Collaborationism was common during the Great Patriotic War. According to historians, up to one and a half million Soviet citizens defected to the enemy’s side. Many of them were representatives of the Cossacks.
Uncomfortable topic
Domestic historians are reluctant to raise the issue of the Cossacks who fought on Hitler’s side. Even those who touched upon this topic tried to emphasize that the tragedy of the Cossacks of World War II was closely intertwined with the Bolshevik genocide of the 20s and 30s. In fairness, it should be noted that the overwhelming majority of the Cossacks, despite claims against the Soviet regime, remained loyal to their Motherland. Moreover, many Cossack emigrants took an anti-fascist position, taking part in resistance movements in various countries.
Among those who swore allegiance to Hitler were Astrakhan, Kuban, Terek, Ural, and Siberian Cossacks. But the overwhelming majority of collaborators among the Cossacks were still residents of the Don lands.
In the territories occupied by the Germans, Cossack police battalions were created, whose main task was to fight the partisans. So, in September 1942, near the village of Pshenichny, Stanichno-Lugansk district, Cossack policemen, together with Gestapo punitive detachments, succeeded in defeating a partisan detachment under the command of Ivan Yakovenko.
Cossacks often acted as guards for Red Army prisoners of war. At the German commandant's offices there were also Cossack hundreds who performed police tasks. Two such hundreds of Don Cossacks were stationed in the village of Lugansk and two more in Krasnodon.
For the first time, the proposal to form Cossack units to fight partisans was put forward by German counterintelligence officer Baron von Kleist. In October 1941, Quartermaster General of the German General Staff Eduard Wagner, having studied this proposal, allowed the commanders of the rear areas of Army Groups North, Center and South to form Cossack units from prisoners of war for use in the fight against the partisan movement.
Why did the formation of Cossack units not encounter opposition from NSDAP functionaries, and, moreover, was encouraged by the German authorities? Historians answer that this is due to the doctrine of the Fuhrer, who did not classify the Cossacks as Russians, considering them a separate people - descendants of the Ostrogoths.
Oath
One of the first to join the Wehrmacht was the Cossack unit under the command of Kononov. On August 22, 1941, Red Army Major Ivan Kononov announced his decision to go over to the enemy and invited everyone to join him. Thus, the major, the officers of his headquarters and several dozen Red Army soldiers of the regiment were captured. There, Kononov recalled that he was the son of a Cossack esaul, hanged by the Bolsheviks, and expressed his readiness to cooperate with the Nazis.
The Don Cossacks, who defected to us to the side of the Reich, did not miss the opportunity and tried to demonstrate their loyalty to the Hitler regime. On October 24, 1942, a “Cossack parade” took place in Krasnodon, in which the Don Cossacks showed their devotion to the Wehrmacht command and the German administration.
After a prayer service for the health of the Cossacks and the imminent victory of the German army, a letter of greeting to Adolf Hitler was read, which, in particular, said: “We, the Don Cossacks, are the remnants of survivors of the cruel Jewish-Stalinist terror, fathers and grandsons, sons and brothers of those killed in a fierce struggle with the Bolsheviks, we send you, the great commander, the brilliant statesman, the builder of the New Europe, the Liberator and friend of the Don Cossacks, our warm Don Cossack greetings!”
Many Cossacks, including those who did not share admiration for the Fuhrer, nevertheless welcomed the Reich's policy aimed at opposing the Cossacks and Bolshevism. “No matter what the Germans are, it can’t get any worse,” such statements were heard very often.
Organization
General leadership for the formation of Cossack units was entrusted to the head of the Main Directorate of Cossack Troops of the Imperial Ministry for the Eastern Occupied Territories of Germany, General Pyotr Krasnov.
“Cossacks! Remember, you are not Russians, you are Cossacks, an independent people. The Russians are hostile to you,” the general never tired of reminding his subordinates. – Moscow has always been an enemy of the Cossacks, crushing them and exploiting them. Now the time has come when we, the Cossacks, can create our own life independent of Moscow.”
As Krasnov noted, widespread cooperation between the Cossacks and the Nazis began already in the fall of 1941. In addition to the 102nd volunteer Cossack unit of Kononov, a Cossack reconnaissance battalion of the 14th Tank Corps, a Cossack reconnaissance squadron of the 4th security scooter regiment and a Cossack sabotage detachment under the German special services were also created at the headquarters of the rear command of Army Group Center.
In addition, from the end of 1941, hundreds of Cossacks began to regularly appear in the German army. In the summer of 1942, the cooperation of the Cossacks with the German authorities entered a new phase. From that time on, large Cossack formations - regiments and divisions - began to be created as part of the troops of the Third Reich.
However, one should not think that all the Cossacks who went over to the side of the Wehrmacht remained loyal to the Fuhrer. Very often, Cossacks, individually or in entire units, went over to the side of the Red Army or joined the Soviet partisans.
An interesting incident occurred in the 3rd Kuban Regiment. One of the German officers sent to the Cossack unit, while reviewing a hundred, called out a Cossack he did not like for some reason. The German first scolded him sternly and then hit him in the face with his glove.
The offended Cossack silently took out his saber and hacked the officer to death. The rushing German authorities immediately formed a hundred: “Whoever did this, step forward!” The whole hundred stepped forward. The Germans thought about it and decided to attribute the death of their officer to the partisans.
Numbers
How many Cossacks fought on the side of Nazi Germany during the entire period of the war?
According to the order of the German command dated June 18, 1942, all prisoners of war who were Cossacks by origin and considered themselves such were to be sent to a camp in the city of Slavuta. By the end of June, 5,826 people were concentrated in the camp. It was decided to begin the formation of Cossack units from this contingent.
By mid-1943, the Wehrmacht included about 20 Cossack regiments of varying strengths and a large number of small units, the total number of which reached 25 thousand people.
When the Germans began to retreat in 1943, hundreds of thousands of Don Cossacks and their families moved with the troops. According to experts, the number of Cossacks exceeded 135,000 people. After the end of the war, a total of 50 thousand Cossacks were detained by the Allied forces on Austrian territory and transferred to the Soviet zone of occupation. Among them was General Krasnov.
Researchers estimate that at least 70,000 Cossacks served in the Wehrmacht, Waffen-SS units and auxiliary police during the war, most of whom were Soviet citizens who defected to Germany during the occupation.
According to historian Kirill Alexandrov, approximately 1.24 million citizens of the USSR performed military service on the side of Germany in 1941-1945: among them, 400 thousand were Russians, including 80 thousand in Cossack formations. Political scientist Sergei Markedonov suggests that among these 80 thousand, only 15-20 thousand were not Cossacks by origin.
Most of the Cossacks extradited by the allies received long sentences in the Gulag, and the Cossack elite, who sided with Nazi Germany, were sentenced to death by hanging by the verdict of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR.
Anatoly Lemysh 02/22/2011 2017
Russian SS corps and divisions
Russian SS corps and divisions
15th (Cossack) SS Cavalry Corps
29th SS Grenadier Division
30th SS Grenadier Division
1001st Abwehr Grenadier Regiment
Even the Nazis were shocked by the “exploits” of the Russian SS men from the 29th Division during the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising - at the same time when other Russian soldiers, in Red Army uniforms, for two months indifferently watched from the opposite bank of the Vistula the agony of the doomed city. The Russian 29th SS Division earned such an odious reputation that the Germans were forced to disband it.
