Furthermore, harnessing the virulent anti-Semitic feelings harboured by many Ukrainian communities, the Germans strove to select volunteers who would be loyal to their goals. The Ukrainians were enrolled in the army as well as in the local militia. Thus, not only were they given the opportunity to release their hatred against the Jewish victims, but they were even rewarded by superiors for their cruelty. The rewards consisted of items acquired through robbery and confiscation from the Jews.
The Ukrainian militia was responsible for much of the suffering, torture and deaths in Transnistria. For the most part that militia was in charge with guarding the camps and arranging mobilizations of Jews for slave labour. In many small communities, where there was no Romanian gendarmerie, the Ukrainian militia was "in supreme command" and committed terrible atrocities. German reports from Transnistria often mentioned the cruelty and sadism of these Ukrainian units.
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