Shedai must have felt powerless in Kabul, because after a short time, in 1921, he decided to journey to Moscow, where he sought to make contacts. However Indian communists opposed him and he left two years later in 1923 to Italy. In Rome he met with fellow Indian nationalist Maulavi Barakatullah and Carlo Arturo Enderle. He also met with a wealthy industrialist named Lanfranconi, who was interested in economic expansion into India. Italy had been a supporter of Indian independence movements since the 1920s and into the 1930s. Little did Shedai know at the time, but this support was about to blossom into a full declaration of war against his enemies.

Also during this time he attained an interview with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the first President of the Turkish Republic and Ismet Inönü, the first Prime Minister. But they were still bitter from past wars and held low opinions of Indian Muslims because of defeats suffered at the hands of Arabs and Muslim Indians under British conscription. He would not find the help he so desperately sought here.

The land of Jeanne d'Arc awaited him next and in 1926 he moved to Marseilles. He then lived in Paris, France for over a decade until March of 1938 when he was expelled from the country and banned! His fight for Indian independence and anti-British colonialism marked him as a dangerous man. It had been a decade of active, never ending fight for him. From there he moved to Luson, Switzerland.

In Switzerland Dr. Shedai was the representative of both the Ghadar party and the Mujahidin Party of Waziristan. He was also in close contact with other Indian nationalists who he worked with.

In the fateful year of 1941 he moved back to Italy and was permitted by Benito Mussolini to continue his fight for Indian independence. Mussolini was impressed with Dr. Shedai and appointed him as Minister of Foreign Affairs for Arab and Islamic issues.

His work and influence with the Italians is defined by Trott, who met him in 1941. He wrote: 'The driving force in the entire Indian and partly in the oriental activities of the Italian External Ministry is the Indian Iqbal Shedai, who is known in Berlin. He enjoys the fullest confidence of all Italian authorities concerned.'

Shedai's efforts in Italy were three pronged: he helped organize an Azad Hind (Free India - not to be confused with Chandra Bose's Azad Hind) government, he recruited Indian prisoners-of-war for the Italian Azad Hindustan Battalion, and perhaps most importantly he established Radio Himalaya in Rome.

[Above: Members of the Azad Hindustan Battalion]

He canvassed Italian POW camps which swelled with Indian soldiers who had been conscripted to fight against the Axis for Britain. In Italy and Libya he relayed to his countrymen of the golden chance they had with the Axis to finally free India.

Sometime in March 1942 approximately 15 Indian volunteers were moved to Villa Marina (near Rome), and thus became the nucleus of 'Centro I' ('I' for 'Indians'). Three months later on July 15, 1942, they grew to 44 volunteers. Italian officers were utilized as their instructors and NCOs, and like the German Azad Hind of Bose, they spoke English, since English was the only language that all of them shared an understanding of. To help ease the cultural divide, some of the Italian officers chosen had previously lived in India.

This new group consisted entirely of Muslims, including a relative of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and a former Foreign Minister of Afghanistan, who was close to ex-King Amanullah.

On August 3, 1942 the volunteers had grown and now formed a command squad and various infantry groups and a paratrooper platoon (Tarquinia detachment). It was slowly coming into its own. They wore standard Italian military uniforms with a turban of the color of the Italian Sahariana tunic. They wore on their tunics collar patches with three vertical stripes in saffron, white and green (the colors of the Indian National Congress). Italians serving in the Battaglione Azad Hindoustan were distinguished by stars on the collar patches that were not worn by the Indian troops. The Tarquinia paratroop detachment wore their own collar patches as well as a badge depicting an open yellow parachute embroidered in rayon thread on the left upper arm.

[Above: Shedai (black suit/white turban) with members of the Battaglione Azad Hindostan at an unknown event]

This Indian unit was raised alongside other units Centro T (Italians from Tunisia plus Arab and Sudanese prisoners-of-war) and Centro A (Italians and Arabs from Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Arabia). Its task was to be intelligence gathering and sabotage operations behind enemy lines.