Soviet propaganda resorted to any lie in order to disown the glaring fact: more than a million Soviet citizens participated in the fighting on the side of Germany. This corresponded to the staff strength of approximately 100 rifle divisions
So, in Russia, with its traditional cult of patriotism, after twenty years of Bolshevik rule, several times more citizens fought on the side of the external aggressor than in all the White Guard armies combined. The centuries-old history of the country, and indeed the history of wars in general, has never seen anything like this. Nothing even remotely similar happened in any other country participating in World War II.
This is what politicians and journalists who are trying to present Stalinism as almost a legitimate form of existence of the Russian state need to be reminded of more often.
By the end of 1942, Russian battalions with the numbers:
207,263,268,281,285,308,406,412,427,432,439,441,446,447,448,449,456,510,516,517,561,581,582,601,602,603,604,605,606,607,608,609,610,611,612,613,614,615,616,617,618,619,620,621,626,627,628,629,630,632,633,634,635,636,637,638,639,640,641,642,643,644,645,646,647,648,649,650,653,654,656,661,662,663,664,665,666,667,668,669,674,675,681.
Only after the defeat at Stalingrad did the German leadership begin to form volunteer SS divisions, and by the beginning of 1944, the Ukrainian, Lithuanian and two Estonian Waffen SS divisions were formed.
Maybe stop talking about the Galicia division in 1944, when back in 1942 Russian SS battalions fought against us?
Stalin’s telegram after the end of the Polish campaign read: “The friendship between Germany and the Soviet Union, based on jointly shed blood, has the prospect of being long and lasting.”
Before that, in Russia, a new monument to Joseph Vissarionovich was recently erected (although it is still in Yakutia), I think that as the “plough is swallowing”, then they will be closer to the Red Eye...
But it’s rare to guess that the USSR itself, right up to the beginning of the Second World War, “closely resembles the National-Socialist Great Britain, which is under the wire of Adolf Hitler”
From V. Molotov’s speech in the Kremlin April 1940 We convey the most heartfelt congratulations of the Soviet government on the magnificent success of the German Wehrmacht. Guderian's tanks broke through to the sea at Aberville using Soviet fuel, the German bombs that leveled Rotterdam were filled with Soviet pyroxylin, and the shells of the bullets that hit the British soldiers retreating to the boats at Dunkirk were cast from a Soviet copper-nickel alloy. .
There is no way that the people can return from the war. 60 (sixty) years since BBB ended. Ukraine has been an independent power for only 14 (fourteen) years. How did the warriors “celebrate” the country in 40-45 years? Why did they still fight for her?
The Vlasovites should not be perceived as a national movement; they are rather an internal opposition to the Stalinist regime. We should look for analogies in the Baltic states and Western Belarus. There, as in Western Ukraine, opposition to totalitarianism was strengthened by the goals of national self-determination, especially in the Baltic states.
COSSACK UNITS 1941-1943
The appearance of Cossack units in the Wehrmacht was greatly facilitated by the reputation of the Cossacks as irreconcilable fighters against Bolshevism, which they won during the Civil War. In the early autumn of 1941, from the headquarters of the 18th Army, the General Staff of the Ground Forces received a proposal to form special units from the Cossacks to fight Soviet partisans, initiated by army counterintelligence officer Baron von Kleist. The proposal received support, and on October 6, the Quartermaster General of the General Staff, Lieutenant General E. Wagner, allowed the commanders of the rear areas of Army Groups “North”, “Center” and “South” to form by November 1, 1941, with the consent of the relevant SS and police chiefs , - as an experiment - Cossack units from prisoners of war to use them in the fight against the partisans.
The first of these units was organized in accordance with the order of the commander of the rear region of Army Group Center, General von Schenkendorff, dated October 28, 1941. It was a Cossack squadron under the command of Red Army Major I.N., who had recently defected to the German side. Kononova. During the year, the command of the rear area formed 4 more squadrons and by September 1942, under the command of Kononov there was the 102nd (from October - 600th) Cossack division (1, 2, 3rd cavalry squadrons, 4, 5, 6th Plastun company, machine gun company, mortar and artillery batteries). The total strength of the division was 1,799 people, including 77 officers; It was armed with 6 field guns (76.2 mm), 6 anti-tank guns (45 mm), 12 mortars (82 mm), 16 heavy machine guns and a large number of light machine guns, rifles and machine guns (mostly Soviet-made) . Throughout 1942-1943. The division's units waged an intense fight against the partisans in the areas of Bobruisk, Mogilev, Smolensk, Nevel and Polotsk.
From the Cossack hundreds formed at the army and corps headquarters of the German 17th Army, by order of June 13, 1942, the Cossack cavalry regiment “Platov” was formed. It consisted of 5 cavalry squadrons, a heavy weapons squadron, an artillery battery and a reserve squadron. Wehrmacht Major E. Thomsen was appointed commander of the regiment. From September 1942, the regiment was used to guard the restoration of the Maikop oil fields, and at the end of January 1943 it was transferred to the Novorossiysk area, where it guarded the sea coast and at the same time participated in the operations of German and Romanian troops against partisans. In the spring of 1943, he defended the “Kuban bridgehead,” repelling Soviet naval landings northeast of Temryuk, until at the end of May he was removed from the front and withdrawn to the Crimea.
The Cossack cavalry regiment “Jungschultz”, formed in the summer of 1942 as part of the 1st Tank Army of the Wehrmacht, bore the name of its commander, Lieutenant Colonel I. von Jungschultz. Initially, the regiment had only two squadrons, one of which was purely German, and the second consisted of Cossack defectors. Already at the front, the regiment included two hundred Cossacks from local residents, as well as a Cossack squadron formed in Simferopol and then transferred to the Caucasus. As of December 25, 1942, the regiment numbered 1,530 people, including 30 officers, 150 non-commissioned officers and 1,350 privates, and was armed with 6 light and heavy machine guns, 6 mortars, 42 anti-tank rifles, rifles and machine guns. Beginning in September 1942, the Jungschultz regiment operated on the left flank of the 1st Tank Army in the Achikulak-Budennovsk area, taking an active part in battles against the Soviet cavalry. After the order of January 2, 1943 for a general retreat, the regiment retreated to the northwest in the direction of the village of Yegorlykskaya until it united with units of the 4th Tank Army of the Wehrmacht. Subsequently, he was subordinated to the 454th Security Division and transferred to the rear area of the Don Army Group.
In accordance with the order of June 18, 1942, all prisoners of war who were Cossacks by origin and considered themselves such were to be sent to the city of Slavuta. By the end of the month, 5826 people were already concentrated here, and a decision was made to form a Cossack corps and organize the corresponding headquarters. Since there was an acute shortage of senior and middle command personnel among the Cossacks, former Red Army commanders who were not Cossacks began to be recruited into Cossack units. Subsequently, the 1st Cossack School, named after Ataman Count Platov, was opened at the headquarters of the formation, as well as a non-commissioned officer school.
From the available Cossacks, first of all, the 1st Ataman Regiment was formed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Baron von Wolf and a special fifty, intended to carry out special tasks in the Soviet rear. After checking the arriving reinforcements, the formation of the 2nd Life Cossack and 3rd Don Regiments began, and after them the 4th and 5th Kuban, 6th and 7th Combined Cossack Regiments. On August 6, 1942, the formed Cossack units were transferred from the Slavutinsky camp to Shepetovka to barracks specially designated for them.
