23rd SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division Nederland
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The Volunteer Legion Netherlands () was a collaborationist military formation recruited in the German-occupied Netherlands during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. It was formed in the aftermath of the German invasion of the Soviet Union and fought on the Eastern Front in the
Waffen SS The (; ) was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both German-occupied Europe and unoccupied lands. ...
alongside similar formations from other parts of German-occupied Western Europe. It was the largest Dutch SS unit. The Volunteer Legion was renamed the 4th SS Panzer Grenadier Brigade Netherlands in October 1943. It was officially re-designated as a division in February 1945 but never grew to larger than a brigade.


Background

When the Germans invaded in May 1940, several political parties in the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
sympathized with the
authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...
and anti-democratic ideals of
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
. The most important was the
National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands The National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands (, ; NSB) was a Dutch fascist and later Nazi political organisation that eventually became a political party. As a parliamentary party participating in legislative elections, the NSB had some suc ...
(''Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging in Nederland'', NSB), led by Anton Mussert, founded in 1931 on the example of the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
in Germany. It initially gained limited interest from the Dutch lower-middle class but never gained widespread support. It polled only three percent in 1939. After the
invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
in 1939,
Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...
, head of the SS, sought to expand the
Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...
with "Germanic" volunteers from other countries. The enrollment began in April 1940 with the creation of two regiments: the Waffen-SS Regiment Nordland (for Danish, Norwegian and Swedish volunteers), and the Waffen-SS Regiment Westland (for Dutch and Flemish volunteers). Recruitment in the Netherlands was given an air of respectability by the support of Dutch General Staff officer Lieutenant-General Hendrik Seyffardt. By April 1941, volunteers began arriving in
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
. By July 1941, the Dutch were organized into SS Volunteer Unit Niederlande. The formation was the size of a reinforced infantry battalion, with five motorized companies. The unit was again redesignated, this time as SS Volunteer Legion Niederlande under General Seyffardt. In November 1941, the legion was ordered to the front near Leningrad, under the overall command of
Army Group North Rear Area Army Group North Rear Area (''Rückwärtiges Heeresgebiet Nord'') was one of the three Army Group Rear Area Command (Wehrmacht), Army Group Rear Area Commands, established during the 1941 German Operation Barbarossa, invasion of the Soviet Union. I ...
.


Northern Russia and Yugoslavia

The Legion arrived at the
Volkhov River The Volkhov ( ; ; ) is a river in Novgorodsky District, Novgorodsky and Chudovsky Districts of Novgorod Oblast and Kirishsky District, Kirishsky and Volkhovsky Districts of Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia. The Volkhov River, Volkhov, whi ...
in mid-January 1942 and was engaged in rear-security activities. In late June, it was transferred north in support of units at the
Siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad was a Siege, military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the city of Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg) in the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 1941 t ...
. The unit was then to take part in an offensive Operation Nordlicht, which was ultimately called off to deal with the Soviet Sinyavino Offensive. The Legion was then moved south near
Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake located entirely in Europe, the second largest lake in Russia after Lake ...
. At the end of 1942, it was merged with the 2nd SS Infantry Brigade. In January 1943, Dutch troops were heavily involved in defending against Soviet attempts to lift the siege at Leningrad. One 19-year old Dutch gun crew leader, Gerardus Mooyman, destroyed 23 Russian tanks with his Pak 40 in about a month of fighting. He became the first foreigner to be awarded Knight’s Cross. Gilbert pp. 194. On 6 February, General Seyffardt, while campaigning for new recruits in Amsterdam, was assassinated by the
Dutch resistance The Dutch resistance () to the History of the Netherlands (1939–1945), German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II can be mainly characterized as non-violent. The primary organizers were the Communist Party of the Netherlands, C ...
. In April 1943, the unit was sent to Germany to be reformed as the SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Nederland. The brigade was to consist of two
Panzergrenadier (), abbreviated as ''PzG'' (WWII) or ''PzGren'' (modern), meaning ''Armoured fighting vehicle, "Armour"-ed fighting vehicle "Grenadier"'', is the German language, German term for the military doctrine of mechanized infantry units in armoured fo ...
regiments under the command of SS-Oberführer Jürgen Wagner. In September 1943, the Brigade was sent to the
Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...
(
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
) to join SS-Obergruppenführer Felix Steiner's
III SS Panzer Corps The III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps (''III. (germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps'') was a ''Waffen-SS'' armoured corps which saw action on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front during World War II. The ''(Germanische)'' (lit. Germanic) part of i ...
currently forming in the area. Upon its arrival, the Brigade received 1,500 Dutch recruits, drawn from the SS Division Wiking. During its time there, elements of the brigade were engaged in rear-security operations. During this period, the brigade was redesignated 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Nederland. At this time, its strength stood at 9,342 men.


