My Article on Estonian Volunteers...

Foreign volunteers, collaboration and Axis Allies 1939-1945.

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Helmut Von Moltke

My Article on Estonian Volunteers...

Post by Helmut Von Moltke »

hi, here is an article I did on Estonian Wehrmacht and Waffen SS volunteers, maybe it could be a useful refrence, etc.
Estonian Volunteers in the German Wehrmacht. by Kevin Chan

Introduction:

The story of the Estonian volunteers in the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS began with the Ribbentrop - Molotov non aggression pact of 1939, dividing Europe between German and Soviet spheres of intrest. Estonia was in the Soviet sphere, so thus, in June 1940, Estonia was annexed into the USSR through force. When Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 22 June 1941 and occupied Estonia, they were greeted as liberators by most Estonians, as during the Soviet period there was harsh repression, and 60000 Estonians, around 5 per cent of the population, were massacred. After 22 June, the Soviet mobilized 50000 Estonians for their war effort, and many Estonians went into the Red Army 8th Army Corps, many deserting from there to the Germans.

Estonian Home Guard:

At the beginning, the first auxiliary units were a German self styled Selbschutz home guard, named the Omakaitse, commanded by Estonian Colonel A. Sinka. This guard was made from mostly former "forest brothers", Estonian partisans against the Soviets and was confirmed as a permanent organization on 2 August 1941. In July 1941 this guard was divided into 13 districts, each one with around 4 battalions. The total strength of this guard was 32000 in July 1943. In February 1944 they were reorganized into combat units, and mostly destroyed in combat with Soviet forces in September 1944.

Police/security units:

In August 1941, General Von Kuchler, commander of the 18. Armee, was so impressed by the Estonians that he started to form 26 Estonian security detachments. These units were transferred to front line service with the 18. Armee and achieved a good combat reputation. In 1943 they fought at the Leningrad and Volkhov front, and on Febuary 23, 1944, the commander of these units, Major Alfons Rebane, was awarded the Knight's Cross. In July 1943 these units were transferred to the Waffen SS.

From August 1941, many Defense detachments were organized by the Germans to combat the threat of Soviet partisans. In October, 1942, there were 5400 Estonians in 14 battalions, and there was a steady increase throughout 1943. From spring 1943, there were defense battalions used to form larger units and many personnel left to volunteer for the Estonian Legion. In 9 December 1943 18 units were designated as Estonian Police Battalions. 11 of these units served outside Estonia. When the Soviets arrived at the Estonian frontier in February 1944, all Estonian units were sent to the front, where most were destroyed in combat with irreplaceable losses, and the survivors joined the 20. Waffen Grenadier Division der SS.

Frontier Guard Regiments;

With the Soviet nearing Estonia, on 30 January 1944 the Estonian civil administration called up general mobilization, an appeal which provided many recruits. 6 Estonian Guard Regiments were formed, along with a depot regiment. These men were poorly trained and armed, many with foreign weapons. In May 1944 they were redesignated as SS Frontier Guard Regiments. Estonians who could not be included in these units were made into 5 German Army Construction battalions in April 1944. The Regiments were then immediately sent into combat at the frontier, serving with the 207. Infantarie Division and the 277. Infantarie Division. These units suffered heavy casualties, and were wiped out virtually by September, and the survivors stayed behind and became "forest brothers" partisans.

Estonian SS Legion and 20.Waffen Grenadier Division der SS:

