at the battle of Brody from other sources including Wächter, and the senior army commanders. Although concerned over the loss of most of its heavy weapons, vehicles, horses and equipment the Reichsführer expressed his relief that at least part of the Division had been extricated from the encirclement. This he stated, combined with the large numbers of men who had recently been enlisted could serve as the basis for its immediate reformation. He dismissed Freitag’s criticisms of the Ukrainians by stressing that the veteran German units had also been unable to prevent the Soviet advance and had suffered similar losses before ordering him to begin the reorganisation of a new version of the Division at Neuhammer where its well manned Training and Reserve Regiment was now stationed.

  In reply, Freitag argued against reformation, suggesting instead that the Division be disbanded and the remaining personnel distributed among other German formations. Alternatively, he suggested another commander be appointed in his place and that he be given command of his former unit the 4.SS-Polizei Division.4

  Himmler knew that in the war against the Soviet Union Germany had lost the strategic initiative and that there was a crippling manpower shortage for the frontline formations desperately needed to stem the Soviet onslaught. He had previously discussed the matter with the now ex-Governor Dr Wächter, who also had the active support of two key individuals in the Waffen-SS establishment, the SS recruitment chief SS-Obergruppenführer Gottlob Berger and Dr Fritz Rudolf Arlt5 chief of the Freiwilligen Leitstelle Ost in Amtsgruppe D, or Eastern Volunteers Desk (a special advisory agency within the SS-FHA).6 Wächter emphasised both the urgent need for Waffen-SS replacements and the important rôle which the Division could play especially in the event of a peace deal being brokered between Germany and the Western Allies, who would then unite to fight against the Soviets. Under these circumstances the continued German investment in the Galician Division would ultimately pay dividends and politically it could potentially be an invaluable asset.

  Additionally in the interim recent events such as the Warsaw rising7 underscored that for the time being, the Division could still make a significant contribution on a secondary front or in security operations against partisans.8 Dismissing Freitag’s protestations, Himmler insisted that it be reformed from the cadre which returned from Brody, its Training and Reserve Regiment and the personnel from the previously established third battalions of its infantry regiments which had not deployed at the front. Ignoring suggested potential replacements such as Alfred Bisanz, and the Division’s 1a Major Heike,9 Himmler stated that Freitag should remain in command because of his extensive previous experience with the Ukrainians.10