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During World War II, the Waffen-SS recruited or conscripted significant numbers of non-Germans. 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 1.74 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. 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

Foreign units under SS command

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

Total: 6,000

Sweden

Total: 180

Switzerland

In total, approximately 1,300 Swiss volunteers joined the Waffen-SS.

United Kingdom

Total: 54

See also

• List of Waffen-SS units
• Non-Germans in the German armed forces during World War II
• Waffen-SS in popular culture
• Wehrmacht foreign volunteers and conscripts

Notes

1. These figures vary slightly. For instance, historian George H. Stein recorded that only 500,000 non-Germans and ethnic Germans from outside Germany, mostly from German-occupied Europe, were recruited between 1940 and 1945.
2. 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"
3. 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.
4. 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
5. Also see: Richard Rashke, Useful Enemies: America's Open-Door Policy for Nazi War Criminals, Open Road Media (2013)
6. Incorporated from Regiment SS-Westland and SS-Nordland into the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking
7. Number of Latvians serving in the Latvian Waffen SS in July 1944
8. 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.
9. Historian Rolf-Dieter Müller points out that an additional 20,000 Estonians served in SS frontier guard regiments.
10. Historian Andrejs Plakans puts this figure at 100,000.
11. See: http://publications.niod.knaw.nl/publications/Veld_SSenNederland_01.pdf
12. See: Bosse Schön, "Svenskarna som stred för Hitler" ("The Swedes who fought for Hitler"), (2000) , 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
13. 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

