The first group of 300 Norwegian volunteers arrived in the Third Reich in February 1941 and carried out combat training in SS training camps in Austria and northern Germany. Many of them were "baptized by fire", participating in the triumphal campaign of the Wehrmacht in Yugoslavia in April 1941 as part of the elite SS division "Das Reich", and received "iron crosses" of the 2nd class for this. On the eve of the invasion of the USSR, the Danish-Norwegian SS regiment "Nordland" was included in the 5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking" (5. SS Panzer Division "Wiking"), in which Norwegian volunteers entered the territory of Western Ukraine on June 22. Instead of the British, whom they were going to fight, they were to face the Red Army. However, the Norwegian SS, who absorbed the hatred of Bolshevism with the ideas of "National Unity" and trained in the art of killing in SS camps, fought well. Together with the division until the beginning of 1943, they had to go through bloody battles, exhausting marches and severe cold in Ukraine, in the Donbass, on the outskirts of the North Caucasus. “We fought desperately, paying for every conquered meter with rivers of blood, which soldered the Germans, Danes, Flemings, Norwegians and Finns into an exemplary pan-European combat detachment,” Peter Neumann, a veteran of the Viking division, recalled after the war. On March 23, 1943, the remnants of the SS Nordland Regiment, after twenty-one months of continuous presence at the front, were withdrawn from the front line to form the basis of the new "Nordic" SS division, which will be discussed below. The Norwegians who served in the Nordland regiment were distinguished by their own insignia in the general SS uniform: “solstice” (a swastika with specifically rounded ends) instead of “zig-runes” on buttonholes and the letter “N” on shoulder straps; on the sleeve they wore a black ribbon with the name of the regiment embroidered in Gothic silver, but they did not have any national insignia.
The Norwegian national formation of the SS Troops was created after the Nazi invasion of the USSR. Quisling, the implacable enemy of the Bolsheviks, enthusiastically received this news and called on his supporters to take part in the "crusade in Russia." SS Reichsführer Himmler approved the formation of a unit called the Norwegian SS Volunteer Legion (SS Freiwillige legion Norwegen) and accepted Quisling's condition that the legion would be considered part of the joint German-Norwegian subordination, and not German, but Norwegian military legislation would apply to its military personnel. Norwegian volunteers were trained in Germany under the guidance of German instructors; by the autumn of 1941, two infantry battalions were formed, which received the names "Viken" and "Viking" after the regiments of the "State squad" of the same name, which provided personnel for them. Their commanders were convinced quislings, former officers of the Norwegian army, majors Bakke and Kellstrup. Later, a reserve battalion was created to prepare replacements. On October 3, in the presence of Quisling, who arrived at the ceremony, the Norwegian legionnaires took the oath and received battle flags - the Norwegian state flag with the name of the legion and the traditional Norwegian battle standard with a crowned lion clutching an ax in its paws. Legionnaires, who received SS field uniforms in field gray and SS insignia, also wore Norwegian flags under the SS eagle on their left sleeves, a ribbon with the name of the legion (in some cases, a battalion) on the wrist, and buttonholes with the Norwegian heraldic lion. According to photographic documents, some fighters and officers also kept chevrons with a "solar cross" and party cockades of the "National Unity". The system of military ranks in the Norwegian Legion was modified as follows: while maintaining the SS scale, each German rank had a Norwegian equivalent. Thus, the Scharführers of various degrees began to be called Lagforers and Trouppforers, Sturmführers - Sturmforers, Hauptsturmführers - Govedsmanns, Sturmbannfuehrers - Stormbannforers, and the only Ober-Sturmbannführer in the legion - its commander Axel Kvist, a German officer of Norwegian origin - is a nest standardenforer. In addition, the Norwegian specifics of the battalion should have been emphasized by the fact that its battalions were staffed according to the states of the Norwegian infantry - 3 infantry and 1 machine gun companies and 5 platoons - headquarters, mortar, communications, sapper and sanitary - in each. Part of the armament of the legionnaires was also borrowed from the Norwegian arsenals - for example, very effective officer pistols and anti-aircraft machine guns of the famous American Colt model.
In February 1942, the Norwegian Legion arrived at the northern sector of the Eastern Front, where it was included in the combat schedule of the 2nd SS motorized brigade. The legionnaires occupied a section of the front on the near approaches to the besieged Leningrad, and held these positions until the spring of 1943. The fighting here was mainly positional in nature, with the exception of a few desperate attempts by the Red Army to break the Leningrad blockade. Consequently, less fierce battles fell to the share of the Norwegian legionnaires than those fought in the south by their compatriots from the SS Viking division. Nevertheless, they fully supported the good fighting reputation of the Norwegian soldiers and deserved many awards. During the fighting, the legion was replenished several times with personnel. Including in September 1942, 38 girls from “Kvinnehird” arrived from Norway - signalmen and doctors, and the so-called “SS police company”, which deserves special mention. It was formed at his own expense and from his associates by the former Oslo police chief and member of the Balkan Company as part of the Das Reich SS division Stormbanforer Jonas Lie. Being a fanatical Nazi, but not a supporter of Quisling, Lee in May 1941 led a split in the "State Druzhina", with the support of the Reichskommissar Terboven, creating from 130 people, mostly former police officers, an alternative military-political organization of the Norwegian Nazis - the so-called "Norwegian SS" (Norges SS). Almost all of them entered the "police company", which in December 1942 had the most fierce battle of the Norwegians on the Leningrad front. The company held off the onslaught of the Separate Komsomol-youth ski battalion of the Leningrad Soviet party activists for the whole day near Konstantinovka. As a result, both sides declared their victory and the failure of half of the personnel; probably, the losses of the young defenders of Leningrad were much greater.
In May 1943, 20 officers and 678 fighters who remained in the ranks of 1218 legionnaires (including replenishments, minus the dead, wounded, sick and sent to other units) returned to Oslo and marched through the streets of their capital. In September 1943, the Norwegian SS Legion was officially dissolved on the official basis that the two-year contract that its fighters signed when they entered the service had expired. However, the future showed that most of these people already felt their belonging to the war and soon returned to it.
On the northern sector of the Soviet-German front, in Karelia, she fought in 1942-43. another Norwegian part of the SS: formed in October 1942, the SS Ski-Jager Battalion “Norge”, which was part of the combat schedule of the 6th SS Mountain Division “Nord”, was formed in October 1942. Little is known about the combat path of this unit, which numbered about 400 fighters under the command of Obersturmführer Gust Jonassen, who came from the State Squad, but it can be assumed that the Norwegians, known as excellent skiers and shooters, have proven themselves well. As part of the SS division "Nord" also served two Norwegian companies of the field police. In September 1943, the ski battalion was disbanded, and most of its personnel joined other parts of the SS.
In March 1943, on the initiative of the Reichsfuehrer SS Himmler, it was announced the beginning of the formation of an SS division from representatives of the "Nordic peoples" - Danes, Flemings and Norwegians. The training of the division, which received the number 11, the status of a volunteer panzer-grenadier and the name "Nordland" (11. SS Freiwilligen Panzer-grenadier Division "Nordland"), began at the training camp of the Grafenfor SS Troops in Bavaria. The second regiment of the division, which had the SS-wide numbering of the 23rd and the name "Norway" (23. SS Panzer-grenadier Regiment "Norge"), was planned to be formed from the Norwegians. On this occasion, Quisling appealed to the people of Norway to give another 3,000 volunteers to the war. However, the terrible stories of the legionnaires who returned from the Eastern Front clearly reduced the number of people who wanted to fight among the naturally peaceful inhabitants of the "country of thousands of fjords." By the time the SS division Nordland, which had not completed its formation, was thrown into battle, there were only 796 Norwegians in its ranks. Moreover, about 600 of them were former legionnaires and fighters of the SS Viking division, who no longer thought of themselves without war. A trend that was disappointing for the Norwegian Nazis appeared: the same people continued to serve in the SS Troops with a very small influx of new volunteers. In total, during the war years, according to Western historians, no more than 4-5 thousand Norwegians went through hostilities as part of the SS on the Eastern and Balkan fronts (including from 1943 to 1945 in the Nordland division at least 2 thousand), although some Russian authors, such as Wolfgang Akunov, are ready to estimate their number much higher. Today, the names of 689 Norwegian SS men who died in battles have been established, and about 300 more are missing.
So, the Nordland division became a unit of the SS Troops, in which the Norwegians served, which had a diverse and bloody military history. In September-November 1943, she successfully passed the “run-in” in Croatia in battles against the communist partisans of Tito. Here, the Norway regiment was replenished with Croatian Volks-Deutsche, and during the subsequent transfer to the Eastern Front, it received another batch of Norwegian volunteers - including former fighters of the ski battalion and police companies of the Nord division. In January 1944, fierce battles followed in the Leningrad direction with units of the Red Army breaking through the blockade and a fighting retreat through the Baltic, where the Norwegians took an active part in the so-called "battle of the European SS" near Narva. From the cauldron in Courland (where, until the surrender of the Third Reich, the remnants of the German Army Group North continued to desperately hold their positions), the thinned parts of the division were taken out by the ships of the Kriegsmarine and met the last months of the war in fierce battles with Soviet troops in East Prussia, Pomerania and, finally , from April 16, 1945 - in the battle for Berlin. After Hitler's suicide, the division commander gave the order to its foreign fighters to break through to the west to avoid the prospect of Soviet captivity. Among those who managed to break through the Elbe and surrender to American troops were groups of Norwegian SS men. Most of them were then returned by the US military authorities to Norway and stood trial on charges of defecting to the enemy.
Regarding the uniforms of the Norwegian volunteers in the Nordland division, it should be noted that most of them preferred to wear on their buttonholes not the “solstice”, but the sinister “zig-runes” of the SS, which they were clearly proud of belonging to. The only national insignia was a shield of the colors of the national flag, sewn on the left sleeve under the eagle. The soldiers and officers of the "Norway" regiment also had an armband with the name of the regiment.
The history of the service of the Norwegians in the structures of the SS should be completed by mentioning their participation in the formations of the General SS (Allgemeine SS). The source for the creation of the Norwegian section of the General SS was the renegades from the Quisling party, led by police superintendent Lee, who have already been mentioned above. On July 21, 1942, the German SS of Norway (Germanske SS Norge), a division of the General SS subordinate to Reichsführer Himmler, was deployed at their base. Their ranks were recruited by volunteers aged 17-40 who performed official duties (mainly security service and provision of propaganda and administrative activities of the occupying authorities) in their free time from work/study. Reiskommissar Terboven saw in these German-like detachments a counterbalance to the quislings striving for independence and recalcitrant, and provided the German SS of Norway with all possible support. The ranks of this paramilitary organization included more than 1.2 thousand active and about 3.5 thousand reserve members. Organizationally, they were consolidated into 12 territorial battalions (stormbann). In addition, since 1943, the SS Oslo Security Battalion (6. SS Wach Batallion Oslo) of a permanent composition (about 300 soldiers and officers, 3 security companies and a cavalry platoon) operated, which, in particular, took part in the operations of the German troops against the Norwegian Resistance and periodically landed in the country of British saboteurs. The German SS of Norway wore a black uniform of the General SS (mostly with a modest cap, and not with the famous cap), but the "solstice" was depicted on the buttonholes, and the eagle on the left sleeve was of the same pattern as the quislings on cockades. The security battalion had a field uniform in the color "feldgrau", its fighters wore Norwegian heraldic lions on both buttonholes. For the ranks of the German SS Norway, it was mandatory to have a ribbon with the name of their service on the left sleeve. In general, this formation enjoyed a reputation among the Norwegian Nazis as “a bunch of dudes who wanted to serve in the SS, but were afraid of the Eastern Front” (the words of Quisling’s former secretary Franklin Knudsen), and the main milestones of his military path were numerous violent fights with quislings in the pubs of Oslo, Trondheim and Narvik.