On 2 August 1942, the Germans announced the formation of an Estonian SS Legion, under the command of SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Franz Augsberger. Enough men volunteered for it to be formally established on 2 October 1942. Initially the Legion compromised a Regiment, but in April 1943, it's 1st Battalion was detached to the 5.SS Panzer Division 'Wiking' of Northern European volunteers as the 'Narwa' battalion, to replace the Finnish SS Battalion which was returning to Finland, and fought well until detached in 1944. Faced with this, the Germans increased the Legion to brigade strngth, mostly through the use of conscription. In October 1943 it was redisgnated the 3rd Estonian SS Volunteer brigade, once again under Augsberger, and in December the brigade had 5099 men. Most of the NCOs, officers, etc were Estonian. In November 1943 the Brigade was sent to the German 16.Armee at the Staraya Rusa front, and then in January it was sent back to Estonia to defend the Narva sector against Soviet attack. At that time the brigade was expanded into the 20. Waffen Grenadier Division der SS, and formally designated as such in May 1944, under the command of SS Oberfuehrer Augsberger, who was promoted to Brigadefuehrer on June 21. On Feburay 8th, 1944, The Division was attached to the III. Germanic SS Panzer Korps under SS Gruppenfuehrer Feix Steiner, and upon arrival on 20. Febuary, it was thrown straight into combat, and pushed out the Siivertsi Soviet bridgehead. It remained in that sector, until May, when it was pulled back, and the Narwa Battalion returned from Wiking as the recconasince abteilung. At that time, the Division consisted of around 15000 men. When Steiner retreated to the Tannenbergstellung on 25. July, the Division was sent to the Kinderheim and Grenadier-höhe defensive position, engaged in heavy defensive battles. In mid-August, the 45th Estland and 46th regiments of the division were formed into Kampfgruppe Vent and were sent south to defend the Emajogi river line, seeing heavy fighting. When the Wehrmacht withdrew from Estonia in September, the Estonians who chose to remain and defend their homes as Forest brothers could do so, but thus weaking the Division. However, around at that period, when Finland made peace with the Soviet Union, the 3rd Estonian Battalion of the 47th Infantry regiment of the Finnish army was disbanded, and 1800 men from that unit were sent to Estonia, and they arrived on August 19th, and were absorbed into the Division. The Division was then sent to Neuhammer to be refitted, eventually numbering 11000 Estonians and 2500 Germans. It was sent to the line in late February, during the Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive. This offensive forced the German forces back behind the Oder and Neissse rivers. The division was pushed back to the Neisse, suffering heavy casualties. The division was then trapped in the Falkenberg - Friedberg area. On 17 March, the division launched a major breakthrough attempt, but despite making headway, the attack failed. On 19 March, the division tried again, this time succeeding in breaking through, but at the cost of abandoning heavy weapons and equipment in the pocket. In April 1945, the remnants of the Division were sent to the Goldberg area, but after the final Soviet offensive, the Division tried to break through to the West to surrender to the Western Allies. After marching over the Reichenberg and Annaberg mountains, the division was surrounded by the Soviets and surrendered on May 8. The soldiers who escaped to the Western Allies were handed back to the Soviets.

The order of battle of the 20. Waffen Grenadier Division der SS

* Waffen-Grenadier Regiment der SS 45 Estland
* Waffen-Grenadier Regiment der SS 46
* Waffen-Grenadier Regiment der SS 47
* Waffen-Artillerie Regiment der SS 20
* SS-Waffen Füsilier Batallion 20
* SS-Waffen Pionere Batallion 20
* SS-Feldersatz Batallion 20
* SS-Waffen Nachrichten Abteilung 20
* SS-Ausbildungs- und Ersatz Regiment 20

Other Services:

Before the war the Abwehr and a good relation with the Estonian military, thus allowing them to form an intelligence unit, the "Reinhard unit", with 120 Estonians, which monitored Soviet radio traffic until May 1945.

The Kriegsmarine recruited 200 Estonian volunteers during the war, but on 22 August 1944 they were transferred to the 20. Waffen Grenadier Division der SS.

The Luftwaffe had an Estonian unit, the 127th Reconnaissance Wing, formed in April 1943. The Estonians had a good reputation, and a fighter squadron was authorized and 10 Estonian pilots began training. However, on 22 September 1944, 7 Estonian pilots deserted and flew to Sweden in their aircraft, causing the Luftwaffe to disband all Latvian and Estonian air units. However, the 10 pilots were transferred to other squadrons, and lost 4 dead. Other pilots and ground personnel were mostly transferred to the 20. Waffen Grenadier Division der SS. From an agreement on 31 March 1944, the Germans began recruiting boys under 16 as Flak helpers. Numbers of these boys were around 3000.

