For some reason, the Wehrmacht and SS troops were at enmity. The enemy had more manpower, we had guns, tanks, planes

A total of 1,327 German soldiers were taken prisoner, a spokesman for the Canadian Second Army Corps told Allied High Command Europe after an exceptionally fierce battle for the city of Caen in early August 1944. Although almost a quarter of the fighters on the German side belonged to Waffen-SS units, among the prisoners there were no more than eight representatives of these special units of the Third Reich - that is, no more than 3% of the statistically expected number.

This is probably due to two reasons: On the one hand, the Waffen-SS units fought particularly fiercely, and the SS men were even more indoctrinated than soldiers from other units. On the other hand, they were especially feared and hated by their Allied opponents. As a result, soldiers from Waffen-SS units were often not taken prisoner at all.

A surrendered SS man was more likely to die on the way to the collection points for prisoners of war than ordinary German soldiers who did not have a double runic sign. In Caen, especially French-speaking Canadians of the Régiment de la Chaudière, this is how they vented their hatred.

The reason was that the units of the Waffen-SS were considered by their opponents on the Western and Eastern Fronts to be especially cruel, treacherous and fanatical National Socialists. It is true that the military units of Heinrich Himmler's "Black Order" took part in the most famous war crimes - for example, on the Western Front during the massacre in Oradour-sur-Glane or in Malmedy.

Historian Bastian Hein, who, with his doctoral thesis on the "General SS" (Allgemeine SS), has already significantly expanded our understanding of this part of the Nazi system, now in his new book, published in the popular scientific series by C.H. Beck, gives interesting assessments of Himmler's apparatus.

As a result of the study, Bastian Hein came to the conclusion that the reputation of the Waffen-SS as a "military elite" that has survived to this day may well be questioned. Hine gives three reasons. First, a clear distinction should be made between some of the well-equipped "exemplary units" of the Waffen-SS with such sonorous names as the "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" or the "Totenkopf" division. In quantitative terms, however, especially in the second half of the war, those SS divisions that were formed from ethnic Germans living abroad, and sometimes forcibly from foreigners substituted under arms, were of greater importance. Often they were armed only with captured weapons, were poorly trained and not fully equipped. In total, the Waffen-SS consisted of 910 thousand people, of which 400 thousand were the so-called imperial Germans, and 200 thousand were foreigners.

Secondly, the most famous “successes” of the Waffen-SS units fall on the second half of the war, when “after the failure of the“ blitzkrieg ”against the Soviet Union and after the entry of the United States into the war,“ the final victory ”was already objectively excluded,” Hein notes, who currently works in the office of the Federal Chancellor. However, the most important, apparently, is the third conclusion: the Waffen-SS units suffered more serious losses in comparison with the regular units of the Wehrmacht, not because they fought more stubbornly. On the contrary - if spread over time - the losses, according to Hine, were the same. "Only in the final phase of the war, in 1944-1945, did the Waffen-SS units fight more desperately and suffer greater losses than the Wehrmacht units."

At the same time, Bastian Hein confirms the prevailing opinion about a higher level of indoctrination in the ranks of the Waffen-SS. Recruits were purposefully processed by experienced SS men in the spirit of the "Black Order". In addition, the Waffen-SS, faster than the Wehrmacht, had centralized training programs. Wehrmacht soldiers received a similar ideological corset only after the so-called National Socialist Leading Officers (NSFO) were sent to the army at the end of 1943.

The misconception that Waffen-SS units were more capable than Wehrmacht units was the result of intense propaganda. Every time the elite divisions of Himmler's subordinate SS apparatus took part in the fighting, there were especially many war correspondents on the spot, and such Nazi publications as Illustrierter Beobachter and Das Schwarze Korps were especially active in reporting their "heroic deeds". In fact, according to Hine, the result of such actions was the same: "They only dragged out a militarily hopeless war."

Nevertheless, the following perception turned out to be true: the SS carried out more massacres and other crimes than the soldiers of the Wehrmacht, who often fought indiscriminately themselves. Hein quotes the military historian Jens Westemeier as rightly describing the Waffen-SS involvement in the fighting as "an endless chain of violent crimes". However, it does not follow from this that every single SS man was a criminal. This also applies to the much larger Wehrmacht.

It must be borne in mind that at no time did the number of active members of the Waffen-SS exceed 370,000 - while the regular Wehrmacht had about 9 million soldiers. That is, soldiers with runes made up about 4% of the total number of the German army.

However, Hein also refutes a convenient lie that is still common in right-wing extremist circles: parts of the Waffen-SS supposedly have nothing to do with concentration camps. The management of these camps, indeed, was carried out by another part of Himmler's "state within a state".

However, out of the 900,000 members of the Waffen-SS between 1939 and 1945 - and almost half of them were not citizens of the German Reich - about 60,000 people "at least temporarily served in the concentration camp system" - this applies, for example, to a native of the Baltic states Hans Lipschis and Hartmut H. from the Saarland.

The more closely we look at the Waffen-SS, the more bleak the picture becomes. Bastian Hein presented all this in a concise and visual form - this is the merit of his pocket book.

On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany and Slovakia declared war on Poland… Thus began the Second World War…

It involved 61 states out of 73 that existed at that time (80% of the world's population). The fighting took place on the territory of three continents and in the waters of four oceans.

On June 10, 1940, Italy and Albania entered the war on the side of Germany, on April 11, 1941 - Hungary, on May 1, 1941 - Iraq, on June 22, 1941, after the German attack on the USSR - Romania, Croatia and Finland, on December 7, 1941 - Japan , December 13, 1941 - Bulgaria, January 25, 1942 - Thailand, January 9, 1943 Wang Jingwei's government in China, August 1, 1943 - Burma.

Who fought for Hitler and the Wehrmacht, and who is against?

In total, about 2 million people from 15 European countries fought in the Wehrmacht troops (more than half a million - Romanian army, almost 400 thousand - Hungarian troops, more than 200 thousand - Mussolini's troops!).

Of these, during the war years, 59 divisions, 23 brigades, several separate regiments, legions and battalions were formed.

Many of them were named according to state and nationality and only volunteers served in them:

Blue Division - Spain

"Wallonia" - the division included French, Spanish and Walloon volunteers, moreover, the Walloons were in the majority.

"Galicia" - Ukrainians and Galicians

"Bohemia and Moravia" - Czechs from Moravia and Bohemia

"Viking" - volunteers from the Netherlands, Belgium and the Scandinavian countries

"Denemark" - Danes

"Langemark" - Flemish Volunteers

"Nordland" - Dutch and Scandinavian volunteers

"Nederland" - Dutch collaborators who fled to Germany after the Allied occupation of Holland.

The "French Infantry Regiment 638", since 1943, has been merged with the newly organized "French SS Division" Charlemagne "- the French.

The armies of Germany's allies - Italy, Hungary, Romania, Finland, Slovakia and Croatia - participated in the war against the USSR.

The Bulgarian army was involved in the occupation of Greece and Yugoslavia, but the Bulgarian ground units did not fight on the Eastern Front.

Russian Liberation Army (ROA) under the command of General A.A. Vlasova acted on the side of Nazi Germany, although she was not officially part of the Wehrmacht.

As part of the Wehrmacht, the 15th Cossack Cavalry Corps of the SS, General von Panwitz, fought.

On the side of Germany, the Russian Corps of General Shteifon, the Corps of Lieutenant General of the Tsarist Army P.N. Krasnov and a number of separate units formed from citizens of the USSR, often on a national basis, under the command of the former Kuban Cossack SS Gruppen-Führer, A.G. Shkuro (real name - Shkura) and Circassian Sultan-Girey Klych, leader of the nationalist "People's Party of the Highlanders of the North Caucasus" in France.

I won’t write who and why fought for Hitler and the Wehrmacht… Some for “ideological considerations”, some for revenge, some for glory, some for fear, some against “communism”… About it was written by millions and millions of pages by professional historians... And I'm just stating historical facts, or rather trying to do it... A question about something else... To remember...

So, first things first…

Romania

Romania declared war on the USSR on June 22, 1941 and wanted to return Bessarabia and Bukovina “taken away” from it in June 1940, as well as annex Transnistria (the territory from the Dniester to the Southern Bug).

For military operations against the USSR, the Romanian 3rd and 4th armies were intended, with a total number of about 220 thousand people.

On June 22, Romanian troops tried to capture bridgeheads on the eastern bank of the Prut River. On June 25-26, 1941, the Soviet Danube Flotilla landed troops on Romanian territory, and Soviet aircraft and ships of the Black Sea Fleet bombed and fired at Romanian oil fields and other objects.

