Ukrainian SS Uniform

[richard1962]

Hi to all
I hope this works as I am new to all this but can anyone give me any imformation on the last person on the left bottom row of his rank or any other insight please I know the picture is poor but it is the best I have many thanks

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

Appears to be an SS Untersturmfuhrer (Equal to a 2nd Lt).

Cheers, Ade.

[richard1962]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

Appears to be an SS Untersturmfuhrer (Equal to a 2nd Lt).

Cheers, Ade.

many thanks Ade

[Battery Command Post]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

Appears to be an SS Untersturmfuhrer (Equal to a 2nd Lt).

Cheers, Ade.

If they are Ukrainian SS men, he would be a Waffen-Untersturmführer

Rob

[ObKrieger]

Foreign volunteers had the 'Waffen' prefix to their ranks instead of 'SS'?

[Battery Command Post]

Foreign volunteers had the 'Waffen' prefix to their ranks instead of 'SS'?

Yes, as did the whole division. The 14th SS Division was called the 14 Waffen-Grenadier Division der SS, i.e. a division "of the SS" as opposed to an SS Division. Depended whether you were considered 'Germanic' enough, and Ukrainians were classed as not. Membership of the SS was based on very strict racial guidelines

I know this is right as I used to know a former Ukrainian Waffen-Hauptsturmführer very well

Rob

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Guys, correct. But the use of "Waffen" as opposed to the SS rank prefix was not applied on purely racial lines, at least not originally. All the early Western European Legions , such as Frw. Legion Flanders, Frw. Legion Nederland, etc also had to use the Waffen prefix. This was to show they were considered attatched to, but not strictly part of the SS. Later this changed of course. Just another bit of useless info

Cheers, Ade.

[ObKrieger]

No such thing as useless info guys, thanks for the clarification!

The SS and their strange way of organizing things always cracks me up...

[richard1962]

No such thing as useless info guys, thanks for the clarification!

The SS and their strange way of organizing things always cracks me up...

Thanks for every one who has replied to my post this is the first forum I have been on that people have taken the time to reply.
The reason I asked was that I beleive that the man on the far left was my father i found out he was waffen ss after his death always being told that he was polish. The reason for him being polish was that after the war he was classed as a displaced person with no country to go home to. When he got to the uk he married my mother and around 1955 was given a choice to become Russian or Polish and I was told that there was no question that he would be russian.He would have been a young teenager when the russians commoted Holodomor on his Country. so polish was his choice he was Ukrainian by birth and my mum told me that he was an officer and she was sure that he was at least a lieutenant of some discription When I found the picture the caption that went with it was Graduates Of The Artillery Course In Beneshevo (czech )
Thanks for your help guys much appreciated

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Richard, thanks for the update.

Your Dad's story is fairly typical. I used to work with two former members of the Division.

Cheers, Ade.