Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts explained

During World War II, the Waffen-SS recruited significant numbers of non-Germans, both as volunteers and conscripts. Of a peak strength of 950,000 in 1944, the Waffen-SS consisted of some 400,000 “Reich Germans” and 310,000 ethnic Germans from outside Germany’s pre-1939 borders (mostly from German-occupied Europe), the remaining 240,000 being non-Germans. Thus, at their numerical peak, non-Germans comprised 25% of all Waffen-SS troops. The units were under the control of the SS Führungshauptamt (SS Command Main Office) led by Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler. Upon mobilisation, the units' tactical control was given to the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (High Command of the Armed Forces).

History of the 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). In 1934, the SS developed its own military branch, the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT), which together with the LSSAH, evolved into the Waffen-SS. 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. 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.

Recruitment and conscription

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 1.74m (05.71feet) tall (1.78m (05.84feet) for the Leibstandarte). Recruits were required to have perfect teeth and eyesight and provide a medical certificate. By 1938, the height restrictions were relaxed, up to six dental fillings were permitted, and eyeglasses for astigmatism and mild vision correction were allowed. Once World War II began in Europe, the physical requirements were no longer strictly enforced. 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. A number of Danes, Dutch, Norwegians, Swedes, and Finns volunteered to serve in the Waffen-SS under the command of German officers. 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.

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. 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."

Recruitment began in April 1940 with the creation of two regiments: Nordland (later SS Division Nordland) and Westland (later SS Division Wiking). 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. Some of these foreign Waffen-SS units were employed for security purposes, among other things.

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. By February 1942, Waffen-SS recruitment in south-east Europe turned into compulsory conscription for all German minorities of military age. From 1942 onwards, further units of non-Germanic recruits were formed. Legions were formed of men from Estonia, Latvia as well as men from Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Ukraine, Russia, and Cossacks. 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.

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. 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. In addition, the German SS Division Wiking included recruits from Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia throughout its history. Despite manpower shortages, the Waffen-SS was still based on the racist ideology of Nazism. 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. Recruitment efforts in 1943 in Estonia yielded about 5,000 soldiers for the 20th Estonian SS Division. 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.

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. Historian Martin Gutmann adds that some of the additional forces came from "Eastern and Southeastern Europe, including Muslim soldiers from the Balkans."

Post-war

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. 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.

Belgian collaborator Léon Degrelle escaped to Spain, despite being sentenced to death in absentia by the Belgian authorities. 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.

The men of the XV SS Cossack Corps found themselves in Austria at the end of the war and surrendered to the British Army. 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 subsequently executed by the Soviet authorities for treason.

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. 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."

11,000 Ukrainian members of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician) fled westwards and surrendered to British troops in Italy. 3,000 of them were repatriated to the Soviet Union, with rest remaining in prisoner-of-war camps at Rimini as displaced persons; many became British or Canadian citizens after the war.