Romanian troops began active hostilities by crossing the Prut River on July 2, 1941. By July 26, Romanian troops occupied the territories of Bessarabia and Bukovina.

Then the Romanian 3rd Army advanced in Ukraine, crossed the Dnieper in September and reached the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov.

Since the end of October 1941, units of the Romanian 3rd Army participated in the capture of the Crimea (together with the German 11th Army under the command of von Manstein).

From the beginning of August 1941, the Romanian 4th Army conducted an operation to capture Odessa, by September 10, 12 Romanian divisions and 5 brigades were assembled to capture Odessa, with a total number of up to 200 thousand people

On October 16, 1941, after heavy fighting, Odessa was captured by Romanian troops together with units of the Wehrmacht. The losses of the 4th Romanian army amounted to 29 thousand dead and missing and 63 thousand wounded.

In August 1942, the 3rd Romanian Army took part in the attack on the Caucasus, the Romanian cavalry divisions took Taman, Anapa, Novorossiysk (together with German troops), and the Romanian mountain division captured Nalchik in October 1942.

In the fall of 1942, Romanian troops occupied positions in the Stalingrad region. The 3rd Romanian army with a total strength of 150 thousand people held a front section 140 km northwest of Stalingrad, and the 4th Romanian army held a front section 300 km south.

By the end of January 1943, the Romanian 3rd and 4th armies were practically destroyed - their total losses amounted to almost 160 thousand dead, missing and wounded.

At the beginning of 1943, 6 Romanian divisions, with a total number of 65 thousand people, fought (as part of the German 17th Army) in the Kuban. In September 1943 they retreated to the Crimea, lost more than a third of their personnel, and were evacuated by sea to Romania.

In August 1944, King Mihai I, allied with the anti-fascist opposition, ordered the arrest of General Antonescu and other pro-German generals and declared war on Germany. Soviet troops were brought into Bucharest, and already the “allied Romanian army”, together with the Soviet one, fought against the Nazi coalition in Hungary, and then in Austria.

In total, up to 200 thousand Romanians died in the war against the USSR (including 55 thousand died in Soviet captivity).

18 Romanians were awarded the German "Knight's Crosses", of which three also received the "Oak Leaves" for the "Knight's Crosses".

Italy

Italy declared war on the USSR on June 22, 1941. Motivation - Mussolini's initiative, which he proposed back in January 1940 - "a pan-European campaign against Bolshevism." At the same time, Italy had no territorial claims to any zone of occupation of the USSR. In 1944, Italy effectively withdrew from the war.

The "Italian Expeditionary Force" for the war against the USSR was created on July 10, 1941 - 62 thousand soldiers and officers. The corps was sent to the southern sector of the German-Soviet front for operations in southern Ukraine.

The first clash between the advanced units of the Italian corps and units of the Red Army took place on the Southern Bug River on August 10, 1941.

In September 1941, the Italian corps fought on the Dnieper, on a 100-km section in the Dneprodzerzhinsk region, and in October-November 1941, it participated in the capture of Donbass. Then, until July 1942, the Italians stood on the defensive, fighting local battles with units of the Red Army.

The losses of the Italian corps from August 1941 to June 1942 amounted to more than 1600 dead, more than 400 missing, almost 6300 wounded and more than 3600 frostbitten.

In July 1942, the Italian troops on the territory of the USSR were significantly strengthened, and the 8th Italian Army was formed, which in the fall of 1942 occupied positions on the river. Don, northwest of Stalingrad.

In December 1942 - January 1943, the Italians tried to repel the offensive of the Red Army, and as a result, the Italian army was actually defeated - 21,000 Italians were killed, and 64,000 were missing. In the harsh winter, the Italians simply froze, and they were not up to the war. The remaining 145,000 Italians were withdrawn to Italy in March 1943.

The losses of Italians in the USSR from August 1941 to February 1943 amounted to about 90 thousand dead and missing. According to Soviet data, 49 thousand Italians were taken prisoner, of which 21 thousand Italians were released from Soviet captivity in 1946-1956. Thus, in total, about 70 thousand Italians died in the war against the USSR and in Soviet captivity.

9 Italians were awarded the German "Knight's Crosses".

Finland

On June 25, 1941, Soviet aviation bombed the settlements of Finland, and on June 26, Finland declared war on the USSR.

Finland intended to return the territories taken from her in March 1940, and also to annex Karelia.

On June 30, 1941, Finnish troops went on the offensive in the direction of Vyborg and Petrozavodsk. By the end of August 1941, the Finns reached the approaches to Leningrad on the Karelian Isthmus, by the beginning of October 1941 they occupied almost the entire territory of Karelia (except for the coast of the White Sea and Zaonezhye), after which they went on the defensive at the achieved lines.

From the end of 1941 until the summer of 1944, there were practically no military operations on the Soviet-Finnish front, except for the raids of Soviet partisans on the territory of Karelia and the bombing of Finnish settlements by Soviet aircraft.

On June 9, 1944, Soviet troops (with a total number of up to 500 thousand people) went on the offensive against the Finns (about 200 thousand people). In the course of heavy fighting, which lasted until August 1944, Soviet troops took Petrozavodsk, Vyborg, and in one sector reached the Soviet-Finnish border in March 1940.

On September 1, 1944, Marshal Mannerheim proposed a truce, on September 4, Stalin agreed to a truce, Finnish troops withdrew to the March 1940 border.

54,000 Finns died in the war against the USSR.

2 Finns were awarded "Knight's Crosses", including Marshal Mannerheim received "Oak Leaves" to the "Knight's Cross".

Hungary

Hungary declared war on the USSR on June 27, 1941. Hungary had no territorial claims to the USSR, but there was also a motivation - "revenge on the Bolsheviks for the communist revolution of 1919 in Hungary."

On July 1, 1941, Hungary sent the "Carpathian Group" (5 brigades, totaling 40 thousand people), which fought as part of the German 17th Army in Ukraine, to the war against the USSR.

In July 1941, the group was divided - 2 infantry brigades began to perform the functions of protecting the rear, and the "Fast Corps" (2 motorized and 1 cavalry brigades, a total of 25 thousand people, with several dozen light tanks and wedges) continued to advance.

By November 1941, the "Fast Corps" suffered heavy losses - up to 12 thousand killed, missing and wounded, all tankettes and almost all light tanks were lost. The corps was returned to Hungary, but at the same time, 4 infantry and 2 cavalry Hungarian brigades with a total number of 60 thousand people remained at the front and in the rear areas.

In April 1942, the Hungarian 2nd Army (about 200 thousand people) was sent against the USSR. In June 1942, she went on the offensive in the Voronezh direction, as part of the German offensive on the southern sector of the German-Soviet front.

In January 1943, the Hungarian 2nd Army was practically destroyed during the Soviet offensive (up to 100 thousand dead and up to 60 thousand taken prisoner, most of them wounded). In May 1943, the remnants of the army (about 40 thousand people) were withdrawn to Hungary.

In the autumn of 1944, all the Hungarian armed forces (three armies) fought against the Red Army, already on the territory of Hungary. The fighting in Hungary ended in April 1945, but some Hungarian units continued to fight in Austria until Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945.

More than 200 thousand Hungarians died in the war against the USSR (including 55 thousand died in Soviet captivity).

8 Hungarians were awarded the German "Knight's Crosses".

Slovakia

Slovakia took part in the war against the USSR as part of the "pan-European campaign against Bolshevism." It had no territorial claims against the USSR. 2 Slovak divisions were sent to the war against the USSR.

One division, numbering 8 thousand people, fought in Ukraine in 1941, in the Kuban in 1942, and in 1943-1944 performed police and security functions in the Crimea.

Another division (also 8 thousand people) in 1941-1942 performed "security functions" in Ukraine, in 1943-1944 - in Belarus.

About 3,500 Slovaks died in the war against the USSR.

Croatia

Croatia, like Slovakia, took part in the war against the USSR as part of the "pan-European campaign against Bolshevism."

In October 1941, 1 Croatian volunteer regiment with a total strength of 3,900 people was sent against the USSR. The regiment fought in the Donbass, in 1942 - in Stalingrad. By February 1943, the Croatian regiment was almost completely destroyed, about 700 Croats were taken prisoner.

About 2,000 Croats died in the war against the USSR.

Spain

Spain was a neutral country, did not officially declare war against the USSR, but organized the dispatch of one volunteer division to the front. Motivation - revenge for sending the Comintern International Brigades to Spain during the Civil War.

The Spanish division, or "Blue Division" (18 thousand people) was sent to the northern sector of the German-Soviet front. From October 1941 she fought in the Volkhov region, from August 1942 - near Leningrad. In October 1943, the division was returned to Spain, but about 2 thousand volunteers remained to fight in the Spanish Legion.