However, let us return to the history of the “State Druzhina” itself and other paramilitary formations of the Quisling party, which we left behind the performance of police and propaganda functions and the confrontation with the Reichskommissar Terboven in 1941. Despite the fact that the head of the occupation authorities of Norway did not like the leader of the local Nazis, and Quisling paid him the same coin, they were still forced to cooperate more and more closely. Since 1941, when the resistance movement began to boldly raise its head in Norway, and the British special units began to carry out sabotage raids against Wehrmacht facilities, the Germans began to increasingly use units of the "State squad" in their anti-partisan operations. The German commanders more than once admitted that this was a good choice: they knew the difficult terrain and the population of their country very well, the athletic and unpretentious "vigilantes" did their job well. Norwegian Nazis were also involved in the "final solution of the Jewish question" in the country, that is, for the persecution and deportation of Norwegian Jews to concentration camps. Although, again, according to the Germans, the "combatants" clearly lacked cruelty at the same time: "National Unity" has always advocated only the defeat of "persons of the Jewish faith" in their rights. With the start of field operations, the State Squad received pre-war army uniforms from the captured warehouses of the Norwegian army: uniforms, overcoats, caps and characteristic dark gray ski trousers. Belonging to the "State squad" was determined by quisling eagles on headdresses; armbands with "solar crosses" were also worn during operations.
In February 1942, as a result of long political maneuvers with the leadership of Nazi Germany, Quisling finally achieved his goal. By personal order of Hitler, he was appointed to the post of "minister-president" of Norway and received a mandate to form a civil government of the country. Supporters of the National Unity party and many ordinary Norwegians took this news with satisfaction, believing that, despite the undemocratic coming to power of the new Norwegian government, this means the restoration of the country's independence. However, they miscalculated cruelly: Reichskommissar Terboven fully retained his powers, and the regime of Hitler's military occupation did not undergo significant changes. Throughout the remainder of the war until the end of the war, the quisling and occupation authorities in Norway waged a grueling rivalry of competing and mutually exclusive decrees and campaigns. By the way, it will be interesting to note that, unlike the occupying authorities, the quisling regime during the entire war passed only one death sentence - and that not to the Resistance fighter, but to the police commissioner who ignored the order from Oslo.
Of course, in order to strengthen his dictatorial power, Quisling counted on the forceful support of the "State Squad". He made the most of his new position as head of state in order to turn it into a full-fledged party armed forces, and began, quite obviously, with the creation of a personal guard (Forergfrgen). This part, having begun its history in February 1942 with 150 tall and ideologically impeccable "vigilantes", personally selected by Quisling to carry out a six-month service to protect his residence Gimle (the so-called dwelling of demigod heroes in Old Norse mythology) in the suburbs of Oslo, by the end The war unfolded to the scale of a personnel battalion guarding especially important government facilities. Its fighters were the first in the "State squad" to receive automatic weapons - the German MP-35 submachine guns. The Quisling Life Guardsmen were also distinguished by custom-tailored uniforms, stylized letters “VQ” (from Vidkun Quisling) on ​​the buttonholes, and with full dress guard uniforms, headdresses richly decorated with braid and tassels (the so-called “bonnets”) like the pre-war royal guards . The Quisling Life Guards were never involved in raids against the Resistance and British saboteurs, and their only battles were repelling several attempts by partisans to attack some government targets in late April - early May 1945.
In March 1942, Quisling acquired his own party navy, which was especially important given the important place that the sea has always occupied in the life of Norwegians. The maritime service of the "State Squad" (Hirdmarinen with the youth department of Ungirdmarinen) had a mixed task of patrolling the coastal waters in order to suppress the activities of the Resistance and the British there, as well as training young people who expressed a desire to serve in the German Kriegsmarine. The Hirdmarinen's ship structure included several patrol ships and boats, mostly converted from high-speed pleasure yachts, as well as the training ship St. Olaf II Haraldsson. It is known that the Hirdmarinen patrol boats, in particular, took part in preventive bombing at the entrance to the main Kriegsmarine base in Norway, Alta Fjord, in order to prevent British combat swimmers from entering there (these operations began after September 22, 1943 by saboteurs the battleship Tirpitz was damaged). The young Norwegians trained in the Ungirdmarinen units were sent for further training to the German base in Trondheim (the first group arrived in January 1943), and then were distributed to the German combat and auxiliary ships stationed in the ports of Norway. It is known that, according to various sources, from several hundred to up to 2 thousand Norwegians served in the Kriegsmarine, most of all on the air defense cruisers Nymphe and Tethys (converted from Norwegian coastal defense battleships), as well as at bases in Narvik , Trondheim and Hammerfest. Employees of Hirdmarinen wore pre-war Norwegian naval uniforms (generally reminiscent of global standards), but with sleeve patches - "solar crosses" and party cockades, complemented by an image of an anchor.
In May 1942, the flight service of the "State Squad" - "Hirdens Flykorpsen" - appeared. It was a rather small unit, focused exclusively on flight, glider and parachute training of Norwegian youth, who expressed a desire to enter the aviation and parachute units of the Luftwaffe. For these purposes, a training squadron was formed, which was headed by a former fighter pilot of the Norwegian Air Force, Lieutenant V. Kron, ironically a hero of the defensive war of 1940 (on the very first day of fighting, piloting the Gloucester Gladiator biplane, he shot down a German fighter Bf- 110, was damaged in air combat, made an emergency landing and then fought as part of an infantry unit until the last day of fighting in Norway). The Quisling Training Squadron had at its disposal a dozen surviving obsolete Fokker C-Vs and Tiger Moths from the former National Air Force, as well as a small fleet of sport gliders. Occasionally, the Hirdens Flykorpsen biplanes and their pilots were brought in by the Germans as scouts and observers during anti-partisan operations. Unfortunately, it was not possible to find accurate information about how many pilots and paratroopers the "quisling air force" trained for the Luftwaffe, and in which units these people later fought. However, it is truly known that the instructors and cadets of the "Hirdens Flykorpsen" wore the uniform of the Luftwaffe with the distinctive signs of the "State squads". Moreover, the “wingspan” of the eagle on the cockade was modified under the obvious influence of the cockade of the German Air Force, and the “solar cross”, which he carried in his paws, was not inscribed in a circle, but in a shield framed by oak branches. “Hirdens Flykorpsen” issued beautiful qualification badges to its graduates: “Pilot”, “Observer Pilot”, “Glider” and “Parachutist”, which they then continued to wear in the Luftwaffe.
On August 14, 1943, when the Quisling government passed a law on the restoration of the armed forces of Norway, the "State squad" with all their services, except for women's and youth, was officially included in their composition. After that, Quisling's attention to his party guard, however, declined somewhat. As a career officer, he enthusiastically switched to trying to create regular army units that would allow him to realize the dream of an equal allied relationship with Hitler. We add that this plan of the leader of the Norwegian Nazis, like many others, failed. As the course of the war became less and less favorable for Germany, the "National Unity" lost the already modest support of the Norwegians, and they were no longer eager to participate in the dangerous projects of the quislings.
Nevertheless, Vidkun Quisling continued to remain in power until the official end of the war on May 9, 1945. On the last day, he even had the dubious fortune of ruling Norway without the hateful Reichskommissar Terboven, who had committed suicide the day before by blowing himself up with explosives in his bunker. As for Quisling himself, on May 9 he ordered the “vigilantes” guarding his residence Gimle to lay down their arms, went out and surrendered to the Norwegian policemen who had gone over to the side of the Resistance. On the same evening, he was taken into custody by local anti-fascists, and then handed over to the legal authorities of the Norwegian royal government, which had returned from Britain.
The "state squad", despite the deterioration in morale and the reduction in the number of fighters, especially in 1944-45, continued to fulfill their official duties until the last day of the war. In the conditions of Norway, with the exception of small northern regions (captured by the Soviet army) that did not experience the invasion of the Allies and controlled by strong German garrisons, the hope for an acceptable outcome of the war among the "druzhinas" remained for a very long time. The surrender of the Wehrmacht forces in Norway, although somewhat belated in relation to other theaters of World War II (May 10), left them no chance. The Norwegian Resistance, according to the exact expression of an eyewitness, "during the years of the war, learned cruelty from the Germans", immediately began mass arrests of the outlawed quislings. Many activists and ordinary members of the "National Unity" tried to flee to neighboring Sweden. Some groups of "vigilantes" fought their way there, putting up fierce resistance to the detachments of Norwegian anti-fascists pursuing them. During the arrest of many collaborators who did not want to surrender to the Resistance fighters and took up arms, bloody clashes arose, the victims of which were not only their participants, but also bystanders. However, there were no organized attempts to create a post-war Nazi underground in Norway. And the point here is not only the small number of supporters of "National Unity" and the collapse of their ideas in May 1945, but also the national character of the pragmatic and realistic Norwegian. Fight to avoid arrest and punishment - please; to die for a lost cause "out of principle" - never.
In the days of May 1945, the victorious resistance fighters in Norway killed several hundred members of the "National Unity", including many "vigilantes". Found an inglorious death, among others, and the former rival of Quisling and the Minister of Police in his government, Joanes Lee. Over 90,000 real and imaginary collaborators found themselves behind bars these days, including the aged classic of Norwegian literature Knut Hamsun, whose “Nazism” was purely aesthetic in nature. In 1945-48. 28,750 members of the National Unity party appeared before the Royal Court of Norway on charges of treason, defection or war crimes. We must pay tribute to the justice of a small country with strong democratic traditions: acquittals were almost as frequent as convictions, and most punishments were relatively lenient. Nevertheless, about 80 party functionaries, Norwegian SS men, and just ordinary "vigilantes" who committed cruelty during punitive actions were sentenced to life imprisonment. 45 people were sentenced to death, and 37 of them died in front of the firing squads. One of them was the "Norwegian Benedict Arnold" - the leader of the "National Unity", appointed by Hitler as Minister-President of Norway, Vidkun Quisling.
At the trial to accuse the top leaders of the "National Unity" of treason and going over to the side of the enemy, Quisling stated that his "only goal was to preserve the Norwegian state and uphold the civil rights of Norwegians." Nevertheless, the verdict of the judges was unequivocal: capital punishment. There is an opinion that King Hakon VII was ready to pardon the leader of the Norwegian Nazis if he applied to him with a corresponding request. However, Quisling, who during the war years himself accused the king of going over to the side of the enemy - the British, refused to ask the monarch for mercy.
On a rainy night on October 24, 1945, in the courtyard of the old Akershus fortress, the sentence was carried out. Before his death, Quisling behaved with dignity and shouted to the soldiers of the military police who shot him: “Norwegians, I am innocent!” The forensic physician recorded that out of 11 bullets fired (1 rifle was traditionally loaded with a blank cartridge), the former dictator was hit by everyone, and he died almost instantly.

