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Among the approximately one million foreign volunteers and conscripts who served in the Wehrmacht during World War II were ethnic Belgians, Czechs, Dutch, Finns, Danes, French, Hungarians, Norwegians, Poles, [1] Portuguese, Swedes, [2] Swiss along with people from Great Britain, Ireland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the Balkans. [3]
Prior to World War II, the Wehrmacht strove to remain a purely ethnic German force; as such, minorities within and outside of Germany, such as the Czechs in annexed Czechoslovakia, were exempted from military service after Hitler's takeover in 1938. Foreign volunteers were generally not accepted in the German armed forces prior to 1941. [47]
The flag was introduced on 14 March 1933 and was used until 23 July 1935. The position of Reichswehr Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht was held since 30 January 1933 by Werner von Blomberg. 1935: Command flag for the Reichskriegsminister and Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht: Adopted on 23 July 1935 and used until 5 October 1935.
[5] Many of the foreign volunteers fought in either the Waffen-SS or the Wehrmacht. Generally the non-Germanic troops were permitted into the Wehrmacht, whereas the Germanic volunteers were recruited into the service of the Waffen-SS as part of propaganda-driven "pan-Germanic army" of the future. [6]
The 373rd (Croatian) Infantry Division, as part of German Wehrmacht, fought in World War II; The 392nd (Croatian) Infantry Division, as part of German Wehrmacht, fought in World War II; The Croatian Air Force Legion, as part of German Luftwaffe fought in World War II on the Axis' side; The Croatian Anti-Aircraft Legion, as part of German ...
Ostlegionen ("eastern legions"), Ost-Bataillone ("eastern battalions"), Osttruppen ("eastern troops"), and Osteinheiten ("eastern units") were units in the Army of Nazi Germany during World War II made up of personnel from the Soviet Union. [1] They were a large part of the Wehrmacht foreign volunteers and conscripts.
Cossacks in the Wehrmacht under the Swastika flag, 1942, southwestern Russia. A large number of Soviet citizens of various ethnicities collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II. It is estimated that the number of Soviet collaborators with the Nazi German military was around 1 million.
During World War II, the Waffen-SS recruited or conscripted significant numbers of non-Germans. Of a peak strength of 950,000 in 1944, the Waffen-SS consisted of some 400,000 “Reich Germans” and 310,000 ethnic Germans from outside Germany’s pre-1939 borders (mostly from German-occupied Europe ), the remaining 240,000 being non-Germans. [ 1 ]