Over time, the work on organizing Cossack units in Ukraine acquired a systematic character. The Cossacks who found themselves in German captivity were concentrated in one camp, from which, after appropriate processing, they were sent to reserve units, and from there they were transferred to the formed regiments, divisions, detachments and hundreds. Cossack units were initially used exclusively as auxiliary troops to guard prisoner of war camps. However, after they proved their suitability for performing a variety of tasks, their use took on a different character. Most of the Cossack regiments formed in Ukraine were involved in the protection of roads and railways, other military installations, as well as in the fight against the partisan movement in Ukraine and Belarus.
Many Cossacks joined the German army when the advancing Wehrmacht units entered the territory of the Cossack regions of the Don, Kuban and Terek. On July 25, 1942, immediately after the Germans occupied Novocherkassk, a group of Cossack officers came to the representatives of the German command and expressed their readiness “with all their strength and knowledge to help the valiant German troops in the final defeat of Stalin’s henchmen,” and in September in Novocherkassk, with the sanction of the occupation authorities, they gathered Cossack gathering, at which the headquarters of the Don Army was elected (since November 1942 it was called the headquarters of the Campaign Ataman) led by Colonel S.V. Pavlov, who began organizing Cossack units to fight against the Red Army.
According to the order of the headquarters, all Cossacks capable of carrying weapons were to report to the collection points and register. The village atamans were obliged to register Cossack officers and Cossacks within three days and select volunteers for the units being organized. Each volunteer could record his last rank in the Russian Imperial Army or in the White armies. At the same time, the atamans had to provide volunteers with combat horses, saddles, sabers and uniforms. Armament for the formed units was allocated in agreement with the German headquarters and commandant's offices.
In November 1942, shortly before the start of the Soviet counter-offensive at Stalingrad, the German command gave permission for the formation of Cossack regiments in the Don, Kuban and Terek regions. Thus, from the volunteers of the Don villages in Novocherkassk, the 1st Don Regiment was organized under the command of Yesaul A.V. Shumkov and the Plastun battalion, which formed the Cossack group of the Marching Ataman, Colonel S.V. Pavlova. The 1st Sinegorsk Regiment was also formed on the Don, consisting of 1,260 officers and Cossacks under the command of military foreman (former sergeant) Zhuravlev. From the Cossack hundreds formed in the villages of the Uman department of the Kuban, under the leadership of military foreman I.I. Salomakha, the formation of the 1st Kuban Cossack cavalry regiment began, and on the Terek, on the initiative of military foreman N.L. Kulakov - 1st Volga Regiment of the Terek Cossack Army. Cossack regiments organized on the Don in January - February 1943 took part in heavy battles against the advancing Soviet troops on the Seversky Donets, near Bataysk, Novocherkassk and Rostov. Covering the retreat to the west of the main forces of the German army, these units steadfastly repelled the onslaught of a superior enemy and suffered heavy losses, and some of them were completely destroyed.
Cossack units were formed by the command of army rear areas (2nd and 4th field armies), corps (43rd and 59th) and divisions (57th and 137th infantry, 203, 213, 403, 444 and 454 th security guards). In tank corps, such as the 3rd (Cossack motorized company) and 40th (1st and 2nd/82nd Cossack squadrons under the command of Podesaul M. Zagorodny), they were used as auxiliary reconnaissance detachments. In the 444th and 454th security divisions, two Cossack divisions of 700 sabers each were formed. As part of the 5,000-strong German cavalry unit “Boselager,” created for security service in the rear area of Army Group Center, 650 Cossacks served, some of them making up a squadron of heavy weapons. Cossack units were also created as part of the German satellite armies operating on the Eastern Front. At least, it is known that a Cossack detachment of two squadrons was formed under the Savoy cavalry group of the Italian 8th Army. In order to achieve proper operational interaction, it was practiced to combine individual units into larger formations. Thus, in November 1942, four Cossack battalions (622, 623, 624 and 625, previously comprising the 6, 7 and 8 regiments), a separate motorized company (638) and two artillery batteries were united into the 360th Cossack regiment led by the Baltic German Major E.V. von Rentelnom.
By April 1943, the Wehrmacht included about 20 Cossack regiments, each numbering from 400 to 1000 people, and a large number of small units, totaling up to 25 thousand soldiers and officers. The most reliable of them were formed from volunteers in the villages of the Don, Kuban and Terek or from defectors from German field formations. The personnel of such units were mainly represented by natives of the Cossack regions, many of whom fought the Bolsheviks during the Civil War or were subjected to repression by the Soviet authorities in the 1920s and 30s, and therefore had a vested interest in the fight against the Soviet regime. At the same time, in the ranks of the units formed in Slavuta and Shepetovka, there were many random people who called themselves Cossacks only in order to escape from the prisoner of war camps and thereby save their lives. The reliability of this contingent was always in question, and the slightest difficulties seriously affected its morale and could provoke a switch to the enemy’s side.
In the fall of 1943, some Cossack units were transferred to France, where they were used to guard the Atlantic Wall and in the fight against local partisans. Their fate was different. Thus, von Renteln’s 360th regiment, stationed battalion-by-battalion along the coast of the Bay of Biscay (by this time it had been renamed the Cossack Fortress Grenadier Regiment), in August 1944 was forced to fight a long way to the German border through territory occupied by partisans. The 570th Cossack battalion was sent against the Anglo-Americans who landed in Normandy and surrendered in full force on the first day. The 454th Cossack Cavalry Regiment, blocked by units of French regular troops and partisans in the town of Pontallier, refused to capitulate and was almost completely destroyed. The same fate befell the 82nd Cossack division of M. Zagorodny in Normandy.
At the same time, most of those formed in 1942-1943. In the cities of Slavuta and Shepetovka, Cossack regiments continued to operate against partisans on the territory of Ukraine and Belarus. Some of them were reorganized into police battalions, bearing the numbers 68, 72, 73 and 74. Others were defeated in the winter battles of 1943/44 in Ukraine, and their remnants were absorbed into various units. In particular, the remnants of the 14th Combined Cossack Regiment, defeated in February 1944 near Tsumanya, were included in the 3rd Cavalry Brigade of the Wehrmacht, and the 68th Cossack Police Battalion in the fall of 1944 ended up as part of the 30th Grenadier Division of the SS troops (1st Belarusian), sent to the Western Front.
After the experience of using Cossack units at the front proved their practical value, the German command decided to create a large Cossack cavalry unit within the Wehrmacht. On November 8, 1942, Colonel G. von Pannwitz, a brilliant cavalry commander who also had a good command of Russian, was appointed at the head of the formation that had yet to be formed. The Soviet offensive at Stalingrad prevented the implementation of the plan to form a formation already in November, and it was possible to begin its implementation only in the spring of 1943 - after the withdrawal of German troops to the line of the Mius River and the Taman Peninsula and the relative stabilization of the front. The Cossack units that retreated along with the German army from the Don and the North Caucasus were collected in the Kherson region and replenished with Cossack refugees. The next stage was the consolidation of these “irregular” units into a separate military unit. Initially, four regiments were formed: 1st Don, 2nd Terek, 3rd Combined Cossack and 4th Kuban with a total strength of up to 6,000 people.