The Legion was disbanded in March 1944, but about 300 Spaniards wished to fight further, and 2 companies of the SS troops were formed from them, who fought against the Red Army until the end of the war.

About 5 thousand Spaniards died in the war against the USSR (452 ​​Spaniards were taken into Soviet captivity).

2 Spaniards were awarded the German "Knight's Crosses", including one received the "Oak Leaves" to the "Knight's Cross".

Belgium

Belgium declared its neutrality in 1939, but was occupied by German troops.

In 1941, two volunteer legions (battalions) were formed in Belgium for the war against the USSR. They differed by ethnicity - Flemish and Walloon.

In the autumn of 1941, the legions were sent to the front - the Walloon legion to the southern sector (to Rostov-on-Don, then to the Kuban), and the Flemish legion to the northern sector (to Volkhov).

In June 1943, both legions were reorganized into brigades of the SS troops - the SS Volunteer Brigade "Langemark" and the SS Volunteer Assault Brigade "Wallonia".

In October 1943, the brigades were renamed into divisions (remaining in the same composition - 2 infantry regiments each). At the end of the war, both the Flemings and the Walloons fought against the Red Army in Pomerania.

About 5 thousand Belgians died in the war against the USSR (2 thousand Belgians were taken into Soviet captivity).

4 Belgians were awarded the "Knight's Cross", including one received the "Oak Leaves" to the "Knight's Cross".

Netherlands

The Netherlands Volunteer Legion (motorized battalion of 5 companies) was formed in July 1941.

In January 1942, the Dutch legion arrived at the northern sector of the German-Soviet front, in the Volkhov region. Then the legion was transferred to Leningrad.

In May 1943, the Dutch Legion was reorganized into the SS Volunteer Brigade "Netherlands" (with a total of 9 thousand people).

In 1944, one of the regiments of the Dutch brigade was practically destroyed in the battles near Narva. In the autumn of 1944 the brigade retreated to Courland, and in January 1945 it was evacuated to Germany by sea.

In February 1945, the brigade was renamed a division, although its strength was greatly reduced due to losses. By May 1945, the Dutch division was practically destroyed in the battles against the Red Army.

About 8,000 Dutch people died in the war against the USSR (more than 4,000 Dutch were taken into Soviet captivity).

4 Dutchmen were awarded the "Knight's Crosses".

France

The "French Volunteer Legion" for the war "against the Bolsheviks" was created in July 1941.

In October 1941, the French legion (an infantry regiment, numbering 2.5 thousand people) was sent to the German-Soviet front, to the Moscow direction. The French suffered heavy losses there, were defeated “to the smithereens” almost on the Borodino field, and from the spring of 1942 to the summer of 1944 the legion performed only police functions, it was used to fight against Soviet partisans.

In the summer of 1944, as a result of the offensive of the Red Army in Belarus, the "French Legion" was again on the front line, again suffered heavy losses and was withdrawn to Germany.

In September 1944, the legion was disbanded, and instead the “French Brigade of the SS Troops” (more than 7 thousand people) was created, and in February 1945 it was renamed the 33rd Grenadier Division of the SS Troops “Charlemagne” (“Charlemagne ”) and sent to the front in Pomerania against the Soviet troops. In March 1945, the French division was almost completely destroyed.

The remnants of the French division (about 700 people) at the end of April 1945 defended Berlin, in particular Hitler's bunker.

And in 1942, 130 thousand young people from Alsace and Lorraine born in 1920-24 were forcibly mobilized into the Wehrmacht, dressed in German uniforms and most of them were sent to the eastern front (they called themselves “malgre-nous”, that is, “mobilized against my will). About 90% of them immediately surrendered to Soviet troops and ended up in the Gulag!

Pierre Rigulot writes in his books “The French in the Gulag” and “The Tragedy of the Reluctant Soldiers”: “... In general, after 1946, 85 thousand French were repatriated, 25 thousand died in the camps, 20 thousand disappeared on the territory of the USSR ...”. In 1943-1945 alone, more than 10,000 Frenchmen who died in custody were buried in mass graves in the forest near the Rada station, near Tambov, in camp No. 188.

In the war against the USSR, about 8 thousand Frenchmen died (not counting the Alsatians and Logaringians).

3 Frenchmen were awarded the German "Knight's Crosses".

"African Phalanx"

After the landing of the Allies in Northern France, of all the North African territories of France, only Tunisia remained under the sovereignty of Vichy and the occupation of the Axis troops. After the Allied landings, the Vichy regime attempted to create volunteer formations that could serve alongside the Italo-German army.

On January 8, 1943, a "legion" was created with a single unit - the "African Phalanx" (Phalange Africaine), consisting of 300 French and 150 Muslim Africans (later the number of French was reduced to 200).

After three months of training, the phalanx was assigned to the 754th Infantry Regiment of the 334th German Infantry Division operating in Tunisia. Having been "in business", the phalanx was renamed "LVF en Tunisie" and existed under this name until the surrender in early May 1945.

Denmark

The social democratic government of Denmark did not declare war on the USSR, but did not interfere with the formation of the "Danish Volunteer Corps", and officially allowed the Danish army to join it (indefinite leave with the preservation of the rank).

In July-December 1941, more than 1 thousand people joined the Danish Volunteer Corps (the name "corps" was symbolic, in fact it was a battalion). In May 1942, the "Danish Corps" was sent to the front, to the Demyansk region. From December 1942, the Danes fought in the Velikiye Luki region.

At the beginning of June 1943, the corps was disbanded, many of its members, as well as new volunteers, joined the regiment " Danemark» 11th SS Volunteer Division « Nordland"(Danish-Norwegian division). In January 1944, the division was sent to Leningrad, participated in the battle of Narva.

In January 1945 the division fought against the Red Army in Pomerania, and in April 1945 fought in Berlin.

In the war against the USSR, about 2 thousand Danes died (456 Danes were taken into Soviet captivity).

3 Danes were awarded the German "Knight's Crosses".

Norway

The Norwegian government in July 1941 announced the formation of the "Norwegian Volunteer Legion" to send "to help Finland in the war against the USSR."

In February 1942, after training in Germany, the Norwegian legion (1 battalion, numbering 1.2 thousand people) was sent to the German-Soviet front, near Leningrad.

In May 1943, the Norwegian Legion was disbanded, most of the soldiers joined the Norwegian regiment of the 11th SS Volunteer Division " Nordland"(Danish-Norwegian division).

About 1,000 Norwegians died in the war against the USSR (100 Norwegians were taken into Soviet captivity).

Divisions under the SS

These are the so-called "SS divisions", formed from the "citizens" of the USSR, as well as from the inhabitants of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Note that only Germans and representatives of the peoples of the Germanic language group (Dutch, Danes, Flemings, Norwegians, Swedes) were taken in the SS division. Only they had the right to wear SS runes in their buttonholes. For some reason, an exception was made only for the French-speaking Walloon Belgians.

And here "divisions under the SS", "Waffen divisions der SS" formed precisely from the "non-German peoples" - Bosniaks, Ukrainians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Albanians, Russians, Belarusians, Hungarians, Italians, French.

At the same time, the command staff in these divisions was mainly from Germans (they had the right to wear SS runes). But the “Russian Division under the SS” was commanded by Bronislav Kaminsky, a half-Polish, half-German, originally from St. Petersburg. Because of his "pedigree" he could not be a member of the SS party organization, and was not a member of the NSDAP.

The first "Waffen Division under the SS" was the 13th ( Bosnian-Muslim) or Handshar, formed in March 1943. She fought from January 1944 in Croatia, and from December 1944 - in Hungary.

"Scanderbeg". In April 1944, the 21st mountain division of the Waffen-SS "Skanderbeg" was formed from Muslim Albanians. Almost 11 thousand soldiers were recruited from the province of Kosovo, as well as from Albania itself. They were mostly Sunni Muslims.

"14th Waffen Division der SS" (Ukrainian)

From the autumn of 1943 to the spring of 1944 she was in the reserve (in Poland). In July 1944 she fought on the Soviet-German front in the Brody region (Western Ukraine). In September 1944 it was sent to suppress the uprising in Slovakia. In January 1945, she was transferred to the reserve in the Bratislava region, in April 1945 she retreated to Austria, and in May 1945 she surrendered to American troops.

Ukrainian volunteers

The only units of the Eastern Volunteers that entered the Wehrmacht from the very beginning were two small Ukrainian battalions created in the spring of 1941.

The Nachtigal battalion was recruited from Ukrainians living in Poland, the Roland battalion was recruited from Ukrainian emigrants living in Germany.

