In 1939 the German military commanders had plans to create a Ukrainian puppet state inside Poland. Today’s article will discuss why this never happened.
On the eve of WWII the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) was a key terrorist group the Nazi secret services put stakes on while preparing an assault on Poland. That group was carrying out subversive operations against both Polish and Soviet interests and was given a substantial role to play in Germany’s offensive plans.
On June 13, 1939, Colonel Erwin von Lahousen, the chief of Abwehr Section II (primarily responsible for carrying out sabotage), instructed a representative of the OUN, Roman Sushko, to train 1,300 officers and 12,000 ordinary Ukrainians for an attack on Poland. In a report dated July 15, Lahousen noted that in preparation for the Fall Weiß operation, the Abwehr was training a group of Ukrainian nationalists to commit sabotage under the command of Roman Sushko, which was code-named Bergbauernhilfe and consisted of approximately 600 people by mid-August 1939.