The 2nd SS Infantry Brigade (mot.) was formed on the 15 May 1941, under the command of Karl Fischer von Treuenfeld with the 4th and 5th SS Infantry (formerly Totenkopf) Regiments and began its operational service in September in the Army Group North Rear Area, under which command it would spend its entire existence. It gradually began to incorporate foreign legions of the SS under its operational control. After the western legions departed for refit, it began operating with Latvian volunteer formations and eventually was redesignated the 2nd Latvian SS Infantry Brigade and on the 18 May 1943, and used as the cadre in the formation of the Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian) in January 1944.[1]
The 2 SS Infantry Brigade was raised on 15 May 1941 and was placed under the command of Army Group North Rear Area for the invasion of the Soviet Union. Prior to this, the role that the unit would undertake during the assault was discussed in a meeting between Henning von Tresckow and Kurt Knoblauch of the RFSS office, held just three days before hostilities between Germany and the Soviet Union began. In this meeting it was decided that the 2 SS Infantry Brigade along with the 1 SS Infantry Brigade and the SS Cavalry Brigade would be used in the rear of the advancing army to conduct rear-security operations as well as assisting in rounding up the Jewish population. A few weeks later they took part in the mass murder of the population of the occupied territories, their victims for 1941 could be measured in the tens of thousands.[2]
In 1942, the 19th and 21st Latvian Security Battalions from the Latvian Legion were attached to the Brigade. The brigade now included Dutch, Flemish and Norwegian volunteer legions.[3] In January 1943, the 19th and 21st Latvian Police Battalions were serving with the brigade; Heinrich Himmler changed the 2 SS Infantry Brigade into a Latvian Brigade and at the same time set the foundations for a Latvian division.[4] The existing 18th, 24th, and 26th Latvian Police Battalions were used to form the Brigade's 2nd SS Volunteer Regiment. They were then sent for training at Krasnoye Selo, where Himmler added the 16th Latvian Police Battalion to the brigade in February.[4]
On 18 May 1943, these Latvian Battalions along with the other three Latvian Legion battalions were incorporated into the 2 SS Infantry Brigade, and re-designated the 2 SS Latvian Brigade. The Dutch, Flemish and Norwegian formations were then removed from the brigade and the 2 SS Latvian Brigade was deployed with Army Group North Rear Area. It was placed under the command of Brigadeführer Fritz von Scholz.[citation needed]
The Waffen-SS was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary Schutzstaffel (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands.
Gottlob Christian Berger was a senior German Nazi official who held the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS and was the chief of the SS Main Office responsible for Schutzstaffel (SS) recruiting during World War II. At the post-war Nuremberg trials, the Waffen-SS – within which Berger was a senior officer – was declared to be a criminal organisation due to its major involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity. Berger was convicted as a war criminal and spent six and a half years in prison.
The Flemish Legion was a collaborationist military formation recruited among Dutch-speaking volunteers from German-occupied Belgium, notably from Flanders, during World War II. It was formed in the aftermath of the German invasion of the Soviet Union and fought on the Eastern Front in the Waffen SS alongside similar formations from other parts of German-occupied Western Europe.
The Dirlewanger Brigade, also known as the SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger (1944), or the 36th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, or The Black Hunters, was a unit of the Waffen-SS during World War II. The unit, named after its commander Oskar Dirlewanger, consisted of convicted criminals who were not expected to survive their service with the unit. Originally formed from convicted poachers in 1940 and first deployed for counter-insurgency duties against the Polish resistance movement, the brigade saw service in anti-partisan actions in German-occupied Eastern Europe.
The Walloon Legion was a unit of the German Army (Wehrmacht) and later of the Waffen-SS recruited among French-speaking collaborationists in German-occupied Belgium during World War II. It was formed in the aftermath of the German invasion of the Soviet Union and fought on the Eastern Front alongside similar formations from other parts of German-occupied Western Europe.
