Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts#Norway

{{Main|Waffen-SS}}

The Waffen-SS (Armed SS) was created as the militarised wing of the Schutzstaffel (SS; "Protective Squadron") of the Nazi Party. Its origins can be traced back to the selection of a group of 120 SS men in 1933 by Sepp Dietrich to form the Sonderkommando Berlin, which became the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH).{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=144}} In 1934, the SS developed its own military branch, the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT), which together with the LSSAH, evolved into the Waffen-SS.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=144}} Nominally under the authority of Heinrich Himmler, the Waffen-SS developed a fully militarised structure of command and operations. It grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions during World War II, serving alongside the Heer (army), while never formally being a part of it.{{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=56, 57, 66}} Adolf Hitler did not want the Waffen-SS integrated into either the army or the state police. Instead it was to remain an independent force of military-trained men at the disposal of the Führer.{{sfn|Reitlinger|1989|p=84}}{{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=56–66}}

File:Finnish SS Tampere.png, 1943]]

In 1934, Himmler initially set stringent requirements for recruits. They were to be German nationals who could prove their Aryan ancestry back to 1800, unmarried, and without a criminal record. Recruits had to be between the ages of 17 and 23, at least {{convert|1.74|m|ftin}} tall ({{convert|1.78|m|ftin}} for the Leibstandarte). Recruits were required to have perfect teeth and eyesight and provide a medical certificate.{{sfn|Weale|2010|pp=201–204}} By 1938, the height restrictions were relaxed, up to six dental fillings were permitted, and eyeglasses for astigmatism and mild vision correction were allowed.{{sfn|Weale|2010|p=204}} Once World War II began in Europe, the physical requirements were no longer strictly enforced.{{sfn|Weale|2010|p=204}} Following the Battle of France in 1940, Hitler authorised the enlistment of "people perceived to be of related stock", as Himmler put it, to expand the ranks.{{sfn|Stein|1984|pp=150, 153}} A number of Danes, Dutch, Norwegians, Swedes, and Finns volunteered to serve in the Waffen-SS under the command of German officers.{{sfn|Koehl|2004|pp=213–214}}{{sfn|Longerich|2012|pp=500, 674}} Non-Germanic units were not considered to be part of the SS directly, which still maintained its strict racial criteria; instead they were considered to be foreign nationals serving under the command of the SS.{{sfn|Longerich|2012|p=769}}

Not all members of the SS-Germanischen Leitstelle (SS-GL) or the RHSA stressed the nationalistic tenets of the Nazi state with respect to the war and occupation but instead looked to pan-Germanic ideas that included disempowering the political elites, while at the same time, integrating Germanic elements from other nations into the Reich on the basis of racial equality.{{sfn|Wegner|2010|p=298}} One of the leaders of the SS-GL, Dr. Franz Riedweg (an SS-Colonel), unambiguously emphasized:

"We must be clear about the fact that Germanic politics can only be resolved under the SS, not by the state, not by the bulk of the party!...We cannot build Europe as a police state under the protection of bayonets, but must shape the life of Europe according to greater Germanic viewpoints."{{sfn|Wegner|2010|p=298}}{{efn|The original German reads: "Wir müssen uns darüber im klaren sein, daß die germanische Politik nur unter der SS gelöst werden kann, nicht vom Staat, nicht vom Gros der Partei!...Wir können Europa nicht als Polizeistaat aufbauen unter dem Schutz von Bajonetten, sondern müssen das Leben Europas nach großgermanischen Gesichtspunkten gestalten"{{sfn|Wegner|2010|p=298}}}}

Recruitment began in April 1940 with the creation of two regiments: Nordland (later SS Division Nordland) and Westland (later SS Division Wiking).{{sfn|Stein|1984|pp=150, 153}} As they grew in numbers, the volunteers were grouped into Legions (with the size of battalion or brigade); their members included the so-called Germanic non-Germans as well as ethnic German officers originating from the occupied territories. Against the Führer's wishes—who forbade using military units of so-called "racially inferior" persons—the SS added foreign recruits and used them to flexibly overcome manpower shortages.{{sfn|Kott|Bubnys|Kraft|2017|p=162}} Some of these foreign Waffen-SS units were employed for security purposes, among other things.{{sfn|Kott|Bubnys|Kraft|2017|p=162}}