Retreat

On 25 December 1943, the brigade was transferred, along with Steiner's SS Corps, to Oranienbaum, Russia in
Army Group North Army Group North () was the name of three separate army groups of the Wehrmacht during World War II. Its rear area operations were organized by the Army Group North Rear Area. The first Army Group North was deployed during the invasion of Pol ...
's sector. The corps was deployed to the area near Oranienbaum as part of the 18th Army. The Soviet
Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha Offensive The Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha offensive, also known as Operation January Thunder and Neva-2, was a campaign between the Soviet Leningrad Front and the German 18th Army fought for the western approaches of Leningrad in 14–30 January 1944. Backg ...
cut through the weak infantry units formed out of the 9th and 10th Luftwaffe Field Divisions. The unit, alongside the SS Division Nordland, soon retreated to avoid encirclement by General Leonid A. Govorov's
Leningrad Front The Leningrad Front () was formed during the 1941 German approach on Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front on August 27, 1941. History The Leningrad Front was immediately ...
. In the face of the Soviet Kingisepp–Gdov Offensive, the unit retreated to the
Narva River The Narva, formerly also Narwa or Narova, flows north into the Baltic Sea and is the largest Estonian river by discharge. A similar length of land far to the south, together with it and a much longer intermediate lake, Lake Peipus, all togeth ...
in
Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
, where it took part in the Battle of Narva deployed on the Ivangorod bridgehead. The launch of
Operation Bagration Operation Bagration () was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (), a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern ...
on 22 June threatened the German positions. On 23 July, Steiner ordered a withdrawal to the Tannenberg Line. The unit was destroyed from the air on 24 July, with only a few personnel reaching the Tannenberg Line a week later. The regiment was ordered to be reformed at Schlochau. In September,
Leon Degrelle Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...
's battle group from SS Brigade Wallonien was placed under the command of Nederland. The unit arrived in the area near Gumi-Wolmar in mid-October. The Soviet forces cut off Army Group North in the Courland area, creating the
Courland Pocket The Courland Pocket was a Pocket (military), pocket located on the Courland Peninsula in Latvia on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 9 October 1944 to 10 May 1945. Army Group North of the ''Wehrmacht'' were ...
. During the unit's presence in Courland, Wagner ordered the reprisal executions of an unknown number of civilians. On 26 January 1945, the brigade received orders to evacuate the pocket by sea and report to the Swinemünde-
Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...
area to participate in the defence of the
Oder The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through wes ...
line. The brigade arrived in German territory on 4 February.


End of war and aftermath

On 10 February, the brigade was redesignated 23rd SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nederland, with a strength of 1,000 men. The new division was attached to Steiner's Eleventh SS Panzer Army, defending the Northern Oder region. The Nederland took part in the abortive Operation Sonnenwende, and the battles near Altdamm in February 1945. In April 1945, the division was split into two battle groups. The Soviet offensive of 16 April had broken the German lines by 25 April, cutting the lines of communication between the two units. One of the battle groups broke out to the west, surrendering to the
US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
. The other battle group was pushed south by the Soviet offensive, into the area around Halbe. The remnants of the unit were absorbed into ''Kampfgruppe Vieweger'' of the 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian). The unit was destroyed in the Halbe pocket. After the war, the unit personnel were tried in the Netherlands, with several death sentences handed down. Wagner was extradited to Yugoslavia in 1947 to stand trial for
war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...
. Found guilty before the Yugoslav military tribunal, he was sentenced to death and executed on 27 June 1947.


Commanders

* SS-''Sturmbannführer'' Herbert Garthe (? November 1941 – ? February 1942) * SS-''Oberführer'' Otto Reich (? February 1942 – 1 April 1942) * SS-''Obersturmbannführer'' Arved Theuermann (1 April 1942 – ?) * SS-''Standartenführer'' Josef Fitzthum (? – ?) * SS-''Brigadeführer'' Jürgen Wagner (20 April 1944 – 1 May 1945)


See also

*
List of Waffen-SS units This is an incomplete list of ''Waffen-SS'' units. ''Waffen-SS'' armies ''Waffen-SS'' corps * I SS Panzer Corps * II SS Panzer Corps * III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps * IV SS Panzer Corps (formerly VII SS Panzer Corps) * V SS Mountain Corps * VI ...
* Ranks and insignia of the Waffen-SS * Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts


References


Footnotes


Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:23rd Ss Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division Nederland #23 Dutch collaborators with Nazi Germany Dutch war criminals Foreign volunteer units of the Waffen-SS Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Military units and formations established in 1941 Panzergrenadier divisions of the Waffen-SS War crimes of the Waffen-SS