On October 22 of that year the Centro I, minus the paratroopers, were moved to Tivoli for intensive training. The next day they were renamed the 'Battaglione Hazad Hindostan', or the Azad Hindustan Battalion. This name change was done when the Raggruppamento Centri Militari (Central Military Group) itself was re-designated as Raggruppamento Frecce Rosse ('Red Arrows Group'). This name was chosen by the commanding officer in memory of his service with the Italian Divisione Frecce Nere ('Black Arrows Division') of the Italian Corpo Truppe Volontarie ('Corps of Volunteer Troops') in the Spanish Civil War.

[Above: Italian helmet painted with the Red Arrows group insignia]

So, in plain words, the Red Arrows Group was formed by Centro T, Centro A and Centro A. Combined it numbered approximately 1,200 Italians, 400 Indians and 200 Arabs.

The units of the Red Arrows Group were trained to infiltrate behind enemy lines, from submarines and by parachute. They received very specialized training and were trained for a variety of tasks.

By the time of its disbandment in November 1942, the Centro I, or the Azad Hindustan Battalion, numbered three hundred and fifty to four hundred strong.

[Above: A volunteer from Battaglione Azad Hindostan during a recruitment drive at a POW camp]

Yet, sadly, it was all for naught. After the Axis defeat at the Battle of El Alamein in November 1942 a mutiny stirred within the Battaglione Azad Hindoustan. Despite Dr. Shedai's best efforts, his countrymen which he had recruited from POW camps had neither the spirit nor the courage to fight for their country's freedom. That when their moment arrived they chose to safely wait out the war in prisoner-of-war camps rather than to fight for the freedom of their people. Such is humanity, time and time again. In India, Italy, Africa, Germany, Russia or America, cowardice knows no locale.

Nonetheless, the Italians and Shedai moved on. Dr. Shedai not only helped the Italians recruit his countrymen, but also gave invaluable advice to them. And although the group of Indian volunteers never made its appearance on a battlefield, its propaganda value was no doubt great. Indians, free Indians, were raising arms against the 'invincible British'. It sent a message to all Indians. A message spread loudly and daily by Radio Himalaya (Radio of the Free Indian movement) in Rome.

Shedai worked closely with another Indian patriot named Sardar Ajit Singh (1881 – August 15, 1947). Singh was a Sikh and would eventually become the Minister of Information and Broadcasting.

[Above: Sardar Ajit Singh]

'Thank God, my mission is fulfilled.'
-Sardar Ajit Singh, his last words, on the day India achieved its independence. Does justice ever come sweeter than this? Here is a man whose fate was truly to help free India, and once this was achieved his mission was finally done.

[Above: Indian postage stamp honoring Sardar Ajit Singh]

Shedai and Singh had very different political, spiritual and ideological beliefs, but were able to overcome them, and instead concentrate on their greatest love: India. Any country would be enormously blessed to have such patriotic sons. Singh had been deported by the British occupiers of India in 1908 and had never stopped fighting from his exile. He also worked with other members of India's Ghadr Party. From his exile in Brazil he moved to Naples initially for a teaching job. Later he worked on propaganda with the Italians directed toward Indian soldiers of the British army in North Africa. They attempted to direct the Indian soldiers to desert and instead fight for a free India.

[Above: Shedai in the Office of the Free India Center and broadcasting center of Radio Himalaya, Rome, Italy, 1941. ]

Together, Shedai and Singh worked on Radio Himalaya, a radio program broadcast everyday from its secret location in Rome to Afghanistan and India, from 1941 onward. This far reaching radio broadcast called on Indians to rebel against foreign occupation. This angered the British greatly because it was listened to by many Indians. They even attempted to ban the station, but it was useless. Since radios were rare in India, except among the wealthy, large groups of people gathered every evening to tune in to the programs of Radio Himalaya.

The radio program was a propaganda victory for the Axis and a thorn in the side of the British. A number of Indians even believed that the station was broadcasting out of India! Its message of rebellion caused many problems for the Allies and had repercussions on the Durand Line (a region separating Pakistan and India, with many differing tribes).