On April 21, 1943, the German command gave the order to organize the 1st Cossack Cavalry Division, and therefore the formed regiments were transferred to the Milau (Mlawa) training ground, where Polish cavalry equipment warehouses had been located since pre-war times. The best of the front-line Cossack units also arrived here, such as the “Platov” and “Jungschultz” regiments, Wolf’s 1st Ataman Regiment and Kononov’s 600th Division. Created without taking into account the military principle, these units were disbanded, and their personnel were reduced to regiments according to their affiliation with the Don, Kuban and Terek Cossack troops. The exception was Kononov's division, which was included in the division as a separate regiment. The creation of the division was completed on July 1, 1943, when von Pannwitz, promoted to the rank of Major General, was confirmed as its commander.
The finally formed division included a headquarters with a convoy hundred, a field gendarmerie group, a motorcycle communications platoon, a propaganda platoon and a brass band, two Cossack cavalry brigades - the 1st Don (1st Don, 2nd Siberian and 4th Kuban regiments) and the 2nd Caucasian (3rd Kuban, 5th Don and 6th Terek regiments), two horse artillery divisions (Don and Kuban), a reconnaissance detachment, a sapper battalion, a communications department, logistics units (all divisional units were numbered 55).
Each of the regiments consisted of two cavalry divisions (in the 2nd Siberian Regiment the 2nd Division was scooter, and in the 5th Donskoy - Plastun) of three squadrons, machine gun, mortar and anti-tank squadrons. The regiment numbered 2,000 people, including 150 German personnel. It was armed with 5 anti-tank guns (50 mm), 14 battalion (81 mm) and 54 company (50 mm) mortars, 8 heavy and 60 MG-42 light machine guns, German carbines and machine guns. In addition to staff, the regiments were given batteries of 4 field guns (76.2 mm). Horse artillery divisions had 3 batteries of 75-mm cannons (200 people and 4 guns each), a reconnaissance detachment - 3 scooter squadrons from among German personnel, a squadron of young Cossacks and a penal squadron, an engineer battalion - 3 sapper and engineer-construction squadrons , and the communications division - 2 squadrons of telephone operators and 1 radio communications squadron.
On November 1, 1943, the strength of the division was 18,555 people, including 3,827 German lower ranks and 222 officers, 14,315 Cossacks and 191 Cossack officers. All headquarters, special and rear units were staffed with German personnel. All regiment commanders (except I.N. Kononov) and divisions (except two) were also Germans, and each squadron included 12-14 German soldiers and non-commissioned officers in business positions. At the same time, the division was considered the most “Russified” of the Wehrmacht’s regular formations: the commanders of the combat cavalry units - squadrons and platoons - were Cossacks, and all commands were given in Russian. In Mokovo, not far from the Milau training ground, a Cossack training reserve regiment was formed under the command of Colonel von Bosse, numbered 5th in the general numbering of spare parts of the eastern troops. The regiment did not have a permanent composition and numbered at different times from 10 to 15 thousand Cossacks, who constantly arrived from the Eastern Front and occupied territories and, after appropriate training, were distributed among the regiments of the division. The training reserve regiment had a non-commissioned officer school that trained personnel for combat units. The School of Young Cossacks was also organized here - a kind of cadet corps, where several hundred teenagers who had lost their parents underwent military training.
In the fall of 1943, the 1st Cossack Cavalry Division was sent to Yugoslavia, where by that time the communist partisans under the leadership of I. Broz Tito had noticeably intensified their activities. Thanks to their great mobility and maneuverability, the Cossack units turned out to be better adapted to the mountainous conditions of the Balkans and acted here more effectively than the clumsy German landwehr divisions that carried out security service here. During the summer of 1944, units of the division undertook at least five independent operations in the mountainous regions of Croatia and Bosnia, during which they destroyed many partisan strongholds and seized the initiative for offensive operations. Among the local population, the Cossacks gained notoriety. In accordance with the orders of the command for self-sufficiency, they resorted to requisitioning horses, food and fodder from the peasants, which often resulted in mass robberies and violence. The Cossacks razed villages whose population was suspected of collaborating with the partisans with fire and sword.
At the very end of 1944, the 1st Cossack Division had to face units of the Red Army trying to unite on the river. Drava with Tito's partisans. During fierce battles, the Cossacks managed to inflict a heavy defeat on one of the regiments of the 233rd Soviet Rifle Division and force the enemy to leave the previously captured bridgehead on the right bank of the Drava. In March 1945, units of the 1st Cossack Division (by that time already deployed into a corps) participated in the last major offensive operation of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War, when the Cossacks successfully operated against the Bulgarian units on the southern front of the Balaton ledge.
The transfer of foreign national formations of the Wehrmacht to the jurisdiction of the SS in August 1944 also affected the fate of the 1st Cossack Cavalry Division. At a meeting held in early September at Himmler's headquarters with the participation of von Pannwitz and other commanders of the Cossack formations, it was decided to deploy the division, replenished by units transferred from other fronts, to the corps. At the same time, it was planned to carry out mobilization among the Cossacks who found themselves on the territory of the Reich, for which a special body was formed at the SS General Staff - the Cossack Troops Reserve, headed by Lieutenant General A.G. Skinny. General P.N. Krasnov, who since March 1944 headed the Main Directorate of Cossack Troops, created under the auspices of the Eastern Ministry, appealed to the Cossacks to rise up to fight Bolshevism.
Soon large and small groups of Cossacks and entire military units began to arrive in von Pannwitz's division. These included two Cossack battalions from Krakow, the 69th police battalion from Warsaw, a factory guard battalion from Hanover and, finally, von Renteln's 360th Regiment from the Western Front. The 5th Cossack training reserve regiment, which until recently was stationed in France, was transferred to Austria (Zvetle) - closer to the division’s area of operations. Through the efforts of the recruiting headquarters created by the Cossack Troops Reserve, it was possible to gather more than 2,000 Cossacks from among emigrants, prisoners of war and eastern workers, who were also sent to the 1st Cossack Division. As a result, within two months the size of the division (not counting the German personnel) almost doubled.
A group of Cossack signalmen of the 2nd Siberian Regiment of the 1st Cossack Cavalry Division. 1943-1944
By order of November 4, 1944, the 1st Cossack Division was transferred for the duration of the war to the subordination of the SS General Staff. This transfer concerned, first of all, the sphere of logistics, which made it possible to improve the supply of weapons, military equipment and vehicles to the division. So. for example, the division's artillery regiment received a battery of 105-mm howitzers, the engineer battalion received several six-barreled mortars, and the reconnaissance detachment received StG-44 assault rifles. In addition, the division, according to some sources, was given 12 units of armored vehicles, including tanks and assault guns.
By order of February 25, 1945, the division was transformed into the 15th Cossack Cavalry Corps of the SS troops. The 1st and 2nd brigades were renamed divisions without changing their numbers or organizational structure. On the basis of Kononov’s 5th Don Regiment, the formation of a two-regiment Plastun brigade began with the prospect of deployment to the 3rd Cossack Division. Horse artillery battalions in divisions were reorganized into regiments. The total strength of the corps reached 25,000 soldiers and officers, including from 3,000 to 5,000 Germans. In addition, at the final stage of the war, together with the 15th Cossack Corps, such formations as the Kalmyk regiment (up to 5000 people), the Caucasian cavalry division, the Ukrainian SS battalion and a group of ROA tankers operated, taking into account which, under the command of the Gruppenführer and Lieutenant General of the troops SS (from February 1, 1945) G. von Pannwitz had 30-35 thousand people.
