Till the end of WWII, Nazi Germany employed up to 250’000 Ukrainians in the Wehrmacht. Eg 25% of German combatants in Stalingrad were Ukrainians. A substantial number of Ukrainians were part in the blockage of Leningrad.
Nazi Germany employed Ukrainians in other sectors:
Ca. 238’000 Ukrainians joined the SS.
Hundreds of thousands worked in the Nazi Police in the occupied territories, in the administration and, eventually in the squadrons hunting and killing jews.
Most joined the German Nazis freely, some after they were captured as PoW (ca 600’000).
It is estimated that up to 1 million men and women, dominantly from Western Ukraine, collaborated with the Nazi occupiers while men from Eastern Ukraine who declared themselves being Russians, enlisted in the Red Army. These were up to 7 million Russian men, Russian speakers, living on the territory of the Soviet Republic Ukraine who declared being Russians.
It is a dark part of Ukrainian history: Ukrainians, in foreign, German Nazi uniforms, parading with the well known Ukrainian nationalist emblems and signs. Russia, still today, has very mixed Feelings seeing Ukrainian soldiers parading and waving the old signs.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