There were sometimes deep rivalries between Shedai and Chandra Bose. While the two had the same goal, they had different ways and ideas of achieving it. The two met several times, such as at meeting in Italy in May-June of 1941.

[Above: Men of the Battaglione Azad Hindostan during a lighter moment, while the dream was still alive. ]

Dr. Mohammad Iqbal Shedai established the Azad Hind government-in-exile in Italy in the fateful year of 1941 in Rome. With Shedai as its president, it had the full approval of Benito Mussolini until 1944 when the Allies captured Sicily and Rome. After Mussolini was betrayed Shedai fled Rome and took refuge in Milan with Italian comrades. After the war the British raced to capture Shedai with all their fury. He was a man who had dared speak against them. Yet he eluded them and their prize was never caught.

Shedai went unto hiding after the war but in the early 1950s he surfaced again in Italy. He became a professor of Urdu at Turin University where he taught the Urdu language for a decade. During this time the Indian government Education Minister, Mawlana Azad, came to Rome and met Shedai offering him a lucrative post in Delhi to work for the government of India.

[Above: Shedai with his wife and other family members in Paris, France.]

Shedai declined. In 1964, he moved to the Pakistani province of Lahore where he lived out the last ten years of his life. On Sunday, January 13, 1974 in the early morning hours, Shedai passed into Allah's hands. He was buried in Miani Sahib Lahore.

George Tchekhoff (December 14, 1892 - November 26, 1961 - his name sometimes 'George Czechs' or 'Georgy Chekhov') was born in the city of Sukhumi (a city on the Black Sea coast). In 1914 he honorably left the St. Petersburg Sea Cadet Corps, where he reached the rank of warrant officer in the Baltic Fleet. For his participation in WWI he was awarded the Order of St. Anne and St. Stanislaus.

After the communist coup and resulting genocide Tchekhoff moved to the south of Russia, near the military port of Novorossiysk. In January 1919 he was enlisted with the Chief Naval Heavy Artillery. In June 1919, he was promoted to lieutenant. Together with the remnants of the Black Sea Fleet, he was eventually evacuated to Bizerte (Tunisia and the northernmost city in Africa).

[Above: Lieutenant George Tchekhoff, Vice Admiral MA Cedars, Rear Admiral MA Behrensand, Rear Admiral AI Tikhmenev, on the submarine 'Seal' in Bizerte, July 1921]

After relocating to Germany, Tchekhoff became an active member of the Berlin Union of Russian Naval Service Men. In the middle 1930s he moved to Liege, Belgium where he would eventually receive citizenship in the days precluding WWII.

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union and the Walloon Legion was formed in Belgium Tchekhoff volunteered. On August 8, 1941 he was appointed to the rank of captain and later became commander of the 3rd company. This company was unofficially referred to as the 'Russian' company because of the several dozen Russian volunteers. On top of this, the medical service was staffed by Russian volunteers and headed by the Russian Lieutenant Peter Yachmin.

The Walloon Legion arrived on the Eastern Front in November 1941 and immediately made a name for itself. The men of the Legion showed their iron courage in the face of death on numerous occasions. Even when greatly outnumbered, they persevered.

[Above: George Tchekhoff with camera, 1942]

At the end of February 1942 500 Walloon and Russian volunteers clashed against two whole Soviet regiments. The communist force numbered approximately 4,000 men!

The brave Walloon Legion lost a third of its soldiers, including 22 officers and 20 wounded. Sadly Russian Colonel Smolensk was among the dead.

After the battle Captain George Tchekhoff and 30 other brave soldiers of the Walloon Legion were awarded the Iron Cross. Tchekhoff was appointed captain of the legion in March 1942. After several months in this position and earning the rank of Major, Tchekhoff resigned and was appointed commander of the reserve battalion.

During the years of struggle George Tchekhoff became close friends with the Walloon hero Léon Degrelle, becoming one of his closest aides.

