In the Maelstrom

An estimated 25,000 Ukrainians served in the Fourteenth Waffen-SS “Galicia” Division. Conflicting accounts of their reasons for enlistment and continuing accusations of wartime criminality have fuelled controversial debate for decades. The first comprehensive study of the Division to address both the military formation’s wartime experience and its postwar fate, In the Maelstrom draws on archival research that includes interrogation records, interviews, memoirs, testimonies, and creative literature. The accounts of veterans often begin with being drafted for the force in teenage years and continue into postwar life in Italian and British internment camps. These reminiscences are compared with wartime records and recent narratives. The book then discusses the commissions of enquiry into war crimes during the 1980s, recent debates over the issue of monuments and commemoration, and different ways in which veterans, the diaspora community, Western governments, and researchers have approached the topic. In the Maelstrom brings to light the underexplored Ukrainian experience in the “Galicia” Division during and after the war. Due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, this experience resonates strongly today.

In the Maelstrom is the first study of the Fourteenth Waffen-SS “Galicia” Division that covers both the military formation’s wartime experience and its postwar fate. It explores the lives of the Division’s veterans, controversial ongoing debates surrounding the motivation of recruits, and accusations of wartime criminality.

“The history of the ‘Galicia’ Division has produced a vast body of material; however, much of it is highly politicised. In the Maelstrom looks at the entire history of the Division and presents a much needed critical narrative.” Olesya Khromeychuk, author of ‘Undetermined’ Ukrainians: Post-War Narratives of the Waffen SS ‘Galicia’ Division

Myroslav Shkandrij is professor emeritus of Slavic studies at the University of Manitoba.