The Volunteer Legion Netherlands was a collaborationist military formation recruited in the German-occupied Netherlands during World War II. It was formed in the aftermath of the German invasion of the Soviet Union and fought on the Eastern Front in the Waffen SS alongside similar formations from other parts of German-occupied Western Europe. It was the largest Dutch SS unit.
The 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS was a foreign infantry division of the Waffen-SS that served alongside but was never formally part of the Wehrmacht during World War II. According to some sources, the division was under Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler's overall command but was not an integral part of the Schutzstaffel (SS). It was officially activated on 24 January 1944, and many of its soldiers had been members of the Estonian Legion and/or the 3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade, which had been fighting as part of German forces since August 1942 and October 1943 respectively. Both of the preceding formations drew their personnel from German-occupied Estonia. Shortly after its official activation, widespread conscription within Estonia was announced by the German occupying authorities. The division was formed in Estonia around a cadre comprising the 3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade, and was initially known as the 20th Estonian SS Volunteer Division.
Azerbaijani SS volunteer formations were recruited from prisoners of war, mainly from the Soviet Union and the countries annexed by it after 1939. Nazi Germany organised them to fight against the Soviet Union.
Kaminski Brigade, also known as Waffen-Sturm-Brigade RONA, was a collaborationist formation composed of Russian nationals from the territory of the Lokot Autonomy in Axis-occupied areas of the RSFSR, Soviet Union on the Eastern Front.
The 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS was an Infantry Division of the Waffen-SS during World War II. It was formed in February 1943, and together with its sister unit, the 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS formed the Latvian Legion.
The 29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS also Legione SS Italiana was an SS formation of Nazi Germany during World War II. It was originally created in the puppet Italian Social Republic in 1943 as the Italian Legion, later renamed to a brigade. The unit was upgraded to division status on 10 February 1945.
Voldemārs Veiss was a Latvian officer and prominent Nazi collaborator, who served in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany.
The Estonian Legion was a military unit within the Combat Support Forces of the Waffen-SS during World War II, mainly consisting of Estonian soldiers.
Latvian Auxiliary Police was a paramilitary force created from Latvian volunteers and conscripts by the Nazi German authorities who occupied the country in June/July 1941. It was part of the Schutzmannschaft (Shuma), native police forces organized by the Germans in occupied territories and subordinated to the Order Police. Some units of the Latvian auxiliary police were involved in the Holocaust.
The 1st SS Infantry Brigade was a unit of the German Waffen SS formed from former concentration camp guards for service in the Soviet Union behind the main front line during the Second World War. They conducted Nazi security warfare in the rear of the advancing German troops and took part in The Holocaust. The unit also filled gaps in the front line when called upon in emergencies. In 1944, the brigade was used as the cadre in the formation of the SS Division Horst Wessel.
The 3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade was a formation of the German Waffen-SS during World War II. It was formed in May 1943, when the Estonian SS Legion was upgraded. The first name chosen for the brigade was the Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade, until October 1943, when all SS brigades were numbered so it finally became the 3rd Estonian Volunteer Brigade. The brigade was expanded to a division and renamed on January 23, 1944.
Fritz Freitag was a German SS commander during the Nazi era. During World War II, he commanded the 2nd SS Infantry Brigade, the SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer, and the SS Division Galicia. Freitag committed suicide in May 1945.
During World War II, the Waffen-SS recruited significant numbers of non-Germans, both as volunteers and conscripts. In total some 500,000 non-Germans and ethnic Germans from outside Germany, mostly from German-occupied Europe, were recruited between 1940 and 1945. The units were under the control of the SS Führungshauptamt beneath Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler. Upon mobilization, the units' tactical control was given to the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht.
Among the approximately one million foreign volunteers and conscripts who served in the Wehrmacht during World War II were ethnic Belgians, Czechs, Dutch, Finns, Danes, French, Hungarians, Norwegians, Poles, Portuguese, Swedes, Swiss along with people from Great Britain, Ireland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the Balkans. At least 47,000 Spaniards served in the Blue Division.
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