Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts

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Ukrainian volunteers of the SS Galician Division marching in Sanok, May 1943
Bosniak volunteers of the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS "Handschar" (1st Croatian) being inspected by Haj Amin al-Husseini, alongside SS-Brigadeführer Karl-Gustav Sauberzweig, November 1943

During World War II, the Waffen-SS recruited significant numbers of non-Germans, both as volunteers and conscripts. In total some 500,000 non-Germans and ethnic Germans from outside Germany, mostly from German-occupied Europe, were recruited between 1940 and 1945.[1] The units were under the control of the SS Führungshauptamt (SS Command Main Office) beneath Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler. Upon mobilisation, the units' tactical control was given to the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (High Command of the Armed Forces).[2]

History of the Waffen-SS[edit]

Main article: Waffen-SS

The Waffen-SS (Armed SS) was created as the militarised wing of the Schutzstaffel (SS; "Protective Squadron") of the Nazi Party. Its origins can be traced back to the selection of a group of 120 SS men in 1933 by Sepp Dietrich to form the Sonderkommando Berlin, which became the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH).[3] In 1934, the SS developed its own military branch, the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT), which together with the LSSAH, evolved into the Waffen-SS.[3] Nominally under the authority of Heinrich Himmler, the Waffen-SS developed a fully militarised structure of command and operations. It grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions during World War II, serving alongside the Heer (army), while never formally being a part of it.[4] Adolf Hitler did not want the Waffen-SS integrated into either the army or the state police. Instead it was to remain an independent force of military-trained men at the disposal of the Führer.[5][6]

Recruitment and conscription[edit]

In 1934, Himmler initially set stringent requirements for recruits. They were to be German nationals who could prove their Aryan ancestry back to 1800, unmarried, and without a criminal record. Recruits had to be between the ages of 17 and 23, at least 1.74 metres (5 ft 9 in) tall (1.78 metres (5 ft 10 in) for the Leibstandarte). Recruits were required to have perfect teeth and eyesight and provide a medical certificate.[7] By 1938, the height restrictions were relaxed, up to six dental fillings were permitted, and eyeglasses for astigmatism and mild vision correction were allowed.[8] Once World War II began in Europe, the physical requirements were no longer strictly enforced.[8] Following the Battle of France in 1940, Hitler authorised the enlistment of "people perceived to be of related stock", as Himmler put it, to expand the ranks.[9] A number of Danes, Dutch, Norwegians, Swedes, and Finns volunteered to serve in the Waffen-SS under the command of German officers.[10][better source needed][11] Non-Germanic units were not considered to be part of the SS directly, which still maintained its strict racial criteria; instead they were considered to be foreign nationals serving under the command of the SS.[12]

Not all members of the SS-Germanischen Leitstelle (SS-GL) or the RHSA stressed the nationalistic tenets of the Nazi state with respect to the war and occupation but instead looked to pan-Germanic ideas that included disempowering the political elites, while at the same time, integrating Germanic elements from other nations into the Reich on the basis of racial equality.[13] One of the leaders of the SS-GL, Dr. Franz Riedweg (an SS-Colonel), unambiguously emphasized:

"We must be clear about the fact that Germanic politics can only be resolved under the SS, not by the state, not by the bulk of the party!...We cannot build Europe as a police state under the protection of bayonets, but must shape the life of Europe according to greater Germanic viewpoints."[13][a]

Recruitment began in April 1940 with the creation of two regiments: Nordland (later SS Division Nordland) and Westland (later SS Division Wiking).[9] As they grew in numbers, the volunteers were grouped into Legions (with the size of battalion or brigade); their members included the so-called Germanic non-Germans as well as ethnic German officers originating from the occupied territories. Against the Führer's wishes—who forbade using military units of so-called "racially inferior" persons—the SS added foreign recruits and used them to flexibly overcome manpower shortages.[14] Some of these foreign Waffen-SS units were employed for security purposes, among other things.[14]