To Berlin 1945. The failed breakthrough of the 11th SS division "Nordland". +18

The story is connected with a series of photographs of broken German equipment on Friedrichstrasse, taken by Soviet photojournalist Mark Redkin on May 2, 1945.

Photo #1. Very well-known, it is usually he who is cited in all sorts of encyclopedias on the identification marks of Wehrmacht divisions and SS formations, because on the front of the SdKfz 250/1 armored personnel carrier the OZ of the 11th SS Panzer Grenadier Division "Nordland" is clearly visible. This photo is also loved by modellers, because the front of the armored personnel carrier bears a full set of typical identification marks of the SS troops.
Sorry, of course, but here it is a larger sign of the 11th TGD SS:

By the beginning of the fighting in Berlin, the 11th SS division "Nordland", which consisted mainly of volunteers of Scandinavian origin, numbered 3500-4000 people. Without describing the actual course of the fighting in the city, one thing can be said: by May 1, the 11th SS division was on the defensive in the area adjacent to the Reich Chancellery. By this time, the few officers who survived realized that the matter smelled of kerosene, or rather, the complete destruction of the remnants of the division. Several organized groups of SS men made a breakthrough along Friedrichstrasse across the Weidendam Bridge on the night of May 1-2, 1945. It must be said that Soviet assault groups, supported by armored vehicles, advanced towards the Reich Chancellery from Belle Alliance Platz along Saarlandstrasse and Wilhelmstrasse. The Friedrichstrasse street parallel to them was littered with ruins, and in some places there were failures in the subway tunnel. Therefore, having put up barriers, our troops were not particularly interested in this direction. Most likely one of the breakthrough groups ran into such a barrier.
So in the photo is the SdKfz 250/1 armored personnel carrier of the company commander of the Swedish volunteers of the SS division Nordland Hauptsturmführer Hans-Gosta Pehrsson (Hauptsturmfuhrer Hans-Gosta Pehrsson). The car was hit on the night of May 1-2, 1945, when it participated in an attempt to escape from Berlin. The armored personnel carrier was hit on Friedrichstrasse south of the Reich Chancellery. To the right of the car lies the killed driver - Unterscharführer Ragnar Johansson.

Unfortunately, Perhsson managed to slip out of the trap. Although he was wounded, he still fled the battlefield. Then he fell into Soviet captivity, then escaped from it and returned to his native Sweden

Here, a column of captured German soldiers is being led past the same car

In the same armored personnel carrier, a dead woman was found in the troop compartment. According to some sources, she belonged to the "voluntary personnel of the SS", according to others, "a representative of the Norwegian Red Cross"

Padded equipment of the 11th SS division "Nordland" from the same breakthrough group at the intersection of Friedrichstrasse and Reinhardstrasse in Berlin. On the left, in the distance, a padded armored personnel carrier Sd.Kfz.251/11 from the reconnaissance battalion of the division is visible. The tactical number of the armored personnel carrier is "531". On the trailer - a light infantry gun 7.5 cm leIG 18. The breakthrough route began at the Weidendam bridge and ran further northwest along the Friedrichstrasse. The equipment and dead soldiers captured in the photo were destroyed 170 meters from the bridge.

