Battle of Korsun–Cherkassy: Casualties and losses

Luftwaffe Field Division troops

Fallen SS-Panzergrenadiers

The Soviets greatly outnumbered the German forces but failed to cut off their retreat when the Wiking spearheaded the last desperate breakout of Korsun-Cherkassy on February 16 1944. Soviet sources tally losses of 80,188 casualties for the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts, with 24,286 killed and missing, and 55,902 wounded. These losses were incurred over the period of 24 January – 17 February 1944 during both the encirclements and the breakout attempts. German accounts state that the 60.000 men originally inside the cauldron had shrunk in heavy fighting to less than 50,000 by February 16 1944, that 45,000 took part in the breakout and that 35,000 got through, with a total of 19,000 dead, captured or missing. Only a handful survived Russian captivity. Russian Colonel general Ivan Konev, commander of 2nd Ukrainian Front, openly boasted of his killing of thousands of German POWs, during and after the Battle of Korsun–Cherkassy: The cavalry finally finished them off. 'We let the Cossacks cut up as long as they wished. They even hacked off the hands of those who raised them to surrender' he recounted. Konev was one of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin's favorite generals. He was made a Marshal of the Soviet Union in February 1944. Wehrmacht General Wilhelm Stemmermann died fighting among his rear guard. The later SS-Obergruppenführer Herbert Otto Gille of the Wiking and the later SS-Standartenführer Léon Degrelle of the Wallonien both survived World War II. As the survivors from the Pocket streamed into Lysianka they were met by the welcoming arms of their comrades from the 1.Panzer-Division and the Leibstandarte SS. However, there was no immediate rest as they were sent plodding on farther westwards in their sodden uniforms, which were rapidly freezing to their starved bodies. Left image: the crews of the Luftwaffe's overworked transport fleet landed their Junker Ju-52 planes onto improvised airfields to bring in supplies and ferry out the injured. In the 19 days of the battle they would fly in almost 868 tons of ammunition and 82,949 gallons of fuel, while flying out 4,161 wounded soldiers. Commons: Bundesarchiv. Right image: Russian USSR photo showing dead Waffen-SS soldiers, possibly staged photo shoot for Soviet propaganda purposes. Most of the best-known Soviet images from the war were used as propaganda, to glorify the victories of the Red Army. Often they were staged. PD.

ϟϟ-Oberscharführer der Waffen-SS Olsson (Kamenets-Podolsky pocket)

Sven-Erik Olsson as SS-Unterscharführer

Tigers after the outbreak from Hube's Pocket

Sven-Erik Olsson was born in Pärnu in Estonia and belonged to the Swedish ethnic minority, the so-called Coastal Swedes. He volunteered for the SS as early as in November 1939, the first Swedish citizen to do so. He experienced his first battles in September 1940 in the Battle of the Netherlands. Olsson fought on the Eastern front at Tarnopol in Galizien in March 1944 when Generaloberst Hans-Valentin Hube's 1.Panzer Army was to break out from the Kamenets-Podolsky toward Tarnopol, where relief forces led by SS-Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser's II.SS-Panzerkorps were to meet them. The Kamenets-Podolsky Pocket, also known as Hube's Pocket, is still studied in military academies today as an example of how to avoid annihilation when forces are trapped in a pocket. Sven-Erik Olsson was promoted to SS-Oberscharführer in May 1944 and served as a personal signaler for SS-Gruppenführer Heinz Harmel, Commander of 10.SS-Panzer-Division Frundsberg. He took part in the fighting in Normandy where he was injured during the German breakout from the Falaise pocket in August 1944 but soon returned to his unit. He continued fighting in Pommerania, Stettin-Altdamm, Stargard and Raum Cottbus before ending the war at Komotau where he destroyed his SPW after an attempt to reach Dresden failed. According to Division Commander Heinz Harmel, Sven-Erik Olsson was awarded the German Cross in Gold on April 20 1945 while serving as commander of an communications tank of the Frundsberg division. At the time Olsson handled the communications for the divisional HQ which enabled the division to escape total destruction by the Soviets and eventually break out of the Spremberg pocket. He was taken prisoner by the Americans and relocated to Sweden in 1947. Sven-Erik Olsson died aged 62 on March 7 1985 of a heart attack during a skiing vacation in Arosa in Switzerland. Awards among others: German Cross in Gold, Iron Cross First and Second Class, Close Combat Clasp in Bronze and Infantry Assault Badge in Silver. Credit: the authors Patrick Agte and Richard Landwehr. Left image: the Swedish SS Volunteer Sven-Erik Olsson. Public domain. Right image: Panzer VI 'Tigers after the successful break-out from Hube's moving Pocket. The photo is taken in the area of Tarnopol in Galizien on April 22 1944 by PK-Kriegsberichter Valtingojer. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