After Germany invaded the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa, recruits from France, Spain, Belgium, the territory of occupied Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and the Balkans were signed on.[15] By February 1942, Waffen-SS recruitment in south-east Europe turned into compulsory conscription for all German minorities of military age.[16] From 1942 onwards, further units of non-Germanic recruits were formed.[11] Legions were formed of men from Estonia, Latvia as well as men from Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Ukraine, Russia, and Cossacks.[17] However, by 1943 the Waffen-SS could no longer claim to be an "elite" fighting force overall. Recruitment and conscription based on "numerical over qualitative expansion" took place, with many of the "foreign" units being good for only rear-guard duty.[18]

A system of nomenclature developed to formally distinguish personnel based on their place of origin. Germanic units would have the "SS" prefix, while non-Germanic units were designated with the "Waffen" prefix to their names.[19] The formations with volunteers of Germanic background were officially named Freiwilligen (volunteer) (Scandinavians, Dutch, and Flemish), including ethnic Germans born outside the Reich known as Volksdeutsche, and their members were from satellite countries. These were organised into independent legions and had the designation Waffen attached to their names for formal identification.[20] In addition, the German SS Division Wiking included recruits from Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia throughout its history.[21] Despite manpower shortages, the Waffen-SS was still based on the racist ideology of Nazism.[22] Early in 1943, the Waffen-SS accepted 12,643 of the 53,000 recruits it garnered in western Ukraine and by 1944 the number reached as high as 22,000.[23]

Recruitment efforts in 1943 in Estonia yielded about 5,000 soldiers for the 20th Estonian SS Division.[24] In Latvia, however, the Nazis were more successful, as, by 1944, there were upwards of 100,000 soldiers serving in the Latvian Waffen-SS divisions.[24] Before the war's end, the foreigners who served in the Waffen-SS numbered "some 500,000", including those who were pressured into service or conscripted.[1] Historian Martin Gutmann adds that some of the additional forces came from "Eastern and Southeastern Europe, including Muslim soldiers from the Balkans."[25]

Post-war[edit]

Former Baltic Waffen-SS conscripts, wearing black uniforms with blue helmets and white belts, guarding Hermann Goering, Rudolf Hess, and other top Nazis during the Nuremberg Trials

During the Nuremberg Trials, the Waffen-SS was declared a criminal organisation for its major involvement in war crimes and for being an "integral part" of the SS.[26][27] Conscripts who were not given a choice as to joining the ranks and had not committed "such crimes" were determined to be exempt from this declaration.[28][b]

Belgian collaborator Léon Degrelle escaped to Spain, despite being sentenced to death in absentia by the Belgian authorities.[29] About 150 Baltic soldiers from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia who fought against the Soviets and escaped to Sweden were extradited to the Soviet Union in 1946.[30]

The men of the XV SS Cossack Corps found themselves in Austria at the end of the war and surrendered to British troops. Though they were given assurances that they would not be repatriated, the Cossack prisoners of war were nonetheless forcibly returned to the Soviet Union. Most along with their families were executed for treason.[31][c]

After the war, members of Baltic Waffen-SS units were considered separate and distinct in purpose, ideology and activities from the German SS by the Western Allies.[32][d] During the 1946 Nuremberg trials, Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians who were drafted into the Waffen-SS were determined not to be criminals for having been "wedged between, and subject to, the dictates of two authoritarian regimes."[33]

Amid the 11,000 Ukrainian members of the former SS Galizien, who had fled westwards to surrender—replete in their German SS uniforms—to the British in Italy, only 3,000 of them were repatriated to the Soviet Union. The rest remained temporarily lodged at Rimini as displaced persons, many of whom became British or Canadian citizens as a result of Cold War expediency.[34]

Foreign Waffen-SS formations and foreign units under SS control[edit]

Foreign Waffen-SS formations[edit]

