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MEMOIRS OF MEMBERS OF UKRAINIAN MILITARY FORMATIONS IN THE GERMAN ARMED FORCES AS A SOURCE FOR STUDYING THE DAILY LIVES OF SOLDIERS OF WORLD WAR II
Authors: Vovk O. V.
Number of views: 71
The article deals with how the memoirs highlight the peculiarities of everyday life of
Ukrainian servicemen who were members of Ukrainian military formations in the German
armed forces during the Second World War. Ukrainian combatants published a large number of
memoirs, which highlighted the reasons that led them to combine their own destiny with service
to a foreign country, described the social and construction conditions in which they found
themselves, relations between soldiers, the attitude of Germans to Ukrainians, hopes for future
Ukrainian revival. . These memoirs are an important source for studying the daily lives of
soldiers during World War II. Although the issue of everyday life of Ukrainian soldiers was
considered in the works of researchers, it is of secondary importance. Because of this, there is a
problem of a more detailed study of the daily life of soldiers who found themselves in various
formations of the German armed forces during World War II, and whose activities were not
criminalized by the international community. Significant factual material on this issue provides
an analysis of the memories of Ukrainian combatants.
The publication provides a critical analysis of the memoirs of P. Hrytsak, M. Kalba, V.
Ketsun, R. Kolisnyk, T. Krochak, R. Lazurko, K. Malyi, I. Nahaievskyi, E. Pobihushchyi and
others. It was found that the memoirs cover in detail the domestic aspects of the service (military
training, leisure, material support, cultural life, morale and mood of the soldiers), relations
with the German personnel of the units. The authors’ memoirs contain numerous descriptions of
the daily life of soldiers during military training, redeployment and participation in hostilities.
Eyewitnesses described the soldiers’ equipment, the content of the instructors’ lectures and
talks, the arrangement and plan of the camp, the relations between the Ukrainians and the
relations with the Germans, and the peculiarities of the soldiers’ leisure. It is important to
describe the transformation of the mood of the Ukrainian soldiers of the Division “Galicia”.
These sentiments transformed from optimistic to a complete loss of confidence and growing
dislike for German uniforms. Studies of this historical issue indicate that the authors of the
memoirs describe the predominantly superior attitude of German personnel towards Ukrainians.
It is investigated how the memoirs provide information about relations with the local population
in the areas where the Ukrainian units were located. The publication highlights how the
memoirs characterize the role of the church and priests in the life of Ukrainian units, which
consisted not only in the religious and spiritual care of soldiers, but also in everyday life.