One of them is particularly significant, as it concerns the Ukrainian question and, indirectly, Lower Silesia and Świętoszów itself—one of the larger villages in Bolesławiec County.
Allied Waffen SS units remain highly controversial to this day. As the Third Reich expanded its conquered territories, advancing ever farther east, it began searching among the subjugated nations for genuine Aryans. The SS recruiting office, headed by Gottlob Berger, sank into total cynicism. It turned out that Estonians were Germanic, Latvians were considered partly so, while Lithuanians were rejected as Polonised subhumans. Bosnians were proclaimed a “Gothic” people who, according to the Germans, descended from Persians, although in reality they were needed to fight Tito’s partisans in the Balkans.
In total, Latvian, Estonian and Bosnian Waffen SS units were formed to support the German army. The creation of a Ukrainian division aroused the greatest controversy. It supposedly turned out that 25% of the Ruthenians (the former term for Ukrainians, used until the nineteenth century) living in Galicia were of Germanic origin. Moreover, Galicia, as a former Austrian province (in fact artificially separated for Austrian needs), supposedly retained its former German character, providing another argument for creating SS-Galizien.
Hitler liked the idea. As a native Austrian, he envisioned Galicia returning to its rightful place in history. The only condition was a total ban on using the word Ukraine. The unit was to consist of Galicians, not Ukrainians. There was no question of the future division having a national character. Its symbol was the Galician golden lion, not the Ukrainian trident.
Although the Germans so emphatically disavowed everything Ukrainian, this was undoubtedly a Ukrainian division, hostile towards the Polish nation. Ukrainians deluded themselves that they would manage to create a semblance of their own state. However, they were used to eliminate, among others, Ukrainian and Polish society, and to carry out operations—including sabotage missions—in the territory of the Soviet Union.
The 14th SS Grenadier Division SS-Galizien was formed in 1943. It was a criminal organisation, as were all Waffen SS units. One of many examples is the crime committed on 28 February 1944 in Huta Pieniacka by the 4th SS Police Regiment and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. The SS Police Regiment (the police arm of the 14th Grenadier Division) consisted of Ukrainians who, because of their health, had not been incorporated into the SS-Galizien Division’s structures but were useful in another capacity.
The tragedy occurred when the Ukrainians entered the village after the Soviet partisans had left it. However, the Ukrainians clashed with Poles from the Home Army. The skirmish would have ended with the destruction of the SS Police Regiment had Ukrainians from the UPA not come to their compatriots’ aid.
The village was burned and the farms were looted. One of Huta Pieniacka’s residents—an elderly person—was stabbed with a bayonet. Another resident had her newborn torn from her arms and, after it was thrown against a wall, brutally murdered. A pregnant woman was also killed, while the residents who had taken shelter in a barn were locked inside and it was set ablaze.
In this way, the Nazis used other people’s hands to carry out the mass extermination of the population, above all the Polish population. Approximately 850 people were killed in Huta Pieniacka at that time.
The Neuhammer am Queis training ground
A military training ground was established near Neuhammer am Queis, in the area of present-day Świętoszów. It was expanded repeatedly, and over time a garrison was established in Świętoszów. During the war, various formations of the German army, including the Abwehr and Waffen SS units, took part in exercises in Świętoszów. Interestingly, Ukrainians from the 14th SS Grenadier Division SS-Galizien also trained there. It was the same formation that committed so many crimes and that the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg recognised as a criminal organisation.
Other “national” units were also present in Neuhammer am Queis, such as the Hungarian 25th SS Grenadier Division SS-Hunyadi, the Estonian 20th SS Grenadier Division and the Bosnian-Croatian 13th SS Mountain Grenadier Division Handschar. The latter was even personally visited by Heinrich Himmler, one of Hitler’s leading associates and Minister of the Interior of the Third Reich. (Photographs from this visit are available here: https://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/92360130632/himmler-with-officer-and-divisional-staff-of-the).
Two Ukrainian sabotage and intelligence battalions, Roland and Nachtigall (Polish: nightingale), were also stationed in Świętoszów. The latter’s name derives from a choir formed from the battalion’s soldiers while they were still in Lower Silesia.
The training ground was established in 1898. Over time, it continued to grow. During the First and Second World Wars, prisoner-of-war camps for Russian soldiers were located here. During the latter war, the camp was organised under terrible conditions. Many prisoners were killed and many died of exhaustion. The NKVD dealt with those who survived.
Located in the Lower Silesian Forests, the training ground was an excellent place for exercises. On the outskirts of the Third Reich, among the forests, various operations—above all sabotage missions—could be planned and simulated. Erwin Rommel himself, the “Desert Fox”, also trained here before his wartime expedition to Africa.
As can be seen, this region of Lower Silesia also has an interesting history. As for the Ukrainian question, it should be remembered that although the 14th SS Grenadier Division SS-Galizien was intended to have a Galician character, it consisted of Ukrainians ready to kill for Hitler, including their own compatriots.
Discussions about SS-Galizien should not be interpreted as portraying the Ukrainian nation negatively. We must nevertheless remember the crimes committed both by the pro-German division and by the UPA that collaborated with it. Remembering the bandit crimes and their victims is essential to preserving a proper national consciousness, including in the historical context.
Paweł Skiersinis
The author is a blogger and history enthusiast, particularly interested in the history of Lower Silesia and Poland. Why Lower Silesia? As he says: “Why not? The most interesting history is the history around us, concerning us and our ancestors.”
He adds: “I try to present history from a different perspective, in an interesting way, not in a typically textbook style full of dry dates and facts. My articles concern facts that cannot be found in textbooks and well-known publications. The history of Lower Silesia is undoubtedly interesting and fascinating, so it is worth devoting at least a brief moment to it from time to time.”
More on Paweł Skiersinis’s blog.
Based on:
Robert Primke, Maciej Szczerepa, Wartime Mysteries of Lower Silesia, published by Technopol, 2006.
Christopher Hale, Hitler’s Executioners: The Dirty Secrets of Europe, published by Znak, 2012.