After Germany invaded the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa, recruits from France, Spain, Belgium, the territory of occupied Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and the Balkans were signed on.{{sfn|Stein|1984|pp=172, 179}} By February 1942, Waffen-SS recruitment in south-east Europe turned into compulsory conscription for all German minorities of military age.{{sfn|Longerich|2012|pp=611, 612}} From 1942 onwards, further units of non-Germanic recruits were formed.{{sfn|Longerich|2012|pp=500, 674}} Legions were formed of men from Estonia, Latvia as well as men from Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Ukraine, Russia, and Cossacks.{{sfn|Stein|1984|pp=178–189}} By 1943 the Waffen-SS could no longer claim to be an "elite" fighting force overall. Recruitment and conscription based on "numerical over qualitative expansion" took place, with many of the "foreign" units being good for only rear-guard duty.{{sfn|Wegner|1990|pp=307, 313, 325, 327–331}}

A system of nomenclature developed to formally distinguish personnel based on their place of origin. Germanic units would have the "SS" prefix, while non-Germanic units were designated with the "Waffen" prefix to their names.{{sfn|Młynarczyk|Rein|Bolianovskyi|Romanko|2017|p=200}} The formations with volunteers of Germanic background were officially named Freiwilligen (volunteer) (Scandinavians, Dutch, and Flemish), including ethnic Germans born outside the Reich known as Volksdeutsche, and their members were from satellite countries. These were organised into independent legions and had the designation Waffen attached to their names for formal identification.{{sfn|Stein|1984|pp=xvi, xviii, 151–164, 168–178}} In addition, the German SS Division Wiking included recruits from Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia throughout its history.{{sfn|Hale|2011|p=324}} Despite manpower shortages, the Waffen-SS was still based on the racist ideology of Nazism.{{sfn|Młynarczyk|Rein|Bolianovskyi|Romanko|2017|pp=166–167}} Early in 1943, the Waffen-SS accepted 12,643 of the 53,000 recruits it garnered in western Ukraine and by 1944 the number reached as high as 22,000.{{sfn|Młynarczyk|Rein|Bolianovskyi|Romanko|2017|p=167}} Recruitment efforts in 1943 in Estonia yielded about 5,000 soldiers for the 20th Estonian SS Division.{{sfn|Plakans|2011|p=357}} In Latvia, however, the Nazis were more successful, as, by 1944, there were upwards of 100,000 soldiers serving in the Latvian Waffen-SS divisions.{{sfn|Plakans|2011|p=357}}

Before the war's end, the foreigners who served in the Waffen-SS numbered "some 500,000", including those who were pressured into service or conscripted.{{sfn|Stein|1984|p=138}} Historian Martin Gutmann adds that some of the additional forces came from "Eastern and Southeastern Europe, including Muslim soldiers from the Balkans."{{sfn|Gutmann|2017|p=31}}

File:Guards in Nurnberg Prison - DPLA - d18c097cecdee0dea8d7cad210010d56.jpg

During the Nuremberg trials, the Waffen-SS was declared a criminal organisation for its major involvement in war crimes and for being an "integral part" of the SS.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|pp=155, 156}}{{sfn|Stein|1984|p=251}} Conscripts who were not given a choice as to joining the ranks and had not committed "such crimes" were determined to be exempt from this declaration.{{sfn|Avalon Project–Yale University, Judgement: The Accused Organizations}}{{efn|A number of volunteers were executed, while others were tried and imprisoned by their countries. Still others either lived in exile or returned to their homeland.}}

Belgian collaborator Léon Degrelle escaped to Spain, despite being sentenced to death in absentia by the Belgian authorities.{{sfn|Griffiths|2005|p=144}} About 150 Baltic soldiers from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia who fought against the Soviets and escaped to Sweden were extradited to the Soviet Union in 1946.{{sfn|Buttar|2013|pp=329–330}}

The men of the XV SS Cossack Corps found themselves in Austria at the end of the war and surrendered to the British Army. Though they were given assurances that they would not be repatriated, the Cossack prisoners of war were nonetheless forcibly returned to the Soviet Union. Most along with their families were subsequently executed by the Soviet authorities for treason.{{sfn|Mueggenberg|2020|pp=264–273}}{{efn|Most of these Cossacks had left Russia before or soon after the end of the Russian Civil War or had been born abroad, and thus had never been Soviet citizens. See the following primary source document: https://web.archive.org/web/20070928204604/http://www.holycross-hermitage.com/pages/Orthodox_Life/cossacks.htm}}

