Ostlegionen ("eastern legions"), Ost-Bataillone ("eastern battalions"), Osttruppen ("eastern troops"), and Osteinheiten ("eastern units") were units in the Army of Nazi Germany during World War II made up of personnel from the Soviet Union. [1] They were a large part of the Wehrmacht foreign volunteers and conscripts.
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Some members of the Ostlegionen units were conscripted or coerced into serving; others volunteered. Many were former Soviet personnel, recruited from prisoner of war camps. Osttruppen were frequently stationed away from front lines and used for coastal defence or rear-area activities, such as security operations, thus freeing up regular German forces for front-line service. They belonged to two distinct types of units:
Members of Osteinheiten usually faced execution or harsh terms of imprisonment, if they were captured by Soviet forces or repatriated to the USSR by the western Allies.
Ost-Bataillone wore German uniforms and equipment and were integrated into larger German formations. They began as the private initiatives of individual military commanders. Most were utilized on the Eastern Front and in the Balkans.
In 1944, a number of Ost-Bataillone were stationed in northern France, in anticipation of an Allied invasion of Western Europe. Units that fought in Normandy against Allied Operation Overlord were part of the German 243rd and 709th Static Infantry Divisions, positioned in the vicinity of the Utah, Juno and Sword invasion beaches. [2] Ost-Bataillone were also present in southern France, during the Allied landings codenamed Operation Dragoon (August 1944).
| Name of unit | Size and composition |
|---|---|
| Ost-Bataillon 664 | Composed of volunteers from Ingria. Also known as Finnische Sicherheitsgruppe 187 (Finnish Security Group 187). [3] |
| Wolgatatarische-Bataillone | Composed of Volga-Tatar and Volga-Finn volunteers. |
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| № | Name | Formation | Location of formation | Disbandment | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 658 | 181st Estonian Security Battalion | August 1941 | Northern Russia | June 1944 | It became the (Estonian) 658th Eastern Battalion on 23 October 1942. | [4] |
| 659 | 182nd Estonian Security Battalion | August 1941 | Northern Russia | June 1944 | It became the (Estonian) 659th Eastern Battalion on 23 October 1942. | [4] |
| 661 | 183rd Estonian Security Battalion | 20 August 1941 | Northern Russia | November 1944 | It became the (Russian) 661st Eastern Battalion on 23 October 1942. It was moved to southern France in November 1943. On April 19, 1944, it became the IV Battalion of the 239th Reserve Grenadier Regiment. | [4] |
| 660 | 184th Estonian Security Battalion | August 1941 | Northern Russia | June 1944 | It became the (Estonian) 660th Eastern Battalion on 23 October 1942. | [4] |
| 662 | 185th Estonian Security Battalion | September 1941 | Northern Russia | It became the (Russian) 662nd Eastern Battalion on 23 October 1942. It was moved to Denmark in December 1943. On April 30, 1944, it became the III (Russian) Battalion of the 712th Grenadier Regiment. It re-became the 662nd (Russian) Eastern Battalion in September 1944. In April 1945, it became the 1605th (Russian) Grenadier Regiment and was stationed in Denmark. | [4] | |
| 134 | 134th Hetman Battalion | 1942 | Central Russia | 27 November 1943 | The unit became the 134th Volunteer Security Battalion in 1942. On 18 November 1942, it was renamed the 134th Eastern Battalion and was still located in central Russia. | [4] |
| 602 | Dnieper Eastern Combat Battalion | 29 April 1942 | Central Russia | It became the 602nd Dnieper Eastern Battalion on 23 October 1942. It was moved to northern France on 5 November 1943. It was destroyed in western France on 17 August 1944. | [4] | |
| 601 | Berezina Eastern Combat Battalion | 1 June 1942 | Central Russia | It became the 601st Berezina Eastern Battalion on 23 October 1942. It became the 601st Eastern Engineer Bridging Battalion in May 1943 while in southern France. Renamed the 601st Russian Engineer Bridging Battalion on 13 July 1944. It was transferred to the 600th Russian Infantry Division in Western Germany in October 1944. | [4] | |
| 551 | 6th Ukrainian Battalion | 17 June 1942 | Southern Russia | It became the 551st Eastern Battalion on 30 November 1942. Renamed the 651st Eastern Supply Battalion on 1 February 1944. In 1945, it became the 651st Ukrainian Supply Battalion while in western Germany. | [4] | |