Knight's Cross winners:

During the war 4 Estonians won the Knight's Cross, Standatenfuehrer Rebane, with OakLeaves, Obersturmbannfuhrer Harald Riipalu, Hauptsturmfuehrer Paul Maitla and Unterscharfuehrer Harald Nugiseks. Of these, Harald Nugiseks is still alive today.

Overall:

Overall, Estonia was a country who certainly contributed well to the German war effort, considering it's small population of just 1131000 (1938 statistic), contributing 70000 men to the German forces, 6.1 per cent of the population.

the statistics of services are around

20. Waffen Grenadier Division der SS :20000
Fronteir Guard Regiments: 20000
Defence and Police units :9000
Army Construction units: 5000
Home Guard: 5000
Other serivces auxilaries: 10000

After the war, Estonian partisan resistance from the Forest Brothers continued for many years. Nevertheless, the around decade long war against Soviet occupation probably makes it fair to say that most Estonians had fought in the forces of the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS not as Nazi mercenaries, but as patriots resisting Soviet aggression, and fought in the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS out of political circumstances, in the middle of 2 giant powers in a ruthless war.

Sources:

Germany's Eastern Front Allies 2: The Baltic Nations

Estonian Vikings

The Internet

(a few other ones I don't really remember
cheers,

Kevin
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Re: My Article on Estonian Volunteers...

Post by panzermahn »

I had some interesting infos

a) The Estonian Forest Brothers were the last among the Baltic nations forest brothers to ceased their resistance against the Bolsheviks. August Sabe, the last Forest Brother took his own life in 1978 rather than to surrender to the KGB during an attempt to capture him

b) there is a very enigmatic Estonian SD unit known as Estniche Einseztkompanie (no, not Einsatz..the spelling Einsezt is correct). They wore the Estonian armored arm and sword on the right collar patch with a mini totenkopf and a mini totenkopf on the SS rank insignia spiegeln on the left collar

c) Alfons Rebane and a number of Estonian SS officers who managed to surrendered to the British were trained and equipped by MI6 for infiltration back to estonia to start a Baltic anti-Bolshevik armed resistance after the end of the war in 1945. A number of British submarines were involved in carrying these Estonian SS officers back to Estonia. It seems Swedish Intelligence were also involved because there are a number of Estonian-Swedes in Estonia. Between 1945-1949, a lot of British MI6 Intel ops were directed against the Bolsheviks with the help of ex Estonian SS officers Sadly, some of these brave anti-Bolshevik warriors were betrayed by Kim Philby and his Bolshie Cambridge Circus gang


Regards
Panzermahn
Helmut Von Moltke

Post by Helmut Von Moltke »

thank you for sharing Panzermahn! :up:

But it is somehow strange that at the time of 1945, before the Cold war, the MI6 would be helping the Estonians.... or is it a bit after? And this Kim Philby, he was an MI6 double?

thanks,

Kevin
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Post by Paulus II »

Here's the story on Kim Philby, definitely not an MI6 double but a KGB double!
Harold Adrian Russell (Kim) Philby was a senior officer in the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) for ten years, but was actually an agent of the Soviet KGB. This gives him a claim to have been one of the most successful spies in the history of espionage.

Philby was the son of the famous Arabist St John Philby, and was born in India, where his father was serving as a magistrate. He was nicknamed Kim, after the hero of Kipling's novel, when he began speaking Punjabi before English. He was recruited to the KGB while still a student at Cambridge, and along with other KGB recruits - Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt - from the same university, eventually became infamous as a member of 'the Cambridge spy ring'.

He rose to be the SIS's liaison officer in Washington with the CIA and the FBI, before he fell under suspicion in 1951 and was recalled to London. There he successfully resisted interrogation. When the SIS refused to reinstate him, he went to the Lebanon as a freelance intelligence agent, under cover as a journalist.