After the units collected in the Kherson region were sent to Poland to form the 1st Cossack Cavalry Division, the main center of concentration of Cossack refugees who left their lands along with the retreating German troops became the headquarters of the Marching Ataman of the Don Army, S.V. Pavlov, who settled in Kirovograd. . By July 1943, up to 3,000 Donets had gathered here, from which two new regiments were formed - the 8th and 9th, which probably had common numbering with the regiments of the 1st division. To train command personnel, it was planned to open an officer school, as well as a school for tank crews, but these projects could not be implemented due to the new Soviet offensive.
In the late autumn of 1943, Pavlov already had 18,000 Cossacks under his command, including women and children, who formed the so-called Cossack Stan. The German authorities recognized Pavlov as the Marching Ataman of all Cossack troops and pledged to provide him with all possible support. After a short stay in Podolia, the Cossack Stan in March 1944, due to the danger of Soviet encirclement, began moving west - to Sandomierz, and then was transported by rail to Belarus. Here, the Wehrmacht command provided 180 thousand hectares of land in the area of the cities of Baranovichi, Slonim, Novogrudok, Yelnya, and Capital to accommodate the Cossacks. The refugees settled in the new place were grouped according to their belonging to different troops, into districts and departments, which outwardly reproduced the traditional system of Cossack settlements.
At the same time, a broad reorganization of the Cossack combat units was undertaken, united into 10 infantry regiments of 1,200 bayonets each. The 1st and 2nd Don regiments made up the 1st brigade of Colonel Silkin; 3rd Don, 4th Combined Cossack, 5th and 6th Kuban and 7th Tersky - 2nd brigade of Colonel Vertepov; 8th Don, 9th Kuban and 10th Terek-Stavropol - 3rd brigade of Colonel Medynsky (later the composition of the brigades changed several times). Each regiment included 3 Plastun battalions, mortar and anti-tank batteries. They were armed with Soviet captured weapons provided by German field arsenals.
The main task assigned to the Cossacks by the German command was to fight partisans and ensure the security of rear communications of Army Group Center. On June 17, 1944, during one of the anti-partisan operations, the Marching Ataman of the Cossack Stan, S.V., was killed. Pavlov. His successor was military foreman (later - colonel and major general) T.I. Domanov. In July 1944, due to the threat of a new Soviet offensive, the Cossack Stan was withdrawn from Belarus and concentrated in the area of Zdunska Wola in northern Poland. From here he began his transfer to Northern Italy, where the territory adjacent to the Carnic Alps with the cities of Tolmezzo, Gemona and Ozoppo was allocated for the placement of the Cossacks. Here the Cossack Stan came under the command of the commander of the SS troops and the police of the coastal zone of the Adriatic Sea, SS Chief Gruppenführer O. Globocnik, who entrusted the Cossacks with ensuring security on the lands provided to them.
On the territory of Northern Italy, the combat units of the Cossack Stan underwent another reorganization and formed the Marching Ataman Group (also called a corps) consisting of two divisions. The 1st Cossack Foot Division (Cossacks from 19 to 40 years old) included the 1st and 2nd Don, 3rd Kuban and 4th Terek-Stavropol regiments, consolidated into the 1st Don and 2nd Consolidated Plastun brigades, as well as headquarters and transport companies, cavalry and gendarmerie squadrons, a communications company and an armored detachment. The 2nd Cossack Foot Division (Cossacks from 40 to 52 years old) consisted of the 3rd Consolidated Plastun Brigade, which included the 5th Consolidated Cossack and 6th Don Regiments, and the 4th Consolidated Plastun Brigade, which united the 3rd Reserve regiment, three village self-defense battalions (Donskoy, Kuban and Consolidated Cossack) and Colonel Grekov’s Special Detachment. In addition, the Group included the following units: 1st Cossack Cavalry Regiment (6 squadrons: 1st, 2nd and 4th Don, 2nd Terek-Don, 6th Kuban and 5th Officer), Ataman Convoy Cavalry Regiment (5 squadrons), 1st Cossack Junker School (2 Plastun companies, a heavy weapons company, an artillery battery), separate divisions - officer, gendarmerie and commandant foot, as well as the Special Cossack parachute sniper school disguised as a driving school (Special group “Ataman” ). According to some sources, a separate Cossack group “Savoy”, withdrawn to Italy from the Eastern Front along with the remnants of the Italian 8th Army back in 1943, was also added to the combat units of the Cossack Stan.
Cossack refugees. 1943-1945
The units of the Marching Ataman Group were armed with over 900 light and heavy machine guns of various systems (Soviet “Maxim”, DP (“Degtyarev infantry”) and DT (“Degtyarev tank”), German MG-34 and “Schwarzlose”, Czech “Zbroevka” Italian “Breda” and “Fiat”, French “Hotchkiss” and “Shosh”, English “Vickers” and “Lewis”, American “Colt”, 95 company and battalion mortars (mainly Soviet and German production), more than 30 Soviet 45 mm anti-tank guns and 4 field guns (76.2 mm), as well as 2 light armored vehicles captured from the partisans and named “Don Cossack” and “Ataman Ermak”. Mainly Soviet-made repeating and automatic rifles and carbines, a number of German and Italian carbines, and Soviet, German and Italian machine guns were used as hand-held small arms. The Cossacks also had a large number of German Faust cartridges and English grenade launchers captured from the partisans.
As of April 27, 1945, the total number of Cossack Stan was 31,463 people, including 1,575 officers, 592 officials, 16,485 non-commissioned officers and privates, 6,304 non-combatants (unfit for service due to age and health), 4,222 women, 2094 children under the age of 14 and 358 adolescents aged 14 to 17 years. Of the total number of the Stan, 1,430 Cossacks belonged to the first wave of emigrants, and the rest were Soviet citizens.
In the last days of the war, due to the approach of advancing Allied troops and the intensification of partisan actions, Cossack Stan was forced to leave Italy. In the period April 30 - May 7, 1945, having overcome the high alpine passes, the Cossacks crossed the Italian-Austrian border and settled in the valley of the river. Drava between the cities of Lienz and Oberdrauburg, where surrender to English troops was announced. After the official cessation of hostilities, units of von Pannwitz’s 15th Cossack Cavalry Corps broke through from Croatia into Austria, also laying down their arms in front of the British. And less than a month later, on the banks of the Drava, the tragedy of the forced extradition to the Soviet Union of tens of thousands of Cossacks, Kalmyks and Caucasians, who faced all the horrors of Stalin’s camps and special settlements, unfolded. Together with the Cossacks, their leaders, generals P.N., were also extradited. Krasnov, his nephew S.N. Krasnov, who headed the headquarters of the Main Directorate of Cossack Troops, A.G. Shkuro, T.I. Domanov and G. von Pannwitz, as well as the leader of the Caucasians Sultan Kelech-Girey. All of them were convicted in Moscow at a closed trial held on January 16, 1947, and sentenced to death by hanging.
The troops of Romania, Hungary, Italy, Finland, Slovakia, and Croatia fought on the side of Germany in the war against the USSR. In addition, volunteer units of the Spaniards, Belgians, Dutch, French, Danes, and Norwegians fought on the side of Germany against the USSR.
Romania
Romania declared war on the USSR on June 22, 1941. Romania had the goal of returning Bessarabia and Bukovina, which were taken from it in June 1940, and also annexing Transnistria (the territory from the Dniester to the Southern Bug).
The Romanian 3rd Army (mountain and cavalry corps) and the 4th Army (3 infantry corps), with a total strength of about 220 thousand people, were intended for military operations against the USSR.