5.ϟϟ-Panzerdivision „Wiking“ transferred out of Ukraine

Wikinger after the break-out from the Korsun–Cherkasy pocket

Pz.Kpfw. Panther n°823 of 5.SS-Pz.Div. Wiking

5.SS-Freiwilligen-Sturmbrigade Wallonien

After the 5.SS-Panzer-Division Wiking had escaped the Cherkassy pocket, its remaining forces were transferred out of Ukraine and assembled in Poland. On March 13 1944, the hopes of home leave after three years at the front were shattered. The entry on that date in the log read: Leave only for the Germanic volunteers and the wounded. Everything thus pointed toward commitment of the depleted division. According to the author Rupert Butler, only 632 Walloons survived out of the original 2,000 that began the siege of Korsun-Cherkassy under the command of Wiking. Their Belgian commander, SS-Hauptsturmführer Léon Degrelle returned to Brussels with the survivors to receive the largest mass welcome in Belgian history. Thousands of Belgians lined the streets and boulevards of the capital to cheer the returning volunteers of SS-Sturmbrigade Wallonien. On March 16 1944 the Soviets brought Wiking back into the battle again, although in the process of regrouping, the Wiking was sent to assist in the defence of Kovel in Eastern Poland. New weapons, above all heavy weapons, vehicles and manpower replacements had not yet arrived. SS-Gruppenführer Herbert Otto Gille led his men towards Kowel and began setting up a defensive perimeter, which was soon encircled by the Soviet Red Army. SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment Germania's transport train were fired on by the Soviets and the train halted. Germania immedeiately attacked the enemy forces in order to reopen the rail line and enable the transport to continue. In the meantime, the transport train of Westland also closed up. On March 29 1944 the 4.Panzer-Armee was pressing for speed and ordered an immediate attack with the forces available at the time. The first unit to arrive Kowel was Wiking's SS-Panzer-Regiment 5. Top image: Knight's Cross winner and Wiking veteran SS-Hauptsturmführer Hans Drexel pose in front of a captured Soviet 76.2mm ZIS-3 gun after the break-out from Korsun-Cherkassy. He had participated in the invasion of Poland and been involved in the campaign in the East since day one. Hans Drexel died aged 42 on April 12 1962 in Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg. Photo by SS-Kriegsberichter Alois Jarolim on March 9 1944. c. Bundesarchive. Middle image: Wiking Panther n°823 covers the progression of the panzergrenadiers in April 1944. c. Bundesarchive. Bottom image: Belgian SS-Hauptsturmführer Léon Degrelle with Leibstandarte SS commader Sepp Dietrich at a celebration parade held in Charleroi in Wallonia on April 1 1944 to mark the return of the Walloon volunteers after their break-out of the Soviet encirclement at Cherkassy in February of that year. Librairie Grandchamps-Fafouille. Fair use.

3.ϟϟ-Panzerdivision „Totenkopf“ after the Cherkassy debacle

Men of 3.SS-Panzer-Division Totenkopf and Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 228

Officers of Panzergrenadier-Division Großdeutschland

After the relief attempts towards Cherkassy were 3.SS-Panzer-Division Totenkopf and the 1.Panzer-Division attacked towards the city of Korsun, attempting to secure a crossing across the Gniloy-Tilkich river, the division fell back behind the Southern Bug River. Totenkopf immediately began taking up new defensive positions west of Ivanovka in the second week of March 1944. After another two weeks of fierce fighting in the forward defense lines, alongside Panzergrenadier-Division Großdeutschland, the Axis lines again fell back, withdrawing to the Dniester on the Romanian border near Iași. Top image: an SS-Untersturmführer of the Totenkopf and men of the Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 228 at rest next to a Soviet T-34 wreck in Bessarabia in April 1944. The Totenkopf men all wearing Platanenmuster camouflage smocks. Other pictures from the same occasion, shows the unidentified SS-Untersturmführer reading a telegram with an Heer Oberleutnant of the StuG.Brigade 228. Wehrmacht soldiers regarded the Waffen-SS men as thoroughly reliable comrades. Respect born of shared frontline experiences. Photo by KB Vorpahl. Credit: Karl Mensburg. Commons: Bundesarchiv. Bottom image: Oberleutnant Dr. Bold of the Großdeutschland during the Battles of Târgu Frumos in Romania in April 1944. Note the cuff titles and the shoulder strap monogram. Visible behind Dr. Bold is the division's tactical sign: a white Stalhelm in outline. Photo by KB Theodor Scheerer. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

