The Special Group Bergmann or the Bergmann Battalion (german: Sonderverband Bergmann) was a military unit of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Abwehr during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, composed of five German-officered companies of the

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

volunteers.

History

Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-695-0425-39, Warschauer Aufstand, Soldaten in Kampfpause

The Bergmann battalion was formed of the émigrés and

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

POWs from the Caucasian republics at Neuhammer in October 1941. Subordinated to the German

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battalion Bau-Lehr-Bataillons z.b.V. 800 and placed under the command of Oberleutnant Theodor Oberländer, the unit received training at Neuhammer and

Mittenwald Mittenwald is a German municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria. Geography Mittenwald is located approximately 16 kilometres to the south-east of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It is situated in the Valley of the River Isar, ...

. Later a special 130-men-strong

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

contingent of Abwehr codenamed "Tamara-II" was incorporated into Bergmann. By March 1942, there were five companies of some 300 Germans and 900 Caucasians: #Georgian and German cadre personnel # North Caucasians # Azerbaijanis #Georgians and

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, '' hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diasp ...

#Staff company, composed of 130 Georgian émigrés In August 1942, Bergmann went to the Eastern Front, where it saw its first action in the North Caucasus campaign in August 1942. The unit engaged in anti-partisan actions in the

Mozdok Mozdok (russian: Моздо́к; os, Мæздæг, ''Mæzdæg''; Kabardian: Мэздэгу) is a town and the administrative center of Mozdoksky District of North Ossetia – Alania, Russia, located on the left shore of the Terek River, n ...

- Nalchik-

Mineralnye Vody Mineralnye Vody (Min-Vody) ( rus, Минеральные Воды (Мин-Воды), p=mʲɪnʲɪˈralʲnɨjə ˈvodɨ, mʲɪn ˈvodɨ; lit. ''mineral waters'') is a town in Stavropol Krai, Russia, located along the Kuma River and the main rail li ...

area and conducted reconnaissance and subversion in the

Grozny Grozny ( rus, Грозный, p=ˈgroznɨj; ce, Соьлжа-ГӀала, translit=Sölƶa-Ġala), also spelled Groznyy, is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2010 census, it had a po ...

area. At the end of 1942, Bergmann conducted a successful sortie through the Soviet lines, bringing with them some 300

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

defectors, and covered the German retreat from the Caucasus. Bergmann went through a series of hard-fought engagements with the Soviet partisans and regular forces in the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

in February 1943. After the formation of separate battalions, several of these were dispatched to Greece. The Azeri II. Battalion covered the retreat from Russia and was deployed to Warsaw after the onset of the

Uprising Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

1944 to fight with the Dirlewanger unit. There and in subsequent engagements with the Red Army, it suffered heavy casualties, and surviving soldiers of II./Bergmann, together with Azeri from another Wehrmacht unit (I./111), formed the III. Battalion of the new Grenadier-Regiment 1607 (27 March 1945). They saw the end of the war at the West coast of Denmark. Cauc dagger

The Bergmann group used as insignia a traditional Caucasian dagger ( kinzhal) with curving blade, worn on the left side of the cap. Made of yellow metal, it was 7 cm long.

References

{{Reflist Abwehr Foreign volunteer units of Nazi Germany Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic Military units and formations of the Soviet–German War History of the Caucasus under the Soviet Union

History

See also

References