From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Andrey Vlasov and General Zhilenkov (center) of the
Russian Liberation Army meeting with
Joseph Goebbels (February 1945).
Soldier of the Free Arabian Legion in Greece, September 1943.
Among the approximately one million foreign volunteers and conscripts who served in the
Wehrmacht during
World War II were ethnic
Belgians ,
Czechs ,
Dutch ,
Finns ,
Danes ,
French ,
Hungarians ,
Norwegians ,
Poles ,
[1]
Portuguese ,
Swedes ,
[2]
Swiss along with people from
Great Britain ,
Ireland ,
Estonia ,
Latvia ,
Lithuania , and the
Balkans .
[3] At least 47,000
Spaniards served in the
Blue Division .
[4]
Many
Soviet citizens (
Russians and other non-Russian ethnic minorities) joined the Wehrmacht forces as Hiwis (or
Hilfswillige ).
[5] The
Ukrainian collaborationist forces were composed of an estimated number of 180,000 volunteers serving with units scattered all over Europe.
[6] Russian
émigrés and defectors from the Soviet Union formed the
Russian Liberation Army or fought as Hilfswillige within German units of the Wehrmacht primarily on the
Eastern Front .
[7] Non-Russians from the Soviet Union formed the
Ostlegionen (literally "Eastern Legions"). The East Legions comprized a total of 175,000 personnel.
[8] These units were all commanded by General
Ernst August Köstring (1876−1953).
[9] A lower estimate for the total number of foreign volunteers that served in the entire German armed forces (including the Waffen SS) is 350,000.
[10]
These units were often under the command of German officers and some published their own propaganda newssheets.
Foreign volunteer battalion in the Wehrmacht . Soldiers of the
Free Arabian Legion in Greece, September 1943.
Spanish volunteer forces of the
Blue Division entrain at
San Sebastián , 1942.
The
Ukrainian Liberation Army 's oath to Adolf Hitler.
Ingrian Wehrmacht volunteers, 1942.
Azerbaijani, Georgian and Armenian volunteers
North Caucasian volunteers
Kaukasisch-Mohammedanische Legion (Azerbaijani, Circassian, Daghestani, Chechen, Ingush, and Lezghin volunteer units)
Kaukasischer-Waffen-Verband der SS or Freiwilligen Brigade Nordkaukasien (volunteers from the North Caucasus region)
Nordkaukasische Legion ("North Caucasian Legion" volunteers from the North Caucasus region)
Freiwilligen-Stamm-Regiment 1 (North Caucasian volunteers)
Sonderverband Bergmann (North Caucasian volunteers)
II. Sonderverband Bergmann Battalion (North Caucasian volunteers)
SS-Waffengruppe Nordkaukasus (North Caucasian volunteers; Chechens,
Ingush & Dagestani)
162. (Turkistan) Infanterie-Division (Turkestani volunteers)
Muselmanischen SS-Division Neu-Turkistan (Turkestani volunteers)
Turkistanische Legion (volunteers from Central Asia; Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyzs & Turkmen)
Böhler-Brigade (Turkestani volunteers)
1. Turkestanisches-Arbeits-Battalion (Turkestani volunteers)
2. Turkestanisches-Arbeits-Battalion (Turkestani volunteers)
3. Turkestanisches-Arbeits-Battalion (Turkestani volunteers)
Osttürkischer Waffen-Verband der SS or 1. Ostmuselmanisches SS-Regiment (
Central Asia volunteers)
Turkestanisches-Arbeits-Ersatz-Battalion (Turkestani volunteers)
Waffen-Gruppe Turkistan (Central Asian volunteers)
Kalmüken Verband Dr. Doll (Kalmykian volunteers)
Abwehrtrupp 103 (Kalmykian volunteers)
Kalmücken Legion or
Kalmücken-Kavallerie-Korps (Kalmykian volunteers)
Tatar Legion
SS-Waffengruppe Idel-Ural (Turkic volunteers from Volga/Ural area)
Waffen-Gebirgs-Brigade der SS (Tatar Nr. 1) (Tatar volunteers)
30. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (Russische Nr. 2) (Armenian & Tatar volunteer units)
Wolgatatarische Legion (
Volga Tatars and Volga-Finns)
Tataren-Gebirgsjäger-Regiment der SS (Crimean Tatar volunteers)
Waffen-Gruppe Krim (Crimean Tatar volunteers)
Schutzmannschaft Battalion (Crimean Tatar volunteers)