More dead soldiers and destroyed equipment from the breakthrough group of the 11th SS division on Friedrichstrasse (Friedrichstraße). In the foreground is a Horch 901 car, in the background is the same Sd.Kfz.251/11 armored personnel carrier as in the previous picture.

Another part of the equipment of the 11th SS division "Nordland" was destroyed on the street Oberwallstrasse (Oberwallstrasse).

An attempt to break through "Nordland" from Berlin is also reflected in feature films. Film "Bunker" 2004

ELEVENTH VOLUNTEER PANZER-GRENADER DIVISION "NORDLAND"

Its creation in February 1943 was an attempt by the Germans to form an international SS division, staffed and led by foreign volunteers. Although the elite Viking Division had a significant number of foreign soldiers in its ranks, the officers were mostly Germans. In the "Nordland" the Germans hoped to get a larger number of senior foreign officers. To a large extent, the remnants of disbanded foreign units were used to create the division, and it eventually came to represent a wider range of different nationalities than any other division of the Waffen-SS. By the end of the war, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Estonian, Finnish, French, Swedish, Swiss and even British volunteers either served in the division itself or were transferred to it.

By the autumn of 1943, the division was undergoing training in Croatia, and in January 1944 it was declared fit for combat operations. It was assigned to the army group "North" on the Eastern Front in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the Red Army from breaking through the Leningrad blockade. The division also took part in the Battle of Narva (early 1944), where it suffered heavy losses. This battle was attended by such a large number of volunteer units that the Battle of Narva was called the "battle of the European SS".

In September 1944, after only four days, the division made a forced march from Narva to Riga, where its arrival prevented the encirclement of the 18th Wehrmacht Army by the Red Army. As the offensive of the Soviet troops continued, "Nordland." slowly retreated and ended up in the Courland cauldron, fiercely resisting the enemy, and at the beginning of 1945 was evacuated from there to Germany. Before joining the troops defending Berlin, she took part in heavy battles near Danzig and Stettin. In the battles for Berlin in April-May 1945, the division was destroyed.

"Nordland" was a combat-ready, well-equipped military unit, which included a strong armored fist. She performed well in battle and was one of the best foreign SS divisions. The consequence of this was the awarding of 30 people with Knight's Crosses. The division was initially commanded by SS-Obergruppenführer Fritz von Schold, who was awarded the Knight's Cross with Swords and Oak Leaves. Command then passed to Brigadeführer Joachim Ziegler, who died on May 2, 1945 near Berlin. The soldiers of this division wore special buttonholes with the so-called curved swastika, as well as their own national emblems. THIRTEENTH WAFFEN-SS MOUNTAIN DIVISION "HANDSHAR" (CROATIAN jjTS)

In February 1943, Himmler ordered the creation of a new legion of Bosnian Muslim volunteers to conduct anti-partisan operations in Yugoslavia, as a result of which the Croatian SS Volunteer Division arose. The Croatian dictator Ante Pavelić was extremely suspicious of the order of the Reich Fuhrer SS, suspecting him of a Machiavellian conspiracy aimed at inciting Muslims against Christians and thereby destabilizing the Croatian state. Himmler simply ignored his protests - and the formation of the SS division continued. However, the level of training of volunteers left much to be desired. In September 1943, the division was sent to France for training, where problems arose almost immediately. German officers often treated their Muslim charges with contempt.

Considering that many of these Germans were veterans of the SS, imbued with Himmler's ideas of racial purity, they must have been very annoyed by the need to command a motley unit of inept Muslim recruits who wore funny fez hats and dutifully treated at the behest of their imams with prayers towards Mecca. The tension was growing rapidly, and the openly pronounced unflattering epithets with which the German non-commissioned officers-instructors awarded the Muslims were perceived by the latter to heart. As a result, the Muslims rebelled and killed several German officers. Himmler was infuriated by incidents of physical abuse committed against Muslim volunteers, but the death of his compatriots left him no choice but to crush the rebellion that had arisen. His order was carried out, and the instigators were executed without delay. The division itself, the only SS formation to ever mutiny, was not disbanded. Under the sidelong glances of the Germans, she was transferred back to Yugoslavia to fight with the partisans. Subsequently, the division acquired a very sinister reputation for its atrocities. Many of the atrocities perpetrated by its soldiers mainly affected the Serbs.

At the end of 1944, the retreat of German troops from the Balkans began. The Muslim legionnaires were deemed useless for frontline fighting, and the Muslim units were eventually disbanded. From the Germans and the Volksdeutsche, they created a shock group, which took part in the battles during the retreat through Hungary and Austria, before surrendering to the Soviet Army.

It is interesting to note that although five people from the Handschar division were awarded Knight's Crosses, all of them - SS-Brigadeführer Desinderius Hampel, SS-Obersturmbannführer Karl Lieke and Hans Hake, SS-Sturmbannführer Albert Stenwedel and SS-Sturmbannführer Helmut Kinz - were German military personnel and were awarded in May 1945, after the Muslim units were disbanded. Despite numerous disciplinary sanctions and poor military training, in May 1944, on the orders of Himmler, the division was given the name "Handshar" and the wearing of buttonholes with the image of a hand holding a short scimitar sword, or handshar, over a swastika was established. All this reflected Himmler's desire to succeed in experiments with Muslim volunteers. Despite the fact that the division was given an honorary name, there was no special patch on the cuff, the sleeve emblem of the soldiers of this division was a red and white check - the national colors of Croatia.

Unterscharführer Wilhelm Tike joined the Waffen-SS at the age of 17, served as a machine gunner in the Viking division, in the Norland regiment, was wounded in 1943 and sent to Riga in a reserve tank reconnaissance battalion. In 1944 he was sent to the Hungarian SS division "Horst Wessel".

"On January 14, 1944, the 2nd company of the 11th SS engineer battalion at 5 o'clock in the morning under the leadership of Untersturmführer Pauritsch, in accordance with the task, continued to build barriers for the enemy at the junction of the front sections of the 9th and 10th airfield divisions.
The company commander, Obersturmführer Knepel, who, in accordance with the received order, was to choose a place for the construction of a rear line, was forced to abandon the search due to the intensive artillery shelling of the Russians that began already at 6 o'clock in the morning and the subsequent air attacks of attack aircraft.
On the way to the company, Obersturmführer Knepel met groups of panicked soldiers and sent them to the assembly point. The defensive positions at the edge of the forest were a depressing sight - the dugouts were destroyed by Soviet artillery, the ground was plowed up with funnels, the tops of trees above 2 meters seemed to be cut off by a giant knife. There are dead and wounded bodies everywhere.
This first baptism by fire turned out to be unbearable for the psyche of many unfired soldiers. Obersturmführer Knepel walked around the surviving personnel. The soldiers were in a state of prostration, the wounded were loaded onto sleds and stretchers and moved to the assembly point.

Soon after that, the white camouflage coats of Russians flashed at the edge of the forest. The rare fire of machine guns and machine guns of the soldiers of the airfield division ceased. Knepel and his comrades had to fight their way out with hand grenades.
In the immediate rear, scattered remnants of the 2nd company of the 11th SS engineer regiment gathered, where they received small arms from the reserve, prudently brought here by Oberscharführer Wilman.
Meanwhile, the 3rd company of the 11th SS engineer regiment (Hauptsturmführer Voss) also appeared in the breakthrough area. The 3rd company, together with the remnants of the 2nd company, was preparing to repel an enemy attack. Soon, the sappers launched a counterattack and, after about 2 kilometers of rapid advance through a snowy forest, ran into Soviet infantrymen.

Hand-to-hand fights with the enemy began on the right flank of the 2nd company. Not accustomed to such conduct of hostilities, the soldiers of the Luftwaffe field formation were almost all killed, wounded or captured, the survivors fled in panic. As a result, both SS sapper companies were left to their own devices.
When the threat of company encirclement became apparent, Hauptsturmführer Voss gave the order to retreat. The 2nd company, involved in close combat, provided fire cover for the 3rd company and nevertheless broke through from the encirclement to a height located southeast of the forest, where it took up defense.
During the breakthrough, Obersturmführer Knebel was wounded. The first day of a large-scale offensive by the Soviets cost the 2nd company of the 11th SS engineer battalion the loss of 100 fighters, some of whom were killed, the rest were captured or wounded.