"15th Waffen Division der SS" (Latvian No. 1)

From December 1943 - at the front in the Volkhov region, in January - March 1944 - at the front in the Pskov region, in April - May 1944 at the front in the Nevel region. From July to December 1944 it was reorganized in Latvia, and then in West Prussia. In February 1945 she was sent to the front in West Prussia, in March 1945 to the front in Pomerania.

"19th Waffen Division der SS" (Latvian No. 2)

At the front since April 1944, in the Pskov region, since July 1944 - in Latvia.

"20th Waffen Division der SS" (Estonian)

From March to October 1944 in Estonia, November 1944 - January 1945 in Germany (in reserve), in February - May 1945 at the front in Silesia.

"29th Waffen Division der SS" (Russian)

In August 1944 she took part in the suppression of the uprising in Warsaw. At the end of August, for the rape and murder of German residents of Warsaw, the division commander, Waffen-Brigadefuhrer Kaminsky, and the division chief of staff, Waffen-Obersturmbannführer Shavyakin (a former captain of the Red Army) were shot, and the division was sent to Slovakia and disbanded there.

"Russian security corps in Serbia"("Russisches Schutzkorps Serbien", RSS), the last division of the Russian Imperial Army. He was recruited from among the White Guards who found refuge in Serbia in 1921 and retained their national identity and adherence to traditional beliefs. They wanted to fight "for Russia and against the Reds", but they were sent to fight the partisans of Joseph Broz Tito.

"Russian Security Corps", originally led by the White Guard General Shteifon, and later by Colonel Rogozin. The number of the corps is more than 11 thousand people.

"30th Waffen Division der SS" (Belarusian)

From September to November 1944 in the reserve in Germany, from December 1944 on the Upper Rhine.

"33rd Hungarian" lasted only two months , was formed in December 1944, disbanded in January 1945.

The “36th division” was formed from German criminals and even political prisoners in February 1945. But then the Nazis “raked out” all the “reserves”, calling everyone into the Wehrmacht - from the boys from the “Hitler Youth” to the elderly ...

"Latvian SS Volunteer Legion". In February 1943, after the defeat of the German troops near Stalingrad, the Nazi command decided to form the Latvian National SS Legion. It included part of the Latvian volunteer units, created earlier and already taking part in hostilities.

In the first days of March 1943, the entire male population of Latvia born in 1918 and 1919 was ordered to appear at the district and volost police departments at their place of residence. There, after an examination by a medical commission, the mobilized were given the right to choose a place of service: either in the Latvian SS legion, or in the service staff of the German troops, or in defense work.

Of the 150 thousand soldiers and officers of the legion, over 40 thousand died and almost 50 thousand were captured by the Soviets. In April 1945 she took part in the battles for Neubrandenburg. At the end of April 1945, the remnants of the division were transferred to Berlin, where the battalion took part in the last battles for the "capital of the Third Reich".

In addition to these divisions, in December 1944 the 1st Cossack Cavalry Division was transferred to the SS, in January 1945 it was renamed the 15th Cossack Cavalry SS Corps. The corps operated in Croatia against Tito's partisans.

On December 30, 1941, the Wehrmacht command ordered the formation of "legions" from volunteers of various nationalities of the USSR. During the first half of 1942, first four and then six legions were fully integrated into the Wehrmacht, receiving the same status as the European legions. At first they were located in Poland.

"Turkestan Legion" , located in Legionovo, included Cossacks, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Turkmens, Karakalpaks and representatives of other nationalities.

"Muslim-Caucasian Legion" (later renamed " Azerbaijan Legion") located in Zheldny, the total number of 40,000 people.

"North Caucasian Legion" , which included representatives of 30 different peoples of the North Caucasus, was located in Vesola.

The formation of the legion began in September 1942 near Warsaw from Caucasian prisoners of war. The number of volunteers (more than 5,000 people) included Ossetians, Chechens, Ingush, Kabardians, Balkars, Tabasarans, etc.

The so-called. "North Caucasian Committee". His leadership included the Dagestani Akhmed-Nabi Agaev (Abwehr agent), Ossetian Kantemirov (former Minister of War of the Mountain Republic) and Sultan-Girey Klych.

"Georgian Legion" was formed in Kruzhyn. It should be noted that this legion existed from 1915 to 1917, and during its first formation it was staffed by volunteers from among the Georgians who were captured during the 1st World War.

During the Second World War "Georgian Legion""replenished" with volunteers from among the Soviet prisoners of war of Georgian nationality

"Armenian Legion" (18 thousand people ) was formed in Pulav, Drastamat Kanayan (“General Dro”) led the legion. Drastamat Kanayan defected to the Americans in May 1945. He spent the last years of his life in Beirut, died on March 8, 1956, and was buried in Boston. At the end of May 2000, the body of Drastamat Kanayan was reburied in the city of Aparan, in Armenia, near the memorial to the soldiers-heroes of the Great Patriotic War.

"Volga-Tatar Legion" (Legion "Idel-Ural") consisted of representatives of the Volga peoples (Tatars, Bashkirs, Mari, Mordovians, Chuvashs, Udmurts), Most of all there were Tatars. Formed in Zheldny.

In accordance with the policy of the Wehrmacht, these legions never united in combat conditions. As soon as they completed their training in Poland, they were sent to the front separately.

"Kalmyk Legion"

Interestingly, the Kalmyks were not part of the Eastern Legions and the first Kalmyk units were created by the headquarters of the 16th German motorized infantry division after Elista, the capital of Kalmykia, was occupied during the summer offensive of 1942. These units were called differently: "Kalmyk Legion" (Kalmuck Legion), "Dr. Doll's Kalmyk Connection" (Kal-mucken Verband Dr. Doll), or "Kalmyk Cavalry Corps".

In practice, it was a "volunteer corps" with the status of an allied army and broad autonomy. Basically, it was made up of former Red Army soldiers, commanded by Kalmyk sergeants and Kalmyk officers.

Initially, the Kalmyks fought against the partisan detachments, then retreated to the west along with the German troops.

The constant retreat brought the "Kalmyk Legion" to Poland, where by the end of 1944 they numbered about 5,000 people. Soviet winter offensive 1944-45 found them near Radom, and at the very end of the war they were reorganized in Neuhammer.

The Kalmyks were the only "Eastern Volunteers" who joined Vlasov's army.

Crimean Tatars. In October 1941, the creation of volunteer formations from representatives of the Crimean Tatars, "self-defense companies", whose main task was to fight partisans, began. Until January 1942, this process went on spontaneously, but after the recruitment of volunteers from among the Crimean Tatars was officially sanctioned by Hitler, "the solution to this problem" passed to the leadership of the Einsatzgruppe "D". During January 1942, more than 8,600 volunteers, Crimean Tatars, were recruited.

These formations were used in the protection of military and civilian facilities, took an active part in the fight against partisans, and in 1944 they actively resisted the formations of the Red Army that liberated the Crimea.

The remnants of the Crimean Tatar units, together with the German and Romanian troops, were evacuated from the Crimea by sea.

In the summer of 1944, from the remnants of the Crimean Tatar units in Hungary, the "Tatar Mountain Jaeger Regiment of the SS" was formed, which was soon reorganized into the "1st Tatar Mountain Jaeger Brigade of the SS", which was disbanded on December 31, 1944 and transformed into the battle group "Crimea ", which merged into the "Eastern Turkic Union of the SS".

Crimean Tatar volunteers who were not part of the "Tatar Mountain Chasseurs Regiment of the SS" were transferred to France and included in the reserve battalion of the "Volga-Tatar Legion".

As Yurado Carlos Caballero wrote: “... Not as an excuse for “divisions under the SS”, but for the sake of objectivity, we note that a much larger scale of war crimes was committed by the Allgemeine-SS special forces (“Sonderkommando” and “Einsatzgruppen”), but also “ost-truppen” - units formed from Russians, Turkestans, Ukrainians, Belarusians, peoples of the Caucasus and the Volga region - they were mainly engaged in anti-partisan activities ... The divisions of the Hungarian army were also engaged in this ...

However, it should be noted that the Bosnian-Muslim, Albanian and “Russian divisions der SS”, as well as the “36th division der SS” from the Germans, became most famous for war crimes ... ".

Volunteer Indian Legion

A few months before the start of Operation Barbarossa, while the Soviet-German non-aggression pact was still in effect, the extremist leader of the Indian nationalists, Subhas Chandra Bose, arrived from Moscow in Berlin, intending to enlist the support of the Germans "in the liberation of his country." Thanks to his perseverance, he managed to persuade the Germans to recruit a group of volunteers from Indians who served in the British troops and were captured in North Africa.