1. Kosaken-Kavallerie-Division (volunteers from Cossacks in Cherson, from February 1945
XV. SS-Kosaken-Kavallerie-Korps )
Kosaken-Reiter-Brigade Kaukasus II (Caucasus Cossack volunteers)
Kuban-Kosaken-Reiter-Regiment 3 (
Kuban Cossack volunteers)
Don-Kosaken-Reiter-Regiment 5 (
Don Cossack volunteers)
Terek-Kosaken-Reiter-Regiment 6 (
Terek Cossack volunteers)
Kosaken-Artillerie-Regiment 2 (Caucasian Cossack volunteers)
Sibirisches Kosaken-Reiter-Regiment 2 (
Siberian Cossack volunteers)
XV. Kosaken-Kavallerie-Korps (Kotelnikovo Cossack volunteers)
Freiwilligen-Stamm-Regiment 5 (Cossack volunteers)
Caucasian mixed volunteer units
Caucasian, Central Asian, Crimean and Ural mixed volunteer units
Waffen-Gruppe
Turkistan
Waffen-Gruppe
Idel-Ural
Waffen-Gruppe Azerbaijan
Waffen-Gruppe Krim
Propaganda newspapers for Caucasian and Cossack units
Azerbaijan
Azerbajçan – Azerbaijani Legion
Kalmykia
Kalmyckij Boec ("Kalmyk Soldier") – Kalmyk Cavalry Corps
Kosaken (Cossack Nation)
Kosaken-Illustrierte ("Cossack Illustrated") – 1st Cossack Cavalry Division (trilingual)
La terra dei cosacchi ("The Land of the Cossacks") – Cossack units in upper Italy
Krimtürken (Crimean Tatars)
Kirim ("Crimea") – Weekly paper for the Crimean Tatar volunteers, Berlin 1944–1945
Tataren (Tatar nation)
Deutsch-tatarisches Nachrichtenblatt ("German-Tatar News Journal") – Volga Tatar Legion, monthly publication, Berlin 1944–1945 (bilingual)
Turkestaner (Central Asian nation)
Yeni Türkistan ("New Turkestan") – Turkistan Legion
Svoboda ("Freedom") –
162nd Turkoman Division
Türk Birligi ("Turkish Unity") – Osttürkischer Waffen-Verband der SS , weekly publication, Berlin 1944–1945
German commanders of Central Asian, Caucasian and Cossack units
These German commanders also received honorary military or leading titles between their units at charge; for example
Helmuth von Pannwitz received the title of "
Ataman " from his Cossack units.
German representative of the Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories
Central Asian, Caucasian and Cossack political leaders
Puppet governments and organizations in the USSR
^ Ryszard Kaczmarek: Polacy w Wehrmachcie . Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 2010.
ISBN
978-83-08-04488-9
^ Wangel, Carl-Axel (1982). Sveriges militära beredskap 1939-1945 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Militärhistoriska Förlaget.
ISBN
978-91-85266-20-3 .
^ Grasmeder, Elizabeth M.F.
"Leaning on Legionnaires: Why Modern States Recruit Foreign Soldiers" .
International Security . Retrieved 30 July 2021 .
^
"Spain's Nazi volunteers defend their right to recognition - and German pensions" . The Daily Telegraph . 30 November 2015.
^ Audrey L. Alstadt (2013). "
The Azerbaijani Turks: Power and Identity under Russian Rule ". p. 187.
ISBN
9780817991838
^ Carlos Caballero Jurado (1983).
Foreign Volunteers of the Wehrmacht 1941–45 . Translated by Alfredo Campello, David List. Osprey. p. 29.
ISBN
978-0-85045-524-3 .
^ M. V. Nazarov, The Mission of the Russian Emigration, Moscow: Rodnik, 1994.
ISBN
5-86231-172-6 [
page needed ]
^ "Slaughter on the Eastern Front: Hitler and Stalin's War 1941-1945" Appendix 3
^
Dermot Bradley , Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Markus Rövekamp: Die Generale des Heeres 1921–1945. Band 7: Knabe–Luz. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2004,
ISBN
3-7648-2902-8 .
^ "SS: Hitler's Foreign Divisions" description
^ Rolf Michaelis: Die Waffen-SS. Mythos und Wirklichkeit. Michaelis-Verlag, Berlin 2001, p. 36
^
Nikolai Tolstoy (1977).
The Secret Betrayal . Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 304ff.
ISBN
0-684-15635-0 .
^ Carlos Caballero Jurado; Ramiro Bujeiro (2009).
Blue Division Soldier 1941-45: Spanish Volunteer on the Eastern Front . Osprey Publishing. p.
34 .
ISBN
978-1-84603-412-1 .