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
Designation Formation Personnel Peak size Notes
1st SS Cossack Cavalry Division November 1943[35] Don, Cuban, Terek and Siberian Cossacks[36] n/a United with 2nd Cossack Cavalry Division into the XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps in 1945[37][38]
2nd Cossack Cavalry Division December 1944[35] Don, Cuban and Terek Cossacks[36] n/a United with 1st SS Cossack Cavalry Division into the XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps[37]
SS Regiment ‘Westland’ June 1940[citation needed] Dutch volunteers with some Belgian Flemings.[citation needed] n/a Absorbed in 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking[39]
SS Regiment ‘Nordland’ April 1940[citation needed] Dutch (1,400), Belgian Flemings (805) and Danes (108) volunteers[40] as well as Norwegian and Swedish.[citation needed] 2,500[40] Absorbed in 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking.[citation needed]
5th SS Panzer Division 'Wiking' May 1940[41] Dutch, Danish, Flemish,[42][e] Germans, Norwegians,[43] Finns and Walloons[41] 19,377[44] Consisted of 90% German personnel[41]
VI SS Army Corps (Latvian) October 1943[45] Latvian[45] 31,500[45][f] Formed in October 1943 with the Latvian brigade and Waffen-SS divisions (1st Latvian and 2nd Latvian).[45]
7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen March 1942[46] Volksdeutsche (Ethnic Germans)[47] from the Serbian Banat mostly[48] but also Croatia, Hungary and Romania[49] with some Reich German cadres[50] 20,624[50] Germanic formation[51] Volksdeutsche (92%) and Reich German[47] In January 1945 absorbed the remnants of the 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian) as a battalion.[52]
IX Waffen Mountain Corps of the SS (Croatian) July 1944[53] Albanian, Croatian,[53] Bosnian Muslims.[54] n/a Formed from 'Kama' (2,000 men) and 'Handschar' (10,000 men)[54] as well as some German and Hungarian units.[53]
11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division 'Nordland' March 1943[55] Volksdeutsches from Romania and Reich Germans plus Danes, Norwegians, Dutches, Swedes and Belgian Flemings.[56] n/a Formed from Wiking’s 'Nordland' Regiment,[57] mostly Volksdeutsche Balkan personnel.[58] Also included Norwegians in SS-Volunteer-Panzer-Grenadier Regiment 23 "Norge"[59]
13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian) March 1943[55] Bosnian Muslims with some Catholic Croats, Albanian Muslims[60] and German cadres.[61] 26,000[61] First non-Germanic Waffen-SS division[62]
SS-Waffen-Gebirgsjäger Battalion 13 March 1943[55] Albanian Muslims from Kosovo and Sanjak.[63] 1,340[63] Part of SS Waffen Gebirgsjäger Regiment 2 under 13th Division of the SS Handschar[63]
14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician/Ukrainian) July 1943[55] Ukrainian volunteers[55] 15,000[41] In November 1944, renamed 1st Ukrainian Division of the Ukrainian National Army" (1st UD UNA).[58][19][g]
15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian) May 1943[64] Latvian conscripts[64] 20,291[65] Formed from the Latvian Legion and the Latvian SS Volunteer Brigade.[65]
XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps December 1944[35] Don, Cuban, Terek and Siberian Cossacks[36] 40,000[66] Formed from the 1st and 2nd Cossack Cavalry Division, and the Cossack Plastun Brigade.[35]
19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian) February 1944[64] Latvian[55] 10,592[65] Formed from the 2nd SS Infantry Brigade[65] and the Latvian Legion.[67]
Latvian SS Volunteer Legion February 1943[68] Latvian[68] n/a Merged to form the 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian).
20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) January 1944[55] Estonians[55] 13,423[65] Formed from the 3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade, Wiking’s Estonian “Narwa” Battalion[67] and the Estonian Legion.[69]
3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade October 1943[70] Estonians[71] 5,099[71] Formed from the Estonian Legion, became the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) in 1944.
Estonian SS Legion August 1942[72] Estonians[71] n/a Waffen-SS-organized, brigade size[72] expanded into the 3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade, followed by the 20th Division of the SS (1st Estonian) in 1944.
21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian) May 1944[46] Albanian Muslims (mostly Kosovo Gheg Albanians)[73][74][75] with German, Austrian and Volksdeutsche cadres[73] 9,000[63] Formed from volunteers supplied by the League of Prizren and the Albanian collaborationist government, as well as Croatian Ustaša militias and SS "Handschar" division Albanian personnel.[76] Disbanded in November 1944 with some members joining ‘Prinz Eugen’.[67][77]
22nd SS Volunteer Cavalry Division Maria Theresia May 1944[78] Volksdeutsche from Hungary and Hungarians.[78][79][80] 8,000[81]
23rd SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division Nederland February 1945[79] Dutch[55] 6,000[82] Formed from the 4th Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Brigade Nederland and SS Legion Nederland. Received number 23 after SS Kama was disbanded[51]
4th SS Panzer Grenadier Brigade Nederland n/a Dutch (40%), Reich Germans and Volksdeutsche.[83] 5,426[83] Formed from Volunteer Legion Netherlands upgraded to 23rd SS Volunteer Division in February 1945.[79]
23rd Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Kama (2nd Croatian) June 1944[79] Bosnian Muslims, Croats and Volksdeutsche[51] 3,793[81] Disbanded in October 1944 with personal transferred to SS Handschar [81]
24th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Karstjäger August 1944[84] Volksdeutsche from Yugoslavia and the South Tyrol[85] n/a Downgraded to brigade in January 1945.[86]
