Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts The Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts dur- a fact which deeply troubled the traditional officer corps ing World War II were members of the Waffen-SS who of the German Army.[11][10] In 1933, a group of 120 have been recruited or conscripted mainly from among SS men were chosen to form the Leibstandarte SS Adolf the nationals of Nazi-occupied Europe. The recruitment Hitler.[12] A year later, Hitler approved the formation of began in April 1940 with the creation of two regiments: the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT), which together with the Waffen SS Regiment Nordland (for Danish, Norwe- the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, made up the early ele- gian, and Swedish volunteers), and the Waffen SS Regi- ments of what would became the Waffen-SS.[12] It was ment Westland (for Dutch, and Flemish volunteers). As Hitler’s wish that unit should never be integrated into the Waffen SS Freiwilligen grew in numbers, the volun- the army nor the state police, but remain an independent teers were grouped into Legions (with the size of bat- force of military-trained men at the disposal of the Führer talion or brigade); their members included the so-called in times of both war and peace.[13][14] It was commanded Germanic non-Germans as well as ethnic German offi- by Heinrich Himmler in his capacity as Reichsführer- cers originating from the occupied territories (i.e. the SS.[15] Volksdeutsche). Following Operation Barbarossa – as the Himmler initially in 1934 set stringent requirements for war on the Eastern front raged – the Freiwilligen made up [1][2] Waffen-SS recruits. They were to be German nationals one half of the entire Waffen-SS fighting force. No- who could prove their Aryan ancestry back to 1800, un- tably, by February 1942 the recruitment to the Waffen-SS married, and without a criminal record. Recruits had to in south-east Europe turned into compulsory conscription be between the ages of 17 and 23, at least 1.74 metres for all German minorities of military age by the “iron law [3] (5 ft 9 in) tall (1.78 metres (5 ft 10 in) for the Leibstan- of their ethnicity”. darte). Recruits were required to have perfect teeth and Frantic recruiting of all available manpower including SS eyesight and provide a medical certificate.[16] By 1938 the takeover of complete Army, Navy, and Air Force units height restrictions were relaxed, up to six dental fillings was introduced in 1943 in order to rebuild understrength were permitted, and eyeglasses for astigmatism and mild regiments depleted by high casualty rates.[4] A system of vision correction were allowed.[17] Once World War II nomenclature developed to formally distinguish person- in Europe commenced, the physical requirements were nel based on their place of origin. The formations with no longer strictly enforced, and essentially any recruit non-German volunteers of Germanic background were who could pass a basic medical exam was considered officially named Freiwilligen (Scandinavians, Dutch, the for Waffen-SS service.[17] Following the campaign in the Flemish, Walloons, and the Frenchmen), while the units West in 1940, Hitler authorized the enlistment of “peo- with preponderance of the so-called non-German Volks- ple perceived to be of related stock”, as Himmler put deutsche from satellite countries – organized into inde- it, to expand the ranks.[18] A number of Danes, Dutch, pendent legions – had a designation Waffen attached to Norwegians, Swedes and Finns volunteered to fight in the their names for the ease of formal identification.[4] They Waffen-SS under the command of German officers.[19][20] were forbidden to display the SS-runes reserved for the Non-Germanic units were not considered to be part of the original Reichsdeutsche.[5] Despite manpower shortages, SS directly, which still maintained its strict racial criteria, Waffen-SS remained faithful to the racist ideology of the but rather were considered to be foreign nationals serving Third Reich, barring undesirable ethno-racial and reli- under the command of the SS.[21] [6][7][8] gious minorities from service. After Germany turned East and attacked the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa, further volunteers from France, Spain, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and the Balkans signed 1 History of the Waffen-SS up to fight for the Nazi cause. In 1942, further units of non-Germanic recruits were formed.[20] Eventually units consisting of Russians, Indians, Arabs and even one with The Waffen-SS (Armed SS) was created as the mil- a few Britons were created. The Waffen-SS grew from itarized wing of the Schutzstaffel (SS; “Protective three regiments to over 38 divisions during World War Squadron”) of the Nazi Party after the Night of the Long II.[22] By 1945, the Waffen-SS had developed into a mil- [9] Knives. When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, his itary force with volunteers and conscripts of multiple paramilitary organizations included the Sturmabteilung ethnicities which were mainly from occupied Europe.