[Above: Léon Degrelle (left) and George Tchekhoff (third from left)]

On the glorious day of April 20, 1944, he was promoted to the rank of Sturmbannführer in the Waffen-SS. In March 1945 he was given command of the Second Battalion of the 69th Regiment of Volunteer Grenadier Division of the SS 'Wallonia'. Several days later he was appointed commander of the 70th Regiment.

During the terrible days of the spring of 1945, while fighting in the Pomerania region, Tchekhoff was seriously wounded. The war was over for him. The rivers of blood dried, and the screams remained only in the heads of those who had endured them. Dark times grew darker. The Allies had vengeance and evil on their minds.

As a citizen of Belgium George Tchekhoff was sentenced to a long prison term for 'treason'. However, in 1948 he was pardoned, along with other veterans of the Waffen-SS division 'Wallonia' by the Belgian Prince Regent Charles.

Tchekhoff moved to Argentina along with many other proud veterans who couldn't stomach the occupation of their homelands. Like so many other patriots of Europe, he would never see his beloved lands again. He passed into history on November 26, 1961.

[Above: George Tchekhoff with Walloon veterans, Buenos Aires, March 4, 1952.]

[Above: Rostislav Zavadskij also served with the Walloon volunteers of the Waffen-SS. This picture was taken in the Ukraine, December 1943.]

SPAIN

[Above: Lieutenant Markowski was a veteran of the Civil War in Russia. During the Spanish Civil War he served in the Russian volunteer squad Tércio Donna Maria de Molina on Franco's side. During World War Two, he was one of several dozen recorded Russian volunteers who served in the Spanish 'Blue' division. After the war he lived in Madrid, where he died in 1981.]

FRANCE

[Above: Obersturmfuhrer Sergey Krotov (left) with his comrades of the SS Charlemagne Division after their surrender, moments before being murdered on May 8, 1945. Left to right: Sergey Krotov (also known as Serge Krotoff, the son of a Russian sailor who emigrated from Russia after the revolution), Lieutenant Paul Briffa (or Paul Briffaut, in the foreground) and Obersturmfuhrer Doffa Robert (or Robert Doffat, seen here looking at photographer).]

The tale of the French Waffen-SS volunteers during WWII is one of the most selfless, brave and heroic histories of the war. These valiant men fought for years on the Eastern Front, performing admirably, and in the final days of WWII they were released from their oaths of service. By then their heroic French blood had been nearly bled out fighting the communist monster. The number of French volunteers was massive, so much so that the Germans had to put a limit on them. But by 1944 some estimates say there were around 11,000 volunteers.

Then came the night that would cement France into the hall of Europe's greatest and bravest heroes: April 23/24, 1945. The French Waffen-SS 'Charlemagne' Division had been reduced to only 1,100 men, losing around 90% of its men! On this historic night they received a telegram from the Reich Chancellery in Berlin with orders to report immediately to help protect the capital of the Reich.

The Brigadeführer Gustav Krukenberg knew what all of the Frenchmen knew: it was a last stand battle. The Soviets had almost surrounded Berlin. Krukenberg told his men that he would only accept volunteers to go with him and that any man who wished could be honorably discharged and be able to return to their families and loved ones in France.

Nearly ALL OF THEM volunteered to go to Berlin! Krukenberg couldn't take them all, so he only took those he could transport, around 300. Most of the others he released to serve in a construction battalion. The knights of the Charlemagne Division were able to break through the Soviet blockade.

[Above: One of the last photos taken of the men of Charlemagne.]

They fought through the burning streets, strewn with corpses, fire and almost certain death. In the first days they lost nearly half of their numbers, but had helped destroy fourteen Soviet tanks and sent many communists to their graves. One machine gun position by the Halensee bridge held down Soviet forces for 48 hours! Eventually they found themselves in the city center of Berlin. They made their last command post in an underground metro station, in a shattered railway car, illuminated by candles. They were on Leipziger Strasse, around the Ministry of Aviation and Potsdamer Platz. The fighting was some of the heaviest and most violent of the war. By April 28th 108 Soviet tanks had been destroyed in southeast Berlin. The French volunteers accounted for around half of the tanks destroyed. For their astounding actions their leader was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross April 29, 1945.