3.ϟϟ-Panzerdivision „Totenkopf“ and Second Battle of Târgu Frumos

Panzergrenadier-Division Großdeutschland

Totenkopf Reconnaissance Battalion

Leichter Panzerspähwagen of the Totenkopf

In the first week of April 1944, the 3.SS-Panzer-Division Totenkopf received replacements and new equipment, including Panther tanks. In the second week of April 1944, Totenkopf took part in fighting against a heavy Soviet Army attacks towards Second Battle of Târgu Frumos were elements of the division, together with elements of the elite Panzergrenadier-Division Großdeutschland, managed to halt an armoured assault by the Red Army. The assault was carried out by approximately 500 tanks. The German-Romanian forces successfully defended against the local limited objective attacks throughout the month of April 1944. The Soviet attack in May 2 1944 aiming at Târgu Frumos was the initial attempt by the Red Army to achieve its goal and testing the Axis defenses in Romania. The battle of Târgu Frumos has been used as a case study in officer tactical education in the United States Army and other armies, teaching how a mobile defense can defeat an armoured spearhead. Top image: MG 42 machine gun team of the Großdeutschland. The Großdeutschland Division fought alongside the Leibstandarte SS, Das Reich and Totenkopf on the eastern front between 1941 and 1944. By April 25 1945, the division ceased to exist, having been completely destroyed in the battles around former East Prussian Pillau. Many died of starvation, disease or exhaustion in Soviet labor camps. Photo by Kriegsberichter Pfeiffer. Credit: Matthias Ruf. Commons: Bundesarchiv. Bottom images: SS-Panzergrenadiers of a Totenkopf armoured reconnaissance battalion with their Leichter Panzerspähwagen, a light four-wheel drive armoured car. These soldiers have never been positively identified. The photographs were taken before the Battles of Târgu Frumos. Source: collection of David Williams. Fair use.

The Roman Catholic Church and Vatican's Refugee Commission

Postwar Köln – Der Kölner Dom 1945

Destroyed German Panther in front of the Kölner Dom, March 1945

The Roman Catholic Church and Vatican is credited with helping, networking and organising the escape of thousands of Waffen-SS men in post-war Europe. In Rome, pro-Nazi Austrian bishop, Alois Hudal, was linked to the Nazi-smuggling networks. According to various sources, the Vatican, through its Refugee Commission, provided members of both the Waffen-SS and infamous war criminals of the Allgemeine-SS with false identity papers. These escape routes mainly led toward havens in Francisco Franco's Spain, South America or United States. According to Assistant Professor of History Gerald Steinacher, other so-called ratlines were running through Scandinavia and West-Europe. Research shows that Britain and Canada alone inadvertently took in around 8,000 former Waffen-SS members in 1947. The U.S. also recruited many Waffen-SS veterans, often with an assist from high Vatican officials. The Vatican's help was based on a hoped-for revival of European Christianity and dread of the Soviet Union. The Vatican has consistently refused to comment and has kept its archive closed to the public. Top image: the ancient Catholic Cathedral of Cologne still stands tall amidst ruins caused by massive Allied air raids in 1945. The Kölner Dom is a renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture. Credit: Marina Amaral. Bottom image: the knocked out Panther tank of the Panzer-Brigade 106 Feldherrnhalle, famed from the so-called 'Shootout at Cologne Cathedral' or 'Tank duel at Cologne Cathedral'. The defender of the Cologne Cathedral himself, Panzer Commander Oberleutnant d.R Wilhelm Bartelborth managed to escape the burning tank in the bombed-out city on March 6 1945 and lived until the age of 93. U.S. Army Signal Corps. Both photos in the PD.

The occupation of the Baltic states refers to the military occupation of the three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by the Soviet Union in 1940 followed by their forcible illegal incorporation into the Soviet Republics. The foreign Waffen-SS volunteers rushed to join the defense of Estonia and Western Latvia in 1944.