25th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Hunyadi (1st Hungarian) November 1944[86] Hungarian volunteers and conscripts.[55][80] 22,000[65] Formed with members of the Honvéd 13th Light Infantry Division.[65]
26th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS 'Hungaria' (2nd Hungarian) November 1944[87] Hungarian volunteers[88][80] 8,000[65] Formed from battalion of Hungarian army.[65]
27th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Langemarck (1st Flemish) May 1943[89] Belgian Flemish with a few Finnish volunteers[89] 2,022[90] Formed from the Flemish Legion as SS Volunteer Assault Brigade Langemarck.[83]
28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division 'Wallonia' September 1944[91] Belgian Walloons[92] 2,000[92] Formed when SS Assault Brigade Wallonia was raised to a division.[93]
SS Volunteer Assault Brigade 'Wallonia' June 1943[94] Belgian Walloons[95] 1,850[95] Formed when the Walloon Legion was admitted into the Waffen SS[91]
29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS RONA (1st Russian) June 1944[93] Russian[96] 27,000[citation needed] Formed from the Kaminski Brigade (RONA), became division in August 44,[79] received number in August.[96]
29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Italian) September 1944[93] Italian[55] 20,000[66] Established as Italian SS Volunteer Legion[97], then Waffen-Grenadier-Brigade der SS (ital. Nr. 1).[98] Received number 29 after SS RONA was disbanded[51]
30th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (Russian No. 2) Aug 1944[99] Russian,[99] Ukrainian[100][better source needed] n/a Disbanded in March 1945[99]
30th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Belarusian) Aug 1944[101] Belarusian, Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian[101] 10,000[102] Formed from Schutzmannschaft-Brigade Siegling personnel[103]
31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division January 1945[104] Volksdeutsche from the Hungarian Bačka and Baranja region [104] and members of the Arrow Cross.[105] 14,800[106] Formed partially from remnants of the disbanded 23rd Mountain Division 'Kama'.[105]
33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne Feb 1945[107] French[108] 7,340[109] Formed from LVF, SS Brigade Frankreich and other French military collaborators.[109]
33rd Waffen Cavalry Division of the SS (3rd Hungarian) December 1944[110] Hungarian volunteers[110][80] n/a Absorbed in January 1945 by the 26th SS Panzer Grenadier Division (Ungarische # 2)[110]
34th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division 'Landstorm Nederland' November 1944[111] Dutch[111] 7,000[112] Formed as Landstorm Nederland then in November 1944 integrated as SS Brigade 'Landstorm Nederland',[98] upgraded to division in February 1945.[111]
35th SS-Police Grenadier Division February 1945[110] n/a n/a Formed from police personnel, near the end of the war.[104]
36th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS February 1945[111] Russian and Ukrainian volunteers[100] 4,000[111] Formerly Dirlewanger Assault Brigade.[111][h]
37th SS Volunteer Cavalry Division Lützow February 1945[113] Hungarians,[113] and Volksdeutsche from Hungary.[104] n/a Attached to the 6th SS Panzer Army[113]
SS Ski Jäger Battalion "Norwegen" September 1942[114] Norwegian[115] n/a Part of the 6th SS Mountain Division Nord[115]
Norwegian Legion June 1941[116] Norwegian[116] 1,218 de facto incorporated into the Waffen- SS[117]
SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade France July 1943[118] French[114] 1,688[119] In September 1944 the Sturmbrigade brigade was amalgamated with the Legion of French Volunteers (L.V.F), which became the core of the SS Division Charlemagne.[120]
Waffen Grenadier Regiment of the SS (1st Bulgarian) September 1944[121] Bulgarians[121] 600[121] Formed after Bulgaria left the Axis[121]
SS-Freiwilligen Legion Flandern September 1941[122] Flemish[123] 875[124] Formed from the Flemish Legion disbanded in May 1943 and reformed within the SS Assault Brigade Langemarck[125]
Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS March 1941[126] Finnish[80] 1,408[127] disbanded in mid-1943[128]
Finnish SS-Company[129] n/a n/a n/a
1st Hungarian SS-Ski Battalion[130] October 1944[65] Hungarian[65] 800[65] Formed of two battalions[130]
SS-Brigade Ney October 1944[131] Hungarian volunteers[132] 3,100[132]
SS Waffen Mountain Brigade (Tatar No. 1)[133][38] July 1944[134] Crimean tatar volunteers 3,518[135] Formed from the SS Waffen Mountain Regiment (Tatar No. 1),[134] merged into East Turkish Armed League of the SS in late 1944.[135]
SS Waffen Mountain Regiment (Tatar No. 1)[133] n/a n/a n/a Upgraded to SS Waffen Mountain Brigade (Tatar No. 1) in July 1944.[134]
Spanische-Freiwilligen-Kompanie der SS 101[136] n/a n/a 240[136] Attached to 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Wallonien and III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps[136][better source needed]
Spanische-Freiwilligen-Kompanie der SS 102[137] n/a n/a n/a
Indian Volunteer Legion of the Waffen-SS August 1944[138] Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus[139] 3,500[66] Formed from the Indian Legion, Indian prisoners from the British Army captured in North Africa and Italy[140][i]
East Turkish Armed League of the SS[142] January 1944[143] Turkmen, Azeri, Kyrgyz, Uzbeki and Tadjiki volunteers[143] 8,500[144] Muslim SS division based in northern Italy, recruited in the Caucasus.[142] The division was attached to the SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger during the Warsaw Uprising.[144]
Waffen Grenadier Regiment of the SS (1st Romanian)[137] 1945[145] Romanian[145] n/a Formed of two battalions[145]
Waffen Grenadier Regiment of the SS (2nd Romanian)[137] 1945[145] Romanian[145] n/a Anti tank unit formed of two battalions[145]