After the war, members of Baltic Waffen-SS units were considered separate and distinct in purpose, ideology and activities from the German SS by the Western Allies.{{sfn|U.S. Government|1949|pp=174–177}}{{efn|Also see: Richard Rashke, Useful Enemies: America's Open-Door Policy for Nazi War Criminals, Open Road Media (2013)}} During the 1946 Nuremberg trials, Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians who were drafted into the Waffen-SS were determined not to be criminals for having been "wedged between, and subject to, the dictates of two authoritarian regimes."{{sfn|Mole|2012|p=48}}

11,000 Ukrainian members of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician) fled westwards and surrendered to British troops in Italy. 3,000 of them were repatriated to the Soviet Union, with rest remaining in prisoner-of-war camps at Rimini as displaced persons; many became British or Canadian citizens after the war.{{fact|date=November 2024}}

{{Dynamic list}}

{{Dynamic list}}

Total: 6,500 to 8,000{{sfn|McNab|2009|p=95}}

Total: 18,000 (about "evenly divided between Flemings and Walloons"){{sfn|Stein|1984|p=136}}

Total: 77{{sfn|Littlejohn|1987b|p=238}}

Total: 6,000{{sfn|Stein|1984|pp=136, 137}}

Total: 20,000 officially entered in the Waffen-SS{{sfn|Müller|2012|p=169}}{{efn|Historian Rolf-Dieter Müller points out that an additional 20,000 Estonians served in SS frontier guard regiments.{{sfn|Müller|2012|p=169}} }}

Total: 1,180{{sfn|Stein|1984|p=161}} to 3,000{{sfn|McNab|2009|p=95}}

Total: 20,000{{sfn|McNab|2009|p=95}}

Total: 4,500{{sfn|Stein|1984|p=189}}

Total: 15,000{{sfn|McNab|2009|p=95}}

Total: 80,000{{sfn|McNab|2009|p=95}}{{efn|Historian Andrejs Plakans puts this figure at 100,000.{{sfn|Plakans|2011|p=357}}}}

Total: 20,000 to 25,000{{efn|See: http://publications.niod.knaw.nl/publications/Veld_SSenNederland_01.pdf}}

Total: 6,000{{sfn|Stein|1984|pp=136–137}}

Total: 180{{sfn|Larsson|2015|p=17}}{{efn|See: Bosse Schön, "Svenskarna som stred för Hitler" ("The Swedes who fought for Hitler"), (2000) [1999], {{ISBN|978-9-1765-7208-5}}, p. 119 + 4 unnumbered pages (a photo of Christmas greetings for named men of the "Swedish" Waffen-SS unit Sveaborg in the Swedish pro-Nazi paper/magazine "Den Svenske" Swedes and Estonian-Swedish Waffen-SS volunteers fought in various SS units. Bosse Schön identifies various units. Many of them were from Norrland, Stockholm, Göteborg and had fought for Finland. A significant number of them were members of NSAP/SSS with about 60% between 17 and 25 years of age. Also see: https://www.svd.se/aventyret-lockade-svenskar-till-ss}}''

In total, approximately 1,300 Swiss volunteers joined the Waffen-SS.{{sfn|Gutmann|2017|p=20}}{{efn|Of particular note was Swiss-born SS Colonel Franz Riedweg, the de facto leader of the Germanische Leitstelle's Germanic recruits. Riedweg gave a speech in 1943, criticizing the manner in which the SS handled the escape of 7,000 Danish Jews from Nazi-held territory. He and fellow Germanic volunteers from neutral Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland were stripped of leadership roles and sent to the Eastern Front, where most perished. See: Richard Byers, "Byers on Gutmann, 'Building a Nazi Europe: The SS's Germanic Volunteers'", H-War (August 2018) at: https://networks.h-net.org/node/12840/reviews/2140807/byers-gutmann-building-nazi-europe-sss-germanic-volunteers}}

Total: 54{{sfn|Thurlow|1998|p=168}}

{{Commons category|Waffen-SS}}

• List of Waffen-SS units
• Non-Germans in the German armed forces during World War II
• Waffen-SS in popular culture
• Wehrmacht foreign volunteers and conscripts