Swedish SS Commander in Pz AAII Nordland interviewed in Narva

Estonian 20.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS

After having been conquered by the Danes, the Livonian Knights, the Teutonic Knights of Germany, the Poles, the Swedes and the Russians, the Baltic States declared themselves independent republics in 1918. In August 1940, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania was illegally annexed by the Soviet Union as Soviet Socialist Republics. State administrators were liquidated and replaced by Soviet cadres. The repressions followed with mass deportations carried out by the Soviets. Many of the country's political and intellectual leaders were killed or deported to remote areas of the USSR by the Soviet authorities in 1940-1941. Repressive actions were also taken against thousands of ordinary people. When the German Operation Barbarossa started against the Soviet Union, tens of thousands of Estonians and Balts were forcibly drafted into the Red Army. Political prisoners who could not be evacuated were murdered by the NKVD. The German Wehrmacht were perceived by most Baltic nationals as liberators from the USSR and its repression, and hopes were raised for the restoration of independence. The initial enthusiasm that accompanied the liberation from Soviet occupation quickly waned as the Baltics became part of the German-occupied Reichskommissariat Ostland. After World War II mass deportations were concluded in the Baltic countries by the Soviet Union and the policy of encouraging Soviet immigration to the Baltic states continued and soon the ethnic Baltic population had fallen to 62-68 percent. More than 10 percent of the entire adult Baltic population was deported or sent to Soviet labor camps. Half of the deported perished, the other half were not allowed to return until the early 1960s. Credit: Wikipedia inter alia. Top image: the Swede SS-Untersturmführer Hans-Gösta Pehrsson being interviewed in early 1944 by a Norwegian SS-Kriegsberichter in Mummasaare in Estonia, known as Bunkerstrasse. The summer of 1944 saw the battle of the European Waffen-SS on the Narva Front. Here, nationals from among others Denmark, Estonia, Flanders, Germany, Holland, Norway, Sweden and Wallonia shared the trenches and fought shoulder-to-shoulder to throw the Soviets back off Orphanage Hill and Grenadier Hill. National Archives of Norway. Fair use. Bottom image: Estonian SS-Grenadier of the 20.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS at the Estonian frontier in 1944. Credit: Julius Backman. Erik Rundkvist Archives. Fair use.

III.(germanisches) ϟϟ-Panzerkorps and other Foreign SS Formations

Waffen-SS Commander Felix Steiner

European SS Volunteers with 7,5 cm Panzerabwehrkanone 40

After the encirclement was broken at the front near Leningrad, the 11.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland, along with the rest of III (Germanic) SS-Panzerkorps, fought it's way back to the city of Narva in Estonia where a new line of defence was being organised. The SS corps was subordinated to the German 18.Armee under Generaloberst Georg Lindemann. The former Wiking commander SS-Obergruppenführer Felix Steiner's SS-Panzerkorps, principally made up of Scandinavians and Dutch, comprising the Nordland and the 4.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Brigade Nederland, played a leading role during the Battle of Narva and the Battle of Tannenberg Line. Operating within the same sector (Sinimäe/Blue Hills) were the 15. and 19.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS, both Latvian volunteer divisions, the Estonian 20.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS, the Flemish volunteers of 6.SS-Freiwilligen-Sturmbrigade Langemark and SS-Standartenführer Leon Degrelle's Walloons in the 5.SS-Freiwilligen-Sturmbrigade Wallonien. Left image: a formal studio portrait of Felix Steiner, commanding general of III. (germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps, and holder of the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves and Swords. Photo probably taken during the award of the Swords on August 10 1944. The Heinrich Hoffmann Photo Archive. Fair use. Right image: Waffen-SS volunteers with 75mm Pak-40 anti-tank gun. Credit: Karl Mensburg. c. Bundesarchiv.

Battle of the European ϟϟ (Battle for Narva Bridgehead)

Waffen-SS sentry of the III. (germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps

Danish SS tanker of SS-Pz.Abt.11 Hermann von Salza

Several Western scholars refer the Battle of Narva to as the Battle of the European SS because the majority of the defenders were European Waffen-SS volunteers. The battle took place between February 2 and August 10 1944. Joining the Scandinavian and Dutch 11.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland were formations from all over Europe. SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Felix Steiner's III. (germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps consisted of 24 volunteer battalions from Denmark, East Prussia, Flanders, Holland, Norway and Wallonia as well as the local Estonian conscripts motivated to resist the looming Soviet re-occupation. The Soviet operation were exhausted by the SS-Panzerkorps in ferocious battles. The first Soviet Narva Offensive, the Battle for Narva Bridgehead, was halted on February 20 1944. Altogether, the defenders of the Narva River line amounted to 50,000 men. Against them, the Soviets threw 200,000 men of Marshall Leonid A. Govorov's Leningrad Front. But the Waffen-SS corps held, and the stand of the Narva SS troops holding off eleven divisions and six tank units of the Soviet Second Shock and Eighth Armies received great publicity in war propaganda. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was personally interested in taking Estonia, viewing it as a precondition of forcing Finland out of the war. Left image: an unidentified SS volunteer of the III. Germanic SS Panzer Corps during the Battle for Narva Bridgehead in February 1944. Commons: Bundesarchiv. Right image: the Dane SS-Sturmmann Kurt Tebring inside a Panther commanded by SS-Oberscharführer Philipp Wild during the Battle of Narva in 1944. Tebring served as a tank driver in the SS-Panzer-Abteilung 11 Hermann von Salza of the Nordland Division. The National Library of Denmark. Fair use.