Foreign units under SS command[edit]

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
Designation Formation Personnel Peak size Notes
Freikorps Danmark June 1941[146] Danes[146] 1,164[147][124] Disbanded in May 1943, personnel transferred to the Nordland Division.[147]
Schalburg Corps April 1943[148] Danes[148] n/a Formed with former Freikorps soldiers, disbanded in February 1945.[149]
Guard Corps of the German Luftwaffe in Denmark February 1944[150] Danes[150]  1,200[150] Known as ‘Sommer's Guard Corps’.[150]
Serbian Volunteer Corps November 1944[37] Serbian[151] 9,886[151] Serbian collaborationist militia, placed under Waffen SS command after Serbia was lost to the Red Army, renamed Serbian S.S. Corps (Serbisches S.S. Korps) in March 1945.[152]
Serbian Gestapo July 1942[153] Serbian 121[154] Disbanded in February 1944
German-Croatian SS Police and Gendarmerie March 1943[155] Croatian and German[156] 20,000[155] Under the command of the Reichsführer-SS Plenipotentiary for Croatia SS-Brigadeführer Konstantin Kammerhofer.[157]
SS Polizei - Selbstschutz - Regiment Sandschak July 1944[60] Albanian Muslims (from Kosovo and Sandžak)[60][158] 4,000[60] Albanian Muslim unit set up in the Sandžak by SS- und Polizeiführer Karl von Krempler[158]
Breton SS Armed Formation Dec 1943 Bretons French 80[159] Established by the Sicherheitsdienst[160]
North African Legion January 1944[161] Algerian (from the Paris region) with French cadres[161] 300[161] Established by the Sicherheitsdienst[161]
St. Wenceslas Company March 1945[77] Czech volunteers[77] 13[77]
British Free Corps January 1944[95] British PoW[95] 54[162] Initially called the Legion of St. George[95]
Slovene Home Army September 1943[163] Slovene n/a Formed from collaborationist units under SS control [163]
Caucasian-Muslim Legion[164] December 1941[164] Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Karakalpaks, Tajiks, Azeris, Dagestanis, Chechens, Ingusges and Lezgins[164] n/a
Turkestan Legion[142] December 1941[165] Turkic ethnic groups [165] n/a In early 1942, 20,000 Crimean Tatars volunteered.[165]
SS East Turk Armed Formation[166] July 1944[166] Turkic ethnic groups[166] 3,000[166] Formed from the merging of the Turkestan unit, a Soviet Muslim formation established in January 1944.[166]
Tatar Legions n/a n/a n/a
Azerbaijani SS volunteer formations[167] n/a n/a n/a
Kaukasische Waffen-Verbände der SS[137] n/a n/a n/a