Since June 22, Romanian troops tried to seize bridgeheads on the eastern bank of the Prut River (at the same time, on June 25-26, 1941, the Soviet Danube Flotilla landed troops on Romanian territory, Soviet aviation and ships of the Black Sea Fleet bombed and shelled Romanian oil fields and other objects).
Romanian troops began active hostilities by crossing the Prut River on July 2, 1941. By July 26, Romanian troops occupied the territories of Bessarabia and Bukovina.
Then the Romanian 3rd Army advanced in Ukraine, crossed the Dnieper in September and reached the coast of the Azov Sea. From the end of October 1941, units of the Romanian 3rd Army participated in the seizure of Crimea (together with the German 11th Army under the command of von Manstein).
From the beginning of August 1941, the Romanian 4th Army led an operation to capture Odessa. By September 10, 12 Romanian divisions and 5 brigades were assembled to capture Odessa, with a total number of up to 200 thousand people (as well as German units - an infantry regiment, an assault battalion and 2 heavy artillery regiments). After heavy fighting, Odessa was captured by Romanian troops on October 16, 1941. The losses of the Romanian 4th Army in this operation amounted to 29 thousand dead and missing and 63 thousand wounded.
In August 1942, the Romanian 3rd Army (3 cavalry and 1 mountain divisions) took part in the German offensive in the Caucasus.In August, Romanian cavalry divisions took Taman, Anapa, Novorossiysk (the latter together with German troops), the Romanian mountain division captured Nalchik in October 1942.
In the fall of 1942, Romanian troops occupied positions in the Stalingrad area (now Volgograd). Romanian 3rd Army (8 infantry and 2 cavalry divisions, totaling 150 thousand people) - a front section 140 km northwest of this city, Romanian 4th Army (5 infantry and 2 cavalry divisions, totaling 75 thousand people) - a section of the front 300 km south of it.
On November 19, 1942, the troops of two Soviet fronts went on the offensive, and on November 23 they formed an encirclement ring around Stalingrad, which included the German 6th Army, part of the troops of the German 4th Army, and the Romanian 6 infantry and 1 cavalry divisions. By the end of January 1943, the Romanian 3rd and 4th armies were practically destroyed - their total losses amounted to almost 160 thousand dead, missing and wounded.
At the beginning of 1943, 6 Romanian divisions, with a total strength of 65 thousand people, fought (as part of the German 17th Army) in the Kuban. In September 1943 these troops retreated to Crimea. In April-May 1944, Soviet troops captured Crimea. Romanian troops in Crimea lost more than a third of their personnel, the rest were evacuated by sea to Romania.
On August 23, 1944, a coup was carried out in Romania, and the Romanian army began to fight together with the Red Army against Germany and Hungary.
In total, up to 200 thousand Romanians(including 55 thousand died in Soviet captivity).
18 Romanians were awarded the German Knight's Cross, of which three also received Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross.
Italy
Italy declared war on the USSR on June 22, 1941. The motivation is Mussolini’s initiative, proposed since January 1940 - a “pan-European campaign against Bolshevism.” At the same time, Italy had no territorial claims to any zone of occupation of the USSR.
The Italian Expeditionary Force for the war against the USSR was created on July 10, 1941, consisting of one cavalry and two infantry divisions, with corps artillery and two air groups (reconnaissance and fighter).
In total, there were 62 thousand soldiers and officers in the corps. There were 220 guns, 60 machine-gun tankettes, aviation - 50 fighters and 20 reconnaissance aircraft.
The corps was sent to the southern section of the German-Soviet front (through Austria, Hungary, Romania), for operations in the south of Ukraine.
First clash between the advanced units of the Italian corps and units of the Red Army occurred on August 10, 1941, on the Southern Bug River. In September 1941, the Italian corps fought on the Dnieper, in a 100-km section in the area Dneprodzerzhinsk.
In October-November 1941, the Italian corps participated in the German offensive to capture Donbass. Then, until July 1942, the Italians stood on the defensive, fighting local battles with units of the Red Army.
The losses of the Italian corps from August 1941 to June 1942 were: more than 1,600 dead, more than 400 missing, almost 6,300 wounded, more than 3,600 frostbitten.
In July 1942, Italian troops on the territory of the USSR were significantly strengthened. The 8th Italian Army was formed, consisting of 3 corps (a total of 10 divisions, the total number of the army reached 230 thousand people in September 1942, 940 guns, 31 light tanks (20 mm gun), 19 self-propelled guns (47 mm gun ), aviation - 41 fighters and 23 reconnaissance aircraft).
In the fall of 1942, the Italian army occupied positions on the Don River (an area of more than 250 km), northwest of Stalingrad (now Volgograd). In December 1942 - January 1943, the Italians repelled the offensive of the Red Army. As a result, the Italian army was virtually defeated - 21 thousand Italians died, 64 thousand were missing.
The remaining 145 thousand Italians were withdrawn to Italy in March 1943.
Italian losses in the USSR from August 1941 to February 1943 amounted to about 90 thousand dead and missing. According to Soviet data, 49 thousand Italians were captured, of which 21 thousand Italians were released from Soviet captivity in 1946-1956. Thus, in total, about 70 thousand Italians.
9 Italians were awarded the German Knight's Cross.
Finland
On June 25, 1941, Soviet aviation carried out bombing attacks on populated areas of Finland. On June 26, Finland declared itself in a state of war with the USSR. Finland intended to return the territories taken from it in March 1940, as well as annex Karelia.
On June 30, 1941, Finnish troops (11 infantry divisions and 4 brigades, totaling about 150 thousand people) went on the offensive in the direction of Vyborg and Petrozavodsk. By the end of August 1941, the Finns reached the approaches to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) on the Karelian Isthmus, and by the beginning of October 1941 they occupied almost the entire territory of Karelia (except for the coast of the White Sea and Zaonezhye), after which they went on the defensive at the achieved lines.
From the end of 1941 to the summer of 1944, there were practically no military operations on the Soviet-Finnish front, except for raids by Soviet partisans (formed from conscripts from the Ural region) into the territory of Karelia and bombings of Finnish settlements by Soviet aircraft.
On June 9, 1944, Soviet troops (totaling up to 500 thousand people) went on the offensive against the Finns (16 infantry divisions, about 200 thousand people). During heavy fighting that lasted until August 1944, Soviet troops took Petrozavodsk, Vyborg and in one section reached the Soviet-Finnish border in March 1940. On August 29, 1944, Soviet troops went on the defensive.
On September 1, 1944, Marshal Mannerheim proposed a truce; on September 4, Stalin agreed to a truce. After which Finnish troops retreated to the border in March 1940.
Died in the war against the USSR 54 thousand Finns.
2 Finns were awarded the German Knight's Cross, including Marshal Mannerheim who received the Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross.
Hungary
Hungary declared war on the USSR on June 27, 1941, after Soviet aircraft bombed Hungarian settlements. Hungary had no territorial claims to the USSR, the motivation was “revenge on the Bolsheviks for the communist revolution of 1919 in Hungary.”
On July 1, 1941, Hungary sent the “Carpathian Group” (5 brigades, totaling 40 thousand people) to the war against the USSR, which fought as part of the German 17th Army in Ukraine.
In July 1941, the group was divided - 2 infantry brigades began to serve as rear guards, and the “fast corps” (2 motorized and 1 cavalry brigades, a total of 25 thousand people, with several dozen light tanks and wedges) continued to advance.