20.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der ϟϟ

Eesti relvagrenaderide SS-diviis

20.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS

Estnische Nr. 1

Although many Estonians and Balts were recruited into the German Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS the majority did so only in 1944 when the threat of a new invasion by the Soviet Red Army had become imminent. According to the author Romuald J. Misiunas at least 70,000 Estonians joined the German armed forces. Many Estonian volunteers distinguished themselves fighting as part of the Nordic-recruited SS-Division Wiking and four Estonians received the Knight's Cross during the war. The Estonian 20.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS was officially activated on January 24 1944. Many of its soldiers had been members of the Estonian Legion, as part of the Waffen-SS, and the Estnische SS-Freiwilligen-Brigade, which had been fighting as part of German forces since August 1942 and October 1943 respectively. Seeing the Third Reich as the salvation of an independent Baltic, these sons of Estonia joined the ideological crusade against Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's communists regime. On February 8 1944, the division was attached to III. (germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps. After some brutal fighting against the Soviets in early 1944, these Estonians managed to force the Bolsheviks back to the east bank of the Narva River. Historian Rolf-Dieter Müller states that 30,000 volunteered in addition to those conscripted, and another source states that the division received 15,000 volunteers, which was enough for it to reach full strength. By August 1944 some 10,400 were killed or missing. In September 1944, the remaining troops were evacuated from Estonia to Neuhammer in Niederschlesien and in February 1945 the division was relocated to central Europe. After the German surrender on May 7 1945 the remnants of the division attempted to break out to the west in order to surrender to the western Allies. Czech communist partisans had them surrounded and demanded that they surrendered their arms, which the Estonians did. The Czechs resumed their hostilities on their Estonian war prisoners regardless of their intentions, the partisans tortured and humiliated them in masse. The number of Estonians murdered has been estimated as 500−1000, but the actual number is unknown. Some of the volunteers who had reached the western allies were handed back to the Soviets. Credit: Wikipedia i.a. Images: young Estonians of the 20.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS recieve food packages from locals in 1944. They are wearing the distinctive SS Eichenlaubmuster camouflage parkas designed to be reversible, providing camouflage for two seasons. Credit: Za Rodinu. Public domain.

Soviet Repression and Estonian Forest Brothers

Soviet Ilyushin Il-2 assault bombers over the Baltics

20.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS

Former SS-Schütze Ülo Altermann of the Estonian Forest Brothers

The Red Air Force conducted an air raid, leveling the historic town of Narva on March 6 1944. Soviet air assaults against civilians in Estonian towns were a part of the offensive, aimed at forcing the Estonians away from supporting the German side. Nevertheless, the European Waffen-SS volunteers succeeded in holding the western bank of the Narva River throughout the spring of 1944. Hundreds of thousands Baltic nationals took refuge from the Soviet army by fleeing to Germany and Sweden. For the next fifty years the people of Estonia would pay for their complicity with the Reich, a debt paid by their inclusion in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. As Stalinist repression intensified over the following years, Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian partisans, known colloquially as the Forest Brothers, waged unsuccessful guerrilla warfare against the Soviet invasion and occupation of the three Baltic states during, and after, World War II in a bid to regain their nations' independence (1944-1953). Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's authorization of a full withdrawal from Estonia in mid-September 1944 allowed any soldiers of his Estonian forces, who wished to stay and defend their homes to do so. Many Estonian Waffen-SS men evaded capture and fought as Forest Brothers in the countryside for years after the war. Captured freedom fighters often faced torture and summary execution while their relatives faced deportation to Russian Siberia. Top image: Soviet Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircrafts, also called Sturmovik, of the 6th Assault Aviation Corps in flight over the Baltics in 1944. Credit: Olga Shirnina. USSR photo. Fair use. Middle image: Estonian SS volunteers getting ready to be sent to the northern parts of the Eastern Front to fight off the Soviets in 1944. PD. Bottom image: Estonian Forest Brothers cleaning their German guns in Järva County in Estonia in 1953. At front is the SS-veteran and leader of the squad Ülo Altermann 1923-1954 and behind him is Erich Aleksander Teor 1924-1954, Voldemar Juga/Johanson 1928-1953 and Elmar Martins 1929-1954. By the late 1940s and early 1950s the Forest Brothers were provided with supplies, liaison officers and logistical coordination by the British MI6, American and Swedish secret intelligence services. Credit: Julius Backman Jääskeläinen. Fair use.

