Quote:
Originally Posted by Firebot
So they weren't actual nazis despite the SS denomination, fought only Soviets, and Ukrainians was still recovering from the Holodomor and trying it's hardest to gain it's independence from Soviets. Add to this that Germany directly helped Ukraine in their fight for independence against the Bolsheviks in 1918 and Ukraine volunteering for the Nazis make sense. Germany was initially cheered as liberators
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The bolded isn't correct, assuming you're talking about the USSR. The division fought in Slovakia to quash partisan activity and did the same in Poland.
And while they weren't necessarily Nazis themselves, they willingly joined to fight alongside the Nazis and risk their lives for their cause. It's not like we're talking about Ukrainians fighting to defend their homeland or soldiers who were forcibly conscripted here. Much of their activities involved killing partisans and suspected partisans in other countries at the behest of the SS. Comparisons to Finland don't make a lot of sense. And if Finns volunteered to form their own SS division to go to Norway or Denmark and fight there, they'd be reviled as well.
Now who knows when this specific guy joined the division. But the fact that they could introduce someone who "fought against Russia in WWII" and basically no one raised an eyebrow at first really doesn't speak well the historical aptitude of our elected officials.