By the end of 1942, this Free India Legion (also known as the Tiger Legion, the Fries Indyen Legion, the Azad Hind Legion, Indische Freiwilligen-Legion Regiment 950 or I.R 950) reached a strength of about 2000 people and officially Entered the German Army as the 950th (Indian) Infantry Regiment.

In 1943, Bos Chandra traveled by submarine to Japanese-occupied Singapore. He sought to create from the Indians who were captured by the Japanese, the Indian National Army.

However, the German command poorly represented the problems of caste, tribal and religious strife among the inhabitants of India, and in addition, German officers treated their subordinates with disdain ... And, most importantly, more than 70 percent of the soldiers of the division were Muslims, people from tribes from the territories of modern Pakistan, Bangladesh , as well as from the Muslim communities of western and northwestern India. Yes, and the nutritional problems of such “motley fighters” were very serious - someone did not eat pork, someone ate only rice and vegetables.

In the spring of 1944, 2,500 people of the Indian Legion were sent to the Bordeaux region in the fortress of the Atlantic Wall. The first combat loss was Lieutenant Ali Khan, who was killed by French partisans in August 1944 during the retreat of the legion to Alsace. On August 8, the 1944 legion was transferred to the SS troops.

In March 1945, the remnants of the legion tried to break into Switzerland, but were taken prisoner by the French and Americans. The prisoners were handed over to the British as traitors to their own power, former legionnaires were sent to prisons in Delhi, and some were immediately shot.

Nevertheless, we note, in fairness, that this peculiar unit practically did not take part in hostilities.

Volunteer Arab Legion

On May 2, 1941, an anti-British rebellion broke out in Iraq led by Rashid el-Ghaliani. The Germans formed a special headquarters "F" (Sonderstab F) to assist the Arab insurgents.

To support the rebellion, two small units were created - the 287th and 288th special formations (Sonderverbonde), recruited from the personnel of the Brandenburg division. But before they could get involved, the rebellion was crushed.

The 288th all-German formation was sent to North Africa as part of the Afrika Korps, while the 287th formation was left in Greece, near Athens, to organize volunteers from the Middle East. They were mostly Palestinian supporters of the pro-German Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Iraqis who supported el-Galiani.

When three battalions were recruited, one battalion was sent to Tunisia, and the other two were used to fight the partisans, first in the Caucasus and then in Yugoslavia.

The 287th unit was never officially recognized as an Arab legion - " Legion FreeArab. This common name was given to all Arabs who fought under German command to distinguish them from other ethnic groups.

The anti-Hitler coalition included the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and its dominions (Canada, India, the Union of South Africa, Australia, New Zealand), Poland, France, Ethiopia, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Greece, Yugoslavia, Tuva, Mongolia, USA.

China (the government of Chiang Kai-shek) has been fighting against Japan since July 7, 1937, and Mexico, Brazil. Bolivia, Colombia, Chile and Argentina declared war on Germany and its allies.

The participation of the Latin American countries in the war consisted mainly in carrying out defensive measures, in protecting the coast and caravans of ships.

The fighting of a number of countries occupied by Germany - Yugoslavia, Greece, France, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Poland consisted mainly in the partisan movement and the resistance movement. Italian partisans were also active, fighting both against the Mussolini regime and against Germany.

Poland. After the defeat and partition of Poland between Germany and the USSR, Polish troops acted together with the troops of Great Britain, France and the USSR (“Anders Army”). In 1944, Polish troops participated in the landing in Normandy, and in May 1945 they took Berlin.

Luxembourg was attacked by Germany on May 10, 1940. In August 1942, Luxembourg was incorporated into Germany, so many Luxembourgers were called up to serve in the Wehrmacht.

In total, 10,211 Luxembourgers were drafted into the Wehrmacht during the occupation. Of these, 2,848 died, 96 were missing.

1653 Luxembourgers who served in the Wehrmacht and fought on the German-Soviet front fell into Soviet captivity (93 of them died in captivity).

NEUTRAL COUNTRIES OF EUROPE

Sweden. At the beginning of the war, Sweden declared its neutrality, but nevertheless carried out a partial mobilization. During Soviet-Finnish military conflict She declared her status " non-belligerent power”, however, provided assistance to Finland with money and military equipment.

Nevertheless, Sweden cooperated with both belligerents, the most famous examples being the passage of German troops from Norway to Finland and informing the British about Bismarck's entry into Operation Rheinübung.

In addition, Sweden actively supplied Germany with iron ore, but from mid-August 1943, it stopped transporting German military materials through its country.

During the Great Patriotic War, Sweden was a diplomatic mediator between the USSR and Germany.

Switzerland. Declared its neutrality the day before the outbreak of World War II. But in September 1939, 430 thousand people were mobilized into the army, rationing was introduced for food and industrial products.

In the international arena, Switzerland maneuvered between the two warring factions, the ruling circles for a long time leaned towards the pro-German course.

Swiss firms supplied Germany weapons, ammunition, machinery and other manufactured goods. Germany received electricity from Switzerland, loans (over 1 billion francs), used the Swiss railways for military transportation to Italy and back.

Some Swiss firms acted as intermediaries for Germany on world markets. Intelligence agencies of Germany, Italy, the USA and England operated on the territory of Switzerland.

Spain. Spain remained neutral during World War II, although Hitler considered the Spaniards to be his allies. German submarines entered the ports of Spain, and German agents operated freely in Madrid. Spain supplied Germany and tungsten, though at the end of the war, Spain sold tungsten to the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. Jews fled to Spain, then making their way to Portugal.

Portugal. In 1939, she declared neutrality. But the Salazar government supplied strategic raw materials, and, above all, tungsten to Germany and Italy. In October 1943, realizing the inevitability of the defeat of Nazi Germany, Salazar grants the British and Americans the right to use the Azores as a military base, and in June 1944 stops the export of tungsten to Germany.

During the war, hundreds of thousands of Jews from various European countries were able to escape the Nazi genocide, using Portuguese visas, emigrating from war-torn Europe.

Ireland maintained complete neutrality.

About 1,500,000 Jews took part in the fighting in the armies of different countries, in the partisan movement and in the Resistance.

In the US Army - 550,000, in the USSR - 500,000, Poland - 140,000, Great Britain - 62,000, France - 46,000.

Alexey Kazdym

List of used literature

• Abrahamyan E. A. Caucasians in the Abwehr. M.: Publisher Bystrov, 2006.
• Asadov Yu.A. 1000 officer names in Armenian history. Pyatigorsk, 2004.
• Berdinsky V.A. . Special Settlers: Political Exile of the Peoples of Soviet Russia. M.: 2005.
• Briman Shimon Muslims in the SS // http://www.webcitation.org/66K7aB5b7
• World War II 1939-1945, TSB. Yandex. Dictionaries
• Vozgrin V. Historical fate of the Crimean Tatars. Moscow: Thought, 1992
• Gilyazov I.A. Legion "Idel-Ural". Kazan: Tatknigoizdat, 2005.
• Drobyazko S. Eastern legions and Cossack units in the Wehrmacht http://www.erlib.com
• Elishev S. Salazarovskaya Portugal // Russian folk line, http://ruskline.ru/analitika/2010/05/21/salazarovskaya_portugaliya
• Karashchuk A., Drobyazko S. Eastern volunteers in the Wehrmacht, police and SS. 2000
• Krysin M. Yu. History on the lips. Latvian SS legion: yesterday and today. Veche, 2006.
• Concise Jewish Encyclopedia, Jerusalem. 1976 - 2006
• Mamulia G.G. Georgian legion of the Wehrmacht M.: Veche, 2011.
• Romanko O.V. Muslim Legions in World War II. M.: AST; Transitbook, 2004.
• Yurado Carlos Caballero "Foreign Volunteers in the Wehrmacht. 1941-1945. AST, Astrel. 2005
• Etinger Ya. Ya. Jewish resistance during the Holocaust.
• Rigoulot Pierre. Des Francais au goulag.1917-1984. 1984
• Rigoulot Pierre. La tragedy des malgre-nous. 1990.

The Third Reich was preparing for a strike on the USSR very thoroughly, by the time the war began, a grouping of the armed forces of the Reich and the armed forces of the satellite countries of Germany, which had no analogues until that time, was concentrated on the borders of the Soviet Union. To defeat Poland, the Reich used 59 divisions, in the war with France and its allies - Holland, Belgium, England - put up 141 divisions, 181 divisions were concentrated to attack the USSR, this is together with the allies. Berlin made serious preparations for the war, literally in a few years turning its armed forces from one of the weakest armies in Europe, because under the Versailles agreements, Germany was allowed to have only 100,000. army, without combat aviation, heavy artillery, tanks, powerful navies, universal conscription, into the best army in the world. This was an unprecedented transformation, of course, the fact that in the period preceding the rise of the Nazis to power, with the help of the “financial international”, it was possible to maintain the military potential of industry and then quickly militarize the economy. The officer corps was also preserved, passing on its experience to new generations.

