under his authority. With his death in June 1918, however, a federative union was signed with the Ukrainian government of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky after which many Cossacks left to return home or defected to the Bolsheviks. Additionally, there was an internal struggle among the Kuban cossacks over loyalty towards Anton Denikin's Russian Volunteer Army and the Ukrainian People's Republic. On 6 November 1919, Denikin's forces surrounded the Rada, and with the help of Ataman Alexander Filimonov arrested ten of its members, including the Ukrainophile, P. Kurgansky, who was the premier of the Rada, and publicly hanged one of them for treason. Many Cossacks joined Denikin and fought in the ranks of the Volunteer Army. In December 1919, after Denikin's defeat and as it became clear that the Bolsheviks would overrun the Kuban, some of the pro-Ukrainian groups attempted to restore the Rada and to break away from the Volunteer Army and fight the Bolsheviks in alliance with Ukraine; however, by early 1920 the Red Army took most of Kuban, and both the Rada and Denikin were ousted. The Soviet policy of de-Cossackization repressed Cossacks and aimed to eliminate Cossack distinctness. The de-Cossackization is sometimes described as an act of genocide. World War II Collaborators in Wehrmacht and Waffen SS The first collaborators were formed from Soviet Cossack POWs and deserters after the consequences of the Red Army's early defeats in the course of Operation Barbarossa. After the horrors of Collectivization and Decossackization, in summer of 1942, many of the Germans reaching Kuban were greeted as liberators. Many Soviet Kuban Cossacks chose to switch to the German side either when in POW camps or on active service in the Soviet Army. For example, Major Kononov deserted on 22 August 1941 with an entire regiment and was instrumental in organizing Cossack volunteers in the Wehrmacht. Some Cossack emigres, such as Andrei Shkuro and Pyotr Krasnov chose to collaborate with the Germans as well and stood at the helm of two Cossack divisions on German service. However, most volunteers came after the Germans reached the Cossack homelands in summer of 1942. The Cossack National Movement of Liberation was set up in hope of mobilizing opposition to the Soviet regime with an intent to rebuild an independent Cossack state. While there were several smaller Cossack detachments in the Wehrmacht since 1941, the 1st Cossack Division made up of Don, Terek and Kuban Cossacks was