From January 17 to January 21, the command post of the 2nd company of the reconnaissance battalion of the 11th SS motorized division "Nordland" was located in Stary Bor. Heckmuller's company, shoulder to shoulder with units of construction battalions - all fighters over 50 years old - held back enemy attacks and attempts to break through to Kozheritsy and Bor.
On the morning of January 14, the 1st battalion of the 23rd regiment "Norway" is in reserve in Lopukhinka, about 10 km in the rear. Near the road leading to the north, a disabled Pz V "Panther" tank was buried in the ground. Crew - fighters of the tank battalion of the division "Nordland". And at Voronino, and in other parts of the defense line, several Panthers were also buried in the ground.
On the morning of January 15, 6 Soviet T-34s suddenly appeared at the positions of the 1st battalion of the 23rd "Norway" regiment. The enemy fired at the positions from all sides. Obersturmführer Rendemann will die in this fight. Hauptsturmführer von Bargens from the 3rd company left the battle with the Russian thirty-fours alive.

Around noon on January 15, Hauptsturmführer Ellerzik arrived at the site of the 1st battalion of the "Norway" regiment with 4 assault guns of the 3rd battery. The 3rd company of the "Norway" regiment attacked with the support of these four assault guns.
The T-34 tanks, which were in a more advantageous position, successfully repulsed the German attack. The command vehicle was hit. Hauptsturmführer Ellerzik, the only surviving member of the crew, was evacuated with severe burns.
The 3rd company of the "Norway" regiment withdrew a little, dug in and organized the defense. T-34s, not daring to attack again, however, fired at the positions of the 3rd company all day. Hauptsturmführer von Bargen, along with his platoon leader, a Norwegian (Untersturmführer), were injured. Hauptscharführer Twesmann took command of the 3rd company of the "Norway" regiment.

To support the 1st battalion of the "Norway" regiment, the 5th battery of the artillery regiment of the "Nordland" division was brought up, which took up defenses northeast of the village of Dyatlitsy. Obersturmführer Binnerup's battery was subjected to intensive shelling of enemy positions all day long. On the Soviet side, mainly "Stalinist organs" were used, inflicting heavy losses on the 1st battalion of the "Norway" regiment.
In the evening, the 1st battalion of the "Norway" regiment withdrew about a kilometer in a south-westerly direction. On this line, the 1st battalion held out on January 16, successfully repulsing all Soviet attacks. Again, the SS suffered significant losses as a result of shelling by "Stalin's organs" and artillery.

After the Russian breakthrough on January 14, the 1st company of the sapper battalion of the 11th SS division "Nordland", which until now had carried out sapper tasks in the sector of the Danmark regiment, was transferred to the breakthrough site on January 15. Rokadnoe highway was packed with columns of troops.
The sapper company moved extremely slowly. She entered the battle at the site of the reconnaissance battalion of the Nordland division. On the boundless plain, the 1st company of the engineer battalion had to repulse the Russian attack. The attack was repulsed, but the company also suffered the first losses.
On January 25, the company of the 1st battalion of the Dunmark regiment was no longer able to contain the intense attacks of the enemy. The battalion was melting before our eyes. The battalion commander, Hauptsturmführer Wichmann, and two of his company commanders, Hauptsturmführer Gennicke and Obersturmführer Hein, were killed.
The front was broken. The Soviets attacked from three sides. Hauptsturmführer Sorensen received the battalion and ordered: "Break through to the southwest - to Vitino!" Sorensen led the units, Obersturmführer Zidon - the rearguard pressed by the enemy.
After the withdrawal, which turned into heavy losses, the remnants of the 1st Battalion of the 24th SS Regiment in Vitino joined the battle group von Lilienstern, and they were immediately thrown into battle in the area south of the village. This defensive position lasted until 27 January. The code word "Thaw" meant an order to withdraw.

On January 25, the reconnaissance battalion of the Nordland division was alerted, and in the afternoon the unit settled in a semicircle east of the village of Gubanitsa. At night, the noise of moving tanks came from the east.
There could be no doubt - the Soviet troops were preparing a tank attack. The reconnaissance battalion was waiting for reinforcements - assault guns. When the clang of caterpillars and the roar of engines were heard from the rear, the fighters of the reconnaissance battalion were sure that reinforcements had arrived in Gubanitsy.
However, as soon as dawn broke, it became clear to everyone that this was a Soviet tank with infantrymen on the armor. The tank swept through the village at full speed, rammed several armored personnel carriers, and immediately disappeared again into the predawn darkness. And all this happened without a single shot being fired. Damage dealt: tracks of armored personnel carriers were torn off.
The 502nd "Tigers" battalion, operating in the same sector, constantly freed the enemy's retreat routes, while suffering significant losses - almost their entire 1st company. Major Yede, the commander of this 502nd heavy tank battalion, gathered almost all of his Tigers at Volosovo.

On the morning of January 27, with the support of tanks, the enemy resumed attacks on the Gubanitsa-Volosovo sector of the front. Meanwhile, the withdrawal of the 3rd (German) SS Panzer Corps continued. "Venglerovo" (Volosovo) was abandoned. The rearguard held the line until dark.
The combat vehicles of the 5th company of the reconnaissance battalion of the Nordland division ensured the withdrawal of the battle group of Wengler and the Tigers. Then the armored personnel carriers of the reconnaissance battalion covered the loading of "Tigers" at the Volosovo railway station. When the train with the "Tigers" loaded on special platforms went to Narva, the rearguard units also retreated to the west.
Until January 26, the 3rd (German) SS Panzer Corps managed, repelling the constant attacks of the enemy, to hold more and more intermediate positions, while the defeated divisions of the northern wing of the 18th Army retreated to the west. The divisions operating near Leningrad suffered huge casualties. So, along with others, Major General Michael, who commanded the 9th airfield division, died on January 22.

On January 26, 1944, the phased withdrawal of the 3rd (German) SS Panzer Corps began. Earlier, all commanders were familiarized with the prepared plan. On that day, the corresponding orders were received by both the Netherlands brigade and the Coastal combat group.
The headquarters of the corps moved from the forest camp of Klopitsy to Opole. Heavy weapons were confiscated throughout the entire section of the corps and sent to the rear. Batteries of the artillery regiment of the "Nordland" division gradually concentrated in the area east of Ratchino - Ozakovo.
On January 27, the front shifted sharply to the south. The withdrawal of troops was in full swing. Heavy weapons and companies of motorized infantry were withdrawn along the roads, all of them headed for the northern roadway. The 16th company of the "Norway" regiment in the section of the "Norway" regiment undermined important objects and mined roads.
Only a few of the Pz V "Panther" tanks dug into the ground were put on the move. Most had to be blown up. Dugouts were burning everywhere. The Russians were advancing literally on the heels of the German troops.

Significant enemy forces had already managed to seep into the forests south of the former front line, crowding the retreating units of the Nordland division. Regiment "Norway" turned to the south-west. Before that, a convoy was sent.
Company sergeant majors and commanders of convoy units often, at their own peril and risk, without any orders from above, looked for the most convenient escape routes. The convoy of the 16th company of the "Norway" regiment under the command of Hauptscharführer Weibel took with him from the village of Zyabitsy and horse-drawn carts of the convoy of other Wehrmacht units, the commander of which, in the confusion of the retreat, was never given the appropriate order.
Fritz von Scholz was among the last to leave the command post of his division; enemy forces advancing on both sides almost surrounded him. Half of the 7th company of the "Norway" regiment was cut off. The commander of the 7th company counterattacked the enemy with the remnants of the unit and rescued the headquarters of his division in Kirovo, which was immediately transferred to the west. The cut off forces of the 7th company of the 23rd SS regiment "Norway" were destined to be missing."

During the Second World War, the divisions of the SS troops were considered the elite formations of the armed forces of the Third Reich.

Almost all of these divisions had their own emblems (tactical, or identification marks), which were by no means worn by the ranks of these divisions as sleeve patches (rare exceptions did not change the overall picture at all), but were applied with white or black oil paint on divisional military equipment and vehicles, buildings in which the ranks of the respective divisions were quartered, the corresponding signs in the locations of the units, etc. These identification (tactical) signs (emblems) of the SS divisions - almost always inscribed in heraldic shields (having the "Varangian", or "Norman", form or the form of a tarch) - in many cases differed from the lapel signs of the ranks of the corresponding divisions.