The myth that "intelligence reported on time." One of the most enduring and dangerous myths that was created under Khrushchev, and even more strengthened during the years of the Russian Federation, is the legend that intelligence has repeatedly reported on the date of the start of the war, but “stupid”, or in another version, “enemy of the people ”, Stalin dismissed these reports, believing more in his “friend” Hitler. Why is this myth dangerous? He creates the opinion that if the army had been brought to full combat readiness, it would have been possible to avoid a situation when the Wehrmacht reached Leningrad, Moscow, Stalingrad, they say, it would have been possible to stop the enemy at the border. In addition, it does not take into account the geopolitical realities of that time - the USSR could be accused of an armed provocation, as in 1914, when the Russian Empire began mobilization and was accused of “starting a war”, Berlin got a reason to start a war. There was a possibility that we would have to forget about the creation of the "Anti-Hitler coalition".

There were intelligence reports, but there is a very big “But” - in the spring of 1941, the intelligence of the people's commissariats for state security and defense literally bombarded the Kremlin with reports on the “final and firmly established” date for the start of the invasion of the Reich troops. At least 5-6 such dates have been reported. April, May, June dates were reported about the invasion of the Wehrmacht and the beginning of the war, but they all turned out to be disinformation. So, contrary to the myths about the War, no one has ever reported the date of June 22. The Reich troops should have known about the hour and day of the invasion only three days before the war, so the directive that spoke about the date of the invasion of the USSR came to the troops only on June 19, 1941. Naturally, not a single intelligence officer managed to report this.

The same famous “telegram” by R. Sorge that “an attack is expected early in the morning on June 22 along a wide front” is a fake. Its text differs sharply from real similar cipher programs; besides, no responsible leader of the state will take any serious action on the basis of such reports, even if it comes from a reliable informant. As already mentioned, Moscow received such messages regularly. Already in our years, on June 16, 2001, the Krasnaya Zvezda organ of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation published materials from a round table dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the start of the Great Patriotic War, where there were confessions of Colonel Karpov of the SVR: “Unfortunately, this is a fake that appeared in Khrushchev times . Such "fools" are launched simply ... ". That is, the lie that Soviet intelligence knew everything and reported the day and hour of the beginning of the invasion was launched by N. Khrushchev when he “debunked” the cult of personality.

Only after the Wehrmacht received the directive of June 19, various “defectors” began to cross the border and signals went through the border service to Moscow.

Intelligence was also mistaken in the number of Wehrmacht troops, allegedly thoroughly revealed by Soviet intelligence officers. The total strength of the armed forces of the Reich by Soviet intelligence was determined at 320 divisions, in reality at that time the Wehrmacht had 214 divisions. It was believed that the forces of the Reich were divided equally in the western and eastern strategic directions: 130 divisions each, plus 60 in reserve, the rest in other directions. That is, it was not clear where Berlin would direct its blow - it was logical to assume that it was against England. A completely different picture would have developed if intelligence had reported that out of 214 Reich divisions, 148 were concentrated in the East. Soviet intelligence was unable to track the process of building up the power of the Wehrmacht in the east. According to the intelligence of the USSR, the Wehrmacht grouping in the east from February to May 1941 increased from 80 to 130 divisions, a significant build-up of forces, but at the same time it was believed that the Wehrmacht grouping against England had doubled. What conclusions could be drawn from this? It could be assumed that Berlin was preparing for an operation against England, which he had long planned to do and was actively spreading disinformation about this. And in the east, the grouping was strengthened for more reliable cover for the “rear”. Wasn't Hitler planning a war on two fronts? This is the unequivocal suicide of Germany. And a completely different picture would have developed if the Kremlin had known that in February, out of all 214 German divisions in the east, there were only 23, and by June 1941 there were already 148.

True, there is no need to create another myth that intelligence is to blame for everything, it worked, collected information. But we must take into account the fact that she was still young, in comparison with Western intelligence services, she lacked experience.

Another myth, they say, Stalin is to blame for the fact that they incorrectly determined the main direction of the strike of the German armed forces - the most powerful grouping of the Red Army was concentrated in the Kiev Special Military District (KOVO), believing that it was there that the main blow would be. But, firstly, this is the decision of the General Staff, and secondly, according to intelligence reports, against the KOVO and the Odessa Military District (OVO), the Wehrmacht command fielded at least 70 divisions, including 15 tank divisions, and against the Western Special Military District (ZOVO), the German command concentrated 45 divisions, of which only 5 were armored. Yes, and according to the initial developments of the Barbarossa plan, Berlin planned the main blow precisely in the southwestern strategic direction. Moscow proceeded from the available data, it is we who can now put together all the pieces of the puzzle. In addition, in southern Poland, south of Lublin, at the beginning of June 1941, in reality, there were 10 tank and 6 motorized divisions of the Wehrmacht and SS troops. And therefore, opposing them with 20 tank and 10 motorized divisions of the KOVO and OVO was a completely correct step by our command. True, the problem is that our intelligence missed the moment when 5 tank and 3 motorized divisions of the 2nd Panzer Group of Gaines Guderian were transferred to the Brest region in mid-June. As a result, 9 tank and 6 motorized divisions of Germany were concentrated against the Western Special Military District, and 5 tank divisions and 3 motorized divisions remained against the KOVO.

T-2

The Wehrmacht grouping in the east consisted of 153 divisions and 2 brigades, plus reinforcement units, they were distributed mainly in theaters of operations: from Norway to Romania. In addition to German troops, large forces of the armed forces of the allied countries of Germany were concentrated on the borders with the Soviet Union - Finnish, Romanian and Hungarian divisions, in total 29 divisions (15 Finnish and 14 Romanian) and 16 brigades (Finnish - 3, Hungarian - 4, Romanian - nine).

The main striking power of the Wehrmacht was represented by tank and motorized divisions. What were they like? In June 1941, there were two types of tank divisions: tank divisions with a tank regiment of two battalions, they had 147 tanks - 51 light tanks Pz.Kpfw. II (according to the Soviet classification T-2), 71 medium tanks Pz.Kpfw. III (T-3), 20 medium tanks Pz.Kpfw. IV (T-4) and 5 command tanks without weapons. A tank division with a tank regiment of three battalions could be armed with German or Czechoslovak tanks. In the tank division, equipped with German tanks, the state had: 65 T-2 light tanks, 106 T-3 and 30 T-4 medium tanks, as well as 8 command tanks, in total - 209 units. In the tank division, equipped mainly with Czechoslovak tanks, there were: 55 T-2 light tanks, 110 Czechoslovak light tanks Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) or Pz.Kpfw. 38(t), 30 medium tanks T-4 and 14 command tanks Pz.Kpfw. 35(t) or Pz.Kpfw. 38(t), total - 209 units. We must also take into account the fact that most of the T-2 and Pz.Kpfw. 38(t) had time to modernize, their frontal armor of 30 and 50 mm was now not inferior in armor protection to the medium tanks T-3 and T-4. Plus, the quality of sighting devices is better than in Soviet tanks. According to various estimates, the Wehrmacht had about 4,000 tanks and assault guns in total, and more than 4,300 with the allies.

Pz.Kpfw. 38(t).

But it must be borne in mind that the Wehrmacht tank division is not only tanks. Tank divisions were reinforced by: 6,000 motorized infantry; 150 artillery pieces, along with mortars and anti-tank guns; a motorized engineer battalion, which could equip positions, set up minefields or clear minefields, organize a crossing; motorized communications battalion - these are mobile communications centers based on cars, armored cars or armored personnel carriers, which could provide stable control of parts of the division on the march and in battle. According to the state, the tank division had 1963 units of vehicles, tractors (trucks and tractors - 1402 and cars - 561), in some divisions their number reached up to 2300 units. Plus 1289 motorcycles (711 units with sidecars) in the state, although their number could also reach 1570 units. Therefore, the tank divisions were organizationally a perfectly balanced combat unit, which is why the organizational structures of this unit of the 1941 model, with minor improvements, were maintained until the end of the war.

The tank divisions were also strengthened by motorized divisions. The motorized divisions differed from the usual infantry divisions of the Wehrmacht by the complete motorization of all units and divisions of the division. They had two regiments of motorized infantry instead of 3 infantry in an infantry division, two light howitzer divisions and one heavy artillery division in an artillery regiment instead of 3 light and 1 heavy in an infantry division, plus they had a motorcycle rifle battalion, which was not in standard infantry division. Motorized divisions had 1900–2000 vehicles and 1300–1400 motorcycles. That is, tank divisions were reinforced with additional motorized infantry.

