Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts

The Waffen-SS (German for "Armed SS", literally "Weapon SS") was the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel ("Protective Squadron") or SS, an organ of the German Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to a force of over 39 divisions, which served alongside the regular army. It is not to be confused with units of the Allgemeine SS subordinate to the Wehrmacht. Waffen-SS was never formally part of the regular army. Although operational control of the Waffen-SS units on the front line was given to the Army's High Command, in all other respects they remained under the auspices of Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler's SS, and behind the lines these units were an instrument of political policy enforcement. It was Adolf Hitler's will that the Waffen-SS never be integrated into the Army. In 1940, Hitler gave permission for the first non-German Waffen-SS formation and by the end of the war, twenty five of the thirty eight Waffen-SS divisions were formed from foreign volunteers or conscripts, or around 60% of Waffen-SS members were non-German.

After the war, in the Nuremberg Trials, the Waffen-SS was condemned as a criminal organisation owing to its essential connection to the Party and its involvement in war crimes and the Holocaust, however Waffen-SS conscripts sworn in after 1943 were exempted from the judgement owing to their involuntary servitude.

SS Wiking
In late 1940, the creation of a multinational SS division, the SS Division Wiking, was authorised and command of the division was given to Brigadeführer Felix Steiner. Steiner organized the volunteer division, and soon advocated for an increased number of foreign units. The 5th SS Wiking was committed to combat several days after the launch of the invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa), proving itself an impressive fighting unit. It became both one of the established elite divisions and a model for what might be achieved through careful recruitment and training. Its ranks, however, never exceeded 40% "foreign" troops, relying heavily on German officers, non-commissioned officers and technical specialists to provide the major part of its strength.

Further volunteers
Soon Danish, Belgian, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and Dutch volunteer formations were committed to combat, generally proving their worth despite their limited numbers. Himmler was allowed to create his new formations, but they were to be commanded by German officers and NCOs. Beginning in 1942-43, several new formations were built up from Croats, Latvians, Estonians and Ukrainians. Himmler ordered that new Waffen-SS units formed with men of non-Germanic ethnicity were to be designated Division der SS or Division of the SS rather than SS Division. In some of these cases, the wearing of the SS runes on the collar was forbidden, with several of these formations wearing national insignia instead.

Gottlob Berger sought to gain control of all foreign volunteer forces serving alongside Germany's Wehrmacht. This put the Waffen-SS at odds with the Army, as several volunteer units had been placed under Army control, for instance volunteers of the Spanish Blue Division. In several cases, such as the ROA and the 5.SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien, he was successful, and by the last year of the war most foreign volunteers units did fall under SS command.

While several volunteer units performed poorly in combat, the majority acquitted themselves well. French and Spanish SS volunteers, along with remnants of the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland formed the final defense of the Reichstag in 1945.

Among the more unusual units to exist in the Waffen-SS was the British Free Corps, a unit composed of former British prisoners of war. It numbered around 60 soldiers, with special insigina, and considerable propaganda potential. Initial efforts at organizing the BFC were made by John Amery in the spring of 1944, and then taken over by the Waffen-SS. Amery was tried and convicted of treason by the British government after the war, and was executed in December 1945.

Additionally, there were SS units and entire SS 'Foreign Legions' consisting primarily of Indian, Arabs, Tartars/Cossacks amongst others. A special case was the SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger that unofficially accepted common criminals on probation, Gypsies (Roma) and political prisoners willing to repent. Ultimately, a significant majority (approximately 60%) of men who volunteered and fought with the Waffen-SS over the course of the war were not ethnic Germans. The Waffen-SS even made allowances for religious traditions and beliefs with specialised uniforms and insignias, as well as providing spiritual guidance and service in non-Christian religions.

Conscript divisions
Soldiers from Estonia and Latvia were not volunteers but conscripts which the German authorities had denied their wish to form national military units allied to Germany. Under such circumstances, these had either volunteered to the Wehrmacht and had later been forced into the Waffen-SS or were illegally conscripted by general mobilisations. In an April 13, 1950 message from the U.S. High Commission in Germany (HICOG), signed by General Frank McCloy to the Secretary of State, clarified the US position on the "Baltic Legions": they were not to be seen as "movements", "volunteer", or "SS". In short, they were not given the training, indoctrination, and induction normally given to SS members. Subsequently the US Displaced Persons Commission in September 1950 declared that"The Baltic Waffen-SS Units (Baltic Legions) are to be considered as separate and distinct in purpose, ideology, activities, and qualifications for membership from the German SS, and therefore the Commission holds them not to be a movement hostile to the Government of the United States." The governments of the Baltic states and the people of Germany consider these men to have been freedom fighters against communism.