Foreign Waffen-SS Troops Formed up to Resist the Soviets in Berlin

Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and adjutant Julius Schaub at the Reichskanzlei, March 1945

Schadpanzer or Pantherturm in Berlin, May 1945

Königstiger n°101 of s.SS-Pz.Abt.503 at the Potsdamer Platz, May 1945

Unknown SS-Ustuf. lay dead at Friedrichstraße in central Berlin, May 1945

The Battle of Berlin is well known not only for being a fierce and bitter battle, but because a great number of its last defenders were not German, but were foreign volunteers particularly from Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. An extraordinary very close comradeship had grown up among the Waffen-SS foreign volunteers defending Berlin in the final battle of World War II in Europe. Author Theodor Hartmann writes in the conclusion of the book Waffen-SS: Its Divisional Insignia: By 1945, the Waffen-SS had proved by its combat success that European people could exist together, but as long as they recognized and accepted the national differences between one another. It had been in the Waffen-SS that, for the first time, Dutch had been commanded by Germans and Germans by Belgians. It was this idealism, dearly bought on the roads of Russia and later in its slave labor camps, that created an outstanding spirit of comradeship and combatant ability among all members, regardless of nationality or rank. On April 16 1945, the multinational 11.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland was ordered into the line east of Berlin. During this time, a 300 man unit of French Waffen-SS volunteers of 33.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS Charlemagne and a company of Spanish SS men of Spanische-Freiwilligen Kompanie der SS 101 under command of Hauptsturmführer der SS Miguel Ezquerra (1903-1984) were attached to the division. The Nordland was involved in constant combat all along it's front, pushing the division back into the city itself. By April 22 1945, it had been pushed back to the Tiergarten in the centre of Berlin. The remains of Nordland's SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 23 Norge and 24 Danmark, found themselves defending the bridges across the Spree. After a spirited but futile defense, the remnants of Nordland were pushed back into the Government District. Meanwhile, the main Soviet assault was towards the Treptow Park area, where the rest of the few remaining Panzers of SS-Panzer-Abteilung 11 Hermann von Salza were defending. SS-Obersturmbannführer Paul-Albert Kausch led the few Panzers and armoured vehicles in a counter attack and succeeded in halting the enemy advance, at the cost of his last vehicles. By April 26 1945, the defenders of the government district had been pushed back into the Reichstag itself, and were causing heavy casualties to the advancing Soviets. Top image: allegedly the last photo taken of Adolf Hitler. It shows him and chief aide and adjutant SS-Obergruppenführer Julius Schaub inspecting bomb damage to the Reich Chancellery dining room on March 20 1945. Credit: Facundo Filipe. Second image: a Panther – one of several that were dug into the ground in Berlin to be used as a desperate defensive weapon in 1945. These were tanks deemed too badly damaged to be repaired to running order. They were stripped of running gear and engines and were dug in at key junctions where they could cover multiple streets. Third image: a Tiger II known under the informal name Königstiger belonging to schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 503 near the Columbushaus at Potsdamer Platz. On April 28 1945 this Tiger n°101 attached to the Nordland and commanded by SS-Oberscharführer Karl-Heinz Turk were ordered to stage an attack from the Potsdamer Bahnhof. They became engaged in a day-long melee with Soviet T-34-85 and IS-2 tanks. On the morning of April 30 1945 Turk's tank was hit on the right front corner. The immobile Kingtiger was abandoned in the evening on May 1 1945 after running out of ammunition. All photos in the Public domain.

The Backbone – Maschinengewehr 42

Sd.Kfz. 250 of SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 11 Nordland

MG-42 Gunner of SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 49 De Ruyter

The Maschinengewehr 42, commonly abbreviated MG 42, was designed in Nazi Germany and used extensively by the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS during the second half of World War II. It has a proven record of reliability, durability, simplicity, and ease of operation, but is most notable for being able to produce a stunning volume of suppressive fire. The MG 42 has one of the highest average rates of fire of any single-barreled man-portable machine gun, between 1,200 and 1,500 rpm, resulting in a distinctive muzzle report. The quality of design and workmanship meant long and extremely precise manufacturing processes, and eventually five factories were doing nothing but turn out MG 34s/MG 42s as hard as they could. This, the finest general-purpose machine-gun ever produced, is still in service with the German Bundeswehr in only slightly modified form as the 7.62 mm MG 3. Top image: photo taken in the north outskirts of Narva in early 1944. According to various sources, the photo is showing the Dutch SS-Untersturmführer Hermann van der Walle of Panzergruppe Saalbach armed with a MG 42 mounted on a Sd.Kfz. 251 half-track. Van der Walle was promoted to the rank of SS-Obersturmführer on January 30 1945. Commons: Bundesarchiv. Bottom image: MG 42 gunner of the Dutch 23.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nederland during the Battle of Narva Bridgehead 1944. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

Battle of Narva: Casualties and losses

Hoheren Panzerführer Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz in Narva