Citations

1. Lumans 2012, p. 223.
2. Stein 1984, p. 133.
3. Stein 1984, p. 23.
4. ^ Flaherty 2004, p. 144.
5. McNab 2009, pp. 56, 57, 66.
6. Reitlinger 1989, p. 84.
7. McNab 2009, pp. 56–66.
8. Weale 2010, pp. 201–204.
9. ^ Weale 2010, p. 204.
10. ^ Stein 1984, pp. 150, 153.
11. Koehl 2004, pp. 213–214.
12. ^ Longerich 2012, pp. 500, 674.
13. Longerich 2012, p. 769.
14. ^ Wegner 2010, p. 298.
15. ^ Kott, Bubnys & Kraft 2017, p. 162.
16. Stein 1984, pp. 172, 179.
17. Longerich 2012, pp. 611, 612.
18. Stein 1984, pp. 178–189.
19. Wegner 1990, pp. 307, 313, 325, 327–331.
20. ^ Młynarczyk et al. 2017, p. 200.
21. Stein 1984, pp. xvi, xviii, 151–164, 168–178.
22. Hale 2011, p. 324.
23. Młynarczyk et al. 2017, pp. 166–167.
24. Młynarczyk et al. 2017, p. 167.
25. ^ Plakans 2011, p. 357.
26. Stein 1984, p. 138.
27. Gutmann 2017, p. 31.
28. Flaherty 2004, pp. 155, 156.
29. Stein 1984, p. 251.
30. Avalon Project–Yale University, Judgement: The Accused Organizations.
31. Griffiths 2005, p. 144.
32. Buttar 2013, pp. 329–330.
33. Mueggenberg 2020, pp. 264–273.
34. U.S. Government 1949, pp. 174–177.
35. Mole 2012, p. 48.
36. ^ Merriam 1999, p. 4.
37. ^ Mitcham 2007, p. 189.
38. ^ Tessin 1965, p. 400.
39. ^ Merriam 1999, p. 7.
40. Estes 2015, p. 31.
41. ^ Afiero & Bujeiro 2020, p. 4.
42. Littlejohn 1979, p. 193.
43. ^ Afiero & Bujeiro 2020, p. 5.
44. ^ Littlejohn 1979, p. 194.
45. ^ Estes 2015, p. 32.
46. Bender 1971, p. 132.
47. ^ Mitcham 2007, p. 1942.
48. Gilbert 2019, p. 120.
49. Estes 2015, p. 20.
50. Estes 2015, p. 34.
51. ^ Thomas, Jurado & Pavlovic 2012, p. 23.
52. ^ Zakić 2017, p. 223.
53. ^ Gilbert 2019, pp. 242–243.
54. Tomasevich 2002, p. 77.
55. McNab 2009, p. 220.
56. ^ Zakić 2017, p. 225.
57. ^ Hetmanchuk 2019, pp. 38–42.
58. Béraud 2021, p. 103.
59. ^ McCroden & Nutter 2019, p. 122.
60. ^ Lepre 1997, p. 251.
61. ^ Zabecki 2015, p. 676.
62. Gilbert 2019, p. 243.
63. Gilbert 2019, p. 211.
64. ^ Gilbert 2019, p. 426.
65. Mitcham 2007, p. 1949.
66. ^ Manes 2023, p. 87.
67. ^ Tomasevich 2001, pp. 498–499.
68. Tomasevich 2001, pp. 496.
69. ^ Manes 2023, p. 88.
70. ^ Gilbert 2019, p. 256.
71. ^ Thomas, Jurado & Pavlovic 2012, p. 21.
72. ^ Gilbert 2019, p. 427.
73. Thomas, Jurado & Pavlovic 2012, p. 13.
74. ^ Thomas, Jurado & Pavlovic 2012, p. 14.
75. ^ Gilbert 2019, p. 255.
76. ^ Tomasevich 2002, p. 154.
77. Manes 2023, p. 90.
78. Béraud 2021, p. 102.
79. Bougarel et al. 2017, p. 256.
80. ^ Littlejohn 1994, p. 24.
81. ^ Gilbert 2019, p. 428.
82. ^ Hale 2011, p. 388.
83. ^ van Roekel 2022, p. 24.
84. ^ Gilbert 2019, p. 244.
85. Mitcham 2007, p. 94.
86. Littlejohn 1994, p. 267.
87. ^ Mitcham 2007, p. 95.
88. Gilbert 2019, p. 429.
89. Mitcham 2007, p. 96.
90. ^ Afiero & Bujeiro 2021, p. 44.
91. Afiero & Bujeiro 2021, p. 45.
92. ^ Tessin 1965, p. 20.
93. ^ Littlejohn 1979, p. 177.
94. ^ Gilbert 2019, p. 430.
95. ^ Gilbert 2019, p. 246.
96. ^ Hale 2011, pp. 390–391.
97. McNab 2009, pp. 325–326.
98. ^ Hale 2011, p. 389.
99. Mitcham 2007, p. 100.
100. ^ Rein 2011, p. 370.
101. Rein 2011, p. 375.
102. Savin 2021.
103. Tessin & Kannapin 2000, p. 105.
104. ^ Gilbert 2019, p. 432.
105. ^ Littlejohn 1994, p. 120.
106. Pencz 2010, p. 145.
107. Littlejohn 1987, p. 172.
108. Zabecki 2015, p. 709.
109. ^ Littlejohn 1987, p. 170.
110. ^ Mitcham 2007, p. 101.
111. ^ Mitcham 2007, p. 102.
112. André, André & Kohlbauer 2022, p. 155.
113. Tessin 1965, p. 21.
114. Stein 1984, p. 265.
115. ^ Odegard & Deeter 1968, p. 61.
116. ^ Béraud 2021, p. 54.
117. ^ Johansen 2016, p. 362.
118. ^ Stahel 2018, p. 329.
119. Stahel 2018, p. 334.
120. Forbes 2010, p. 55.
121. Forbes 2010, p. 62.
122. Littlejohn 1987, pp. 161, 170, 172.
123. Afiero & Bujeiro 2021, p. 19.
124. Afiero & Bujeiro 2021, p. 18.
125. ^ Stein 1984, p. 154.
126. Odegard & Deeter 1968, p. 11.
127. Pajunen & Karjalainen 2019, p. 14.
128. Westerlund 2019, p. 12.
129. Pajunen & Karjalainen 2019, p. 28.
130. Jokipii 2002, p. 158-160.
131. ^ Lappalainen 1997, p. 114–115.
132. ^ Westerlund 2010, p. 58-72.
133. ^ Kursietis & Munoz 1999, p. 61.
134. Walters 2010, p. 318.
135. ^ Bernád & Kliment 2015, p. 295.
136. ^ Hale 2011, p. 391.
137. ^ Muñoz 2001, p. 98.
138. ^ Hale 2011, p. 17.
139. ^ Hale 2011, p. 332.
140. ^ Hale 2011, p. 390.
141. ^ Christie 2003, p. 205.
142. Lloret 2020, p. 228.
143. ^ Estes 2015, p. 36.
144. Estes 2015, p. 37.
145. Estes 2015, p. 39.
146. Littlejohn 1987, p. 94.
147. ^ Littlejohn 1987, p. 102.
148. Littlejohn 1987, p. 107.
149. ^ Littlejohn 1987, p. 112.
150. van Roekel 2022, p. 23.
151. Ramet 2020, p. 73.
152. ^ Brnardic & Aralica 2016, pp. 39–40.
153. Tomasevich 2002, p. 285.
154. ^ Tomasevich 2001, p. 194.
155. Tessin 1965, p. 596.
156. Littlejohn 1994, p. 255.
157. Tessin 1965, p. 117.
158. Marković, Milovanović & Rebić 1979, p. 183.
159. Radanović 2016, p. 595.
160. ^ Littlejohn 1987, p. 184.
161. ^ Littlejohn 1994, p. 261.
162. ^ Bougarel et al. 2017, p. 266.
163. ^ Broderick 2005, pp. 5–7.
164. Littlejohn 1987, p. 185.
165. ^ Thurlow 1998, p. 168.
166. ^ Hale 2011, p. 330.
167. ^ Rubin & Schwanitz 2014, p. 149.
168. ^ McNab 2009, p. 95.
169. Stein 1984, p. 136.
170. Littlejohn 1987b, p. 238.
171. Stein 1984, pp. 136, 137.
172. ^ Müller 2012, p. 169.
173. Stein 1984, p. 161.
174. Stein 1984, p. 189.
175. Stein 1984, pp. 136–137.
176. Larsson 2015, p. 17.
177. Gutmann 2017, p. 20.

