Original WWII German Army (Heer) UKRAINIAN “YBB” VOLUNTEER’S SLEEVE SHIELD. (Ukranian Landeschilde) Certified
Original WWII German Army (Heer) UKRAINIAN “YBB” VOLUNTEER’S SLEEVE SHIELD. (Ukranian Landeschilde) Certified. With the German invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22ND 1941 the German army encountered large segments of the non-ethnic Russian populace that greeted them as liberators from the yoke of Bolshevism. Although Hitler was suspicious of the ethnic make-up and loyalty of these personnel the German commanders in the field quickly saw the advantage of utilizing these willing personnel in non-combatant roles. As a result of manpower restrictions the German army began employing non-ethnic Russian POW’s and volunteers as laborers and supply personnel in the rear areas as early as the summer of 1941 against the express wishes of Hitler. The Ukraine, a large portion of south western Russia, heralded the Germans as liberators and the Ukrainian nationalists saw the German invasion as an opportunity to assert their independence from communist rule and as a result were eager to assist the Germans in the overthrow of the Soviet government. The Ukraine also contained a large population of roughly, 400,000 Volksdeutsche, (Ethnic Germans), who were also enthusiastic about assisting the German cause. As a result in early 1943 the Germans established the, UVV, Ukrians’ke Vyzvol’ne Viis’ko, (Ukrainian Army of Liberation), represented by the Cyrillic characters, “YBB”. Personnel of the UVV/YBB were scattered through-out assorted German units and were granted wear of an identifying sleeve badge to be worn on the left sleeve of the field blouse. ''Cleverly the Germans utilized the Ukrainian colors and the trident emblem of Volodymyr the Great'', a Ukrainian military hero who lived from 979 to 1015, on the sleeve shield in deference to the Ukrainians. Of Note: Also in early 1943 the Waffen-SS, (Armed-SS), began the formation of the 14. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (ukrainische Nr.1), comprised of Ukrainian volunteers, who were also permitted wear of this identifying sleeve shield. Woven linen base with the official, screen printed pattern consisting of a flat topped, rounded bottom, field-grey, shield shaped base with a horizontal bar to the top edge, with the white Cyrillic letters, “UVV”, which appear as the Latin letters YBB positioned above the horizontally divided, Ukrainian colors of yellow over blue with the stylized white trident of Volodymyr the Great to the center.
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