1. 1st SS Panzer Division "SS Adolf Hitler's Leibstandarte".

The name of the division means "SS Regiment of Adolf Hitler's personal guard". The emblem (tactical, or identification mark) of the division was a shield-tarch with the image of a master key (and not a key, as is often incorrectly written and thought). The choice of such an unusual emblem is explained very simply. The surname of the division commander Josef ("Sepp") Dietrich was "speaking" (or, in heraldic language, "vowel"). In German, "Dietrich" means "master key". After "Sepp" Dietrich was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the emblem of the division began to be framed with 2 oak leaves or a semicircular oak wreath.

2. 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich".

The name of the division - "Reich" ("Das Reich") translated into Russian means "Empire", "Power". The emblem of the division was the "wolfsangel" ("wolf hook") inscribed in the shield-tarch - an old German amulet sign that scared away wolves and werewolves (in German: "werewolves", in Greek: "lycanthropes", in Icelandic: " ulfhedins", in Norwegian: "varulvov" or "vargs", in Slavic: "ghouls", "volkolaks", "volkudlaks" or "wolf laks"), located horizontally.

3. 3rd SS Panzer Division "Dead Head" ("Totenkopf").

The division got its name from the emblem of the SS - the "dead (Adam's) head" (skull with bones) - a symbol of loyalty to the leader until death. The same emblem, inscribed in the shield-tarch, also served as the identification mark of the division.

4. 4th SS Motorized Infantry Division "Police" ("Police"), also known as the "(4th) SS Police Division".

This division received its name because it was formed from the ranks of the German police. The emblem of the division was the "wolf hook" - "wolfsangel" in a vertical position, inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch.

5. 5th SS Panzer Division "Viking".

The name of this division is explained by the fact that, along with the Germans, it was recruited from residents of the Nordic countries (Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden), as well as Belgium, the Netherlands, Latvia and Estonia. In addition, Swiss, Russian, Ukrainian and Spanish volunteers served in the ranks of the Viking division. The emblem of the division was the "oblique cross" ("sun wheel"), that is, a swastika with arcuately curved crossbars, on a heraldic shield-tarch.

6. 6th Mountain (Mountain Rifle) Division of the SS "Nord" ("North").

The name of this division is explained by the fact that it was recruited mainly from natives of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia and Latvia). The emblem of the division was the ancient German rune "hagall" inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch (resembling the Russian letter "Zh"). The rune "hagall" ("hagalaz") was considered a symbol of unshakable faith.

7. 7th SS Volunteer Mountain (Mountain Rifle) Division "Prince Eugen (Eugen)".

This division, recruited mainly from ethnic Germans living in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Vojvodina, Banat and Romania, was named after the famous commander of the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" in the second half of the 17th - early 18th centuries. Prince Eugene (in German: Eugen) of Savoy, who became famous for his victories over the Ottoman Turks and, in particular, won Belgrade for the Roman-German emperor (1717). Eugene of Savoy also became famous in the War of the Spanish Succession for his victories over the French and earned himself no less fame as a patron of the arts. The emblem of the division was the ancient Germanic rune "odal" ("otilia"), inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch, meaning "heritage" and "blood relationship".

8. 8th SS Cavalry Division "Florian Geyer".

This division was named after the imperial knight Florian Geyer, who led during the Peasants' War in Germany (1524-1526) one of the detachments of German peasants ("Black detachment", in German: "Schwarzer Haufen"), who rebelled against the princes (large feudal lords who opposed the unification of Germany under the scepter of the emperor). Since Florian Geyer wore black armor and his "Black Squad" fought under a black banner, the SS considered him as their predecessor (especially since he opposed not only the princes, but also for the unification of the German state). Florian Geyer (immortalized in the drama of the same name by the classic of German literature Gerhart Hauptmann) died heroically in battle with the superior forces of the German princes in 1525 in the Taubertal valley. His image entered German folklore (especially song folklore), enjoying no less popularity than, say, Stepan Razin - in Russian song folklore. The emblem of the division was a naked sword inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch, point upwards, crossing the shield diagonally from right to left, and a horse's head.

9. 9th SS Panzer Division "Hohenstaufen".

This division was named after the dynasty of the Swabian dukes (since 1079) and the medieval Roman-German Kaiser emperors (1138-1254) - the Hohenstaufen (Staufen). Under them, the medieval German state ("Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation"), founded by Charlemagne (in 800 A.D.) and renewed by Otto (n) I the Great, reached the peak of its power, subordinating Italy to its influence, Sicily, the Holy Land and Poland. The Hohenstaufens tried, relying on economically highly developed Northern Italy as a base, to centralize their power over Germany and restore the Roman Empire - "at least" - Western (within the borders of the empire of Charlemagne), ideally - the entire Roman Empire, including the Eastern Roman (Byzantine), in which, however, they did not succeed. The most famous representatives of the Hohenstaufen dynasty are the Crusader Kaisers Frederick I Barbarossa (who died during the Third Crusade) and his great-nephew Frederick II (Emperor of Rome, King of Germany, Sicily and Jerusalem), as well as Konradin, who was defeated in the fight against the Pope and Duke Charles of Anjou for Italy and beheaded by the French in 1268. The emblem of the division was a vertically naked sword inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch, point upwards, superimposed on the capital Latin letter "H" ("Hohenstaufen").

10. 10th SS Panzer Division "Frundsberg".

This SS division was named after the German Renaissance commander Georg (Jörg) von Frundsberg, nicknamed the "Father of the Landsknechts" (1473-1528), under whose command the troops of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and King of Spain Charles I of Habsburg conquered Italy and in 1514 took Rome, forcing the pope to recognize the supremacy of the Empire. They say that the ferocious Georg Frundsberg always carried a golden noose with him, with which he intended to strangle the Pope if he fell into his hands alive. In the ranks of the SS division "Frundsberg" served in his youth, the famous German writer, Nobel Prize winner Günter Grass. The emblem of this SS division was the capital Gothic letter "F" ("Frundsberg") inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch, superimposed on an oak leaf, located diagonally from right to left.

11. 11th SS Motorized Infantry Division "Nordland" ("Northern Country").

The name of the division is explained by the fact that it was recruited mainly from volunteers born in northern European countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Latvia and Estonia). The emblem of this SS division was a heraldic shield-tarch with the image of a "sun wheel" inscribed in a circle.

12. 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitler Youth"

This division was recruited mainly from the ranks of the youth organization of the Third Reich "Hitler Youth" ("Hitler Youth"). The tactical sign of this "youth" SS division was the ancient German "solar" rune "sig" ("sovulo", "sovelu"), inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch - a symbol of victory and the emblem of the Nazi youth organizations "Jungfolk" and "Hitler Youth", from among whose members were recruited volunteers of the division, imposed on the master key ("alignment with Dietrich").

13. 13th mountain (mountain) division of the Waffen SS "Khanjar"

(often also referred to in military literature as "Handshar" or "Yatagan"), which consisted of Croatian, Bosnian and Herzegovina Muslims (Bosnyaks). "Khanjar" is a traditional Muslim edged weapon with a curved blade (related to the Russian words "konchar" and "dagger", also meaning edged weapons). The emblem of the division was a curved sword-khanjar inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch, directed diagonally upwards from left to right. According to the surviving data, the division also had another identification mark, which was an image of a hand with a khanjar superimposed on a double "SS" rune "sig" ("sovulo").

14. 14th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS (Galician No. 1, since 1945 - Ukrainian No. 1); she is the SS division "Galicia".

The emblem of the division was the old coat of arms of the city of Lvov, the capital of Galicia - a lion walking on its hind legs, surrounded by 3 three-pronged crowns, inscribed in the "Varangian" ("Norman") shield.

15. 15th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS (Latvian No. 1).

The emblem of the division was originally a "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield with the image of the Roman numeral "I" above the stylized printed capital Latin letter "L" ("Latvia"). Subsequently, the division received another tactical sign - 3 stars against the background of the rising sun. 3 stars meant 3 Latvian provinces - Vidzeme, Kurzeme and Latgale (a similar image adorned the cockade of the military personnel of the pre-war army of the Republic of Latvia).

16. 16th SS Infantry Division "Reichsführer SS".

This SS division was named after Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler. The emblem of the division was a bunch of 3 oak leaves inscribed in a heraldic shield-tarch with 2 acorns near the handle framed by a laurel wreath, inscribed in a shield-tarch.