Foreign Waffen-SS formations and foreign units under SS control

Foreign Waffen-SS formations

Designation	Formation	Personnel	Peak size	Notes
1st SS Cossack Cavalry Division		Don, Cuban, Terek and Siberian Cossacks	n/a	United with 2nd Cossack Cavalry Division into the XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps in 1945
2nd Cossack Cavalry Division		Don, Cuban and Terek Cossacks	n/a	United with 1st SS Cossack Cavalry Division into the XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps
SS Regiment ‘Westland’		Dutch volunteers and Belgian Flemings.	n/a	Absorbed in 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking in December 1940
SS Regiment ‘Nordwest’	April 1941	Dutch (1,400), Belgian Flemings (805) and Danes (108) volunteers	2,500	Disbanded in September 1941.
5th SS Panzer Division 'Wiking'		Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Flemish, German, Swedish.	19,377	Formed by merging SS Regiment ‘Westland’ and 'Nordland'. Mostly Reich Germans and Volksdeutsche.
VI SS Army Corps (Latvian)		Latvian	31,500	Formed in October 1943 with the Latvian brigade and Waffen-SS divisions (1st Latvian and 2nd Latvian).
7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen		Volksdeutsche (Ethnic Germans) from the Serbian Banat mostly but also Croatia, Hungary and Romania with some Reich German cadres	20,624	Germanic formation Volksdeutsche (92%) and Reich German In January 1945 absorbed the remnants of the 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian) as a battalion.
IX Waffen Mountain Corps of the SS (Croatian)		Albanian, Croatian, Bosnian Muslims.	n/a	Formed from 'Kama' (2,000 men) and 'Handschar' (10,000 men) as well as some German and Hungarian units.
11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division 'Nordland'		Volksdeutsches from Romania and Reich Germans plus Danes, Norwegians, Dutches, Swedes and Belgian Flemings.	n/a	Formed from Wiking's 'Nordland' Regiment, mostly Volksdeutsche Balkan personnel. Also included Norwegians in SS-Volunteer-Panzer-Grenadier Regiment 23 "Norge"
13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian)		Bosnian Muslims with some Catholic Croats, Albanian Muslims and German cadres.	26,000	First non-Germanic Waffen-SS division
SS-Waffen-Gebirgsjäger Battalion 13		Albanian Muslims from Kosovo and Sanjak.	1,340	Part of SS Waffen Gebirgsjäger Regiment 2 under 13th Division of the SS Handschar
14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician/Ukrainian)		Ukrainian volunteers	n/a	In November 1944, renamed 1st Ukrainian Division of the Ukrainian National Army" (1st UD UNA).
15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian)		Latvian conscripts	n/a	n/a
XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps		Don, Cuban, Terek and Siberian Cossacks	n/a	Formed from the 1st and 2nd Cossack Cavalry Division, and the Cossack Plastun Brigade.
19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian)		Latvian	n/a
Latvian SS Volunteer Legion		Latvian	n/a	Merged to form the 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian).
20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian)		Estonians	n/a	Formed from the 3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade, Wiking's Estonian "Narwa" Battalion
3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade		Estonians	5,099	Formed from the Estonian Legion, became the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) in 1944.
Estonian SS Legion		Estonians	n/a	Waffen-SS-organized, brigade size 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)		Albanian Muslims (mostly Kosovo Gheg Albanians) with German, Austrian and Volksdeutsche cadres	9,000	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. Disbanded in November 1944 with some members joining ‘Prinz Eugen’.
22nd SS Volunteer Cavalry Division Maria Theresia	n/a	Volksdeutsche from Hungary and Hungarians.	n/a
23rd SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division 'Nederland'		Dutch	n/a	Formed from the 4th Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Brigade Nederland and SS Legion Nederland. Received number 23 after SS Kama was disbanded
4th SS Panzer Grenadier Brigade Nederland		Dutch (40%), Reich Germans and Volksdeutsche.	5,426	Formed from Volunteer Legion Nederland upgraded to 23rd SS Volunteer Division Nederland on 10 February 1945.
23rd Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Kama (2nd Croatian)		Bosnian Muslims, Croats and Volksdeutsche	n/a	n/a
24th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Karstjäger		Volksdeutsche from Yugoslavia and the South Tyrol	n/a	Downgraded to brigade in January 1945.
25th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Hunyadi (1st Hungarian)		Hungarian volunteers and conscripts.	n/a	n/a
26th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS 'Hungaria' (2nd Hungarian)		Hungarian volunteers	n/a	n/a
27th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Langemarck (1st Flemish)		Belgian Flemish with a few Finnish volunteers	2,022	Formed from the Flemish Legion as 6th SS Volunteer Assault Brigade Langemarck, upgraded to division in December 1944.
28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division 'Wallonia'		n/a	n/a	Formed when 5th SS Assault Brigade Wallonia was raised to a division.
SS Volunteer Assault Brigade 'Wallonia'	n/a	Belgian Walloons	1,850	Formed when the Walloon Legion was admitted into the Waffen SS
29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS RONA (1st Russian)		Russian	n/a	Formed from the Kaminski Brigade (RONA), became division in August 44, received number in August.
29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Italian)		Italian	n/a	Established as Italian SS Volunteer Legion, then Waffen-Grenadier-Brigade der SS (ital. Nr. 1). Received number 29 after SS RONA was disbanded
30th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (Russian No. 2)		Byelorussian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Tartar with German officers.	n/a	Disbanded in December 1944
30th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Belarusian)		Belarusian, Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian	10,000	Formed from Schutzmannschaft-Brigade Siegling personnel
31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division		Volksdeutsche from the Hungarian Bačka and Baranja region and members of the Arrow Cross.	14,800	Formed partially from remnants of the disbanded 23rd Mountain Division 'Kama'. Allegedly named 'Bohemia-Moravia'
33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne		French	7,340	Formed from LVF, Brigade Frankreich and other French collaborators.
33rd Waffen Cavalry Division of the SS (3rd Hungarian)		Hungarian volunteers	n/a	Absorbed in January 1945 by the 26th SS Panzer Grenadier Division (Ungarische # 2)
34th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division 'Landstorm Nederland'		Dutch	n/a	Formed as Landstorm Nederland then in November 1944 integrated as SS Brigade 'Landstorm Nederland', upgraded to division in February 1945.
Indian Volunteer Legion of the Waffen-SS		n/a	n/a	Formed from the Indian Grenadier Regiment 950.
35th SS-Police Grenadier Division		n/a	n/a	Formed from police personnel, near the end of the war.
36th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS		Russian and Ukrainian volunteers	4,000	Formerly Dirlewanger Assault Brigade.
37th SS Volunteer Cavalry Division Lützow		Hungarians, and Volksdeutsche from Hungary.	n/a	Attached to the 6th SS Panzer Army
SS Ski Jäger Battalion "Norwegen"		Norwegian	n/a	Part of the 6th SS Mountain Division Nord
Norwegian Legion		Norwegian	1,218	de facto incorporated into the Waffen- SS
SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade France		French	1,688	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.
Waffen Grenadier Regiment of the SS (1st Bulgarian)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
SS-Freiwilligen Legion Flandern		Flemish	875	Formed from the Flemish Legion disbanded in May 1943 and reformed within the SS Assault Brigade Langemarck
Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS		Finnish	1,408	disbanded in mid-1943
Finnish SS-Company 'Kalevala'	1944	Formed of Finnish defectors, POWs and interned sailors.	250	Disbanded in May 1945
1st Hungarian SS-Ski Battalion	n/a	n/a	n/a	Formed of two battalions
SS-Brigade Ney		Hungarian volunteers	3,100
SS Waffen Mountain Brigade (Tatar No. 1)		n/a	n/a	Formed from the SS Waffen Mountain Regiment (Tatar No. 1),
SS Waffen Mountain Regiment (Tatar No. 1)	n/a	n/a	n/a	Upgraded to SS Waffen Mountain Brigade (Tatar No. 1) in July 1944.
East Turkish Armed League of the SS		Turkmen, Azeri, Kyrgyz, Uzbeki and Tadjiki volunteers	n/a	Muslim SS division based in northern Italy, recruited in the Caucasus.
Waffen Grenadier Regiment of the SS (1st Romanian)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Waffen Grenadier Regiment of the SS (2nd Romanian)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Spanische-Freiwilligen-Kompanie der SS 101		Spaniard	n/a	Formed from former Blue Legion personnel, merged into the 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Wallonien and later into the 11th SS Grenadier Division ‘Nordland’.
Spanische-Freiwilligen-Kompanie der SS 102		Spaniard	n/a