[23] [10] (SA; “Storm Detachment”) and the SS. Together, By that time, however, the Waffen-SS also became a these two groups numbered more than three million men, 1 2 2 FOREIGN VOLUNTEERS AND CONSCRIPTS BY PLACE OF ORIGIN shadow of its former self; having insufficient numeri- • 5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien[36] cal strength of different divisions, harried by problems, • [38] and overwhelmed by poor-quality draftees.[24] Estimates Algemeene-SS Vlaanderen for the maximum growth of the Waffen-SS number over • 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking[35] 800,000 including members of the Hitler Youth who were pressured to volunteer for service.[4] After the war, the • 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Wallonien[36] unit was declared a criminal organization for its major in- volvement in war crimes and for being an “integral part” of the SS.[25][26] 2.4 Bulgaria • Bulgaria: 700+ 2 Foreign volunteers and con- • Waffen Grenadier Regiment of the SS (1st scripts by place of origin Bulgarian)[39] • • 2.1 Albania 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Ukrainian)[40] • Albania: 9,000+ volunteers and conscripts • 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eu- 2.5 Denmark gen[27] Freiwilligen Legion Danemark (July 1941) [34] • 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg[28] • Free Corps Denmark (The Danish Legion) • 50th Waffen Gebirgsjäger Regiment of the SS[29] • HIPO Corps • 51st Waffen Gebirgsjäger Regiment of • Schalburg Corps the SS[29] • 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking • 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS [30] Handschar (1st Croatian) • 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nord- • 1st Battalion of the 28th Waffen land[41] Gebirgsjäger (Mountain Infantry) Regi- • SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 24 Danmark ment of the SS[31] 2.2 British Commonwealth 2.6 Finland • Finland: 2,500 in the Britisches Freikorps (British Free Corps of the Waffen- [32][33] SS), 1944: 54 men • 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking • Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the 2.3 Belgium Waffen-SS[42] • 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Freiwilligen Legion Flandern (July 1941) [34] Nordland[41] • SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers • 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking[35] • 23rd SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division Ned- 2.7 France erland[36] • [43] • 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade France: 18,000 to 22,000 in the [36] Nederland • 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division • SS-Freiwilligen-Standarte Nordwest[37] Nordland[41] • • 27th SS Volunteer Division Langemarck[36] Fenet battalion (see: Henri Joseph Fenet) • 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von • 6th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Lange- Berlichingen marck[36] • 18th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division • 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Wallonien[36] Horst Wessel 2.12 Netherlands 3 • 8th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade France[44] 2.12 Netherlands • 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Wal- SS Freiwilligen Legion Niederlande (1941): 50,000 to lonien[45] 55,000 men [1][43] • 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French) • 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nord- [41] • Der bretonische Waffenverband der Waffen- land SS (Bezen Perrot)[46] • 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Ukrainian) 2.8 Hungary • 23rd SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division Ned- erland • Hungary: 40,000 in the • 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Nederland • 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eu- • SS-Freiwilligen-Standarte Nordwest gen • • 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division 34th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Landstorm Nordland[41] Nederland • 25th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS • SS Volunteer Grenadier-Brigade Landstorm Hunyadi (1st Hungarian) Nederland • 26th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd • SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers Hungarian) • 31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division 2.13 Norway • 'Szálasi' Hungarian SS Grenadier Battal- ion SS Freiwilligen Legion Norwegen (1941): 1,218 men [48][49] • 33rd Waffen Cavalry Division of the SS (3rd Hungarian) • 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking • 37th SS Volunteer Cavalry Division Lützow • 6th SS Mountain Division Nord • SS-Skijeger-Bataljon Norge 2.9 India • 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nord- land[41] • India: 2,500 in the • SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 23 “Norge” • Indisches Freiwilligen Infanterie Regiment (1st Norwegian) 950 or "Tiger Legion" • SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers 2.10 Ireland 2.14 Romania • Ireland: Irish Brigade, SS Jagdverband • Romania: 55,000 in the • 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von 2.11 Italy Berlichingen • Waffen Grenadier Regiment of the SS (1st Ro- Italienische Freiwilligen Legion (1943): 6,000 men [47] manian)