Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was formed, in December 1940, as a subdivision of the regular SS (Schutzstaffel) corps in Nazi Germany in order to perform a wide variety of functions:
- Regular Troops (Verfügungstruppe, SS-VT) serving as elite troops and fighting alongside the regular Wehrmacht army
- Hitler's personal guard, the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler (LAH)
Later there were the SS Freiwilligenverbände (SS Volunteer Units) from countries and regions such as Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia, Britain and the Commonwealth (Britisches Freikorps), Bulgaria, Belorussia, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France (Charlemagne Division), Finland, Georgia, Hungary, India, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, North Caucasus, Norway, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sudetenland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tibet, Turkistan and the Ukraine.
The Waffen-SS Order of Battle included numerous units ranging in size from small detachments to entire corps.
Examples are the SS Division Nordland, formed from Norwegian, Danish and Baltic volunteers; an SS Hitlerjugend Division (enlisted ranks were volunteers from the Hitlerjugend); and an SS Totenkopf Division, formed from excess guard detachments who had almost all died out by 1942 in the Valdai Hills of Russia (these were replaced by volunteers not affiliated with the concentration camps).
Many of Waffen-SS units really consisted of volunteers, however, Germany also drafted conscripts from occupied territories in Eastern Europe, making the Freiwilligenverbände a ridiculed misnomer among them.
A large army of Waffen-SS soldiers fought in the Battle of Kursk.
See also: Comparative military ranks of World War II
References
- Loyalty is my Honor by Gordon Williamson ISBN 0760300127
- Hitler's Samurai: The Waffen-SS in Action by Bruce Quarrie ISBN 0668058056
- Forgotten Legions: Obscure Combat Formations of the Waffen-SS by Antonio J. Munoz ISBN 0739408178