A full scale assault was now underway by the Soviets. One Frenchman, Unterscharführer Eugene Vaulot, singlehandedly destroyed six Russian tanks outside of the 'Führer Bunker'. He was also awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on April 29. Three days later he was killed by a Red Army sniper on May 1.

They had fought with a fervor unseen in modern times, eventually becoming the very last defenders of the Chancellery bunker. Adolf Hitler's last defenders -- Frenchmen!

On the dark morning of May 2, it was over. Germany, the little that was left of it, surrendered. Of the gallant 300 Frenchmen, 30 remained. THIRTY. Those that managed to survive were thrown into Allied concentration camps and dungeons for many years. A dozen of them, who had survived years on the Eastern Front and lived through the hell of the Battle of Berlin, were murdered by cowardly French authorities on the road home on May 8, 1945.

At least two Russians were known to have been with the French in the assault battalion who immortalized themselves in the Battle of Berlin. Sergey Protopopov, the grandson of the last Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire, who was martyred on the fateful day of April 29, defending the Reich Chancellery. He was honored and posthumously awarded the Iron Cross for his bravery that night, in what would be the final ceremony. Next is the Russian lieutenant Sergey Krotov, the son of the former Russian consul in Madagascar. Krotov was injured during the final battle and was put in a Bavarian hospital, where he was captured by American soldiers, who turned him over to the French. He was among the murdered 12 French martyrs.

'Your duty to Ireland does not end with the casting of your vote.
Serve Ireland always.
Speak the language.
Encourage others to speak the language.
Help everything Irish and national and clean!'
--Ailtirí na hAiséirghe slogan

[Above: Ailtirí na hAiséirghe poster.]

The Ailtirí na hAiséirghe also wanted to end the incredible Jewish power and influence over Irish politics, life and culture. Maintaining a Christian culture throughout Ireland was an important goal to the party. In the 1945 local government elections party members won a hefty 9 out of 31 contested seats.

[Above: Gearóid Ó Cuinneagáin.]

The founder, Gearóid Ó Cuinneagáin, (January 2, 1910 - 1991) was born into a middle class Catholic family in Belfast, Ireland. He excelled in school and in 1927 even took third place nationwide in the Irish civil service examinations. He went on to college after gaining acceptance to Queen's University in Belfast. A teacher from his youth had inspired him to learn the Gaelic language and he took night courses in order to do so. He found the language quite natural and even changed his name from the Anglicized 'Gerald Cunningham' back to the Gaelic 'Gearóid Ó Cuinneagáin'. He began working as a tax consultant before his interest in politics forced him to change his path. His proficiency in Gaelic earned him a position as an editorial writer for the Republican weekly 'An tÉireannach' in 1933. As his interest in politics continued to grow he went on to found the Ailtirí na hAiséirghe in 1942. The party carried on even after WW2, in 1958 it still had formal meetings and up until the early 1970s the party's newspaper still released publications.

[Above: Party newspaper 'Aiséirí'.]

Some notable politicians that supported the Ailtirí na hAiséirghe were Ernest Blythe, Oliver J. Flanagan, James Joseph Walsh and Ceann Comhairle. Famous authors including Brian Cleeve, Breandán Ó hEithir (also a broadcaster), philosopher Terence Gray and hero of the IRA, Seán South, of which a song was written, all either supported or were members of the party.

[Above: Gearóid Ó Cuinneagáin (left) leading a march that was described as akin to a Hitler Youth style march.]

According to historian Ray Douglas, Irish society was more receptive to fascism than is admitted today. Douglas also declared that there was widespread anti-democratic, anti-Semitic and pro-fascist sentiment.

