European non-Germans in the German armed forces during World War II

Bosnian Muslim soldiers of the Handschar reading a brochure about "Islam and Judaism", 1943

Europäische Freiwillige is a German term meaning 'European Volunteers', derived from the German 'Freiwillige' (volunteer),^[1][2] and is used to describe volunteers from an occupied country who join the army of the occupier.

Background

The term was mainly used to describe non-German Europeans (neither Reichsdeutsche or Volksdeutsche) who volunteered to fight for the Third Reich during World War Two. Largely from occupied countries, but also from co-belligerent and neutral nations, they fought in the Waffen-SS as well as in the Wehrmacht.

One Azerbaijani POW who volunteered to fight against the Soviets told his German captors that he was anti-Nazi, anti-Bolshevik, and only wanted an opportunity to free his homeland.^[3] In the eastern front the volunteers and conscripts in the Ostlegionen came to comprise a fighting force equivalent to 30 German divisions by the end of 1943.

Large numbers of "Freiwillige" also came from areas outside Europe, mainly motivated by a desire to fight for the freedom of their nation against Soviet or British domination. The troops comprised a wide range of ethnicities, for example from the mainly Turkic peoples in the ostlegionen to the Muslim Slavs in 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar and the Indians of the Indische Legion. (the Indian National Army fought against the British on the Japanese side.)

Countries which had European Freiwillige in the German forces

Albania Bulgaria Croatia Denmark Estonia Finland France Great Britain Greece Hungary India Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania

Luxembourg Montenegro Netherlands Norway Portugal Romania Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Ukraine USA USSR

Branches of the Wermacht

Volunteers from Western and Northern Europe served in the variuous different branches of the Wehrmacht, i.e., the Kriegsmarine (navy), the Luftwaffe (air force), and the Heer (land forces). Several Heer units composed primarily of "non-Germanic" volunteers (e.g., French, Walloons, Spaniards) were eventually subordinated to the Waffen-SS in the later phases of the war.

At various times, the Wehrmacht also recruited or conscripted foreigners as:

• Special technical officers (Sonderführer)—usually translators, local liaison officers, and the like
• HiWis—often from prisoners of war
• Luftwaffenhelfer—mainly teenage boys, but sometimes even girls

SS during World War II

There were a number of divisions of the SS which were made up of non Germans including:

5.SS-Panzer-Division Wiking
11.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland
13.Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS Handschar (kroatische Nr. 1)
14.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (ukrainische Nr.1)
15.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (lettische Nr.1)
19.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (lettische Nr.2)
20.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (estnische Nr.1)
21.Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS Skanderburg (albanische Nr. 1)
22.SS-Freiwilligen-Kavallerie-Division
23.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nederland (niederlandische Nr. 1)
23.Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS Kama (kroatische Nr. 2)
25.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS Hunyadi (ungarnische Nr.1)
26.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS Gombos (ungarnische Nr.2)
27.SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division Langemarck
28.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Wallonien
29.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS RONA (russische Nr. 1)
29.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (italienische Nr.1)
30.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (russische Nr.2)
30.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (weißruthenische Nr.1)
33.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (ungarnische Nr. 4)
33.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS Charlemagne (französische Nr. 1)
34.SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division Landstorm Nederland
37. SS-Freiwilligen-Kavallerie-Division

Renaming

Some of these merely consisted of many different nationalities over the course of the war, such as 5.SS-Panzer-Division Wiking, whereas others dropped the "Freiwilligen" and were adopted by the SS, such as 14.Galizische whose name changed 3 times during World War II :-

14.Galizische SS-Freiwilligen-Division
14.Galizische SS-Frewilligen-Infanterie-Division
14.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (galizische Nr.1)
14.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (ukrainishe Nr.1)

Disreputable conduct

Many of the units were accused of war crimes, as well as a number of units who also participated in the Holocaust and in atrocities committed against Soviet civilians during so-called anti-partisan operations. For information on these formations see instead:

• Einsatzgruppen
• Arajs Commando
• Ukrainische Gruppe Nachtigall
• Algirdas Klimaitis
• Lithuanian Security Police
• Ypatingasis būrys
• Estonian Omakaitse
• Schutzmannschaften

Postwar activities of veterans

Following the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, the former Waffen-SS veterans were prosecuted in their home countries.^[4] Treated as pariahs by the fellow countrymen, they often sought support from the former German comrades through membership in organisations such as HIAG.

