Dave,

I used to know a charachter, of 'Cossack' stock.
Apparently; His Great Grandfather had been a Cossack for the Tsar;
His Grandfather had ridden as a Cossack with the Red Army in the Civil War; and
His father ended riding as in the 'black' cossack (for the Germans) in WWII (and 'became Polish' in captivity - managing to avoid being sent back to Uncle Joe).
That's the story he told, anyway.

W