17. 17th SS Panzer Division "Götz von Berlichingen".

This SS division was named after the hero of the Peasants' War in Germany (1524-1526), ​​the imperial knight Georg (Götz, Götz) von Berlichingen (1480-1562), the fighter against the separatism of the German princes for the unity of Germany, the leader of the rebel peasants and the hero of the drama Johann Wolfgang von Goethe "Goetz von Berlichingen with an iron hand" (the knight Goetz, who lost his arm in one of the battles, ordered to make an iron prosthesis for himself, which he owned no worse than others - a hand of flesh and blood). The emblem of the division was the iron hand of Goetz von Berlichingen clenched into a fist (crossing the shield-tarch from right to left and from bottom to top diagonally).

18. 18th SS Volunteer Motorized Infantry Division "Horst Wessel".

This division was named after one of the "martyrs of the Nazi movement" - the commander of the Berlin attack aircraft Horst Wessel, who composed the song "Banners up"! (which became the anthem of the NSDAP and the "second anthem" of the Third Reich) and was killed by communist militants. The emblem of the division was a naked sword with the tip up, crossing the shield-tarch from right to left diagonally. According to the surviving data, the Horst Wessel division also had another emblem, which was the Latin letters SA stylized as runes (SA = Sturmabteilungen, i.e. "assault squads"; "martyr of the Movement" Horst Wessel, after whom the division got its name , was one of the leaders of the Berlin stormtroopers) inscribed in a circle.

19. 19th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS (Latvian No. 2).

The emblem of the division at the time of formation was the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield with the image of the Roman numeral "II" above the stylized printed capital Latin letter "L" ("Latvia"). Subsequently, the division received another tactical sign - an upright right-sided swastika on the "Varangian" shield. The swastika - the "fiery cross" ("ugunskrusts") or the "cross (of the god of thunder) Perkon" ("perkonkrusts") has been a traditional element of the Latvian folk ornament from time immemorial.

20. 20th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS (Estonian No. 1).

The emblem of the division was the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield with the image of a straight naked sword, point upwards, crossing the shield from right to left diagonally and superimposed on the capital Latin letter "E" ("E", that is, "Estonia"). According to some reports, this emblem was sometimes depicted on the helmets of Estonian SS volunteers.

21. 21st mountain (mountain) division of the Waffen SS "Skanderbeg" (Albanian No. 1).

This division, recruited mainly from Albanians, was named after the national hero of the Albanian people, Prince George Alexander Kastriot (nicknamed by the Turks "Iskander-beg" or, for short, "Skanderbeg"). While Skanderbeg (1403-1468) was alive, the Ottoman Turks, who repeatedly suffered defeats from him, could not subjugate Albania to their power. The emblem of the division was the ancient coat of arms of Albania, inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch - a double-headed eagle (the ancient Albanian rulers claimed kinship with the basileus-emperors of Byzantium). According to surviving information, the division also had another tactical sign - a stylized image of the "Skanderbeg helmet" with goat horns superimposed on 2 horizontal stripes.

22. 22nd SS Volunteer Cavalry Division "Maria Theresa".

This division, recruited mainly from ethnic Germans living in Hungary, and from Hungarians, was named after the Empress of the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" and Austria, Queen of Bohemia (Czech Republic) and Hungary Maria Theresa von Habsburg (1717-1780), one of the most prominent rulers of the second half of the 18th century. The emblem of the division was the image of a cornflower flower inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch with 8 petals, a stem, 2 leaves and 1 bud - (subjects of the Austro-Hungarian Danube Monarchy, who wanted to join the German Empire, until 1918 wore cornflower in their buttonhole - the favorite flower of the German emperor Wilhelm II of Hohenzollern).

23. 23rd Volunteer Motorized Infantry Division of the Waffen SS "Kama" (Croatian No. 2)

consisting of Croatian, Bosnian and Herzegovinian Muslims. "Kama" is the name of a cold weapon traditional for the Balkan Muslims with a curved blade (something like a scimitar). The tactical sign of the division was a stylized image of the astronomical sign of the sun in a crown of rays on a heraldic shield-tarch. Information has also been preserved about another tactical sign of the division, which was a rune "Tyur" with 2 arrow-shaped processes perpendicular to the trunk of the rune in its lower part.

24. 23rd Volunteer Motorized Infantry Division of the Waffen SS "Netherlands"

(Dutch No. 1).

The name of this division is explained by the fact that its personnel were recruited mainly from the Dutch (Dutch) Waffen SS volunteers. The emblem of the division was the rune "odal" ("otilia") with the lower ends in the form of arrows, inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch.

25. 24th Mountain (Mountain Rifle) Division of the Waffen SS "Karst Jaegers" ("Jägers Karst", "Karstjäger").

The name of this division is explained by the fact that it was recruited mainly from the natives of the mountainous Karst region, located on the border between Italy and Yugoslavia. The emblem of the division was a stylized image of a "karst flower" ("karstbloom"), inscribed in the heraldic shield of the "Varangian" ("Norman") form.

26. 25th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS "Hunyadi"

(Hungarian No. 1).

This division, recruited mainly from Hungarians, was named after the medieval Transylvanian-Hungarian Hunyadi dynasty, the most prominent representatives of which were Janos Hunyadi (Johannes Guniades, Giovanni Vaivoda, 1385-1456) and his son King Matthias Corvinus (Matyas Hunyadi, 1443- 1490), who heroically fought for the freedom of Hungary against the Ottoman Turks. The emblem of the division was the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield with the image of the "arrow-shaped cross" - the symbol of the Viennese National Socialist party "Arrow Crossed" ("Nigerlashists") Ferenc Salashi - under 2 three-pronged crowns.

27. 26th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS "Gömbös" (Hungarian No. 2).

This division, which consisted mainly of Hungarians, was named after the Hungarian Foreign Minister Count Gyula Gömbes (1886-1936), a staunch supporter of a close military-political alliance with Germany and an ardent anti-Semite. The emblem of the division was the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield depicting the same arrow-shaped cross, but under 3 three-pronged crowns.

28. 27th SS Volunteer Grenadier (Infantry) Division "Langemark" (Flemish No. 1).

This division, formed from the German-speaking Belgians (Flemings), was named after the place of the bloody battle that took place on the territory of Belgium during the Great (First World) War, in 1914. The emblem of the division was the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield with the image of the "triskelion" ("triphos" or "triquetra").

29. 28th SS Panzer Division. Information about the tactical sign of the division has not been preserved.

30. 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier (Infantry) Division "Wallonia".

This division owed its name to the fact that it was formed mainly from French-speaking Belgians (Walloons). The emblem of the division was a heraldic shield-tarch with the image of a straight sword and a curved saber crossed in the shape of the letter "X" with the handles up.

31. 29th Grenadier Infantry Division of the Waffen SS "RONA" (Russian No. 1).

This division - "Russian Liberation People's Army" consisted of Russian volunteers B.V. Kaminsky. The tactical sign of the division, applied to its equipment, judging by the surviving photographs, was a broadened cross with the abbreviation "RONA" under it.

32. 29th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS "Italy" (Italian No. 1).

This division owed its name to the fact that it consisted of Italian volunteers who remained loyal to Benito Mussolini after he was released from prison by a detachment of German paratroopers led by SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny. The tactical sign of the division was the vertically located lictor fascia (in Italian: "littorio"), inscribed in the heraldic shield of the "Varangian" ("Norman") form - a bunch of rods (rods) with an ax embedded in them (the official emblem of the National Fascist Party of Benito Mussolini) .

33. 30th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS (Russian No. 2, it is also Belarusian No. 1).

This division consisted mainly of former fighters of the "Belarusian Regional Defense" detachments. The tactical badge of the division was the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield with the image of a double ("patriarchal") cross of the Holy Princess Euphrosyne of Polotsk, located horizontally.

It should be noted that the double ("patriarchal") cross, located vertically, served as a tactical sign of the 79th Infantry, and located diagonally - the emblem of the 2nd Motorized Infantry Division of the German Wehrmacht.

34. 31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division (also known as the 23rd Waffen SS Volunteer Mountain Division).

The emblem of the division was the head of a deer full face on the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield.

35. 31st SS Volunteer Grenadier (Infantry) Division "Bohemia and Moravia" (German: "Böhmen und Meren").

