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{{Anchor|Abwehr}}

{{Anchor|Abwehr}}

{{Anchor|Nachtigall Battalion}}

{{Anchor|Nachtigall Battalion}}

[[File:Ukrainians greet Nazis 1941.PNG|right|400px|thumb|Ukrainian nationalists welcome Nazis, 1941 with banners saying "[[Heil Hitler]]".]]

[[File:Ukrainians greet Nazis 1941.PNG|right|300px|thumb|Ukrainian nationalists welcome Nazis, 1941 with banners saying "[[Heil Hitler]]".]]

The '''Nachtigall Battalion''' under [[Roman Shukhevych]], also known as the Ukrainian Nightingale Battalion Group, or officially as Special Group Nachtigall,<ref name="Abbott">Abbot, Peter. ''Ukrainian Armies 1914-55'', p.47. Osprey Publishing, 2004. ISBN|1-84176-668-2</ref> was the subunit under command of the German Abwehr (Military Intelligence) special operations unit "Brandenburg".  Along with the Roland Battalion it was one of two military units formed February 25, 1941 by head of the Abwehr Adm. Wilhelm Canaris, which sanctioned the creation of the "Ukrainian Legion" under German command. It was composed of volunteer "Ukrainian nationalists," Ukrainians operating under [[Stephan Bandera]]'s OUN orders.<ref>[http://history.org.ua/LiberUA/Book/Patr/%D0%9F%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8F%D0%BA.pdf  І.К. Патриляк. Військова діяльність ОУН(Б) у 1940—1942 роках.]<br>[https://web.archive.org/web/20161104141147/http://history.org.ua/LiberUA/Book/Patr/%D0%9F%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8F%D0%BA.pdf Університет імені Шевченко \Ін-т історії України НАН України Київ], 2004 (No ISBN) p.271-278</ref>

The '''Nachtigall Battalion''' under [[Roman Shukhevych]], also known as the Ukrainian Nightingale Battalion Group, or officially as Special Group Nachtigall,<ref name="Abbott">Abbot, Peter. ''Ukrainian Armies 1914-55'', p.47. Osprey Publishing, 2004. ISBN|1-84176-668-2</ref> was the subunit under command of the German Abwehr (Military Intelligence) special operations unit "Brandenburg".  Along with the Roland Battalion it was one of two military units formed February 25, 1941 by head of the Abwehr Adm. Wilhelm Canaris, which sanctioned the creation of the "Ukrainian Legion" under German command. It was composed of volunteer "Ukrainian nationalists," Ukrainians operating under [[Stephan Bandera]]'s OUN orders.<ref>[http://history.org.ua/LiberUA/Book/Patr/%D0%9F%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8F%D0%BA.pdf  І.К. Патриляк. Військова діяльність ОУН(Б) у 1940—1942 роках.]<br>[https://web.archive.org/web/20161104141147/http://history.org.ua/LiberUA/Book/Patr/%D0%9F%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8F%D0%BA.pdf Університет імені Шевченко \Ін-т історії України НАН України Київ], 2004 (No ISBN) p.271-278</ref>

The [[Simon Wiesenthal|Simon Wiesenthal Center]] contends that between June 30 and July 3, 1941, in the days that the Battalion was in [[Lviv]] the Nachtigall soldiers together with the German army and the local Ukrainians participated in the killings of Jews in the city. The pretext for the [[pogrom]] was a rumor that the Jews were responsible for the execution of prisoners by the Soviets before the 1941 Soviet withdrawal from Lviv. The ''Encyclopedia of the Holocaust'' states that some 4,000 Jews were kidnapped and killed at that time.<ref>Gutman, Israel. "[http://motlc.learningcenter.wiesenthal.org/text/x16/xm1688.html Nachtigall Battalion]". ''Encyclopedia of the Holocaust''. Macmillan Publishing Company: New York, 1990.</ref> It further states that the unit was removed from Lviv on July 7 and sent to the Eastern Front.