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}

• {{cite book | last1=Afiero | first1=M. | last2=Bujeiro | first2=R. | title=Dutch Waffen-SS Legion & Brigade 1941–44 | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing | series=Men-at-Arms | year=2020 | isbn=978-1-4728-4030-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5rrLDwAAQBAJ}}
• {{cite book | last1=Afiero | first1=M. | last2=Bujeiro | first2=R. | title=Belgian Waffen-SS Legions & Brigades, 1941–1944: Wallonie, Wallonien, Flandern & Langemarck | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing | series=Men-at-Arms | year=2021 | isbn=978-1-4728-4429-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=viYfEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA2}}
• {{cite book | last1=André | first1=G. | last2=André | first2=W. | last3=Kohlbauer | first3=C. | title=OPPORTUNITY – The power of resistance: English Version | publisher=tredition | series=INSEPARABLE – The Trilogy of Adventures | year=2022 | isbn=978-3-347-58486-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S3mnEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT155}}
• {{cite web| author=Avalon Project | title=Avalon Project–Yale University | work=Judgement: The Accused Organizations| url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/judorg.asp| access-date=December 24, 2020 | ref= {{sfnRef|Avalon Project–Yale University, Judgement: The Accused Organizations}} }}
• {{cite book | last=Bender | first=R.J. | title=Uniforms, organisations and history of the Waffen SS | publisher=Scott | issue=v. 2 | year=1971 | oclc=1185009240 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a3TUzQEACAAJ}}
• {{cite book | last=Béraud | first=Y. | title=German Mountain Troops 1942–45 | publisher=Casemate Publishers | series=Casemate Illustrated | year=2021 | isbn=978-1-61200-947-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uDgxEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA54}}
• {{cite book | last1=Bernád | first1=D. | last2=Kliment | first2=C.K. | title=Magyar Warriors. Volume 1: The History of the Royal Hungarian Armed Forces 1919–1945 | publisher=Helion, Limited | issue=v. 1 | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-912174-49-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TP4sDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA295}}
• {{cite book | last1=Bougarel | first1=Xavier | last2=Korb | first2=Alexander | last3=Petke | first3=Stefan | last4=Zaugg | first4=Franziska | chapter=Muslim SS units in the Balkans and the Soviet Union | editor1=Jochen Böhler | editor2=Robert Gerwarth | title=The Waffen-SS: A European History | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2017 | isbn=978-0-19-879055-6}}
• {{cite book | last1=Brnardic | first1=V. | last2=Aralica | first2=V. | title=World War II Croatian Legionaries: Croatian Troops under Axis Command 1941–45 | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing | series=Men-at-Arms | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-4728-1769-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5dzoDAAAQBAJ}}
• {{cite journal |last=Broderick |first=George |date=2005 |title=The Breton Movement and the German Occupation 1940–44. Alan Heusaff and Bezen Perrot: A Case Study|journal=Form und Struktur in der Sprache. Festschrift für Elmar Ternes |url=http://le-grib.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/ALAN-HEUSAFF-AN%E2%80%A6EZEN-PERROT.pdf|access-date=8 May 2016}}
• {{cite book | last=Buttar | first=Prit | title=Between Giants: The Battle for the Baltics in World War II | location=London | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing | year=2013 | isbn=978-1-4728-0287-3}}
• {{cite book | last=Christie | first=S. | title=General Franco Made Me a 'terrorist': The Interesting Years Abroad of a West of Scotland 'baby-boomer' | publisher=S. Christie | series=Christie file | year=2003 | isbn=978-1-873976-19-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_JnJruPrqYQC&pg=PA205}}
• {{cite book | last=Estes | first=K. | title=A European Anabasis: Western European Volunteers in the German Army and SS, 1940–45 | publisher=Helion | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-912174-25-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pv4sDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA20}}
• {{cite book | last=Flaherty | first=T. H. | title=The Third Reich: The SS | publisher=Time-Life | year=2004 | orig-year=1988 | isbn=1-84447-073-3 }}
• {{cite book | last =Forbes | first = Robert | title = For Europe: The French Volunteers of the Waffen-SS | publisher = Stackpole Books | orig-year = 2006 | year= 2010 |isbn = 978-0-8117-3581-0 }}
• {{cite book | last=Gilbert | first=Adrian | title=Waffen-SS: Hitler's Army at War | year=2019 | place=New York | publisher=Da Capo Press | isbn=978-0-306-82465-4}}
• {{cite book | last=Griffiths | first=Richard | title=Fascism | location=London | publisher=Continuum| year=2005 | isbn= 978-0-8264-7856-6 }}
• {{cite book | last=Gutmann | first=Martin R. | title=Building a Nazi Europe: The SS's Germanic Volunteers | year=2017 | place=Cambridge and New York | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-1-107-15543-5}}
• {{cite book| last = Hale| first = Christopher| author-link = Christopher Hale| year = 2011| title = Hitler's Foreign Executioners: Europe's Dirty Secret| publisher = The History Press| url=http://www.thehistorypress.com/publication/hitlers-foreign-executioners/9780752459745/| isbn = 978-0-7524-5974-5}}