Throughout Ireland there was anti-communist feelings and widespread support for Franco, Mussolini, Salazar, and Hitler. There was a deep anti-Jewish feeling both amongst the people and the leadership of Ireland at the time. During World War 2, many Irish people cheered the Germans on, and after the war reports of the 'Nazi' death camps were mostly ignored or dismissed as lies and Allied propaganda.

[Above: 1943 Election poster featuring Ó Cuinneagáin who was running in Louth.]

Other Irish nationalist groups of the time included... Aontas Gaedheal, the People's National Party, the Irish Unity Association, an Córas Gaedhealach, St Patrick's Anti-Communist League, the Irish Social Credit Party, and the Irish Christian Front.

[Above: Gearóid Ó Cuinneagáin speaking.]

'Our day is coming...' (Tiocfaidh ár lá)
--Motto Ó Cuinneagáin is said to have died with these words on his lips.

Indeed it is, our Irish comrade.

[Above: Stepan Bandera (profile below).]

[Above: Men of the Nightingale Battalion on the streets of Lviv, June 30, 1941.]

Prior to these formations and Operation Barbarossa, Bandera had trained in Germany and met with German intelligence who helped him form the two battalions. In the spring of 1941 the OUN (Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists) was given 2.5 million marks for anti-Soviet actions.

Training for the Nightingale Battalion took place in Neuhammer near Schleswig. It was commanded by both a Ukrainian and a German - the Ukrainian side was Roman Shukhevych and the German Theodor Oberländer. Oberleutnant Dr. Hans-Albrecht Herzner was placed in overall military command of the Battalion.

[Above: Roman Shukhevych (June 30, 1907 – March 5, 1950) was a Ukrainian politician, military leader and general of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).]

The Battalion was equipped with standard Wehrmacht uniforms which they later placed blue and yellow ribbons representing the Ukrainian flag on their shoulders. Their baptism by fire awaited them against the communist occupier of their homeland.

Four days before Operation Barbarossa the Nightingale Battalion traveled to the border. On the night of June 23–24, 1941, one day after the invasion to free Russia, the Battalion crossed the border near Przemysl while traveling in the direction of Lviv (the largest city in Western Ukraine).

On June 29th, as part of the 1st Brandenburg Battalion, the soldiers of the Nightingale Battalion entered Lviv. Their first duties were to protect strategic locations, such as a radio station, where later, on June 30th, the proclamation of the Act of Ukrainian Independence was made by Yaroslav Stetsko.

[Above: Yaroslav Stetsko (January 19, 1912 – July 5, 1986) was the leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN).]

Stetsko urged his countrymen:
'cooperate closely with National Socialist Greater Germany, which under the leadership of its Führer, Adolf Hitler, is creating a new order in Europe and in the world.'

[Above: The proclamation of the Act of Independence of Ukraine in July 1941 in Ternopil (left portrait is of Bandera, the center is Adolf Hitler, and the right is Yevhen Konovalets.]

The next month, on July 7, the first company of the Nightingale Battalion left Lviv with the Brandenburg Battalion in the direction of Zolochiv. They left behind a smaller force which joined them later during their eastward march towards strategic locations in the Ukraine, like Zolochiv, Ternopil and Vinnytsia.

The Nightingale Battalion was involved in fighting against the so-called Stalin Line, where some of its soldiers were even awarded by the Germans for their acts of valor. The communist army was fleeing everywhere ahead of the seemingly unstoppable Axis advance. But like the communist monsters that they were, the Soviet secret police - NKVD – began quickly murdering the inmates of Ukrainian prisons, many of which were nationalists, imprisoned for thought crimes or patriotism. What the Germans and their Ukrainian comrades found were scenes from hell. Thousands and thousands of corpses of murdered men, women and children. Prison basements stuffed with rotting bodies. Scenes from the devil's nightmares. These inhuman crimes were well-documented.

Ukrainian militias and emergency police units, later organized into the Ukrainische Hilfspolizei, were formed. These groups desperately tried to save the lives of their countrymen and establish order.

[Above: Ukrainische Hilfspolizei, June 1943. Courtesy of the Bundesarchiv.]