The German armed forces were the first among other armies in the world not only to understand the need to have self-propelled artillery to support their infantry, but also the first to put this idea into practice. The Wehrmacht had 11 divisions and 5 separate batteries of assault guns, 7 divisions of self-propelled tank destroyers, another 4 batteries of 150-mm self-propelled heavy infantry guns were transferred to the tank divisions of the Wehrmacht. Assault gun units supported the infantry on the battlefield, this made it possible not to divert tank units from the tank divisions for these purposes. Divisions of self-propelled tank destroyers became a highly mobile anti-tank reserve of the Wehrmacht command.

The infantry divisions of the Wehrmacht numbered 16,500-16,800 people, but you need to know that, contrary to military myths, all the artillery of these divisions was horse-drawn. In the infantry division of the Wehrmacht, there were 5375 horses in the state: 1743 riding horses and 3632 draft horses, of which 2249 draft horses belonged to the artillery regiment of the unit. Plus, a high level of motorization - 911 cars (of which 565 are trucks and 346 are cars), 527 motorcycles (201 units with a sidecar). In total, the German armed forces, concentrated on the borders of the Soviet Union, had more than 600,000 vehicles of various types and more than 1 million horses.

Artillery

The artillery of the German Armed Forces was traditionally strong: up to a quarter of the barrels of German divisions were guns with a caliber of 105–150 mm. The organizational structure of the military artillery of the Wehrmacht made it possible to provide a significant reinforcement of infantry units in battle. So, in the infantry regiments there were 150-mm heavy field guns. This provided the German infantry with a significant advantage in battle. When firing direct fire with shells weighing 38 kg, 150-mm guns could quickly suppress enemy firing points, clearing the way for advancing units. Divisional artillery could support infantry, motorized regiments with a division of light 105-mm howitzers, while at the disposal of the commanders of infantry and motorized divisions of the Wehrmacht there was a heavy howitzer division of 150-mm howitzers, and at the disposal of the commanders of tank divisions - a mixed heavy division of 105-mm guns and 150 mm howitzers.

Tank and motorized divisions also had air defense guns: according to the state, the division had a company of ZSU (18 units), these were self-propelled anti-aircraft installations based on half-track tractors, armed with single-barreled or quad 20-mm anti-aircraft guns. The company was part of the anti-tank battalion. ZSU could fire both stationary and on the move in the march. Plus anti-aircraft divisions with 8-12 88-mm Flak18 / 36/37 anti-aircraft guns, which, in addition to fighting the enemy air force, could fight enemy tanks, performing anti-tank functions.

To strike at the Red Army, the Wehrmacht command also concentrated significant forces of the Reserve of the Main Command of the Ground Forces (RGK): 28 artillery divisions (12 105-mm heavy guns each); 37 divisions of heavy field howitzers (12 150-mm units each); 2 mixed divisions (6 211-mm mortars and three 173-mm guns each); 29 heavy mortar divisions (9 211-mm mortars in each division); 7 motorized heavy artillery divisions (9 149.1 mm heavy guns in each division); 2 heavy howitzer divisions (four 240-mm heavy Czechoslovak howitzers in each division); 6 anti-tank battalions (36 37-mm Pak35/36 anti-tank guns each); 9 separate railway batteries with 280 mm naval guns (2 guns per battery). Almost all of the artillery of the RGK was concentrated on the direction of the main attacks, and all of it was motorized.

To ensure comprehensive preparation for combat operations, the Wehrmacht strike groups included: 34 artillery instrumental reconnaissance battalions, 52 separate engineer battalions, 25 separate bridge building battalions, 91 construction battalions and 35 road construction battalions.

Aviation: 4 air fleets of the Luftwaffe, plus Allied aviation, were concentrated to strike at the USSR. In addition to 3,217 bombers and fighters, the Reich Air Force had 1,058 reconnaissance aircraft, which played a crucial role in supporting the operations of the ground forces and the German Navy. Plus 639 transport and communications aircraft. Of the 965 German single-engine Bf.109 Messerschmitt fighters, almost 60% were aircraft of the new Bf.109F modification, they were superior in speed and rate of climb not only to the old Soviet I-16 and I-153 fighters, but also new ones, only received by the Air Force of the Red Army "Yak-1" and "LaGG-3".

The Reich Air Force had a large number of units and subunits of communications and control, which made it possible to maintain their high controllability and combat effectiveness. The German Air Force included anti-aircraft divisions that provided air defense for ground forces and rear facilities. Each anti-aircraft division included air surveillance, warning and communications units, logistic and technical support units. They were armed with 8-15 anti-aircraft divisions with 88-mm Flak18 / 36/37 anti-aircraft guns, 37-mm and 20-mm Flak30 and Flak38 anti-aircraft automatic guns, including quadruple installations of 20-mm Flakvierling38 / 1 machine guns. At the same time, the anti-aircraft divisions of the Air Force interacted well with ground forces, often advancing directly with them.

In addition to the armed forces themselves, numerous paramilitary auxiliaries, such as the Speer Transport Corps, the Todt Organization, the National Socialist Automobile Corps and the Imperial Labor Service, reinforced the striking power. They performed tasks for the logistics, technical and engineering support of the Wehrmacht. There were many volunteers from the countries of Western and Eastern Europe, who were not formally at war with the USSR.

Summing up, it must be said that this military machine at that time did not know equals. It was not in vain that in Berlin, London and Washington they believed that the USSR would not withstand the blow and would fall within 2-3 months. But they miscalculated, once again ...

Sources:
Isaev A.V. Unknown 1941. Stopped blitzkrieg. M., 2010.
Pykhalov I. The Great Slandered War. M., 2005.
Pykhalov I. Great slandered leader. Lies and truth about Stalin. M., 2010.
http://nvo.ng.ru/history/2011-06-10/1_2ww.html
http://militera.lib.ru/h/tippelskirch/index.html
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Barbarossa
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Patriotic_War
http://vspomniv.ru/nemetskie.htm
http://www.sovross.ru/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=588260
http://waralbum.ru/
http://ww2history.ru/artvermaht
http://www.airpages.ru/lw_main.shtml
http://putnikost.gorod.tomsk.ru/index-1271220706.php