By November 1941, the “fast corps” suffered heavy losses - up to 12 thousand killed, missing and wounded, all tankettes and almost all light tanks were lost. The corps was returned to Hungary. At the same time, the Hungarian 4 infantry and 2 cavalry brigades (with a total number of 60 thousand people) remained at the front and in the rear areas.
In April 1942, the Hungarian 2nd Army (about 200 thousand people) was sent to the war against the USSR. In June 1942, it went on the offensive in the Voronezh direction, as part of the German offensive on the southern sector of the German-Soviet front.
In January 1943, the Hungarian 2nd Army was practically destroyed during the Soviet offensive (up to 100 thousand dead and up to 60 thousand captured, most of them wounded). In May 1943, the remnants of the army (about 40 thousand people) were withdrawn to Hungary.
In the fall of 1944, all Hungarian armed forces (three armies) fought against the Red Army, already on the territory of Hungary. The fighting in Hungary ended in April 1945, but some Hungarian units continued to fight in Austria until the German surrender on May 8, 1945.
More than 200 thousand Hungarians(including 55 thousand who died in Soviet captivity).
8 Hungarians were awarded the German Knight's Cross.
Slovakia
Slovakia took part in the war against the USSR as part of the “pan-European campaign against Bolshevism.” She had no territorial claims to the USSR. 2 Slovak divisions were sent to the war against the USSR.
One division (consisting of 2 infantry regiments, an artillery regiment, a battalion of light tanks, numbering 8 thousand people) fought in Ukraine in 1941, in the Kuban in 1942, and performed security functions in the Crimea in 1943-1944.
Another division (consisting of 2 infantry regiments and an artillery regiment, 8 thousand people) performed security functions in Ukraine in 1941-1942, and in Belarus in 1943-1944.
3.5 thousand Slovaks.
Croatia
Croatia took part in the war against the USSR as part of the “pan-European campaign against Bolshevism.” She had no territorial claims to the USSR.
1 volunteer Croatian regiment (3 infantry battalions and 1 artillery battalion, with a total number of 3.9 thousand people) was sent to the war against the USSR. The regiment arrived at the front in October 1941. Fought in the Donbass, and in 1942 in Stalingrad (now Volgograd). By February 1943, the Croatian regiment was practically destroyed - about 700 Croats were taken prisoner by the Soviets.
About 2 thousand Croats.
Spain
Spain did not officially declare war against the USSR, but organized the sending of one volunteer division to the front. The motivation is revenge for the Comintern's sending of the International Brigades to Spain during the Civil War.
The Spanish division (18 thousand people) was sent to the northern section of the German-Soviet front. From October 1941 - she fought in the Volkhov region, from August 1942 - near Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). In October 1943, the division was returned to Spain, but about 2 thousand volunteers remained to fight in the Spanish Legion ( three-battalion composition). The Legion was disbanded in March 1944, but about 300 Spaniards wished to fight further, and 2 companies of SS troops were formed from them, fighting against the Red Army until the end of the war.
About 5 thousand Spaniards(452 Spaniards were captured by the Soviets).
2 Spaniards were awarded the German Knight's Cross, including one who received the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross.
Belgium
In 1941, two volunteer legions were formed in Belgium for the war against the USSR. They differed in ethnicity - Flemish and Walloon, both of battalion size. In the fall of 1941 they were sent to the German-Soviet front - the Walloon Legion to the southern sector (Rostov-on-Don, then Kuban), the Flemish Legion to the northern sector (Volkhov).
In June 1943, both legions were reorganized into brigades of SS troops - the volunteer brigade of the SS troops "Langemarck" and the volunteer assault brigade of the SS troops "Wallonia". In October, the brigades were renamed into divisions (remaining the same composition - 2 infantry regiments each). At the end of the war, both the Flemings and Walloons fought against the Red Army in Pomerania.
About 5 thousand Belgians(2 thousand Belgians were taken prisoner by the Soviets).
4 Belgians were awarded the German Knight's Cross, including one who received the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross.
Netherlands
The Dutch Volunteer Legion (a motorized battalion of 5 companies) was formed in July 1941.
In January 1942, the Dutch Legion arrived on the northern section of the German-Soviet front, in the Volkhov area. Then the legion was transferred to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).
In May 1943, the Dutch Legion was reorganized into the volunteer SS brigade "Netherlands" (consisting of two motorized regiments and other units, with a total number of 9 thousand people).
In 1944, one of the regiments of the Dutch brigade was practically destroyed in the battles near Narva. In the fall of 1944, the brigade retreated to Courland, and in January 1945 it was evacuated to Germany by sea.
In February 1945, the brigade was renamed a division, although its strength was greatly reduced due to losses. By May 1945, the Dutch division was practically destroyed in battles against the Red Army.
About 8 thousand Dutch(more than 4 thousand Dutch were taken prisoner by the Soviets).
4 Dutchmen were awarded the German Knight's Cross.
France
The French Volunteer Legion for the war against the Bolsheviks was created in July 1941.
In October 1941, the French Legion (an infantry regiment of 2.5 thousand people) was sent to the German-Soviet front, in the Moscow direction. The French suffered heavy losses there, and from the spring of 1942 to the summer of 1944, the legion was removed from the front and sent to fight against Soviet partisans in the rear.
In the summer of 1944, the French legion actually found itself on the front line again (as a result of the Red Army's offensive in Belarus), again suffered heavy losses and was withdrawn to Germany.
In September 1944, the French volunteer legion was disbanded, and a French brigade of SS troops (numbering more than 7 thousand people) was created in its place.
In February 1945, the French SS brigade was renamed the 33rd SS Grenadier Division "Charlemagne" ("Charlemagne") and sent to the front in Pomerania against the Soviet forces. In March 1945, the French division was almost destroyed.
The remnants of the French division (about 700 people) defended themselves in Berlin at the end of April 1945.
About 8 thousand French(not counting the Alsatians drafted into the Wehrmacht).
3 Frenchmen were awarded the German Knight's Cross.
Denmark
The Danish government (social democratic) did not declare war on the USSR, but did not interfere with the formation of the Danish volunteer corps, and officially allowed members of the Danish army to join it (indefinite leave with retention of rank).
In July-December 1941, more than 1 thousand people joined the Danish volunteer corps (the name “corps” was symbolic, in fact - a battalion). In May 1942, the Danish corps was sent to the front, to the Demyansk area. Since December 1942, the Danes fought in the Velikiye Luki region.
At the beginning of June 1943, the Danish Volunteer Corps was disbanded, many of its members, as well as new volunteers, joined the Danemark regiment of the 11th SS Volunteer Division Nordland (Danish-Norwegian division). In January 1944, the division was sent to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). Then she took part in the battle of Narva. In January 1945, the division fought against the Red Army in Pomerania, and in April 1945 there were battles in Berlin.
About 2 thousand Danes(456 Danes were captured by the Soviets).
3 Danes were awarded the German Knight's Cross.
Norway
The Norwegian government in July 1941 announced the formation of the Norwegian Volunteer Legion to be sent to help Finland in the war against the USSR.
In February 1942, after training in Germany, the Norwegian Legion (1 battalion, numbering 1.2 thousand people) was sent to the German-Soviet front, near Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).
In May 1943, the Norwegian Legion was disbanded, most of its fighters joined the Norwegian regiment of the 11th SS Volunteer Division Nordland (Danish-Norwegian division). In January 1944, the division was sent to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). Then she took part in the battle of Narva. In January 1945, the division fought against the Red Army in Pomerania, and in April 1945 there were battles in Berlin.