Foreign units under SS command

Designation	Formation	Personnel	Peak size	Notes
Freikorps Danmark		Danish volunteers	1,164	Battalion sized, disbanded in May 1943, personnel transferred to the Nordland Division.
Schalburg Corps		Danes	n/a	Formed with former Freikorps soldiers, disbanded in February 1945.
Guard Corps of the German Luftwaffe in Denmark		Danes	1,200	Known as ‘Sommer's Guard Corps’.
Volunteer Legion Netherlands		Dutch	n/a	Formed by the Waffen‐SS, led by Dutch officers. In April 1943 became the SS‐Freiwilligen Panzergrenadier Brigade ‘Nederland’ and in January 1945 absorbed in the 23rd SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division 'Nederland'.
German-Croatian SS Police and Gendarmerie		Croatian volunteers or conscripts with German and Volksdeutsche cadres.	32,000	A police force under the command of the German Reichsführer-SS Plenipotentiary for Croatia SS-Brigadeführer Konstantin Kammerhofer.
Serbian Volunteer Corps		Serbian	9,886	Serbian collaborationist militia, placed under Waffen SS command during the German withdrawal from Serbia. It was renamed Serbian S.S. Corps in March 1945. Its integration into the Waffen-SS was intended but never carried out.
Serbian Gestapo		Serbian	121	Disbanded in February 1944
North African Legion		Algerian (from the Paris region) with French cadres	300	Established by the Sicherheitsdienst
St. Wenceslas Company		Czech volunteers	13
Slovene Home Army		Slovene	n/a	Formed from collaborationist units under SS control
SS Polizei – Selbstschutz – Regiment Sandschak		Albanian Muslims (from Kosovo and Sandžak)	4,000	Albanian Muslim unit set up in the Sandžak by SS and Police Leader Karl von Krempler
Breton SS Armed Formation		Bretons French	80	Established by the Sicherheitsdienst
British Free Corps		British PoW	54	Initially called the Legion of St. George
Caucasian-Muslim Legion		Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Karakalpaks, Tajiks, Azeris, Dagestanis, Chechens, Ingusges and Lezgins	n/a
SS East Turk Armed Formation		Turkic ethnic groups	3,000	Formed from the merging of the Turkestan unit, a Soviet Muslim formation established in January 1944.
Tatar Legions	n/a	n/a	n/a
Kaukasische Waffen-Verbände der SS	n/a	n/a	n/a

Waffen-SS volunteers and conscripts by country

Albania

Total: 6,500 to 8,000

Belgium

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

Bohemia and Moravia

Total: 77

Denmark

Total: 6,000

Estonia

Total: 20,000 officially entered in the Waffen-SS

Finland

Total: 1,180 to 3,000

Hungary

Total: 20,000

India

Total: 4,500

Italy

Total: 15,000

Latvia

Total: 80,000

Netherlands

Total: 20,000 to 25,000

Norway