Wehrmacht foreign volunteers and conscripts
Among the approximately one million foreign volunteers and conscripts who served in the Wehrmacht during World War II were ethnic Germans, Belgians, Czechs, Dutch, Finns, French, Hungarians, Norwegians, Poles,[1] Portuguese, Swedes,[2] and British, along with people from the Baltic states and the Balkans. At least 47,000 Spaniards served in the Blue Division.[3]
It is estimated that anywhere between 600,000 and 1,400,000 Soviets (Russians and non-Russians) joined the Wehrmacht forces as Hiwis (or Hilfswillige) in the initial stages of the German Operation Barbarossa.[4] The Ukrainian collaborationist forces were composed of an estimated number of 180,000 volunteers serving with units scattered all over Europe.[5] 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.[6] Non-Russians from the Soviet Union formed the Ostlegionen (literally "Eastern Legions"). The East Battalions contained between 275,000 and 350,000 "Muslim and Caucasian" volunteers and conscripts.[4] These units were all commanded by General Ernst August Köstring (1876−1953)[7] and represented about five percent of the forces under the OKH.
List of units[edit]
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Soviet Union[edit]
| Unit name | Description |
|---|---|
_Infanterie_Division_Logo.svg){kind=logo} 162nd Turkoman Division |
Formed in May 1943 and comprised 5 Azeri and 6 Turkestani artillery/infantry units.[8] |
| XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps | Until 1 February 1945 under command of the Wehrmacht, then the Corps was transferred to the Waffen-SS[9] |
| Kalmykian Voluntary Cavalry Corps | Mostly Kalmyks |
| Nachtigall Battalion | Ukrainians of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists |
| Ostlegionen | By late 1943 the Eastern legions contained 427,000 volunteers and conscripts |
| Roland Battalion | A.k.a. Special Group Roland. Second Polish Republic citizens of Ukrainian ethnicity |
 Russian Liberation Army |
Mostly ethnic Russians |
 Ukrainian Liberation Army |
Ukrainians |
 Ukrainian National Army |
Ukrainians |
 Luftwaffen-Legion Lettland |
Air unit composed of Latvians. |
Croatia[edit]
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Other[edit]
| Unit name | Description |
|---|---|
| Poles in the Wehrmacht | |
 Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism
| |
 Blue Division[10]
| |
 Blue Legion
| |
| Russian Corps | |
 Indische Legion
| |
 Free Arabian Legion
|
See also[edit]
- Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts
- Schutzmannschaft
- Selbstschutz
- Hiwi
- Russian Liberation Movement
- Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force
References[edit]
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Spain's Nazi volunteers defend their right to recognition - and German pensions". The Daily Telegraph. 30 November 2015.
- ^ a b 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]
- ^ 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.
- ^ Nikolai Tolstoy (1977). The Secret Betrayal. Charles Scribner’s Sons. pp. 304ff. ISBN 0-684-15635-0.
- ^ Rolf Michaelis: Die Waffen-SS. Mythos und Wirklichkeit. Michaelis-Verlag, Berlin 2001, p. 36
- ^ Carlos Caballero Jurado, Ramiro Bujeiro (2009). Blue Division Soldier 1941-45: Spanish Volunteer on the Eastern Front. Osprey Publishing. p. 34. ISBN 1-84603-412-4.CS1 maint: Uses authors parameter (link)
