Ostlegionen

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.

Soldiers of the Turkestan Legion in France, circa 1943.
Members of the North Caucasian Legion in France in 1943.

Background

Some members of the Ostlegionen units were conscripted or coerced into serving; others volunteered. Many were former Soviet personnel, recruited from prisoner of war camps. Osttruppen were frequently stationed away from front lines and used for coastal defence or rear-area activities, such as security operations, thus freeing up regular German forces for front-line service. They belonged to two distinct types of units:

  • Ost-Bataillone were composed of various nationalities, raised mostly amongst prisoners of war (POW) captured in Eastern Europe, who had been formed into battalion-sized units, which were integrated individually into German combat formations, and;
  • Ostlegionen were larger foreign legion-type units raised amongst members of a specific ethnic minority or minorities, and comprising multiple battalions.

Members of Osteinheiten usually faced execution or harsh terms of imprisonment, if they were captured by Soviet forces or repatriated to the USSR by the western Allies.

Ost-Bataillone
Russian soldiers performing a traditional dance, 1944.

Ost-Bataillone wore German uniforms and equipment and were integrated into larger German formations. They began as the private initiatives of individual military commanders. Most were utilized on the Eastern Front and in the Balkans.

In 1944, a number of Ost-Bataillone were stationed in northern France, in anticipation of an Allied invasion of Western Europe. Units that fought in Normandy against Allied Operation Overlord were part of the German 243rd and 709th Static Infantry Divisions, positioned in the vicinity of the Utah, Juno and Sword invasion beaches.[2] Ost-Bataillone were also present in southern France, during the Allied landings codenamed Operation Dragoon (August 1944).

Name of unitSize and composition
Ost-Bataillon 664Composed of volunteers from Ingria. Also known as Finnische Sicherheitsgruppe 187 (Finnish Security Group 187).[3]
Wolgatatarische-BatailloneComposed of Volga-Tatar and Volga-Finn volunteers.

List of Eastern Battalions
№ Name Formation Location of formation Disbandment Notes Source
658 181st Estonian Security Battalion August 1941 Northern Russia June 1944 It became the (Estonian) 658th Eastern Battalion on 23 October 1942. [4]
659 182nd Estonian Security Battalion August 1941 Northern Russia June 1944 It became the (Estonian) 659th Eastern Battalion on 23 October 1942. [4]
661 183rd Estonian Security Battalion 20 August 1941 Northern Russia November 1944 It became the (Russian) 661st Eastern Battalion on 23 October 1942. It was moved to southern France in November 1943. On April 19, 1944, it became the IV Battalion of the 239th Reserve Grenadier Regiment. [4]
660 184th Estonian Security Battalion August 1941 Northern Russia June 1944 It became the (Estonian) 660th Eastern Battalion on 23 October 1942. [4]
662 185th Estonian Security Battalion September 1941 Northern Russia It became the (Russian) 662nd Eastern Battalion on 23 October 1942. It was moved to Denmark in December 1943. On April 30, 1944, it became the III (Russian) Battalion of the 712th Grenadier Regiment. It re-became the 662nd (Russian) Eastern Battalion in September 1944. In April 1945, it became the 1605th (Russian) Grenadier Regiment and was stationed in Denmark. [4]
134 134th Hetman Battalion 1942 Central Russia 27 November 1943 The unit became the 134th Volunteer Security Battalion in 1942. On 18 November 1942, it was renamed the 134th Eastern Battalion and was still located in central Russia. [4]
602 Dnieper Eastern Combat Battalion 29 April 1942 Central Russia It became the 602nd Dnieper Eastern Battalion on 23 October 1942. It was moved to northern France on 5 November 1943. It was destroyed in western France on 17 August 1944. [4]
601 Berezina Eastern Combat Battalion 1 June 1942 Central Russia It became the 601st Berezina Eastern Battalion on 23 October 1942. It became the 601st Eastern Engineer Bridging Battalion in May 1943 while in southern France. Renamed the 601st Russian Engineer Bridging Battalion on 13 July 1944. It was transferred to the 600th Russian Infantry Division in Western Germany in October 1944. [4]
551 6th Ukrainian Battalion 17 June 1942 Southern Russia It became the 551st Eastern Battalion on 30 November 1942. Renamed the 651st Eastern Supply Battalion on 1 February 1944. In 1945, it became the 651st Ukrainian Supply Battalion while in western Germany. [4]
406 6th Volunteer Battalion June 1942 Central Russia It became the 406th Eastern Battalion on 1 November 1942. It was moved to southern France on 28 September 1943. It was renamed the 406th Russian Battalion on 6 July 1944. It was in Northern Italy in September 1944. [4]
308 23rd Volunteer Battalion June 1942 Central Russia It became the 308th Eastern Battalion on 8 November 1942. It was renamed the 308th Russian Battalion while in German-occupied Poland in late 1944. It was transferred to the 600th Russian Infantry Division in western Germany in February 1945. [4]
429 39th Volunteer Battalion June 1942 Central Russia October 1944 It became the 439th Eastern Battalion on 8 November 1942. It was sent to Northern France in October 1943. On 19 April 1944, it was made the IV (Eastern) Battalion of the 726th Grenadier Regiment. It was in eastern France in August 1944. [4]
446 46th Volunteer Battalion June 1942 Central Russia May 1944 It became the 446th Eastern Battalion on 8 November 1942. It was reformed on 15 January 1943. [4]
618 People's Militia Battalion Trutschevsk 21 June 1942 Central Russia It was also known as the People's Defence Battalion Trutschevsk. On 18 November 1942, it was renamed the 618th Eastern Battalion. It was in Belarus in October 1943, but was moved to northern France in November that same year. The unit was reformed as a motorized battalion on 19 April 1944. It was transferred to the 600th Russian Infantry Division in western Germany in November 1944. [4]