III. (germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps in Narva

Battle-fatigued Waffen-SS troops in a trench line

German casualties during the Battle of Narva, including a number of West-European volunteers and local Estonian conscripts, is estimated at 14,000 dead or missing and 54,000 wounded. As the Soviet forces were constantly reinforced, the casualties of the battle were 150,000 – 200,000 wounded and dead Soviet troops. Soviet losses in the offensive at Estonia are estimated to 480,000 overall casualties (the number of Soviet casualties can only be estimated indirectly). According to the German War Graves Association, 35,000 German soldiers were killed on Estonian territory, and a further 10,000 or so prisoners of war subsequently died in forced-labour camps. A large number of graves are unmarked or were obliterated by the Soviet regime. The bitterly-fought battles waged on Estonian territory are today remembered by many partly restored military cemeteries. Credit: Estonica. Top image: Prussian SS-Brigadeführer und General der SS and Oberst d. R. Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz in conversation with a Wehrmacht Oberleutnant while commanding a battle group on the Narva front in early 1944. Der Panzergraf Strachwitz was known for his daring raids behind Soviet lines and led panzer forces in fierce counterattacks to eliminate the expansive Soviet bridgehead over the Narva River at Krivasso. He was wounded 13 times during the war and was one of only 27 recipients of the Knight's Cross with oakleaves, swords and diamonds. Generalleutnant d. R. Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz died aged 74 on April 25 1968 in Bayern, where he was buried with full military honours in Grabenstätt. Photo by Kriegsberichter Ütrecht. Commons: Bundesarchiv. Middle image: a Waffen-SS man, possible a Dutch volunteer, observing the Soviet-Estonian front line from the west side of the Narva river. The bridge in picture is the Bunse-Brücke, named after SS-Sturmbannführer Fritz Bunse, commander of SS-Panzer-Pionier-Bataillon 11 of the SS-Division Nordland. The photo is taken by the former Wiking war correspondent SS-Kriegsberichter Hans Truöl who covered the Nordland division from early 1944. U.S. National Archives. Bottom image: according to some accounts, battle-fatigued Waffen-SS men pictured in an advanced trench during the ferocious battles of Narva in 1944. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

ϟϟ-Panzer-Abteilung 11 „Hermann von Salza“

Norwegian tankers of SS.Pz.Abt.11 Hermann von Salza

Panther S25 of SS.Pz.Abt.11 Hermann von Salza

The left photo shows the Norwegian volunteers SS-Untersturmführer Per Kjølner and SS-Untersturmführer Thomas Hvistendahl in Narva in 1944. They both served in 11.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland's SS-Panzer-Abteilung 11 Hermann von Salza. Per Kjølner first served with SS-Infanterie-Regiment Germania of the SS-Division Wiking. After graduating from SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz in 1943, he became platoon leader in Hermann von Salza and received the Iron Cross First Class and the Close Combat Clasp in Bronze for his actions in Narva. After World War II, Per Kjølner was tried by Olso Byrett and sentenced to five years in prison for treason. He later took over as director of the family company in Norway. Per Kjølner is born in 1921 and is still alive in 2012. FU. Right image: Panther S25 from the Herman von Salza taking on ammunition in Narva in 1944. Seen in this photo is the both Das Reich veterans the Austrian SS-Hauptsturmführer Rudolf Rott, wearing a black Panzerjacke, and to his right the Swede, SS-Untersturmführer Per-Sigurd Baecklund. Rudolf Rott won the German Cross in Gold on December 18 1944 and the Knight's Cross on February 28 1945, 18 days after his death in Pomerania. Per-Sigurd Baecklund, former adjutant of the Swedish SS-Obersturmführer Sven Rydén, graduated from SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz in 1944. He earned the Iron Cross First Class the same year and became Ordonnansoffizier in SS-Feldersatz-Bataillon 11 of the Nordland in January 1945. He surrendered to the Americans near Ludwigsburg on May 2 1945 but managed to escape and make his way back to Sweden. Per-Sigurd Baecklund died aged 71 in Malmö in Sweden on April 19 1987. Photo taken by SS-Kriegsberichter Hans Truöl. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