• {{cite journal | last=Hetmanchuk | first=M. P. | title=Foreign military formations of the SS – European Army of the Third Reich (1939–1945) | journal=Гілея: науковий вісник | publisher=Українська академія наук, Національний педагогічний університет імені М. П. Драгоманова | issue=1 | date=2019 | volume=141 | issn=2076-1554 | pages=38–42 | url=http://www.irbis-nbuv.gov.ua/cgi-bin/irbis_nbuv/cgiirbis_64.exe?I21DBN=LINK&P21DBN=UJRN&Z21ID=&S21REF=10&S21CNR=20&S21STN=1&S21FMT=ASP_meta&C21COM=S&2_S21P03=FILA=&2_S21STR=gileya_2019_141(1)__8}}
• {{cite book |last=Johansen |first=C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DNs2EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT362 |title=Hitler's Nordic Ally?: Finland and the Total War 1939–1945 |publisher=Pen and Sword |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-4738-5315-7}}
• {{cite book | last=Jokipii | first=Mauno | title= Hitlerin Saksa ja sen vapaaehtoisliikkeet: Waffen-SS:n suomalaispataljoona vertailtavana | year=2002 | place=Helsinki | publisher=Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura | isbn=951-746-335-9}}
• {{cite book | last1=Kott | first1=Matthew| last2=Bubnys | first2=Arūnas | last3=Kraft | first3=Ülle | chapter=The Baltic States: Auxiliaries and Waffen-SS Soldiers from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania | year=2017 | editor1=Jochen Böhler | editor2=Robert Gerwarth | title=The Waffen-SS: A European History | location=Oxford and New York | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn= 978-0-19-879055-6}}
• {{cite book | last1=Kursietis | first1=A.J. | last2=Munoz | first2=A.J. | title=The Hungarian Army and Its Military Leadership in World War II | publisher=Axis Europa Books & Magazines | series=Axis Europa Books | year=1999 | isbn=978-1-891227-28-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_BgsAQAAMAAJ}}
• {{cite book | last=Lappalainen | first=Niilo | title=Aselevon jälkeen | publisher=WSOY| year=1997|isbn=951-0-21813-8}}
• {{cite book | last =Koehl | first = Robert | title = The SS: A History 1919–45 | publisher = Tempus | location = Stroud | year = 2004 | isbn = 978-0-7524-2559-7 }}
• {{cite book | last=Larsson | first = Lars T. | title = Hitler's Swedes: A History of the Swedish Volunteers in the Waffen-SS | publisher = Helion & Company | year = 2015 | isbn=978-1-909384-11-8 }}
• {{cite book | last=Lepre | first=G. | title=Himmler's Bosnian Division: The Waffen-SS Handschar Division, 1943–1945 | publisher=Schiffer Military History | series=Schiffer military history | year=1997 | isbn=978-0-7643-0134-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rPZmAAAAMAAJ}}
• {{cite book | last=Littlejohn | first=D. | title=Foreign Legions of the Third Reich Vol. 2 | publisher=R.J. Bender Pub. | issue=v. 2 | year=1979 | isbn=978-0-912138-22-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zc7tAgAAQBAJ}}
• {{cite book | last =Littlejohn | first = David | title = Foreign Legions of the Third Reich Vol. 1 Norway, Denmark, France | publisher = Bender Publishing | year = 1987 | isbn = 978-0912138176 }}
• {{cite book |last = Littlejohn | first = David | title = Foreign Legions of the Third Reich, Vol. 2, Belgium, Great Britain, Holland, Italy and Spain | publisher=Bender Publishing | year=1987b | isbn=978-0-91213-822-0 }}
• {{cite book | last=Littlejohn | first=D. | title=Foreign Legions of the Third Reich Vol.3| publisher=R. James Bender Publishing | issue=v. 3 | year=1994 | isbn=978-0-912138-29-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=up0sAAAAYAAJ}}
• {{cite book | last =Longerich | first = Peter | author-link = Peter Longerich | year = 2012 | title = Heinrich Himmler: A Life | url = https://archive.org/details/heinrichhimmler0000long | url-access = registration | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Oxford; New York | isbn = 978-0-19-959232-6 }}
• {{cite book | last=Lloret | first=M.P. | title=Europa como refugio. Reflejos fílmicos de los exilios españoles (1939-2016) | publisher=Universitat de Barcelona, Edicions | series=Comunicación activa. Cine | year=2020 | isbn=978-84-9168-365-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F40FEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA228 | language=es}}
• {{cite book |last=Lumans |first=Valdis O. | chapter=The Ethnic Germans of the Waffen-SS in Combat: Dregs or Gems? | title=Scraping the Barrel: The Military Use of Sub-Standard Manpower | editor=Sanders Marble | pages=197–224 | date=2 July 2012 | location=New York | publisher=Fordham University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8GUWKsD4uEAC | isbn=978-0-8232-3977-1 |access-date=12 July 2024}}
• {{cite book | last=Manes | first=L. | title=Albanian units in the Second World War | publisher=Soldiershop Publishing | series=Witness to War | year=2023 | isbn=979-1-255-89047-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O8_eEAAAQBAJ&pg=PP87 }}
• {{cite book | last1=Marković | first1=D. | last2=Milovanović | first2=N.B. | last3=Rebić | first3=Đ. | title=Ratnici mira: Rat | publisher=Sloboda | series=Biblioteka Kompas | year=1979 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j_sCAAAAMAAJ | language=sr}}