The OUN prepared a declaration which said in part:
'We treat the coming German army as the army of allies.
We try before their coming to put life in order, on our own as it should be.
We inform them that the Ukrainian authority is already established,
it is under the control of the OUN under the leadership of Stepan Bandera;
all matters are regulated by the OUN and the local authorities are ready to establish friendly relations with the army,
in order to fight together against Moscow.'

A German report from October 1941 mentioned these terrible days:
'...military units in many towns of the region have set up a Ukrainian militia, which it is agreed would now be taken over by the higher SS and police leader as auxiliary police. In this militia strong efforts for independence have been noticed since this militia is in part composed of [...] members of the Bandera national independentist movement.'

Stepan Bandera was in charge of forming 'Mobile Groups' of small (5-15 members) groups of OUN-B members who traveled to Western Ukraine after the German advance to Eastern Ukraine to gain support for the OUN-B and establish order. Approximately 7,000 people participated in these mobile groups.

[Above: People of the Ukraine march in support of freedom. Note the 'HEIL HITLER' and 'BANDERA' banners carried by the crowd.]

'the Red Jewish-Muscovite plague has been destroyed... glory to the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and its leader Stepan Bandera! Glory to the liberating German Army and its Fuhrer Adolf Hitler!'
-The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists 'B' leaflets (OUN-B)

The Germans wanted to ease the Ukraine into its independence, since there was still so much chaos and turmoil in the country and the region. This didn't sit well with some nationalists who wanted immediate independence. But the Germans weren't just going to give up their hard fought territory without first ensuring it was secure. Therefore the German government did not accept the proclamation of the Act of Ukrainian Independence made by Yaroslav Stetsko.

Despite this the Ukrainian people benefited greatly from the German training and direction given to the Nightingale Battalion. As Russian historian V. Chuyev states that the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) achieved its ultimate goals. 600 fellow nationalists had received military training with battlefield experience. These hardened men would later assume the roles of instructors and commanders in the future Ukrainian Insurgent Army. In October 1942, the UON-B leadership formed the militant Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).

[Above: Men of the Nightingale Battalion, February 1941.]

As Stepan Bandera later wrote:
'The end of OUN was such: the revolutionary columns were commanded by Roman Shukhevych with a small party of officers who had not only undergone military training, but had come to a clear understanding of military tactics. Most importantly, they brought with them - an understanding of organization, strategies and tactics of partisan fighting, and the German method of dealing with partisan groups. This knowledge was very useful in the formation and activities of the UIA and in its future conflicts.

In November 1941 the men of the Nightingale Battalion were reorganized into the 201st Schutzmannschaft Battalion. This new group numbered 650 persons which served for one year in Belarus before disbanding. Many of these men then joined the anti-communist Ukrainian Insurgent Army and others joined SS-Freiwilligen-Schützen-Division 'Galizien' in the spring of 1943.

[Above: Stepan Andriyovych Bandera.]

In 1934, during the communist occupation of most of eastern Europe, Bandera was arrested in Lviv by Polish (Soviet) authorities and was tried twice in court. First for involvement in the assassination of the Polish minister of internal affairs, Bronislaw Pieracki, and again at a general trial of the 'Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists executives'. Predictably, he was convicted of 'terrorism' and sentenced to death, however for whatever reason the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

Bandera defiantly gave the stiff arm salute to the court and cried out 'Slava Ukraďni!' (Glory to Ukraine!). Five years later everything changed. The German armies were liberating town after town, city after city, country after country. They freed many thousands of nationalists that were imprisoned for false charges all around Europe. In September 1939, during the war between Poland and Germany, Bandera was freed. Working closely with his German allies, he urged his countrymen to rise up against the communists.

On July 5, 1941 Bandera was arrested by the German authorities and transferred to Berlin. The Germans had a great deal of respect for him, but didn't see eye-to-eye on Ukrainian Independence. Bandera didn't want to wait and the Germans understandably were leery of handing over power just yet. On July 14 he was released from custody but was required to stay in Berlin.

[Above: Bandera in German uniform (center).]