The [[Simon Wiesenthal|Simon Wiesenthal Center]] contends that between June 30 and July 3, 1941, in the days that the Battalion was in [[Lviv]] the Nachtigall soldiers together with the German army and the local Ukrainians participated in the killings of Jews in the city. The pretext for the [[pogrom]] was a rumor that the Jews were responsible for the execution of prisoners by the Soviets before the 1941 Soviet withdrawal from Lviv. The ''Encyclopedia of the Holocaust'' states that some 4,000 Jews were kidnapped and killed at that time.<ref>Gutman, Israel. "[http://motlc.learningcenter.wiesenthal.org/text/x16/xm1688.html Nachtigall Battalion]". ''Encyclopedia of the Holocaust''. Macmillan Publishing Company: New York, 1990.</ref> It further states that the unit was removed from Lviv on July 7 and sent to the Eastern Front.

[[File:Volhynia.PNG|left|400px|thumb]]

[[File:Volhynia.PNG|left|300px|thumb]]

The [[Ukrainian Insurgent Army]] (UPA) arose out of separate militant formations of the OUN-Bandera faction (the OUNb).<ref>Vedeneyev, D. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20150307183958/http://warhistory.ukrlife.org/5_6_02_4.htm Military Field Gendarmerie – special body of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army]''. "Voyenna Istoriya" magazine. 2002.</ref> The political leadership belonged to the OUNb. It was the primary perpetrator of the massacres of Poles in Volhynia and [[Eastern Galicia]].<ref>[http://www.volhyniamassacre.eu/__data/assets/pdf The July 1943 genocidal operations of OUN-UPA in Volhynia], pp=2-3; [https://web.archive.org/web/20160401045104/http://www.volhyniamassacre.eu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/5199/The-July-1943-genocidal-operations-of-the-OUN-UPA-in-Volhynia.pdf]</ref>

The [[Ukrainian Insurgent Army]] (UPA) arose out of separate militant formations of the OUN-Bandera faction (the OUNb).<ref>Vedeneyev, D. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20150307183958/http://warhistory.ukrlife.org/5_6_02_4.htm Military Field Gendarmerie – special body of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army]''. "Voyenna Istoriya" magazine. 2002.</ref> The political leadership belonged to the OUNb. It was the primary perpetrator of the massacres of Poles in Volhynia and [[Eastern Galicia]].<ref>[http://www.volhyniamassacre.eu/__data/assets/pdf The July 1943 genocidal operations of OUN-UPA in Volhynia], pp=2-3; [https://web.archive.org/web/20160401045104/http://www.volhyniamassacre.eu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/5199/The-July-1943-genocidal-operations-of-the-OUN-UPA-in-Volhynia.pdf]</ref>

As the Germans advanced on Moscow in the summer of 1941, and against the advice of the German High Command, Hitler suddenly detoured the center line of advance south, creating a huge traffic jam as the central column had to cross the southern advance. This slowed the advance on Moscow to which they did not arrive until October 16, 1941, as the snowy season set in.   

As the Germans advanced on Moscow in the summer of 1941, and against the advice of the German High Command, Hitler suddenly detoured the center line of advance south, creating a huge traffic jam as the central column had to cross the southern advance. This slowed the advance on Moscow to which they did not arrive until October 16, 1941, as the snowy season set in.   

[[File:Ukrainian collaborators worldwartwo.filminspector.com 3.jpg|left|300px|thumb|Ukrainians welcome Germans as liberators from Soviet communism.<ref>http://worldwartwo.filminspector.com/2016/03/ukrainian-collaborator-girls.html</ref>]]

[[File:Ukrainian collaborators worldwartwo.filminspector.com 3.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Ukrainians welcome Germans as liberators from Soviet communism.<ref>http://worldwartwo.filminspector.com/2016/03/ukrainian-collaborator-girls.html</ref>]]

The army group sent south engaged the ill-prepared, ill-equipped Red Army forces at [[Kharkov]]. 600,000 Red Army troops were quickly encircled and taken prisoner without much of a fight.  Hitler declared it, "the greatest military victory of all time."

The army group sent south engaged the ill-prepared, ill-equipped Red Army forces at [[Kharkov]]. 600,000 Red Army troops were quickly encircled and taken prisoner without much of a fight.  Hitler declared it, "the greatest military victory of all time."