This division was formed from the natives of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, who came under the German control of the territories of the Czech Republic (after the declaration of independence by Slovakia). The emblem of the division was the Bohemian (Czech) crowned lion walking on its hind legs, and the orb crowned with a double cross on the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield.

36. 32nd SS Volunteer Grenadier (Infantry) Division "January 30".

This division was named in memory of the day Adolf Hitler came to power (January 30, 1933). The emblem of the division was the "Varangian" ("Norman") shield with the image of a vertically located "combat rune" - a symbol of the ancient German god of war Tyr (Tira, Tiu, Tsiu, Tuisto, Tuesco).

37. 33rd Cavalry Division of the Waffen SS "Hungaria", or "Hungary" (Hungarian No. 3).

This division, which consisted of Hungarian volunteers, received the appropriate name. Information about the tactical sign (emblem) of the division has not been preserved.

38. 33rd Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS "Charlemagne" (French No. 1).

This division was named after the Frankish king Charlemagne ("Charlemagne", from the Latin "Carolus Magnus", 742-814), who was crowned emperor of the Western Roman Empire in 800 in Rome (which included the territories of modern Northern Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and part of Spain), and is considered the founder of modern German and French statehood. The emblem of the division was a dissected "Varangian" ("Norman") shield with a half of the Roman-German imperial eagle and 3 heraldic lilies (French: fleurs de lys) of the French kingdom.

39. 34th SS Volunteer Grenadier (Infantry) Division "Landstorm Nederland" (Dutch No. 2).

"Landstorm Nederland" means "Netherlands militia". The emblem of the division was the "Dutch national" version of the "wolf hook" - "wolfsangel" inscribed in the "Varangian" ("Norman") heraldic shield (adopted in the Netherlands National Socialist movement of Anton-Adrian Mussert).

40. 36th SS Police Grenadier (Infantry) Division ("Police Division II")

consisted of the ranks of the German police mobilized for military service. The emblem of the division was the "Varangian" ("Norman") shield with the image of the hagall rune and the Roman numeral "II".

41. 36th Grenadier Division of the Waffen SS "Dirlewanger".

The emblem of the division was inscribed in the "Varangian" ("Norman") shield 2 crossed in the shape of the letter "X" hand grenades - "mallets" with handles down.

In addition, in the last months of the war, the formation of the following new SS divisions, mentioned in the orders of the imperial leader (Reichsführer) SS Heinrich Himmler, was started (but not completed):

42. 35th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the SS "Police" ("Police"), it is also the 35th Police Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the SS. Information about the tactical sign (emblem) of the division has not been preserved.

43. 36th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the Waffen SS. Information about the emblem of the division has not been preserved.

44. 37th SS Volunteer Cavalry Division "Lützow".

The division was named in honor of the hero of the struggle against Napoleon, Major of the Prussian army Adolf von Lützow (1782-1834), who formed the first in the history of the Wars of Liberation (1813-1815) German patriots against Napoleonic tyranny, a volunteer corps ("Lützow's black huntsmen"). The tactical sign of the division was the image of a straight naked sword, point upwards, inscribed in a heraldic shield-tarch, superimposed on the capital Gothic letter "L", that is, "Lützow").

45. 38th Grenadier (Infantry) Division of the SS "Nibelungen" ("Nibelungen").

The division was named after the heroes of the medieval Germanic heroic epic - the Nibelungen. So the spirits of darkness and fog, elusive to the enemy and possessing countless treasures, were originally called; then - the knights of the kingdom of the Burgundians who took possession of these treasures. As you know, SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler dreamed of creating an "SS order state" on the territory of Burgundy after the war. The emblem of the division was the image of the winged invisibility helmet of the Nibelungs inscribed in the heraldic shield-tarch.

46. ​​39th mountain (mountain rifle) division of the SS "Andreas Gofer".

The division was named in honor of the national hero of Austria Andreas Hofer (1767-1810), the leader of the Tyrolean rebels against Napoleonic tyranny, betrayed by traitors to the French and shot in 1810 in the Italian fortress of Mantua. To the tune of the folk song about the execution of Andreas Hofer - "Under Mantua in chains" (German: "Zu Mantua in banden"), German social democrats in the twentieth century composed their own song "We are the young guard of the proletariat" (German: "Vir zind di junge garde des proletariats"), and the Soviet Bolsheviks - "We are the young guard of workers and peasants." Information about the emblem of the division has not been preserved.

47. 40th SS Volunteer Motorized Infantry Division "Feldgerrngalle" (not to be confused with the German Wehrmacht division of the same name).

This division was named after the building of the "Generals' Gallery" (Feldgerrngalle), in front of which on November 9, 1923, the Reichswehr and the police of the Bavarian separatist leader Gustav Ritter von Kahr shot down a column of participants in the Hitler-Ludendorff coup against the government of the Weimar Republic. Information about the tactical sign of the division has not been preserved.

48. 41st Infantry Division of the Waffen SS "Kalevala" (Finnish No. 1).

This SS division, named after the Finnish heroic folk epic, began to be formed from among the Finnish Waffen SS volunteers who did not obey the order given in 1943 by the Finnish Commander-in-Chief Marshal Baron Carl Gustav Emil von Mannerheim to return from the Eastern Front to their homeland and re-join the Finnish army . Information about the emblem of the division has not been preserved.

49. 42nd SS Infantry Division "Lower Saxony" ("Niedersachsen").

Information about the emblem of the division, the formation of which was not completed, has not been preserved.

50. 43rd Infantry Division of the Waffen SS "Reichsmarschall".

This division, the formation of which was begun on the basis of parts of the German air force ("Luftwaffe"), left without aviation equipment, cadets of flight schools and ground personnel, was named after the Imperial Marshal (Reichsmarschall) of the Third Reich Hermann Goering. Reliable information about the emblem of the division has not been preserved.

51. 44th Waffen SS Motorized Infantry Division "Wallenstein".

This SS division, recruited from ethnic Germans living in the Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia and Slovakia, as well as from Czech and Moravian volunteers, was named after the German imperial commander during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), Duke of Friedland Albrecht Eusebius Wenzel von Wallenstein (1583-1634), a Czech by origin, the hero of the dramatic trilogy of the classic of German literature Friedrich von Schiller "Wallenstein" ("Wallenstein's Camp", "Piccolomini" and "The Death of Wallenstein"). Information about the emblem of the division has not been preserved.

52. 45th SS Infantry Division "Varyags" ("Vareger").

Initially, Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler intended to give the name "Varangians" ("Vareger") to the Nordic (Northern European) SS division, formed from Norwegians, Swedes, Danes and other Scandinavians who sent their volunteer contingents to help the Third Reich. However, according to a number of sources, Adolf Hitler "rejected" the name "Varyags" for his Nordic SS volunteers, seeking to avoid undesirable associations with the medieval "Varangian guard" (consisting of Norwegians, Danes, Swedes, Russians and Anglo-Saxons) in the service of the Byzantine emperors. The Fuhrer of the Third Reich had a negative attitude towards the Constantinople "Vasileus", considering them, like all Byzantines, "morally and spiritually decomposed, deceitful, treacherous, corrupt and treacherous decadents", and not wanting to be associated with the rulers of Byzantium.

It should be noted that Hitler was not alone in his antipathy towards the Byzantines. Most Western Europeans fully shared this antipathy towards the "Romans" (since the era of the Crusades), and it is no coincidence that in the Western European lexicon there is even a special concept of "Byzantinism" (meaning: "treachery", "cynicism", "meanness", " groveling before the strong and ruthlessness towards the weak", "treachery"... in general, "the Greeks are deceitful even to this day," as the well-known Russian chronicler wrote). As a result, the German-Scandinavian division formed as part of the Waffen SS (which later also included the Dutch, Walloons, Flemings, Finns, Latvians, Estonians, Ukrainians and Russians) was given the name "Viking". Along with this, on the basis of Russian white emigrants and former citizens of the USSR in the Balkans, the formation of another SS division called "Vareger" ("Varangians"); however, due to the circumstances, the matter was limited to the formation in the Balkans of the "Russian (security) corps (Russian security group)" and a separate Russian regiment of the SS "Varyag".

During the Second World War on the territory of Serbia in 1941-1944. in alliance with the Germans, the Serbian SS Volunteer Corps also operated, consisting of former military personnel of the Yugoslav royal army (mainly of Serbian origin), most of whom were members of the Serbian monarcho-fascist movement Z.B.O.R., headed by Dmitry Letic. The tactical sign of the corps was a tarch shield and an image of a grain ear superimposed on a naked sword with the point down, located diagonally.