In 1963 testimony from a Soviet defector clinched the case against Philby, and a fellow SIS officer went to Beirut to persuade him to confess to his work for the KGB. Instead, Philby boarded a Soviet freighter and fled to Moscow. There he had a miserable time at first, because the KGB was uncertain whether he was a British intelligence plant.

He was rehabilitated in the early 1980s, became a consultant to the KGB, lectured to young KGB officers and received various Soviet awards and honours. He wrote My Silent War, an account of his life as a KGB penetration agent, and appeared on Soviet television in a programme honouring the British author Graham Greene, his former wartime colleague in the SIS.

In 1988 Philby consented to a week-long interview with The Sunday Times, in which he justified his treachery to his native country by saying that when he made his commitment to the KGB, he believed that the western democracies were too weak to resist the rise of Fascism in Europe and that only the Soviet Union would be able to defeat it.

The release of KGB files after the end of the Cold War cast doubt on Philby's value to Moscow during the years he worked for the Soviet Union. It appeared that many senior KGB officers had discounted his information, arguing that it was 'too good to be true'. Philby never knew any of this because he died, happy and content with his fourth wife, a Russian, Rufina Pukhova, before the collapse of the Communist regime he loved.
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Post by sid guttridge »

Hi HvM,

It should perhaps be mentioned that the Germans introduced universal conscription in Estonia in 1944 and that most of those who later wore German uniform did not do so voluntarily. The same was true in Latvia.

It should also be mentioned that the Estonians had no particular affinity to the Waffen-SS. It was just that German internal policy had designated the Baltic states an SS, rather than Army, recruitment area.

That said, the Estonian and Latvian war efforts under the Germans came close to reaching national propotions and absorbed a high precentage of the trained men available to their mobilised armies in 1939, before the Red Army began to move in.

Cheers,

Sid.
Helmut Von Moltke

Post by Helmut Von Moltke »

thanks for the info Paulus II!

And Sid, about the conscription, I remember hearing that it was only conscription that pulled the 20. Waffen Grenadier Division der SS to Divisional strength?

Kevin
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Post by sid guttridge »

Hi HvM,

If that is true, I would assume that would put the number of genuine Estonian volunteers at about 15,000 or less. I think about four times that number actually served in German uniform of various sorts.

Conscription in Latvia and Estonia in 1944 was meant to be universal.

(You might care to look up an old Feldgrau thread on the German Army's 300th Infantry Division for a bit more on the Estonians.)

Cheers,

Sid.

P.S. The thread title was: "300th Special Purpose Estonian Division".
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Post by panzermahn »

There are a number of Estonian-Swedes in the Wiking Division and some ethnic Estonians (who live in Finland) of the Finnische Freiwilligen Batailon der SS of the Wiking Division

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Post by estonian »

WHY DID ESTONIANS FIGHT TOGETHER WITH THE GERMANS?
http://www.hot.ee/evlliit/okup_3.htm
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Post by sid guttridge »

Hi Estonian,

The old saying "My enemy's enemy is my friend" comes to mind.

The Anglo-Americans ended up on the same side as the USSR for similar reasons.

Cheers,

Sid.
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Post by Guripa »

Maybe not many people knows the following history about the estonian volunteers:
On February 10th, 1943 the russians started a great offensive over the Leningrad area, this offensive was a part of the Iskra operation. Along of this the battle front, the 250th Spanish Division was deployed to cover 30 Km. ... :shock: , protecting the Leningrad-Moscow railroad line and Krasny Bor.
On the left side from the spaniards was the 2nd SS Brigade and on the right was the 4th SS Division.
The russians thought to break this defensive line in the spanish sector deploying a large force (109th, 56th, 72th and 43th divisions, reinforced by 3 brigades, one armoured brigade and an independent tank batallion) with an impressive artillery support. This battle was known as Krasny Bor Battle.
On the first day the red army can only penetrate 3 Km thanks to aggressive defense of the spaniards and thank to the 659th estonian batallion who passed to reinforce the battlefront. This estonian batallion was commanded by the captain Alfons Rebane.
Th estonian Captain Rebane, belgian Leon Degrelle and the spanish Gen. Munoz Grandes were the only foreing volunteers who were awarded with the Knight Cross with oak leaves.
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Post by Benoit Douville »

Guripa,

Awesome info. I know that the Blue Division fought really well on the Eastern Front, the Germans were able to really trust them. Do you have more info about General Munoz Grandez, winner of the Knight Cross with Oak Leaves.

