Postal History

Both the Ukrainian Security Units and the Galizien SS Division were assigned Feldpost numbers. Ukrainians who had family members in Polish training camps mailed registered special delivery covers. These covers used German occupation Hitler series "General-Gouvernement" (Poland) stamps.

Galizien Postal Issues

In September 1943, two labels were issued by order of the "Halychyna" (Galizien) Military Board of the Division. They were on sale in Divisional Support Establishment Offices located in "Lviv" (Lemberg), Ukraine. The sale of these labels aided the Divisional Welfare Fund.
The price was 5zl per set. The labels were designed by S. Hordyns'kyj. These labels are letterpress printed and perforated 10.5mm on ordinary thicker creamy or white paper without gum. There are two design types:

The first label has the figure of a Galician soldier wearing a German uniform and holding a rifle. Below on the right side is a tank and above is the Galician national emblem. The color is pale blue.
The second label shows the face of a soldier and the national arm shield emblem listed on the upper left side. The color is red brown. Both labels have no monetary value and have an Ukrainian inscription below, which means Riflemen Division SS.

I know of one philatelic postal cover, that show these labels franked with special Military Board canceling circular handstamp. The cancels show the Galician national emblem in the center with the inscription "WEHRAUSSCHUSS GALIZIEN 4" (Military Committee Galician with no. 4). This organization depended on the Ukrainian National Committee of Galicia, which was responsible to all matters concerning the 14th SS Division. The cover does not have an open address, however, it does have a return address written in Ukrainian from the military administration "Halychyna, Ave Parkova 10, Lviv." All labels that were not sold were destroyed at Blonhofen near Kaufbeuren Germany.

Ukrainian POW Labels

About 12,000 Ukrainians were interned as POW in Rimini, Italy, eventually transferring over POW camps in Great Britain (17 in England and 3 in Scotland).
After the war, the POW Camp in Rimini, Italy, issued a number of labels honoring Ukrainian volunteers. These labels were printed with equipment left over by the Germans. Labels were used for internal camp correspondence. The Ukrainian Charity Labels shown above depict soldiers from the Ukrainian liberation army in combat.

[ Front Page ] [ Top] [Previous Page [ Next Page]