foreign volunteers in waffen ss

Wow...a lot of what was written on the reference website is word for word from the book I am using. Part of the 2 yr enlistment was that they would not be used to fight against Great Britain and Greece, which were the only western countries at war with Germany at the time.

 

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Hola que tal espero que todo esta en el saco! I was borne in the North of Spain the Last resistance to fall was around Bilbao, My Abuelo was A Captain fighting against Franco in the North.

I have a book that states that plus much more. Franco Owed Hitler $$$$$$$ for Spain's War. Even supplied Franco with planes German troops weapons ++++++. Spain was rebuilding when WWII started.

The Book stated Franco and Hitler had a Big Meeting as Franco to get involved in WW II as Mussolini had. Franco And Mussolini where supposedly Friends. Franco toll him he wasn't getting involved In WWII, But would pay him back in Metals and Soldiers ++.They had a Big Argument After The meeting Hitler went into a rage and Stated he rather half his teeth pull out without anesthesia then have to deal with Franco. Franco did pay him Back with interest.

 

I was always surprised at Hitler's persistence in trying to get Spain into the war. Perhaps it was because it would have made it possible to subdue Gibralter from the Spanish side. Nevertheless, I have always felt that Franco gave the impression that he did not feel indebted to Hitler and that he (Franco) would not be led.

Did your Grandfather survive the civil war?

 

Hello Spaniard,

good to have you here, and nice to hear things from your side.

I have read that possibly Canaris had been talking to Franco about the situation and helped him reach the conclusion that co-operation with Hitler was not a going to end happily. Then again I have read that the Western Allied paid big sums to Franco´s generals to keep them out of war, maybe directly to Franco,too.

Wonder if you can tell more about these things how true they are? thanx for any new info!

Found this from my past threads:

From Skorzeny´s book " My commando operations ":

" To return to Operation Felix, it didn´t appear that it would take any great effort on the part of Admiral Canaris to convince General Franco to allow German troops to march through Spain to get at Gibraltar. The Chief of the Abwehr certainly knew the Caudillo;it was even said that they used the familiar "du" form of address. Canaris made an inordinate number of trips to Spain, two alone in the summer of 1940, in July and August, and it was on the latter occasion that the Admiral discussed the matter of Gibraltar with Franco.

I cannot reveal the military sources that informed me that Canaris convinced the Cuadillo to demand the following of Hitler in return, demands which definitely had to be rejected.Wheat, fuel, weapons and ammunition in enormous quantities, and above all the annexation into the Spanish colonial region of all French Morocoo and the Department of Oran in Algeria.

This was impossible.Why should Hitler give away something that he didn´t possess and that he had never demanded from France? He was still of opinion that a policy of honest co-operation and friendly relations with France was very desirable.This friendly policy was outlined in Oct 1940 in Montoire during talks with Marshall Petain.

Following Canaris´visit to Spain, the Reich´s ambassador in Madrid, Eberhardt von Stohrer, related the following in a report to the Wilhelmstrasse on Aug 8, 1940:

"(Even if the German Government accedes to all of Franco´s demands ) the date for the beginning of preparations and the action ( Gibraltar ) itself must be adjusted to correspond to the expected developments in England ( succesful German landing in England ), so that we avoid a premature entry into the war by Spain, which would mean an unbearable length of conflict for Spain and the possible creation of a source of danger for us."

 

Yes A Captain in the Resistance

YouTube - FRANCO- HITLER EN HENDAYA II GUERRA MUNDIAL

YouTube - hitler in spanish subs

YouTube - Hitler, Mussolini y Franco - Octubre 1940

YouTube - Nazis actos en españa.Reuniones Hitler-franco.Franco-Mussolini.WOCHENSHAU 1940 SPANIEN UND ITALIEN


Francisco Franco: Adolf Hitler


Hitler And Franco
The issue of the relationship between Spain's General Franco and Hitler has been a controversial one for many years. The "conservative" view is that Franco's dealings with the German dictator were pragmatic, based on what was best for Spain, and that he skilfully kept Spain neutral during the Second World War. The "left" view is that Franco was far closer to Hitler, admired him greatly, and would have come into the war on Hitler's side had the terms been right.


From The Sunday Times

March 9, 2008


Franco and Hitler: Spain, Germany and World War II by Stanley G Payne

Franco and Hitler: Spain, Germany and World War II by Stanley G Payne review | Non-fiction book reviews - Times Online


The Next Is FUNNY

Like Hitler, General Franco only had one testicle The Spanish dictator was
also a monorchid, according to the grand-daughter of his doctor

By Donald Hamer
LAST UPDATED 4:49 PM, MAY 18, 2009
Hitler may not have been the only 20th-century Fa

Like Hitler, General Franco only had one testicle | People in the News | People | The First Post


Meeting Point: Spain Was on Hitler's Side In World War ll

 

The politics of revenge: fascism and ... - Google Books

Wonder if you can tell more about these things how true they are? thanx for any new info!