Osttruppen

Name of unitSize and composition
Russian Liberation Army
Known as the "Vlasov Army"; a corps-sized formation composed mostly of Soviet citizens under the command of the former Soviet general Andrey Vlasov.
1st SS Cossack Cavalry DivisionCavalry division made up of Cossack volunteers; transferred in 1945 from the Wehrmacht to the Waffen-SS.
Georgian Legion12 battalions, consisting of ethnic Georgians.
Armenian LegionEleven battalions consisting of ethnic Armenians.
Azerbaijani LegionInitially, Azerbaijanis were included into Kaukasisch-Mohammedanische Legion until 1942 when a separate legion composed of only Azerbaijanis was formed.
Caucasian-Mohammedan LegionComposed of Circassians, Daghestanis, Chechens, Ingushes, and Lezghins.
North Caucasian and Mountain-Caucasian legionsConsisted of Abkhazians, Circassians, Kabardians, Balkars, Karachais, Chechens, Ingushes, Daghestanis, Kurds, Talyshis, and North Ossetians, separated from the Caucasian-Mohammedan Legion in accordance with the order of 19 February 1942.
Turkestan LegionEight battalions, composed of Turkmens, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Tajiks and other Central Asian nationalities; saw action as the 162nd Turkestan Division, in Yugoslavia and Italy.
Idel Ural LegionComposed of volunteers from Idel-Ural peoples including Tatars, Bashkirs, Chuvashes, Udmurts, and Mordvins.
Freiwilligen-Stamm-Division (Regular Volunteer Division)Established in 1944, it consisted of Turkic, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Tatar, Cossack, Armenian and other Soviet volunteers, spread over five regiments. Involved in anti-partisan operations against the French Resistance. Known for the Dortan massacre in July 1944. [5][6][7]

See also

References
  1. Grasmeder, Elizabeth M.F. "Leaning on Legionnaires: Why Modern States Recruit Foreign Soldiers". International Security. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  2. Ambrose, Stephen (1997). D-Day, June 6, 1944: the Battle for the Normandy Beaches. London: Simon & Schuster. p. 34. ISBN 0-7434-4974-6.
  3. Sotapäiväkirjat paljastavat hirvittävät julmuudet: Suomen riveissä taistellut inkeriläispataljoona ampui säälimättä siviilejä. Boris Salomon. Iltalehti.
  4. Nigel 2015, p. 9.
  5. Thomas (2000), p. 11.
  6. Lieb (2007), pp. 61–62, 119, 310, 338.
  7. Kedward (1993), p. 280.

Bibliography
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