| 406 | 6th Volunteer Battalion | June 1942 | Central Russia | It became the 406th Eastern Battalion on 1 November 1942. It was moved to southern France on 28 September 1943. It was renamed the 406th Russian Battalion on 6 July 1944. It was in Northern Italy in September 1944. | [4] | |
| 308 | 23rd Volunteer Battalion | June 1942 | Central Russia | It became the 308th Eastern Battalion on 8 November 1942. It was renamed the 308th Russian Battalion while in German-occupied Poland in late 1944. It was transferred to the 600th Russian Infantry Division in western Germany in February 1945. | [4] | |
| 429 | 39th Volunteer Battalion | June 1942 | Central Russia | October 1944 | It became the 439th Eastern Battalion on 8 November 1942. It was sent to Northern France in October 1943. On 19 April 1944, it was made the IV (Eastern) Battalion of the 726th Grenadier Regiment. It was in eastern France in August 1944. | [4] |
| 446 | 46th Volunteer Battalion | June 1942 | Central Russia | May 1944 | It became the 446th Eastern Battalion on 8 November 1942. It was reformed on 15 January 1943. | [4] |
| 618 | People's Militia Battalion Trutschevsk | 21 June 1942 | Central Russia | It was also known as the People's Defence Battalion Trutschevsk. On 18 November 1942, it was renamed the 618th Eastern Battalion. It was in Belarus in October 1943, but was moved to northern France in November that same year. The unit was reformed as a motorized battalion on 19 April 1944. It was transferred to the 600th Russian Infantry Division in western Germany in November 1944. | [4] |
| Name of unit | Size and composition |
|---|---|
| Russian Liberation Army | Known as the "Vlasov Army"; a corps-sized formation composed mostly of Soviet citizens under the command of the former Soviet general Andrey Vlasov. |
| 1st SS Cossack Cavalry Division | Cavalry division made up of Cossack volunteers; transferred in 1945 from the Wehrmacht to the Waffen-SS. |
| Georgian Legion | 12 battalions, consisting of ethnic Georgians. |
| Armenian Legion | Eleven battalions consisting of ethnic Armenians. |
| Azerbaijani Legion | Initially, Azerbaijanis were included into Kaukasisch-Mohammedanische Legion until 1942 when a separate legion composed of only Azerbaijanis was formed. |
| Caucasian-Mohammedan Legion | Composed of Circassians, Daghestanis, Chechens, Ingushes, and Lezghins. |
| North Caucasian and Mountain-Caucasian legions | Consisted of Abkhazians, Circassians, Kabardians, Balkars, Karachais, Chechens, Ingushes, Daghestanis, Kurds, Talyshis, and North Ossetians, separated from the Caucasian-Mohammedan Legion in accordance with the order of 19 February 1942. |
| Turkestan Legion | Eight battalions, composed of Turkmens, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Tajiks and other Central Asian nationalities; saw action as the 162nd Turkestan Division, in Yugoslavia and Italy. |
| Idel Ural Legion | Composed of volunteers from Idel-Ural peoples including Tatars, Bashkirs, Chuvashes, Udmurts, and Mordvins. |
| Freiwilligen-Stamm-Division (Regular Volunteer Division) | Established in 1944, it consisted of Turkic, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Tatar, Cossack, Armenian and other Soviet volunteers, spread over five regiments. Involved in anti-partisan operations against the French Resistance. Known for the Dortan massacre in July 1944. [5] [6] [7] |
The Russian Liberation Army was a collaborationist formation, primarily composed of Russians, that fought under German command during World War II. The army was led by Andrey Vlasov, a Red Army general who had defected, and members of the army are often referred to as Vlasovtsy (Власовцы). In 1944, it became known as the Armed Forces of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia.
Hiwi, the German abbreviation of the word Hilfswilliger or, in English, auxiliary volunteer, designated, during World War II, a member of different kinds of voluntary auxiliary forces made up of recruits indigenous to the territories of Eastern Europe occupied by Nazi Germany. Adolf Hitler reluctantly agreed to allow recruitment of Soviet citizens in the Rear Areas during Operation Barbarossa. In a short period of time, many of them were moved to combat units.
The 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland was a Waffen-SS division primarily raised with Germans and ethnic Germans from Romania, but also foreign volunteers from Northern and Western Europe. It saw action, as part of Army Group North, in the Independent State of Croatia and on the Eastern Front during World War II.