In a letter to Alfred Rosenberg written in December 9, 1941, Bandera wrote:
'German and Ukrainian interests in Eastern Europe are identical. For both sides, it is a vital necessity to normalize Ukraine in the best and fastest way and to include it in the European spiritual, economic, and political system...' [he concluded that Ukrainian nationalism was of] 'a spirit similar to the National Socialist ideas' [and that they would have to] 'spiritually cure the Ukrainian youth' [who had been corrupted and poisoned by communist propaganda and rule].

In September 1944 he set up his headquarters in Berlin, where he received German financial, material, and personnel support for his Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Together with the Germans he helped supply the OUN-B and UIA by air with arms and equipment. German personnel were dropped behind Soviet lines where they coordinated with OUN-B leaders to conduct intelligence and partisan activities. These joint works were conducted until early 1945.

On October 15, 1959 Bandera was assassinated by the KGB in Munich, Germany. He collapsed outside of Kreittmayrstrasse 7 in Munich and died soon after. An autopsy established that the cause of his death was poison by cyanide gas.

[Above: The end of a warrior - Stepan's grave in Waldfriedhof, Munich.]

On January 22, 2010, the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko awarded Bandera the posthumous title of 'Hero of Ukraine'.

[Above: People young and old celebrate the life and deeds of Bandera.]

[Above: Two twins show their support of Bandera by wearing a commemorative T-shirt.]

[Above: A legend beyond his time.]

[Above: Trebisonda 'Ondina' Valla.]

[Above: Ondina Valla after her victory at the 1936 Olympic games. She is holding a potted oak sapling given to the Olympians as a gift from National Socialist Germany.]

Ondina, which means 'little wave' in Italian, was born in Bologna, but her name was taken from a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey named Trabzon (Trebisonda in Italian). Her father thought this city to be the most beautiful in the entire world, as he no doubt also thought his daughter to be the most beautiful little girl. One that would grow up to make history.

[Above: Ondina Valla in Italian Olympic uniform, showing her support to Fascism.]

As a young girl Ondina showed an early talent for sports, setting her first Italian record in the 80m Hurdles and in the High Jump. During these school days she met her lifelong rival, another Olympian named Claudia Testoni. The two first battled at their school championships in their hometown and would remain opponents for the rest of their careers. Remarkably, at age 13 Ondina was already considered one of Italy's top athletes. At 14 she became national champion and was chosen for the 1930 national team. It wouldn't be long before she became a favorite of sports fans.

[Above: Ondina standing with fellow Olympians.]

Ondina's natural abilities soared in such events as sprinting, hurdles, jumps, pentathlon and in the relays. The fascist government saw in Ondina a shining icon of a healthy, intelligent and strong national youth. The Italian media called her 'the sun in a smile'.

In the historic 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics Ondina won the gold medal at the 80m Hurdles race. It would take 44 years before another Italian female athlete would win an Olympic title. Although Ondina was the first place winner, she and three other athletes were so close at the finish line that a photo finish picture was required to find the winners. Ondina's old rival, Claudia Testoni, finished fourth, earning no medal. It must have been a sweet victory. But Ondina and Claudia got to participate together on the Italian 4 × 100 m relay team, which finished fourth. But the two lifelong rivals hadn't seen the last of each other. They met a total of 98 times during their careers! Ondina ultimately prevailed over Claudia, however, by 60-33 in direct clashes (they tied five times).

[Above: Ondina in Fascist uniform.]

After the Olympic Games, Ondina was forced to limit her competitions because of back problems. Nonetheless, she pushed herself and continued to compete until retiring in 1944. All-in-all she won 15 Italian titles (five in the High Jump, six in the 80m Hurdles, two in the 100m, one in the Pentathlon and one in the 4x100 relay) and set an amazing 23 national records.

She died at the age of 90 in L'Aquila, Italy. Claudia Testoni passed away eight years before her in 1998.

[Above: Ondina and Testoni - bitter, vicious and hated enemies. Just kidding.]

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