Waffen-SS volunteers and conscripts by country[edit]

Albania[edit]

Total: 6,500 to 8,000[168]

Belgium[edit]

Total: 18,000 (about "evenly divided between Flemings and Walloons")[169]

Bohemia and Moravia[edit]

Total: 77[170]

Bulgaria[edit]

Total: 700[citation needed]

Denmark[edit]

Total: 6,000[171]

Estonia[edit]

Total: 20,000 officially entered in the Waffen-SS[172][j]

Finland[edit]

Total: 1,180[173] to 3,000[168]

France[edit]

Total: 9,000[citation needed]

Hungary[edit]

Total: 20,000[168]

Iceland[edit]

Approximately about 20 to 40 Icelanders served in the Waffen SS, including Björn Sveinsson Björnsson, son of the first president of Iceland Sveinn Björnsson (1944–1952). Most of the Icelandic volunteers fought in the 5th SS Panzer-Division "Wiking", or in the SS Nordland Division [citation needed]

India[edit]

Total: 4,500[174]

Italy[edit]

Total: 15,000[168]

Latvia[edit]

Total: 60,000[175][better source needed] to 80,000[168][k]

Netherlands[edit]

Total: 20,000 to 25,000[l]

Norway[edit]

Total: 6,000[176]

Romania[edit]

Total: 250,000–300,000[m]

Spain[edit]

Total: 300[136][better source needed][n]

Sweden[edit]

Swedish volunteers in the Waffen SS: 300[178][o]

Switzerland[edit]

In total, approximately 1,300 Swiss volunteers joined the Waffen-SS.[179][p]

Ukraine[edit]

Total: 20,000[100][better source needed][19]

United Kingdom[edit]

Total: 54[162]