• {{cite book | last1=McCroden | first1=W.T. | last2=Nutter | first2=T.E. | title=German Ground Forces of World War II: Complete Orders of Battle for Army Groups, Armies, Army Corps, and Other Commands of the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS, September 1, 1939, to May 8, 1945 | publisher=Savas Beatie | year=2019 | isbn=978-1-61121-101-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7E8IEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT6}}
• {{cite book | last =McNab | first = Chris | title = The SS: 1923–1945 | publisher = Amber Books Ltd | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-1-906626-49-5 }}
• {{cite book | last=Merriam | first=R. | title=Waffen-SS | publisher=Merriam Press | series=World War II Arsenal Series | year=1999 | isbn=978-1-57638-168-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zkzl0BieAe0C&pg=PA4 }}
• {{cite book | last=Mitcham | first=S.W. | title=German Order of Battle: Panzer, Panzer Grenadier, and Waffen SS divisions in World War II | publisher=Stackpole Books | year=2007 | isbn=978-0-8117-3438-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YlCYMciy7zQC}}
• {{cite book | last1= Młynarczyk | first1=Jacek Andrzej | last2=Rein | first2=Leonid | last3=Bolianovskyi | first3=Andrii | last4=Romanko | first4=Oleg | chapter=Eastern Europe: Belarusian Auxiliaries, Ukrainian Waffen-SS Soldiers and the Special Case of the Polish ‘Blue Police’ | year=2017 | editor1=Jochen Böhler | editor2=Robert Gerwarth | title=The Waffen-SS: A European History | location=Oxford and New York | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn= 978-0-19-879055-6}}
• {{cite book | last=Mole | first=Richard C.M. | year=2012 | title=The Baltic States from the Soviet Union to the European Union: Identity, Discourse and Power in the Post-Communist Transition of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania | publisher=Routledge | location=London and New York | isbn=978-0-415-39497-0}}
• {{cite book | last=Mueggenberg | first=Brent | title=The Cossack Struggle Against Communism, 1917–1945 | publisher=McFarland | year=2020 | isbn=978-1-4766-3802-7}}
• {{cite book | last=Müller | first=Rolf-Dieter | title=The Unknown Eastern Front: The Wehrmacht and Hitler's Foreign Soldiers | year=2012 | place=New York | publisher=I.B. Taurus | isbn=978-1-78076-072-8}}
• {{cite book | last=Muñoz | first=A.J. | title=The East Came West: Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist Volunteers in the German Armed Forces, 1941–1945 | publisher=Axis Europa Books | series=Axis Europa Books | year=2001 | isbn=978-1-891227-39-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wHPzAAAAMAAJ}}
• {{cite book | last1=Odegard | first1=W.W. | last2=Deeter | first2=R.E. | title=Foreign Volunteers of Hitler's Germany | publisher=DO Enterprises | year=1968 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2pTXbwAACAAJ}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Pajunen|first1=Jussi|last2=Karjalainen|first2=Mikko|date=2019|title=Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen SS in 1941–1943 and Related Finnish studies|journal=Finno-German Yearbook of Political Economy|volume=2|url=https://www.doria.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/176983/1.%20Pajunen-Karjalainen-FINAL.pdf|access-date=2021-10-12|archive-date=2021-10-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019024106/https://www.doria.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/176983/1.%20Pajunen-Karjalainen-FINAL.pdf|url-status=live}}
• {{cite book | last=Pencz | first=R. | title=For the Homeland: The 31st Waffen-SS Volunteer Grenadier Division in World War II | publisher=Stackpole Books | series=Stackpole military history series | year=2010 | isbn=978-0-8117-3582-7 | url=https://www.everand.com/book/313833041/For-the-Homeland-The-31st-Waffen-SS-Volunteer-Grenadier-Division-in-World-War-II | access-date=2024-01-04}}
• {{cite book | last=Plakans | first=Andrejs | title=A Concise History of the Baltic States | location=Cambridge and New York | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-521-83372-1 }}
• {{cite book | last=Radanović | first=M. | title=Kazna i zločin: snage kolaboracije u Srbiji : odgovornost za ratne zločine (1941–1944) i vojni gubici (1944–1945) | publisher=Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Regionalna kancelarija za jugoistočnu Evropu | year=2016 | isbn=978-86-88745-16-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AoUutAEACAAJ | language=hr}}
• {{cite book | last=Ramet | first=S.P. | title=The Independent State of Croatia 1941–45 | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2020 | isbn=978-1-00-015499-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=72DwDwAAQBAJ}}
• {{cite book |title=The Forgotten Axis: Germany's Partners and Foreign Volunteers in World War II |first=J. Lee |last=Ready |publisher=McFarland |year=1987 | isbn=089950275X |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JepmAAAAMAAJ}}
• {{cite book | last=Rein | first=L. | title=The Kings and the Pawns: Collaboration in Byelorussia during World War II | publisher=Berghahn Books | series=War and Genocide | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-85745-043-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JCbNmF3iXP0C&pg=PA376}}
• {{cite book | last =Reitlinger | first = Gerald | title = The SS: Alibi of a Nation, 1922–1945 | publisher = Da Capo Press | year = 1989 | isbn = 978-0-306-80351-2 }}
• {{cite book | last=van Roekel | first=E. | title=As political soldiers we face Moscow's hordes: Dutch volunteers in the Waffen-SS | publisher=Vernon Press | series=Series in World History | year=2022 | isbn=978-1-64889-334-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P2dEEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA24}}