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• Mole, Richard C.M. (2012). The Baltic States from the Soviet Union to the European Union: Identity, Discourse and Power in the Post-Communist Transition of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-39497-0.
• Mueggenberg, Brent (2020). The Cossack Struggle Against Communism, 1917–1945. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-3802-7.
• Müller, Rolf-Dieter (2012). The Unknown Eastern Front: The Wehrmacht and Hitler's Foreign Soldiers. New York: I.B. Taurus. ISBN 978-1-78076-072-8.
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• Pencz, R. (2010). For the Homeland: The 31st Waffen-SS Volunteer Grenadier Division in World War II. Stackpole military history series. Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3582-7. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
• Plakans, Andrejs (2011). A Concise History of the Baltic States. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-83372-1.
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Further reading

• Hurd, Madeleine; Werther, Steffen (2016). "Retelling the Past, Inspiring the Future: Waffen-SS Commemorations and the Creation of a 'European' Far-right Counter-narrative". Patterns of Prejudice. 50 (4–5): 420–444. doi:10.1080/0031322X.2016.1243346. S2CID 151757461.
• Judah, Tim (2002). Kosovo: War and Revenge. Yale University. ISBN 978-0-300-09725-2.
• Tomasevich, Jozo (1975). War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: The Chetniks. Stanford University. ISBN 0-8047-0857-6.
• Weale, Adrian (2012). Army of Evil: A History of the SS. New York; Toronto: NAL Caliber (Penguin Group). ISBN 978-0-451-23791-0.
• Zaugg, Franziska Anna (2021). Rekrutierungen für die Waffen-SS in Südosteuropa : Ideen, Ideale und Realitäten einer Vielvölkerarmee (in German). De Gruyter. hdl:20.500.12657/52340. ISBN 978-3-11-073077-7.
• Gutmann, Martin (2013). "Debunking the Myth of the Volunteers: Transnational Volunteering in the Nazi Waffen-SS Officer Corps during the Second World War". Contemporary European History. 22 (4): 585–607. doi:10.1017/S0960777313000374. hdl:20.500.11850/319670. ISSN 0960-7773. JSTOR 43299406. S2CID 159564891.

External links

• SS veterans in Britain hold secret reunions: The Telegraph, 5 May 2002.

v t e Schutzstaffel (SS)
Branches	Allgemeine SS SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV) Waffen-SS
Leadership	Reichsführer-SS SS and police leader SS commands Allgemeine-SS regional commands
Leaders	Julius Schreck Joseph Berchtold Erhard Heiden Heinrich Himmler Karl Hanke
Main departments	Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS Command Staff Reichsführer-SS SS Main Office SS Medical Corps Head Operational Office Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) Economics and Administration Office Office of Race and Settlement (RuSHA) Main Office for Ethnic Germans (VOMI) Office of the Reich Commissioner for Germanic Resettlement (RKFDV) Courts Office Personnel Office Education Office
Ideological institutions	Ahnenerbe Das Schwarze Korps SS-Junker Schools Lebensborn
Police and security services	Uniformed police (Orpo) Schutzpolizei (Schupo) Criminal police (Kripo) Secret State Police (Gestapo) State Security Police (SiPo) SS Security Service (SD) Customs Border Guards (ZGS)
Führer protection	SS-Begleitkommando des Führers Reichssicherheitsdienst
Waffen-SS units	Paramilitary Einsatzgruppen Schutzmannschaft Byelorussian Latvian Lithuanian Ukrainian Estonian Rollkommando Hamann Arajs Kommando Selbstschutz Volksdeutscher Trawnikis Order Police battalions Hiwi Security Battalions (Greece) Waffen-SS divisions SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) Leibstandarte (LSSAH) SS Division Das Reich SS Division Totenkopf SS Polizei Division SS Division Wiking Foreign SS units Austrian SS Germanic-SS Germaansche SS in Nederland Germaansche SS in Vlaanderen Germanske SS Norge Schalburg Corps British Free Corps Kaminski Brigade Finnish Volunteer Battalion
SS-controlled enterprises	Deutsche Wirtschaftsbetriebe German Earth and Stone Works (DEST) Ostindustrie German Equipment Works Klinker-Zement Allach porcelain Apollinaris Mattoni Sudetenquell Anton Loibl

• Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts