Die Besonderheiten des Einsatzes der gefangenen ukrainischen Soldaten der zaristischen Armee im Interesse des Deutschen Reichsheeres (Ende 1916 – Anfang 1918)

The article discusses the fate of Ukrainian prisoners of war who were captured by German troops and interned in the Rastatt military camp (between 1917 and the beginning of 1918). Ukrainian POWs were deployed as laborers by German military command. Camp activists founded the Union for the Liberation of Ukraine which promoted Ukrainian national identity through cultural and educational efforts. The Union ultimately gave rise to the Independent Ukraine movement. Some of its most radical members were covertly transported by the Germans to the frontline, and they became involved in an underground campaign against the Imperial Russian Army. At the same time, German military command supported the Zaporozhian Sich paramilitary organization which grouped Ukrainian POWs and ultimately evolved into the Taras Shevchenko First Infantry Regiment. At the end of 1916, some of the regiment’s soldiers joined the German army and formed their own military units. The number of Ukrainian soldiers in the German army continued to increase in 1917, and by March 1918, all Ukrainian soldiers had joined the First Blue Division (Synozhupanniki) and were transported to Ukraine.