• {{cite book | last1=Rubin | first1=B. | last2=Schwanitz | first2=W.G. | title=Nazis, Islamists, and the Making of the Modern Middle East | publisher=Yale University Press | year=2014 | isbn=978-0-300-14090-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UHe9AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA149}}
• {{cite web | last=Savin | first=Kyryl |website=Deutsche Welle |title=Coming to terms with the past (23 March 2021) | year=2021 | accessdate=30 October 2023 | url=https://akademie.dw.com/en/coming-to-terms-with-the-past/a-56958099}}
• {{cite book | last=Stahel | first=D. | title=Joining Hitler's Crusade | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2018 | isbn=978-1-316-51034-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VMk-DwAAQBAJ}}
• {{cite book | last =Stein | first = George H | title = The Waffen SS: Hitler's Elite Guard at War, 1939–1945 | url = https://archive.org/details/waffensshitlerse00stei | url-access = registration | publisher = Cornell University Press | year = 1984 | isbn = 978-0-8014-9275-4 }}
• {{cite book | last=Tessin | first=G. | title=Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939–1945: -13. Bd. Die Landstreitkräfte: Namensverbände 1-13400 | publisher=Mittler | year=1965 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4-RmAAAAMAAJ | language=de}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Tessin |first1=Georg |title=Waffen-SS und Ordnungspolizei im Kriegseinsatz 1939–1945 |last2=Kannapin |first2=Norbert |publisher=Biblio Verlag |year=2000 |location=Osnabrück |language=de|doi=10.1080/13518040701378360|s2cid=144741225}}
• {{cite book| last = Thurlow | first = Richard | title = Fascism in Britain: A History, 1918–1945 | year = 1998| publisher = I.B. Tauris | isbn = 978-1-86064-337-8 }}
• {{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2SjDCwAAQBAJ |title=Germany's Eastern Front Allies (2): Baltic Forces |last2=Jurado |first2=C.C. |last3=Pavlovic |first3=D. |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-78096-734-9 |series=Men-at-Arms}}
• {{cite book | last=Tomasevich | first=J. | title=War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: Occupation and Collaboration | publisher=Stanford University Press | series=ACLS Humanities E-Book | year=2001 | isbn=978-0-8047-7924-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fqUSGevFe5MC}}
• {{cite book | last=Tomasevich | first=J. | title=War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: Occupation and Collaboration | publisher=Stanford University Press | series=ACLS Humanities E-Book | year=2002 | isbn=978-0-8047-7924-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fqUSGevFe5MC}}
• {{cite book | author=U.S. Government | year=1949 | title=Hearings Before Subcommittee No. 4 of the Committee on the Judiciary House of Representatives, Eightieth Congress, Second Session on H.R. 1285, H.R. 4928, H.R. 5040, and H.R. 5192| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ieMjAQAAMAAJ&dq=After+the+war+Baltic+Waffen-Grenadier+Units+Allies&pg=RA4-PA175 | location=Washington D.C. | publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office | oclc=54523633}}
• {{cite book |last=Walters |first=G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zDT_ua0lGTsC&pg=PA318 |title=Hunting Evil: How the Nazi War Criminals Escaped and the Hunt to Bring Them to Justice |publisher=Bantam |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-553-81939-7}}
• {{cite book | last=Weale | first = Adrian | author-link = Adrian Weale | title = The SS: A New History | year = 2010 | publisher =Little, Brown | isbn = 978-1-4087-0304-5 }}
• {{cite book | last=Westerlund | first=Lars | title=Sotatapahtumia, internointeja ja siirto sodanjälkeisiin oloihin | publisher=Kansallisarkisto Riksarkivet | year=2010 |oclc=748681863}}
• {{cite book|last=Westerlund|first=Lars|title=The Finnish SS Volunteers and Atrocities 1941–1943|url=https://arkisto.fi/uploads/Julkaisut/sarjajulkaisut/SS-VOLUNTEERS_verkkoon.pdf|year=2019|publisher=The National Archives of Finland and Finnish Literature Society|isbn=978-951-858-111-9|access-date=2021-10-13|archive-date=2021-08-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823092207/https://arkisto.fi/uploads/Julkaisut/sarjajulkaisut/SS-VOLUNTEERS_verkkoon.pdf|url-status=live}}
• {{cite book | last=Wegner | first = Bernd | author-link = Bernd Wegner | title = The Waffen-SS: Organization, Ideology and Function | publisher = Blackwell | year = 1990 | isbn = 0-631-14073-5 }}
• {{cite book | last=Wegner | first=Bernd | title=Hitlers Politische Soldaten: Die Waffen-SS, 1933–1945| year=2010 | language=German | location=Paderborn | publisher=Ferdinand Schöningh | isbn=978-3-506-76313-6}}
• {{cite book | last=Zabecki | first=D.T. | title=World War II in Europe: An Encyclopedia | publisher=Taylor & Francis | series=Military History of the United States | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-135-81242-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mq_lCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT708}}
• {{cite book | last=Zakić | first=M. | title=Ethnic Germans and National Socialism in Yugoslavia in World War II | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2017 | isbn=978-1-107-17184-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v1xEDgAAQBAJ}}

