The SS are still claiming victims to this day. Not on the battlefield, of course, but because of their nefarious legacy. Their ghosts have been sighted last week in the Canadian parliament when a former member of the Waffen-SS 14^th (Galician) Division was hailed as a hero. The Speaker of the House of Commons, Anthony Rota, had no choice but to resign because of the storm his praise about 98 years old Ukrainian SS veteran Yaroslav Hunka generated. Truth be told, all those applauding were most certainly unaware of his past military service in Hitler’s elite troops.

Which brings back the crucial notion of education and awareness.

The events in Canada’s Nation Capital and the storm it legitimately generated occurred as I was completing my reading of Anthony Tucker-Jones’ book Hitler’s Armed SS: The Waffen-SS at War 1939-1945 (Pen & Sword Military).

One of Hitler’s main traits was that he fostered rivalry around himself. Loathsome of the military establishment, notably because it regrouped several characters born into the German aristocracy, the founder of the Third Reich created the Schutzstaffel as a counterweight. His investment would prove worthy. The members of the SS – who fought even after the Führer rendered his last breath after committing suicide in his bunker – had been his most committed and fanatical fighters.

In less that 200 pages, Anthony Tucker-Jones executes a real tour de force in explaining the origins of the SS, introducing its mains characters (Dietrich, Bittrich, Hausser Mohnke among others), detailing the presence of their collaborators from other countries (like the Ukrainians) and emphasizing their omnipresence on every theatre of the war. As the conflict went on, explains the author, Hitler “became increasingly reliant on the Waffen-SS to extricate his armed forces from tricky military situations.” Their reputation was mainly built on “their performance on the Eastern Front.”

Stalingrad, the fall of Mussolini in Italy, their “leading role in the battle for Normandy”, Arnhem, and the Battle of the Bulge are the main examples of episodes during which these brutal soldiers made life much more difficult for the Allies, who were often too prone to underestimate them. Against tremendous odds, like critical lack of supplies such as spare parts, fuel ammunition, food and medical supplies, the SS showed tenacity and determined resistance – something that would generate a profound feeling of admiration in other circumstances, when performed by people whose intentions are not so nefarious.

I was intrigued to read that the Red Army tried to link up with the Polish Home Army in Warsaw in 1944. Everything I read and heard about the Uprising that happened in the Polish capital reveal the Soviets as sitting on their hands during the uprising. My interest is therefore piqued.

I know this observation may generate lots of negative reactions, but the chapter about “Loyal Catholic Ukrainians” proves extremely insightful about Ukraine’s tangled path during World War II. Eager to blow on the embers of anti-Communist feelings, Hitler and Himmler – who was the nominal head of the SS, even though he was not the architect of its main achievements on the battlefield – decided to form a volunteer division in Ukraine in March 1943. They went the whole nine yards to accommodate their potential recruits. “Himmler, a Catholic himself, writes Anthony Tucker-Jones, permitted his Ukrainian volunteers to have their own chaplains, which was a rare concession and unheard of in other SS units.” As a Catholic myself, I will always be hurt and ashamed by the connections between my coreligionists and the Third Reich and its genocidal crimes.

Revealingly, the author observes that 180 000 Ukrainians served in the Wehrmacht. On top of that, 100 000 candidates from that nation applied to fill the 30 000 available spots. Not exactly arm twisting.

Even though Ukrainians were eager to get back at Moscow for legitimate reasons, nothing can excuse any kind of participation in the Final Solution. That lesson is particularly significant as we commemorate today the 82nd anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre – one of the largest mass shooting of Jews perpetrated by the Nazi hordes and their auxiliaries during the war.

From start to finish, the book is filled with several instances of atrocities perpetrated by the members of the SS. Brutality was in their DNA. Unsurprisingly, the author underlines their direct relationship with the Holocaust. They were the devil’s servants. “Trying to differentiate between the Allgemeine-SS, SS-police, Waffen-SS and units designated der SS is a largely pointless exercise, as they were all armed SS and therefore bear collective responsibility for the crimes they committed.” They all “answered to the same master”, continues the defense writer.

Too many people are forgetful or simply ignorant about this dark chapter of history. This will never be an excuse, notably thanks to historians and experts like Anthony Tucker-Jones who contribute to our understanding. The murderous feats of the SS can’t be forgotten, and we should never let our guard down. While their number is decreasing as years go by, old age still carries some of Hitler’s accomplices. They bear the opprobrium of their past actions and the two infamous letters they proudly wore on their uniforms will collar their souls for eternity.

Multitudo sapientium sanitas orbis.

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Anthony Tucker-Jones, Hitler’s Armed SS: The Waffen-SS at War 1939-1945, Yorkshire and Philadelphia, Pen & Sword Military, 2022, 240 pages.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Daniel Yesilonis of the Casemate Group for providing me with a copy of the book and for his much-appreciated collaboration with this blog.