See also[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Waffen-SS.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The original German reads: "Wir müssen uns darüber im klaren sein, daß die germanische Politik nur unter der SS gelöst werden kann, nicht vom Staat, nicht vom Gros der Partei!...Wir können Europa nicht als Polizeistaat aufbauen unter dem Schutz von Bajonetten, sondern müssen das Leben Europas nach großgermanischen Gesichtspunkten gestalten"[13]
  2. ^ A number of volunteers were executed, while others were tried and imprisoned by their countries. Still others either lived in exile or returned to their homeland.
  3. ^ Most of these Cossacks had left Russia before or soon after the end of the Russian Civil War or had been born abroad, and thus had never been Soviet citizens. See the following primary source document: https://web.archive.org/web/20070928204604/http://www.holycross-hermitage.com/pages/Orthodox_Life/cossacks.htm
  4. ^ Also see: Richard Rashke, Useful Enemies: America's Open-Door Policy for Nazi War Criminals, Open Road Media (2013)
  5. ^ Incorporated from Regiment SS-Westland and SS-Nordland into the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking[42]
  6. ^ Number of Latvians serving in the Latvian Waffen SS in July 1944[45]
  7. ^ According to Andrii Bolianovskyi, the change of the division’s official names illustrates the change of attitude of the Third Reich towards Ukrainian national aspirations.[19]
  8. ^ From 1942 to 1944 the largest ethnic group of the unit was Ukrainian[100][better source needed]
  9. ^ Used for propaganda and never saw combat.[141][better source needed]
  10. ^ Historian Rolf-Dieter Müller points out that an additional 20,000 Estonians served in SS frontier guard regiments.[172]
  11. ^ Historian Andrejs Plakans puts this figure at 100,000.[24]
  12. ^ See: http://publications.niod.knaw.nl/publications/Veld_SSenNederland_01.pdf
  13. ^ not including tens of thousands of Romanian ethnic Germans.[177][better source needed]
  14. ^ including Portuguese Volunteers who were counted as Spaniards.[141][better source needed]
  15. ^ See: Bosse Schön, "Svenskarna som stred för Hitler" ("The Swedes who fought for Hitler"), (2000) [1999], ISBN 978-9-1765-7208-5, p. 119 + 4 unnumbered pages (a photo of Christmas greetings for named men of the "Swedish" Waffen-SS unit Sveaborg in the Swedish pro-Nazi paper/magazine "Den Svenske" Swedes and Estonian-Swedish Waffen-SS volunteers fought in various SS units. Bosse Schön identifies various units. Many of them were from Norrland, Stockholm, Göteborg and had fought for Finland. A significant number of them were members of NSAP/SSS with about 60% between 17 and 25 years of age. Also see: https://www.svd.se/aventyret-lockade-svenskar-till-ss
  16. ^ Of particular note was Swiss-born SS Colonel Hans Riedweg, the de facto leader of the Germanische Leitstelle's Germanic recruits. Riedweg gave a speech in 1943, criticizing the manner in which the SS handled the escape of 7,000 Danish Jews from Nazi-held territory. He and fellow Germanic volunteers from neutral Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland were stripped of leadership roles and sent to the Eastern Front, where most perished. See: Richard Byers, "Byers on Gutmann, 'Building a Nazi Europe: The SS's Germanic Volunteers'", H-War (August 2018) at: https://networks.h-net.org/node/12840/reviews/2140807/byers-gutmann-building-nazi-europe-sss-germanic-volunteers

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b Stein 1984, p. 133.
  2. ^ Stein 1984, p. 23.
  3. ^ a b Flaherty 2004, p. 144.
  4. ^ McNab 2009, pp. 56, 57, 66.
  5. ^ Reitlinger 1989, p. 84.
  6. ^ McNab 2009, pp. 56–66.
  7. ^ Weale 2010, pp. 201–204.
  8. ^ a b Weale 2010, p. 204.
  9. ^ a b Stein 1984, pp. 150, 153.
  10. ^ Koehl 2004, pp. 213–214.
  11. ^ a b Longerich 2012, pp. 500, 674.
  12. ^ Longerich 2012, p. 769.
  13. ^ a b c Wegner 2010, p. 298.
  14. ^ a b Kott, Bubnys & Kraft 2017, p. 162.
  15. ^ Stein 1984, pp. 172, 179.
  16. ^ Longerich 2012, pp. 611, 612.
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Bibliography[edit]

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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