RandomPottins: British Friends of Franco

Admiral Wilhelm Canaris
Operation Felix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Operation Felix: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article


Operation Felix was the codename for a proposed German
Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...seizure of Gibraltar is a self-governing British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula and Europe at the entrance of the Mediterranean overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar. The territory covers and shares a land border with Spain to the north...

during the Second World War. It never got beyond the staff study stage, even though planning continued into 1944, primarily because of

Francisco Franco Bahamonde, commonly known as Francisco Franco , or simply Franco, was a military general and dictator of Spain from October 1936, and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in 1975...'s reluctance to commit pain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...to enter the war on the Axis side.



Wilhelm Canaris


Admiral Wilhelm Canaris (1887-1945)
Admiral Wilhelm Canaris



(1887-1945)


Also check the Links I posted on PzJgr Reply, Hope this helps. I just know basics of Spain's Civil War.
I cam to Canada when I was 5. My Father wanted to leave all the bad memories behind.

My Grand Father was caught at the end of the War sent to prison and was scheduled to be exactitude 4 times My Grandmother had $$$$
payed them of each time. After many years he got out and drank himself to death, My Father stated he was never the same. He indured
torture and constant beatings, Starved ++++.

 

To be honest, most S.S from other countries were volunteers and joined either because they hated the minorities such as Jews etc, or they were anti Communists. I believe there were a lot of S.S from Holland, Belgium, and a lot of Eastern countries such as Ukraine, whom many were anti Communist.

For example, in 'Hitlers War Machine' (a book I was reading), it shows how there were quite a few Croatian Muslims (along with other Muslims) in the S.S, as they hated Jews and disliked Communism. I have included a few pictures below, the top of which is a Bosnian Muslim division's emblem and the other is a Croatian Muslim poster. Both lots were volunteers I believe.

 

The original question is pretty hard to answer accurately. Who do you consider foreign? For example, was the 31st SS a foreign division? Most of its men were Hungarian or even Yugoslavian VolksDeutsche, so were they Hungarians even though Germany considered them something else? What about ethnic Germans displaced from the Vojvodina forcibly, who then had no home aside from the Reich itself and wound up fighting in the SS, what do we call them? They had been living on their land for hundreds of years but the Germans considered them Germans. What about 25th and 26th SS, which were Hungarians supporting Germany after Hungary more or less got swallowed? Some kampfgruppen were involved in fighting, but neither division was ever fully armed and neither was employed in combat as a division. Were the VolksDeutsche scattered throughout the SS in mostly German units Germans or foreigners. Indeed, the book I just finished, "Panzer Gunner", was about a Canadian born Mennonite sent to Germany in 1938 against his will who was drafted to serve in 7th Panzer. Was he a foreigner?

See what I mean? To answer the question accurately requires some serious refining because of the nature of the organization. It can be pretty confusing.

 

I know that there were many civilians recruited from Latvia for the SS. Many of them volunteered to help the Einsatzgruppen. I had a photo of some members of the Latvian SS practicing marksmanship with Browning and Tokarev pistols...

 

In Latvia there where 3 or 4 waves of MOBILIZATION in Waffen SS, police battalions,border guards(all units of Latvian Legion),Tod organization and in Luftwaffe assistants. Before that was a forced voluntariness too. Four example - from German administration men took 2 lists of paper. On one list there is written "i support Bolsheviks, and didn't want to fight with them" and in other "I want to join the Legion". And men must take a choice... In that manner many "volunteers" where made.
Is i know in Estonia where mobilization too. So your assertion that "100% were volunteers" is totally wrong.

 

For me, for those in The East...............a somewhat grey area. In the West.............???

I mean, how would public opinion in the US or UK judge 'Freedom fighters' who went to fight with the taliban.............???

Yeah, right!

 

Another foreign SS unit, although obscure, were the Azeri Waffen SS Volunteer Formations. These units were mostly prisoners from USSR annexed states and volunteered to fight for the Germans. Most were asian muslims like Uzbeks, Kurds, Kazakhs, Tuvans who allied with pro-nazi Turks. The most numerous volunteers were Turkestanis who were integrated as one battalion of the 444th Sicherungs Division, they became an auxilary force used to combat partisans. The 450th Battalion spent 1943 patrolling the rail networks between kharkov and stalingrad. These Asian had staggeringly low morale rates and most of the soldiers deserted.

 

What about the SS wiking divison? My opinoin they are the best SS division its hard to belive that some French joined the SS.

