Baltic units were highly prized by German commanders for their expertise in counter-partisan warfare. Eventually, they were to be formed into three Waffen-SS divisions. When German troops were trapped in the Baltic states in 1944, the Latvian and Estonian units fought on even after Germany surrendered the following year. Many took to the woods to continue fighting as partisans against the Soviets into the 1950s.

Recruiting in Eastern Europe

According to Nazi racial classification, there were more than 2.5 million Volksdeutsche spread around Eastern Europe. Himmler quickly set about re-settling them in areas forcibly emptied of Jews and Slavs. They were also recruited in large numbers into the Waffen-SS. Early in the war they were used to provide manpower for mainstream Waffen-SS units, but in 1942 the first Volksdeutsche unit was formed. The 7th Mountain Prinz Eugen Division drew its Volksdeutsche recruits from Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia. It was predominantly engaged in counter-insurgency operations against Tito's partisans in Yugoslavia, gaining a fearsome reputation as one of the most reliable and effective units in this confused and brutal war zone. In 1944, it was reinforced with drafts from the disbanded Albanian Waffen-SS unit, the Skanderbeg Division.

The 18th Horst Wessel Panzergrenadier Division was formed from Volksdeutsche recruits in Hungary during the spring of 1944, before being sent to fight on the central sector of the Russian Front. Four divisions of Hungarians were recruited from supporters of the Arrow Cross Nazi movement in late 1944 as Soviet troops invaded the country. These units were all destroyed in the fierce fighting during the first months of 1945. Czech Volksdeutsche formed the bulk of the recruits to the Böhmen-Mahren Brigade, which was formed in April 1945.

Bach-Zelewski's legions

A luminary for Eastern European SS recruitment was Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, the senior SS and police leader in the Army Group Centre region, who recruited the first units of ex-Soviet prisoners of war into the Waffen-SS in 1943 to fight partisans in central Russia. The so-called Kaminski Brigade, commanded by the Russian Bronislav Kaminski, blazed a trail of terror throughout German-occupied Russia for almost a year, killing thousands of civilians in reprisals for partisan attacks. Eventually its commander went too far - even for the SS - during the 1944 Warsaw uprising, and was executed on Bach-Zelewski's orders.

A far more impressive unit was the 14th Galician Division, which was recruited from Catholic Ukrainians in 1943. It was almost destroyed in the Brody-Tarnow Pocket during the summer of 1944, when only 3000 out of 14,000 men managed to break out of the Soviet encirclement. It eventually fought in Hungary and Austria, where it surrendered to British troops. The intervention of the Vatican saved the remnants of the division from being handed over to the Soviets, unlike other units composed of turncoat Soviet citizens.

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