List by nation and unit
An estimated 325,000 to 500,000 non-ethnic German volunteers and conscripts served in the Waffen-SS:


 * Albania: 9000+ in the
 * 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
 * SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment 14 "Skanderbeg"
 * 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian)
 * 1st Battalion of the 28th Waffen Gebirgsjäger (Mountain Infantry) Regiment of the SS (I/28)
 * 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian)
 * 50th Waffen Gebirgsjäger Regiment of the SS
 * 51st Waffen Gebirgsjäger Regiment of the SS
 * Armenia: 2000 to 4000 in the
 * Kaukasische Waffen-Verband der SS
 * Stab Kaukasischer Waffen-Verband der SS
 * Stab Waffen-Gruppe Armenien
 * Stab Waffen-Gruppe Nordkaukasus
 * Stab Waffen-Gruppe Georgien
 * Stab Waffen-Gruppe Aserbeidschan
 * Belgium: 20,000 to 22,000 Flemish in the
 * 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking
 * 23rd SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division Nederland
 * 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Nederland
 * SS-Freiwilligen-Standarte Nordwest
 * 27th SS Volunteer Division Langemarck
 * 6th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Langemarck
 * 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Wallonien
 * 5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien
 * Algemeene-SS Vlaanderen
 * General SS Flanders
 * Germanic SS in Flanders
 * Belgium: 20,000 to 22,000 Walloons in the
 * 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking
 * 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Wallonien
 * Bulgaria: 700 in the
 * Waffen Grenadier Regiment of the SS (1st Bulgarian)
 * Croatia (includes Bosnian Muslims): 20,000 in the
 * V SS Mountain Corps
 * 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
 * SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment 13 „Artur Phleps“
 * 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian)
 * 23rd Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Kama (2nd Croatian)
 * 24th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS
 * Czechoslovakia (the exact number of ethnic Slovaks and Czechs can not be determined) in the
 * 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Ukrainian)
 * Denmark: 8,000 to 12,000 in the
 * Free Corps Denmark (The Danish Legion)
 * HIPO Corps
 * Schalburg Corps
 * 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking
 * 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland
 * SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 24 Danmark
 * Estonia: 20,000 in the
 * 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian)
 * Finland: 2,500 in the
 * 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking
 * Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS
 * 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland
 * SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers
 * France: 18,000 to 22,000 in the
 * 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland
 * Fenet battalion (see: Henri Joseph Fenet)
 * 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen
 * 18th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Horst Wessel
 * 8th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade France
 * 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Wallonien
 * 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French)
 * Der bretonische Waffenverband der Waffen-SS (Bezen Perrot)
 * Georgia: 3,000 to 10,000 in the
 * SS-Waffengruppe Georgien
 * Hungary: 40,000 in the
 * 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
 * 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland
 * 25th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Hunyadi (1st Hungarian)
 * 26th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Hungarian)
 * 31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division
 * 'Szlasi' Hungarian SS Grenadier Battalion
 * 33rd Waffen Cavalry Division of the SS (3rd Hungarian)
 * 37th SS Volunteer Cavalry Division Lützow
 * India: 2,500 in the
 * Indisches Freiwilligen Infanterie Regiment 950 or "Tiger Legion"
 * Ireland: Irish Brigade, SS Jagdverband
 * Italy: 18,000 in the
 * 24th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS
 * 29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Italian) (Legione SS Italiana or Italia)
 * 1. Sturmbrigade Italienische Freiwilligen Legion
 * 31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division
 * Brizen SS Police Regiment (SS-Polizei-Regiment "Brixen")
 * Latvia: 55,000 in the
 * 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian)
 * 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian)
 * Luxembourg: 3,000+ in the
 * Conscripts of the Waffen-SS (until September 1944)
 * Volunteers of the Waffen-SS
 * Netherlands: 45,000 to 55,000 in the
 * 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland (III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps)
 * 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Ukrainian)
 * 23rd SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division Nederland
 * 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Nederland
 * SS-Freiwilligen-Standarte Nordwest
 * 34th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Landstorm Nederland
 * SS Volunteer Grenadier-Brigade Landstorm Nederland
 * SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers
 * North Caucasus: 1,000 to 2,000 in
 * SS-Waffengruppe Nordkaukasus
 * Norway: 6,000 to 15,000 in the
 * Volunteer Legion Norway (Freiwilligen-Legion Norwegen)
 * 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking
 * 6th SS Mountain Division Nord
 * SS-Skijeger-Bataljon Norge
 * 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland
 * SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 23 "Norge" (1st Norwegian)
 * SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers
 * Romania: 55,000 in the
 * 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen
 * Waffen Grenadier Regiment of the SS (1st Romanian)
 * Waffen Grenadier Regiment of the SS (2nd Romanian)"
 * SS Panzer-Zerstörer-Regiment (rumänische Nr. 2)
 * 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland
 * 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
 * 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer
 * Russian (& Belarusian): 25,000 in the
 * 29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS RONA (1st Russian)
 * Volksheer-Brigade Kaminski
 * Waffen-Sturm-Brigade RONA (7000 soldiers)
 * 30th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Belarussian)
 * Schutzmannschaft-Brigade Siegling
 * 36th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (SS-Sonderbrigade "Dirlewanger")
 * Russian (Cossack): 23,000 in the
 * XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps
 * 1st SS Cossack Cavalry Division
 * 1st Cossack Division
 * 2nd Cossack Division
 * Russian (Turkic): 12,000 in the
 * Osttürkische Waffen-Verbände der SS
 * Waffengruppe Turkestan
 * Waffengruppe Aserbeidschan (2,851 soldiers)
 * Waffengruppe Idel-Ural
 * Ostmuselmanisches SS-Regiment
 * Tatarische SS
 * Waffen-SS Mountain Brigade (Tatar No. 1) (Waffen-Gebirgs-Brigade der SS (tatarische Nr. 1)) (3518 soldiers)
 * Waffengruppe Krim
 * 36th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (SS-Sonderbrigade "Dirlewanger")
 * Aserbeidschanisches Infanterie-Bataillon I/111 (commissioned to the Dirlewanger Brigade in the sommer of 1944 for about 3 months)
 * Serbia: 10,000 in the
 * Serbian SS Volunteer Corps
 * V SS Mountain Corps
 * 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
 * 24th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS
 * Slovenia: 6,000 in the (among others)
 * 24th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS
 * Spain: 3,000 in the
 * 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland
 * Spanische-Freiwilligen-Kompanie der SS 101
 * Spanische-Freiwilligen-Kompanie der SS 102
 * 24th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS
 * 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Wallonien
 * Sweden: 500 to 1500 in
 * 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking
 * 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland
 * 3rd Mechanized Infantry Company of the SS Armoured Reconnaissance Detachment 11 (known as Swedenzug = Sweden Platoon)
 * 23rd SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division Nederland
 * SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers
 * Switzerland: 800+ in the
 * SS-Hauptamt
 * 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking
 * 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland
 * SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 11
 * 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French)
 * SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers
 * Ukraine: 20,000 in the
 * 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Ukrainian)
 * 24th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS
 * 30th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Russian)
 * Schutzmannschaft-Brigade Siegling
 * 36th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS
 * SS-Kampfgruppe "Beyersdorff"
 * United Kingdom: 1500+ in the
 * British Free Corps (ca. 1,100 soldiers)
 * SS Irish Brigade (about 400 men strong)
 * 20 to 30 from Ireland in the SS-Jagdverbände
 * 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (some known and decorated British Flakhelfer)
 * 3rd SS Division Totenkopf
 * 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland
 * SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers (several British, including at least one New Zealander)
 * United States of America: 15 to 20 in the
 * SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers and also in
 * various SS-Volunteer-Divisions (there was not an American Legion)