 

I ask....How many Waffen SS units utilized the word 'volunteer' when in fact, some recruits may have been 'pressed' into service?

The Waffen SS were not ALL volunteer....

 

In Latvia two official SS formations were raised: The 15th and 19th SS Grenadier (Infantry) divisions.

The initial use of Latvians was allowed by the Germans in raising a number of Schuma Battalions for use in internal security and as anti-partisan units starting in August 1941. German losses in the first year of the war in the East forced them to snap up these units for replacements starting in mid 1942.
This, of course, attracted the attention of Himmler along with a petition by the Latvian leadership to raise a 100,000 man army as part of an independent Latvia. Of course, the Germans turned down that idea cold but, Gottlob Berger head of SS recruiting suggested to Himmler that "racially suitable" Latvians be allowed to volunteer for the SS.
This was approved by Hitler and four Schuma battalions were selected to serve as part of 2nd SS (motorized) Infantry Brigade on 23 Jan 1943. These were instead, a few days later formed into their own Brigade as the Latvian Legion. But, this was largely a delusion as the Schma battalions were already engaged around Volkhov with Army Group North. So, recruiting had to start from scratch.
By February 43 a decision was reached to form this unit was a full division of "volunteers." German efforts at recruiting came up far short of the necessary numbers so the Latvian government was allowed to take over under Rudolfs Bangerskis who was given the rank of Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS. This didn't help much as the German civil and military administration still interfered with the process.
Conscription was turned to but registration fell far short of expectations. It didn't help that the Latvian Brigade continued its existance competing for men with the 15th Division. Eventually, about 16,000 men were inducted into the 15th Division for its initial draft. The division was fully formed by November 1943 and moved to the front with Army Group North late that month.
Heavy losses to both units around Nevel in Jan 44 left both severely weakened. By July 44 the 15th Division was little more than a cadre of men. In August and September a new draft of some 20,000 men was made available to both the 15th and the Latvian Brigade that now became the 19th SS Division.
Both divisions had little desire to fight outside Latvia at this point and both remained in the Baltic eventually ending the war in the Courland Pocket.

 

Most eastern Waffen SS formations were in fact volunteers, mostly fighting to gain independance for their oppressed countries. The Lienz Cossacks were white Russians loyal to the tsar who were fighting against the communist enemy, they were all executed on Stalin's orders after the British authorities sent them back to Russia.

The Indian Legion on the other hand, was a liberation force composed of Indians who were opposed to British rule in their country, the idea being they would bring down the Raj. The first troops of this legion were derived from Rommel's Indian POWs captured in North Africa. The majority of Indian Legion troops were used to man the atlantic wall and were never utilized in the origianal perceived role over Persia. The Legion was stationed in Lacanau and the time of the normandy landings and remained there up to two months after D-Day. Command of the legion was handed over to Heinz Bertling. In august the unit pulled out of lacanau to make its way to Germany, it was on this journey that the Legion suffered its first combat casualty. With the war over, the Legion sought refuge in neutral Switerland, attempts to reach Switzerland were unsuccessful and the legion was captured by American forces, who duly handed them over to Indian authorities. The majority of them stood trial for treason.

 

Hungarian Units of Waffen SS.. ​

hunyadi.co.uk - Home

 

found this pic showing men enlisting..Ostland..

 

My father fought with the 14th Galician.
He grew up on the borders of Ukraine and Poland. He wasn't racist or anti-semitic, but he hated what the Russians did to his country. At the age of 14 he was forced to run away from home after being implicated in involvement with partisans.
He was caught by the Germans, who gave him the option to fight for them or be shot as a spy. He joined the Germans in operation Barbarossa, and was later transferred to the 14th.
At first he was happy to get a chance to fight the Russians, but on returning to Ukraine, he saw how they treated his people. He found his Grandparents in a forced labour gang and used his position to get them out. Later he came into contact with Ukrainian Partisans and pleaded for them to take him, but they said he was more useful to them where he was.
At the end of the war he surrendered to the Americans in Austria, and they saved him from the Yalta Agreement by claiming he was Polish. He worked for them in Berlin after the war, and he later travelled to the UK. Where he lived out the rest of his days.
I can't say what he did during the war was right or wrong. It was survival, and much of it was done for his country and to stay alive. Who are we to judge? What would you have done in his place?

 

Scythian;
Who can judge is absolutely correct. All the peoples of Eastern Europe were in a lose/lose situation caught as they were between NAZI from the West, the Stalinists from the East, and all manner of nationalist and out and out bandit forces in between. Then there were the less dramatic but much more deadly scourges of starvation and disease...
Just surviving the conflagation was a major accomplishment and my deepest respects to your father.
JeffinMNUSA