The German and non-German Waffen-SS veterans began publishing periodicals in the 1950s to promote their own narrative of events. HIAG's magazine Wiking-Ruf first appeared in 1951. This later became the monthly magazine Der Freiwillige (OCLC 4378250) published by Munin Verlag, a company with ties to HIAG. Recently, Patrick Agte has taken over the name "Munin Verlag" and publication of Der Freiwillige.^[5]

A separate newsletter Unser Wiking-Ruf, devoted solely to SS-Division Wiking, began appearing in the 1990s.^[6]

Another apologist periodical devoted to the German and non-German units of the Waffen-SS is the American-published quarterly, Siegrunen (ISSN 0733-0367).

References

1. ^ http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Freiwillige
2. ^ http://www.google.com/dictionary?aq=f&langpair=de%7Cen&q=freiwillige&hl=en
3. ^ Dallin, Alexander(1981) German Rule in Russia, 1941-1945: A Study of Occupation Policies, p. 540
4. ^ E.g. Norway. Cf. Legal purge in Norway after World War II.
5. ^ Feldgrau.net :: View topic - Munin Verlag
6. ^ Thema anzeigen - Zeitschriften zu unserem Thema - Panzer-Archiv

Bibliography and further reading

Authors, Books, Publishers

• Richard Landwehr, author
• The Patriotic Traitors (1972), a book by David Littlejohn
• Nation Europa, a publishing house

Scholarly

• Estes, Kenneth W. (2003). A European Anabasis: Western European Volunteers in the German Army and SS, 1940–1945. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231502184. OCLC 53783960. http://www.gutenberg-e.org/esk01/. 
• Hilberg, Raul (1992). Perpetrators, Victims, Bystanders: The Jewish Catastrophe, 1933–1945. New York, NY: Aaron Asher Books. ISBN 9780060190354. OCLC 25410526. 
• Neulen, Hans Werner (1985) (in German). An deutscher Seite: Internationale Freiwillige von Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS. Munich: Universitas. ISBN 3800410699. OCLC 15718653. 

Reflecting the veterans' own narrative

• Agte, Patrick (2000) (in German). Europas Freiwillige der Waffen-SS: Biographien aller Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes, des Deutschen Kreuzes in Gold, der Ehrenblattspange und der Nahkampfspange in Gold, die keine Deutschen waren; europäische Freiwillige aus den Niederlanden, Belgien, Frankreich, Dänemark, Norwegen, Schweden, Finnland, Lettland, Estland und Ungarn. Pluwig: Munin Verlag. ISBN 3980721507. OCLC 56829243.  (Contains biographies of Europäische Freiwillige who were awarded the Knight's Cross, and other higher military honours.)
• Ertel, Heinz; Schulze-Kossens, Richard (2000) [1986] (in German). Europäische Freiwillige im Bild (3rd ed. ed.). Osnabrück: Nation Europa. ISBN 9783920677231. OCLC 51039369. 
• Strassner, Peter (1988). European Volunteers: The 5. SS-Panzer-Division "Wiking". translated by David Johnston (2nd ed. ed.). Winnipeg, Man.: J.J. Fedorowicz. ISBN 9780921991892. OCLC 123248703. 
• Tieke, Wilhelm (2001). Tragedy of the Faithful: A History of the III. (germanisches) SS-Panzer-Korps. translated by Fred Steinhardt. Winnipeg, Man.: J.J. Fedorowicz. ISBN 9780921991618. OCLC 71050470. 
• Tieke, Wilhelm (ed.) (2000?) (in German). Einsatz für Europa: Europäische Freiwillige im zweiten Weltkrieg auf deutscher Seite. N.p.: Kameradenwerk Korps Steiner e.V.. 

External links

• Danish volunteers in the Waffen SS (PDF)