About 1 thousand Norwegians(100 Norwegians were taken prisoner by the Soviets).
On September 2, 1945, the Second World War ended with the surrender of Japan - the largest armed conflict in human history, which claimed tens of millions of lives.
When they talk about the countries participating in the war, they first of all remember the leading three of the anti-Hitler coalition (USSR, USA, Great Britain) and the triumvirate of aggressors - Germany, Italy and Japan.
In fact, dozens of states were involved in the war to one degree or another. At the same time, some officially managed to take part in the Second World War on both sides.
Italy
Fascist state led by Benito Mussolini pursued an aggressive policy even before the official start of World War II. In 1936, the Italian army captured Ethiopia. In April 1939, Albania was occupied.
On June 10, 1940, Italy declared war on France and Great Britain, officially becoming a party to the conflict and Germany's closest ally. In June 1941, together with the Third Reich, Italy declared war on the Soviet Union.
Military failures and heavy losses made Mussolini's regime extremely unstable by 1943.
After the Allies captured Sicily, a coup took place in Rome on July 25, 1943, as a result of which the Duce was removed from power.
The Royal Government of Italy, which concluded a truce with the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, declared war on Germany and the Axis countries on October 13, 1943. The Italian army fought against German troops in 1943-1945 on the side of the anti-Hitler coalition in Italy and the Balkans.
At the same time, by order Hitler the territory of Northern and Central Italy was occupied by German troops, and Mussolini was liberated by German saboteurs. A puppet Italian Social Republic was created in the occupied territories, which formally continued to fight on the side of Germany until April 1945.
Romania
Before the outbreak of World War II, Romania was in allied relations with France, but after its defeat it became closer to Germany. This, however, did not save the country from territorial concessions - in June 1940, Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina were transferred to the Soviet Union, and in August Hungary received Northern Transylvania.
These losses did not prevent the strengthening of Romanian-German ties. Dictatorial regime Jonah Antonescu hoped to achieve the implementation of the ideas of “Greater Romania” as a result of the Soviet-German war expected in the future.
In June 1941, Romania not only acted as a springboard for German units that invaded Germany, but itself declared war on the USSR.
Romanian troops took an active part in the battles in Ukraine, the Battle of Odessa, the Battle of Sevastopol, the Battle of the Caucasus and the Battle of Stalingrad.
With the approval of Germany, Bessarabia, Bukovina and the area between the Dniester and Southern Bug rivers came under the control of Romania. On these lands the Bukovina Governorate, the Bessarabian Governorate and Transnistria were established.
The turning point in the war for Romania was the battle for Stalingrad, the total losses of which exceeded 150 thousand people. Dissatisfaction with the regime of Ion Antonescu began to grow in the country.
A series of defeats for the German army and its rapid rollback to the West led to the fact that by the summer of 1944, most of the USSR territories captured by Romania were lost to it, and the war moved directly to Romanian lands.
On August 23, 1944, King Michael I and opposition parties overthrew the Antonescu regime. Romania went over to the side of the anti-Hitler coalition, declaring war on Hungary and Germany. In the final part of the Second World War, the Romanian army carried out operations against its former allies, and King Mihai I was awarded the Soviet Order of Victory with the wording “For the courageous act of a decisive turn in the policy of Romania towards a break with Nazi Germany and an alliance with the United Nations at the moment when the defeat of Germany had not yet been clearly determined.”
Bulgaria
Military-political cooperation between Nazi Germany and Bulgaria began in the mid-1930s. At the beginning of World War II Bulgarian Tsar Boris III provided the country's territory for the transit of Hitler's troops and their allies.
Units of the Bulgarian army did not take part in active hostilities against Greece and Yugoslavia, but were involved in the occupation of the territories of these countries.
After the attack on the USSR in June 1941, Hitler repeatedly demanded that Tsar Boris send Bulgarian troops to the Eastern Front. However, fearing the growth of pro-Russian sentiments, the tsar avoided fulfilling this demand and Bulgaria nominally did not participate in Germany’s war against the USSR.
On December 13, 1941, Tsar Boris III gave in to German demands, and Bulgaria declared war on the United States and Great Britain.
Throughout the war, pro-Soviet sentiments were strong on Bulgarian territory and the communist underground was active. As the Red Army approached the country's borders, demands for an exit from the war began to sound increasingly louder.
Tsar Boris tried to break the alliance with Germany, but on August 28, 1943, after visiting Hitler's headquarters, he died suddenly. His successors tried to continue the pro-German course, but their positions became increasingly weaker.
On September 8, 1944, a coup took place in Bulgaria, during which pro-Soviet forces came to power. In the final period of World War II, the Bulgarian army took part in hostilities against Germany in Yugoslavia, Hungary and Austria, including the Belgrade operation and the Battle of Lake Balaton. As a result of the fighting of the Bulgarian troops, German troops lost 69 thousand troops killed and captured.
Finland
In 1939-1940, an armed conflict broke out between the USSR and Finland, which resulted in the Finns losing a significant part of their territory.
According to a number of historians, this conflict was part of the Second World War, although the USSR categorically disagreed with this, considering the Soviet-Finnish war to be a separate confrontation.
Finland had close ties with Great Britain and France, but these countries, having provided technical assistance to Helsinki, did not intervene militarily in the confrontation with the USSR.
After this, the Finnish authorities began to expand ties with the Third Reich.
In June 1941, the Finnish army, together with the Wehrmacht, invaded the territory of the USSR. Finnish units participated most actively in the war in the north of the USSR, where they not only returned previous territories, but also captured new ones. The Finnish army took part in the siege of Leningrad.
After Germany's defeat at Stalingrad, sentiment in Finland began to change in favor of a decision to withdraw from the war. However, it was not adopted until September 1944, when, under the attacks of Soviet troops, Finland was under the threat of not only new territorial losses, but also complete defeat.
On September 19, 1944, the Moscow Armistice was signed in Moscow between Finland, the USSR and Great Britain, according to which Finland left the war and assumed obligations to begin military operations against German troops on its territory.
In accordance with its obligations, Finland began military operations against German troops based in the north of the country. The conflict, known as the Lapland War, continued until the end of April 1945.
Iraq
After England's defeats in Europe and North Africa at the beginning of World War II, Iraqi Prime Minister Rashid Ali al-Gailani, Chief of the Iraqi General Staff Amin Zaki Suleiman and the pro-German nationalist group "Golden Square", led by Colonels Salah ad-Din al-Sabah, Mahmoud Salman, Fahmy Said And Kamil Chabib, April 1, 1941 carried out a military coup against Great Britain.
Almost the entire territory of the country came under the control of the new government, with the exception of British military bases.
On April 17, Rashid Ali, on behalf of the “Government of National Defense,” appealed to Nazi Germany for military assistance in the event of war with Britain.
On May 1, 1941, an armed conflict began between Iraq and Great Britain. The Iraqi authorities turned to Berlin for help and received it, but it turned out to be insufficient for successful resistance.
By the end of May, Britain had defeated the Iraqi army, and the government of Rashid Ali fled through Iran to Germany.
On 31 May 1941, the mayor of Baghdad signed an armistice between Britain and Iraq in the presence of the British ambassador. British ground and air forces occupied the most important strategic points in Iraq.
In January 1943, Iraq, effectively under British occupation, formally declared war on Nazi Germany.
