Why did Nazis fail to create a Ukrainian state in 1939?
In 1939 the German military commanders had plans to create a
Ukrainian puppet state inside Poland. Today’s article will discuss why
this never happened.
On the eve of WWII the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists
(OUN) was a key terrorist group the Nazi secret services put stakes on
while preparing an assault on Poland. That group was carrying out
subversive operations against both Polish and Soviet interests and was
given a substantial role to play in Germany’s offensive plans.
On June 13, 1939, Colonel Erwin von Lahousen,
the chief of Abwehr Section II (primarily responsible for carrying out
sabotage), instructed a representative of the OUN, Roman Sushko, to
train 1,300 officers and 12,000 ordinary Ukrainians for an attack on
Poland. In a report dated July 15, Lahousen noted that in preparation
for the Fall Weiß operation,
the Abwehr was training a group of Ukrainian nationalists to commit
sabotage under the command of Roman Sushko, which was code-named Bergbauernhilfe and consisted of approximately 600 people by mid-August 1939.
Along with the Bergbauernhilfe unit, OUN militants inside Poland were
also gearing up for an anti-Polish uprising. At the order of the OUN’s
regional leader in Western Ukraine, Vladimir Tymchy (Lopatinsky), the
members of that organization began their military training as early as
July 1939 in secret camps in Polesia and the Carpathians. According to
Ukrainian historians, by late August about a thousand militants had been
trained and were ready to shoulder their duties as the core of the
anti-Polish insurgent forces.
The OUN’s combat units were not only assigned to carry out sabotage,
but also to seize power. The contemporary Ukrainian historian Ivan
Patrylyak speaks about this openly, “Lopatinsky
envisioned partisan units leaving their hideouts and, having seized
power in their locality, then proclaiming the restoration of the
Ukrainian state and creating their own administration.”
Erwin von Lahousen