{{refend}}

• {{cite journal |last1=Hurd |first1=Madeleine |last2=Werther |first2=Steffen |title=Retelling the Past, Inspiring the Future: Waffen-SS Commemorations and the Creation of a 'European' Far-right Counter-narrative |journal=Patterns of Prejudice |date=2016 |volume=50 |issue=4–5 |pages=420–444 |doi=10.1080/0031322X.2016.1243346|s2cid=151757461 }}
• {{cite book |last = Judah | first = Tim | title= Kosovo: War and Revenge | year= 2002 | publisher= Yale University | isbn = 978-0-300-09725-2 }}
• {{cite book| last = Tomasevich| first = Jozo| title = War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: The Chetniks | year = 1975| publisher = Stanford University| isbn = 0-8047-0857-6}}
• {{cite book | last = Weale | first = Adrian | author-link = Adrian Weale | title = Army of Evil: A History of the SS | year = 2012 | publisher = NAL Caliber (Penguin Group) | location = New York; Toronto | isbn = 978-0-451-23791-0 }}
• {{cite book |last1=Zaugg |first1=Franziska Anna |title=Rekrutierungen für die Waffen-SS in Südosteuropa : Ideen, Ideale und Realitäten einer Vielvölkerarmee |date=2021 |publisher=De Gruyter |hdl=20.500.12657/52340 |isbn=978-3-11-073077-7 |url=https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/52340 |language=German}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Gutmann |first1=Martin |title=Debunking the Myth of the Volunteers: Transnational Volunteering in the Nazi Waffen-SS Officer Corps during the Second World War |journal=Contemporary European History |date=2013 |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=585–607 |doi=10.1017/S0960777313000374 |jstor=43299406 |hdl=20.500.11850/319670 |s2cid=159564891 |issn=0960-7773|hdl-access=free }}

• [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1393224/SS-veterans-in-Britain-hold-secret-reunions.html SS veterans in Britain hold secret reunions]: The Telegraph, 5 May 2002.

{{SS organizations}}

{{Collaboration with Axis Powers}}