According to military experts, by 1941 the German army was the strongest in the world. Hardened in battles, knowing the taste of victories, the German units approached the Soviet border with a sense of their superiority. Wehrmacht soldiers considered themselves invincible.
Systems approach
The German historian Werner Picht believed that it was the Treaty of Versailles, according to which Germany did not have the right to have an army of more than 100 thousand people, that forced the Berlin generals to look for new principles for the formation of the armed forces. And they were found. And although Hitler, having come to power in 1933, abandoned the "norms of Versailles", the ideology of military mobility of the new army has already won the minds of German military leaders. Later, the transfer of German soldiers to Spain to protect the Franco regime made it possible to test 88-mm anti-aircraft guns, Me-109 fighters and dive bombers of the Stuka-87 type in real conditions. In the same place, the young Nazi aviation created its own school of air combat. The Balkan campaign of 1941 showed how important it is to coordinate a large amount of equipment. As a result, the German staff officers in front of the Russian company had a successful experience in the use of mobile units reinforced by aviation. All this allowed them to create a military organization of a new and, most importantly, systemic type, optimally tuned to carry out combat missions.
Special training
In 1935, the concept of special training for Wehrmacht soldiers arose in order to make a kind of “motorized weapon” out of a fighter. For this, the most capable young men were chosen from among the youth. They were trained in training camps. To understand what the German soldiers of the 1941 model were like, you should read Walter Kempovsky's multi-volume Echo Sounder. The books provide numerous testimonies explaining the defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad, including soldiers' correspondence. For example, it tells about a certain corporal Hans, who at a distance of 40-50 meters could hit a small window with a grenade. the other side of the street. If he were alive, we could easily take this damn house, because of which half of our platoon died. But in August 1941, a captured Russian lieutenant killed him with a shot in the back. It was ridiculous, because there were so many who surrendered that we did not even have time to search them. Dying, Hans shouted that it was not fair. According to official figures, in 1941 the Wehrmacht lost 162,799 soldiers killed, 32,484 missing and 579,795 wounded, most of whom died in hospitals or became disabled. Hitler called these losses monstrous, not so much because of the numbers, but because of the lost quality of the German army. In Berlin, they were forced to state that the war would be different - a war by all available means. Russian soldiers in the summer and autumn of 1941 offered active resistance. As a rule, these were attacks by desperate and doomed Red Army soldiers, single shots from burning houses, self-explosions. In total, 3138 thousand Soviet soldiers died in the first year of the war, most often in captivity or in "boilers". But it was they who bled the elite of the Wehrmacht, which the Germans had been preparing so carefully for six years.
Massive military experience
Any commander will tell you how important it is to have fired soldiers under your command. The German army that attacked the USSR had this invaluable experience of military victories. In September 1939, the Wehrmacht soldiers, having easily defeated 39 Polish divisions of Edward Rydz-Smigly, felt the taste of victory for the first time. Then there was the Maginot Line, the capture of Yugoslavia and Greece - all this only strengthened the self-consciousness of their invincibility. No country in the world then had so many fired fighters motivated for success. Retired infantry general Kurt von Tippelskirch believed that this factor was the most important in the first victories over the Red Army. Describing the concept of lightning wars, he emphasized that, in contrast to the anxious hours of waiting for a war with Poland, self-confident German conquerors entered the territory of Soviet Russia. By the way, the multi-day defense of the Brest Fortress is largely due to the fact that the 42nd Rifle Division of the Red Army, which has combat experience in the Finnish War, was stationed on its territory.
Precise Destruction Concept
The Germans also emphasized the rapid destruction of pockets of resistance, no matter how firmly they were protected. According to the German generals, in this case, the enemy has a feeling of doom and futility of resistance. As a rule, accurate, almost sniper shelling was used. This was achieved through the successful use of visual optical observation posts, with the help of which shelling was adjusted at a distance of 7-10 km from our positions. Only at the end of 1941, the Red Army found an antidote to the all-seeing Nazi artillery, when it began to build defensive structures on the reverse slopes of the hills, out of reach of German optics.
Quality connection
The most significant advantage of the Wehrmacht over the Red Army was high-quality communications. Guderian believed that a tank without reliable radio communication would not show even a tenth of what it was capable of. In the Third Reich, since the beginning of 1935, the development of reliable ultrashort-wave transceivers has intensified. Thanks to the appearance in the German communications service of fundamentally new devices designed by Dr. Grube, Wehrmacht generals were able to quickly control the huge theater of military operations. For example, high-frequency telephone equipment served the German tank headquarters without any interference at distances up to one and a half thousand kilometers. That is why on June 27, 1941, in the Dubno region, the Kleist group of only 700 tanks was able to defeat the mechanized corps of the Red Army, which included 4,000 combat vehicles. Later, in 1944, analyzing this battle, Soviet generals bitterly admitted that if our tanks had had radio communications then, the Soviet Army would have turned the tide of the war at its very beginning.
And still nothing helped them, not even the elephants! Thanks to the selfless courage and great love for the Motherland of our fathers and grandfathers, the most perfect military machine in the world was defeated and, I hope, will never be reborn!

There is an opinion that the Germans are punctual people, and therefore the control system of the fascist army differed from other armies of the world in perfect accuracy and accuracy. But is this statement true? Let's figure it out.

The leader of the German people, Hitler held many different positions. He was party leader, chancellor, president of Germany, minister of war, supreme commander of the Wehrmacht, commander in chief of the ground forces. Something similar happened with Stalin. He was the General Secretary of the Central Committee, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, Supreme Commander.

But in whatever capacity Joseph Stalin acted, all the levers of power converged in his secretariat. Any reports, reports, denunciations fell on the table of the assistant to the leader of the peoples, Poskrebyshev. He processed the information, reported to his boss and received appropriate instructions. And Hitler had a separate office for each of his positions. In total, the Fuhrer had five such structures, and each of them had its own apparatus of employees.

It is quite clear that each such structure aspired to leadership. She gave orders and orders on behalf of the leader of the German people and at the same time was not interested in the orders and orders of the other four structures. All this gave rise to chaos, confusion and squabbling between employees of different administrative apparatuses.

The control system of the armed forces of fascist Germany worked on a similar principle. Every army in the world has a brain - General base. And in the fascist army there was not one, but as many as three brains, that is, three absolutely independent General Staffs from each other. The ground forces, aviation and navy had their own General Staffs, and each of them planned its own military operations. There were also SS troops who were subordinate only to Himmler, who was directly subordinate to the Fuhrer.

It is quite understandable that the three General Staffs and the command of the SS troops could not coordinate their actions thoroughly and accurately. Each proceeded from personal departmental interests and tried to wage the war that was convenient only for him. Each command organ planned its operations and deployed its command and communications systems. All this had the most negative impact on the conduct of both offensive and defensive military operations.

Stalin had nothing of the kind. His control system was simple and efficient. The front was considered the main organizational unit. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, there were five Soviet fronts against Germany, at the end of the war there were ten. At the head of each front was a commander with his staff. It was the front commander who led the combat operations of the combined arms, tank armies and aviation. Therefore, both the ground forces and aviation acted according to a single plan.

Such an organization of leadership made it possible to control tanks, artillery, aviation, and infantry from a single center. If, for example, infantry with artillery and tanks is on the defensive, and aviation is engaged in air battles, then all the means of the front are sent to support its actions, according to the order of the commander. And if the rifle divisions and tank corps moved forward, and aviation is not needed, then communications, transport, fuel reserves and everything else work for the attackers.

The fascist army had a completely different control system. If in some area of ​​hostilities the pilots had huge reserves of fuel, and the tankers had almost none, then there was no mechanism capable of providing such information, and even more so, taking the surplus from aviation and transferring them to the tank unit. And all because the ground forces had their commanders, and their aviation. And they did not obey each other in any way. Therefore, the issue of transferring fuel could only be resolved through the Fuhrer.

The commander of the army group of the ground forces was supposed to contact Hitler's headquarters, and there he could be asked and wait for several hours until the supreme commander of the Wehrmacht decides some other issues. Then, having received the information, Hitler had to contact Goering and give him the order to allocate excess fuel to the tank unit. Goering, in turn, had to contact the commander of the air fleet and give the order to him. The latter had to give an order to the squadron commander, and only after that the tankers' fuel trucks would be refueled.

Yes, there is discipline and order, but who needs them in difficult combat conditions, when the situation changes hourly. True, there was a second option. The commander of the tank unit could directly contact the commander of the air unit and ask for help with fuel. But precisely ask and petitioners are often denied.

From this it can be seen that in the fascist army, land, aviation, naval commanders and commanders of the Waffen-SS troops had to negotiate among themselves, like traders in a bazaar. Is this a military approach? Could the Nazis have won with such a control system? And so they had it everywhere - in Africa, Greece, Italy, France.

But we must pay tribute to Adolf Hitler. He thought about how to properly and effectively organize the interaction of three independent General Staffs. And, in the end, he came up with. Above these headquarters, he placed two more headquarters, but made it so that they did not obey each other either. The headquarters of the Supreme High Command of the Wehrmacht, headed by General Field Marshal Keitel, and the headquarters of the operational leadership of the Wehrmacht, headed by Colonel General Jodl, appeared. All this led to even greater confusion in the fascist army.

The new headquarters, in an effort to prove their necessity, began to interfere in military operations on individual fronts, sent orders, directives, often contradicting the orders and directives of the General Staffs. As a result, disputes began to arise between competing headquarters. They became more and more fierce as the situation on the Eastern Front worsened.

Any comparisons with the Soviet system of government are not in favor of Germany. It should also be taken into account that the SS troops were not at all subordinate to all these heaps of headquarters. And their forces were impressive: the SS cavalry division "Florian Geyer", the SS division "Adolf Hitler", the SS mountain rifle division "Skanderbeg", the motorized division "Reichsführer SS", the SS division "Totenkopf", the grenadier division of the SS.

In total, there were 43 such divisions, and among them were tank, cavalry, infantry, mountain rifle, and others. Himmler even had the 6th SS Panzer Army under his command. Also, under the personal control of the Reichsfuehrer SS, there were 50 Volkssturm divisions. In total, he commanded 93 divisions. This entire armada fought on the fronts, but had nothing to do with the General Staffs and ignored their orders. By the way, the SS fought very bravely, but the losses in their ranks were the largest.

Thus, the fascist army, with its control system, could not resist the clear, simple and perfectly tuned Stalinist system. A huge number of German headquarters could not find a common language among themselves. In fact, all these military structures lived among themselves in the same way as the cardinal's guards lived with the royal musketeers from Dumas' novel. Each structure rowed everything for itself and supplied only itself. That is, the German army consisted of hostile clans. And how could she win in such a situation?

At the end of the war, even Goebbels recognized the superiority of the Soviet system of government over the German one. He declared that the German pyramids of orders and instructions ruined Germany. Who would argue with the Minister of Propaganda. Indeed, the German army simply drowned in confusion and chaos. She could not resist a more progressive system and suffered a complete collapse..