GALICIA ON THE MAP – A GALICIAN SS DIVISION RECRUITMENT POSTER

The 14th Waffen-SS Grenadier Division was formed by Heinrich Himmler in mid-1943 from 80,000 Ukrainian applicants. Just 13,000 were selected and the rest used to form police units and guards for the concentration camps. The destruction of the German armies around Stalingrad by early 1943 left the German forces on the eastern front severely undermanned; Chomiak’s job included helping to raise the new force and ensure its recruits would remain loyal to the Nazis. For background, read this.