ϟϟ-Untersturmführer d. R. und Kriegsberichter der Waffen-SS Kreuger

SS-Standartenoberjunker Hans-Caspar Kreuger in the bombed-out Narva

Original SS-Kriegsberichter Cuff Title

This photo shows the Swedish linguist SS-Standartenoberjunker of the SS-Kriegsberichter-Zug 11 and later SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers war correspondent Hans-Caspar Kreuger with his driver in Narva after the Soviet bombing raid of March 1944. Kreuger's Pan-European articles and writings frequently appeared in the Scandinavian press and was widely published in newspapers throughout Europe. He is reported to have been fluent in six languages (Swedish, German, English, French, Spanish and Russian). Kreuger volunteered in the Russo-Finnish Winter War and enlisted with the Waffen-SS in July 1941, where he is said to have become a Tapferkeitsoffizier. He is known to have served with the Allgemeine SS during 1941-42. Following training at the SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz in 1943-44, Kreuger served with SS-Panzer-Regiment 5 of the multinational 5.SS-Panzer-Division Wiking in Ukraine. The Swede participated in the breakout of Korsun-Cherkassy after denying orders to leave with the last plane out of the pocket. Following the bloody breakout in Feb. 1944, he joined SS-KB-Zug 11 of the 11.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland in the Narva bridgehead. He was promoted to SS-Untersturmführer on June 21 1944. Kreuger had a large unit file stamped “Geheim” (86 pages of documents) in the SS-Kriegsberichter Abteilung. There is a very detailed investigation for homosexuality against him while he was assigned to the Nordland division. Allegations of misconduct behavior during a Kameradschaftsabend is often a common thread in disciplinary actions against Waffen-SS officers. Kreuger was finally acquitted. According to various sources, he ended the war serving with the newly formed French SS-Sturmbataillon Charlemagne during the Battle for Berlin in April 1945. Kreuger survived the war and with the help of a U.S. Army Captain he was able to leave captivity. He immigrated to Argentina in 1948 with some other Scandinavian Waffen-SS comrades. Kreuger works as a military instructor with the Argentine Army before he opens the travel agency Via Nord at Suipacha 156 in Buenos Aires with main focus on helping former SS men escape from Europe. It's on the same street as the Swedish Embassy. After 1953, he operated the agency as a partnership with the Leibstandarte SS veteran Thorolf Hillblad, another Swedish Nazi. Kreuger later returned frequently to Europe to attend Waffen-SS veteran's reunions. The son of a landlord and veteran of some of the most savage fighting on the eastern front, Hans-Caspar Kreuger died aged 74 on Nov. 15 1977 in a car accident at an railroad crossing in Buenos Aires under unclear circumstances. Credit: Feldgrau inter alia. Photo courtesy of Joakim Munter. Bottom image: the SS-Kriegsberichter cufftitle was worn by individual correspondents assigned to a Waffen-SS unit, as opposed to correspondents who served in the actual SS War Correspondents unit Kurt Eggers. The cufftitle was first introduced with Gothic script but was soon altered to the Latin style.

ϟϟ-Untersturmführer der Waffen-SS Pehrsson

Hans-Gösta Pehrsson as SS-Untersturmführer

Original SS-Division Nordland Cuff Title 

The Swede SS-Untersturmführer Hans-Gösta Pehrsson became Commander of the so called Schwedenzug of SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 11 of the 11.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division Nordland during the battles in the Baltics. He was promoted to SS-Obersturmführer on June 21 1944 and led his company through the retreat from the Courland to Stettin (Pomerania) and on to Berlin. One of his fellow soldiers remembered Hans-Gösta Pehrsson this way: The place was called Trekni. Pehrsson received an order for the 3rd company directly from SS-Brigadeführer Joachim Ziegler: Attack! Conquer one strategically important point and keep it until the last men are alive!' After the attack, once we had driven the enemies away from the upland and occupied their bunkers, only a few men from Pehrsson's company had remained. It was terrible bloodshed, one-on-one. The Russians knew what was at stake and tried to use all possible means to reconquer the upland. For four days we tried to stay strong and beat off the enemy's attacks. On the fifth day we had to retreat. Pehrsson's command point was about 100 meters behind the bunker line. I'll never forget the moment he saw us. He yelled: Cowards, go back!, and then he led his MG to attack and we followed him. We surprised the Russians, who were certain of their win, with 12 men. Russians had not seen it coming and we managed to capture more than 100 Russians [October 16-19 1944]. Pehrsson was promoted to SS-Hauptsturmführer on April 15 1945 and became deputy commander and Ic (intelligence section) of Nordlands HQ's staff. He was captured by the Soviets during the final Battle of Berlin, but managed to escape and returned back to Sweden in the summer of 1945. Waffen-SS commander Hans-Gösta Pehrsson ended the war having been awarded a row of decorations; the Iron Cross First Class, Close Combat Clasp in Silver, Wound Badge in Silver, Panzer Assault Badge in Silver, Infantry Assault Badge and the rare Honour Roll Clasp of the Army. Top image: Hans-Gösta Pehrsson as SS-Untersturmführer of Panzergruppe Saalbach on the Estonian front in the spring of 1944. National Archives of Norway.