Non-Germans in the German armed forces during World War II were volunteers, conscripts and those otherwise induced to join who served in Nazi Germany's armed forces during World War II. In German war-time propaganda those who volunteered for service were referred to as Freiwillige ("volunteers"). At the same time, many non-Germans in the German armed forces were conscripts or recruited from prisoner-of-war camps.
The Georgian Legion was a military formation of Nazi Germany during World War II, composed of ethnic Georgians. It was formed by Georgian émigrés and prisoners of war; its declared aim was the eventual restoration of Georgia's independence from the Soviet Union under Nazi Party's doctrine and supervision. Some components of the Georgian Legion fell under the operational control of Waffen-SS.
The 709th Static Infantry Division was a German Army infantry division in World War II. It was raised in May 1941 and used for occupation duties during the German occupation of France in World War II until the Allied invasion. It was on the Normandy coast when the invasion occurred and so fought in the Battle of Normandy. The division was trapped in the Cotentin Peninsula and destroyed in the defense of Cherbourg.
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 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.
The Armenian Legion was a military unit in the German Army during World War II. It primarily consisted of Soviet Armenians, who wanted to fight the Soviets for an independent Armenia and commanded by General Drastamat Kanayan.
The Latvian Legion was a formation of the Nazi German Waffen-SS during World War II. Created in 1943, it consisted primarily of ethnic Latvians. The legion consisted of two divisions of the Waffen-SS: the 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, and the 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS. The 15th Division was administratively subordinated to the VI SS Corps, but operationally it was in reserve or at the disposal of the XXXXIII Army Corps, 16th Army, Army Group North. The 19th Division held out in the Courland Pocket until May 1945, the close of World War II, when it was among the last of Nazi Germany's forces to surrender.
The Indian Legion, officially the Free India Legion or 950th (Indian) Infantry Regiment, was a military unit raised during the Second World War initially as part of the German Army and later the Waffen-SS from August 1944. Intended to serve as a liberation force for British-ruled India, it was made up of Indian prisoners of war and expatriates in Europe. Due to its origins in the Indian independence movement, it was known also as the "Tiger Legion", and the "Azad Hind Fauj". As part of the Waffen-SS it was known as the Indian Volunteer Legion of the Waffen-SS.
A military volunteer is a person who enlists in military service by free will, and is not a conscript, mercenary, or a foreign legionnaire. Volunteers sometimes enlist to fight in the armed forces of a foreign country, for example during the Spanish Civil War. Military volunteers are essential for the operation of volunteer militaries. Many armies, including the U.S. Army, formerly distinguished between "Important Volunteers" enlisted during a war, and "regulars" who served on long-term basis.
The Polish Armed Forces in the East, also called Polish Army in the USSR, were the Polish military forces established in the Soviet Union during World War II.
The Azerbaijani Legion was one of the foreign units of the Wehrmacht. It was formed in December 1941 on the Eastern Front as the Kaukasische-Mohammedanische Legion and was re-designated 1942 into two separate legions, the North Caucasian legion and the Azerbaijani legion. It was made up mainly of former Azerbaijani POW volunteers but also volunteers from other peoples in the area. It was part of the Ostlegionen. It was used to form the 162nd (Turkistan) Infanterie-Division of the Wehrmacht in 1943. similar to other Ostlegionen, it was organised to replenish the dwindling German manpower on the Eastern front and to "save the German blood at the front"
The 162nd Turkistan Division was a military division that was formed by the German Army during the Second World War. It drew its men from prisoners of war who came from the Caucasus and from Turkic lands further east.
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.
Luftwaffe construction units were established in 1939 from Reichsarbeitsdienst units transferred to the Luftwaffe, and reinforced with technically competent older conscripts, later also with prisoners of war and foreign volunteers (Hiwis). The main task was the construction and maintenance of military air bases. In 1944 the bulk of the construction units were transferred to the Organization Todt; those remaining under Luftwaffe control becoming Luftwaffe pioneers.
The Freiwilligen-Stamm-Division was a Wehrmacht infantry division during World War II. It was created on 1 February 1944 in Southern France. The Division was a so-called Ostlegion, which means its personnel was made up from volunteers from the Soviet Union. Specifically Freiwilligen-Stamm-Division consisted of Turkic, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Tartar, Cossack, Armenian and other Soviet volunteers, spread over five regiments. The primary purpose of the division were anti-partisan operations against the French Resistance.
1st SS Special Regiment Waräger was a collaborationist formation, primarily composed of Russians, that fought under German command during World War II.