Regards
Last edited by Benoit Douville on Fri Dec 15, 2006 12:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Guripa »

Hi Benoit Douville,

thanks for your kind comments.
Really, General Munoz Grandes had a long life but there are not many published books about him. Most of them located during his stage when commanded the Blue Division (1941-1943).
Maybe you can get a bit information visiting this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agust%C3%A ... oz_Grandes

Anyway, any book about the Blue Division -there are almost 200 written by spaniards mainly- will explain you how was this man between his soldiers. An good person, better man and best soldier. He was very respected as for the spaniards as for the germans.
He was a very natural person and smart. Not many generals were/are able to walk on the night along the battlefront trenches talking and sharing a cigarrete with his soldiers.
Munoz Grandes had a son who arrived to Lt. General and today there are several grandsons who are serving in the Spanish Army as well.

I hope that it has helped you.

Best regards.
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Post by estonian »

sid guttridge wrote:Hi Estonian,
The old saying "My enemy's enemy is my friend" comes to mind.
The Anglo-Americans ended up on the same side as the USSR for similar reasons.
Cheers,
Sid.
Helmut Von Moltke wrote: Introduction:
The story of the Estonian volunteers in the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS began with the Ribbentrop - Molotov non aggression pact of 1939, dividing Europe between German and Soviet spheres of intrest. Estonia was in the Soviet sphere, so thus, in June 1940, Estonia was annexed into the USSR through force. When Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 22 June 1941 and occupied Estonia, they were greeted as liberators by most Estonians, as during the Soviet period there was harsh repression, and 60000 Estonians, around 5 per cent of the population, were massacred.
This is truth, Sid! And "My enemy's friend is my enemy" also. In this case, if you know, a first Estonian soldier KIA in WWII (May 21. 1940) was Arnold Soinla. He was KIA in Lillebalak, near Narvik, as Estonian volunteer in the Norwegian Army (Alta Battalion). At that moment for Estonians Germany had this status – enemy’s friend. Estonia was loosing the independents and reason was amity of Germany and Soviet Russia. For Estonians Germany was an aggressor also, because they used Estonia as a change money in their politics and “sold” us to the Soviet Russia. For Estonian soldiers who lost possibility to fight with a main aggressor in Finnish Winter War, become a possibility do give his contribution in the other war – to help Norwegians protect their independents against Germans.
Yes, battle was against Germans, but First Estonian casualty in the WWII was probably not killed by Germans but by the friendly fire. French artillery shell about two hour’s mountains of Lillebalak – recaptured by Alta battalion previous day. Later, when comrades were transporting still alive Soinla to the Vassdalen - hospital of Lenvik, they become under the fire of the nine German fighter planes. In the air attack on Estonian soldier Arthur Mäehans got wounded and Soinla died before they reach the hospital. Arnold Soinla is buried in the cemetery near the church of Lenvik, Norway. Later, in the summer 1941 these Estonian soldiers - “Norwegian veterans” come back to Estonia as members of the ERNA battalion (political climate was chanced at this time. Estonian men in Finnish uniform come back to Estonia do fight against Russians and Germans become as allies, more like liberators) and they inform Johannes Soinla, that their only son is buried in the Norway.
Norwegian people are taking good care of his grave. Many thanks to the local man Arne Jensen for that.

http://www.saaremaamatkaklubi.ee/A22%20copy.jpg
http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/hod/do ... ?id=375470
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Post by estonian »

There is a picture about Estonian volunteers in the Norwegian Army 1940.
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 99#1166199
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