Pure Soldiers or Sinister Legion

Between 1950 and 1955 thousands of veterans from the notorious German-led Ukrainian 14th Waffen-SS Galicia Division emigrated to North America, where they were welcomed despite emigration regulations in place at the time that forbade entry to all those who served in the SS. The Jewish community fought a brief but futile campaign to persuade the respective governments involved to deny them entry, denouncing them as bloodthirsty murderers who had engaged in the slaughter of innocent civilians. Meanwhile, a well organised body of Division supporters contested that there was nothing murderous about these young men and that they were in fact exceptional soldiers who followed the international rules of war to the letter and who harboured no hatred for Jews, guarded no concentration camps and committed no crimes against humanity. At issue was the nature of the Division and it’s war record. Were they pure soldiers as their supporters contended or did they number among Hitler’s willing executioners ? This incisive volume traces the fortunes of this controversial Division from its formation in 1943 to its surrender to the British in 1946, from immigrant farm workers in Britain, Canada and the USA, to Cold War CIA assassins, shedding light on this acrimonious dispute that has continued to the present day.