Post war
After the surrender, many volunteers were tried and imprisoned by their countries. In several cases, volunteers were executed. Henri Joseph Fenet, one of the last recipients of the Knight's Cross was sentenced to 20 years of forced labour and released from prison in 1959. Some were far less lucky and were shot upon capture by the French authorities. General Leclerc was famously presented with a defiant group of 11 or 12 captured 33rd SS Charlemagne men. The Free French General immediately asked them why they wore a German uniform, to which one of them replied by asking the General why he wore an American one; the Free French wore modified US Army uniforms. The group of French Waffen-SS men was then promptly executed without any form of military tribunal procedure.

Walloon renowned leader Leon Degrelle escaped to Spain, where, despite being sentenced to death in absentia by the Belgian authorities, he lived in exile until his death in 1994.

The men of the XV SS Cossack Corps found themselves in Austria at the end of the war and surrendered to British troops. Even though they were given assurances that they would not be turned over to the Soviets, they nevertheless were forcibly removed from the compound and transferred to the USSR. This event became known as the Betrayal of the Cossacks. Most of the Cossacks were executed 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. Subsequently in the spring of 1946, out of the ranks of Baltic conscripts who had surrendered to the Western allies in the previous year, a total of nine companies were formed with a mission to guard the external perimeter of the Nuremberg International Tribunal courthouse and the various depots and residences of US officers and prosecutors connected with the trial. The men were also entrusted with guarding the accused Nazi war criminals held in prison during the trial up until the day of execution.