The 3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade () was a formation of the German

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 ...

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 May 1943 at the

SS-Truppenübungsplatz Heidelager ''SS-Truppenübungsplatz Heidelager'' was a World War II SS military complex and Nazi concentration camp in Pustków and Pustków Osiedle, Occupied Poland. The Nazi facility was built to train collaborationist military units, including the ...

near

Dębica Dębica (; ''Dembitz'') is a town in southeastern Poland with 44,692 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the capital of Dębica County. Since 1999 it has been situated in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; it had previously been in the Tarnów Voiv ...

in the

General Government The General Government (, ; ; ), formally the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (), was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia and the Soviet ...

through an expansion of the Estonian SS Legion (''Estnische SS-Legion''). Initially known as the Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade, it became the 3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade in October 1943, when all SS brigades were numbered. The brigade was elevated to a division and renamed on January 23, 1944.

Service history

In April 1943, the 1st Battalion of the Estonian Legion's sole unit, the 1st SS Volunteer Regiment, was renamed the

Narva Narva is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in the Ida-Viru County, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia border, E ...

Battalion and dispatched to the front to replace the Finnish Battalion the

SS Division Wiking The 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking () or SS Division Wiking was an infantry and later an armoured division among the thirty-eight Waffen-SS divisions of Nazi Germany. During World War II, the division served on the Eastern Front. It surrendere ...

. The Estonian Legion was then reorganised by German authorities into a brigade (''Estnische SS-Freiwilligen-Brigade'') in May 1943 to meet the increasing demand for troops. It completed its numbers through

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

of young Estonians. By December 1943, several weeks into the fighting, the brigade had the strength of 5,099 men. In October 1943, the brigade was assigned its number and allocated anti-partisan duties in northern

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. According to

Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

intelligence, it departed from the Heidelager training ground on 20–22 October 1943. At the end of October, the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

broke through the German lines after intense fighting in the nearby Nevel section of the front. Since the German command had no reserves in the area, the Estonian Brigade was transferred to the front line where it pushed the Soviet forces back 5–15 kilometers by 13 November.Jüri Remmelgas (1955) (in Estonian). ''Kolm kuuske (The Three Spruces)''. Stockholm: Kirjastus EMP. pp. 153–172. The Brigade was put under command of the

VIII Corps 8th Corps, Eighth Corps, or VIII Corps may refer to: * VIII Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VIII Army Corps (German Confederation) * VIII Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Arm ...

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 ...

. The brigade suffered severe losses fighting against numerous Red Army assaults and was eventually forced back to

Opochka Opochka () is a town and the administrative center of Opochetsky District in Pskov Oblast, Russia, located on the Velikaya River, south of Pskov, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: History It was founded in 1414. At the t ...

and transferred to the I Army Corps. It was then decided to create an Estonian Division and use the Brigade to form the cadre of the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division der SS (Estonian Number 1). The brigade was expanded to a division and renamed the 20th Estonian SS Volunteer Division on January 23, 1944. It was returned to Estonia after the general conscription call where it was reformed into the

20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) The 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) was a foreign infantry division of the Waffen-SS that served alongside the ''Wehrmacht'' during World War II. According to some sources, the division was under ''Reichsführer-SS'' Hei ...

established on May 26, 1944, when it absorbed all the other Estonian formations in the German military and some Estonian police units. The

Finnish Infantry Regiment 200 Infantry Regiment 200 (, ) or soomepoisid (''Finnish Boys'') was a unit in the Finnish army during World War II made up mostly of Estonian volunteers, who preferred to fight against the Soviet Union in the ranks of the Finnish army instead of th ...

was also assimilated.

Commander

*Obersturmbannführer

Franz Augsberger Franz Xaver Josef Maria Augsberger (10 October 1905 – 19 March 1945) was a high-ranking Austrian SS commander during World War II. He was killed in action in March 1945. Career Born in Austria in 1905, Franz Augsberger joined the ''Sturmabtei ...

(22 October 1943 – 21 January 1944)

References

{{SS organizations Generalbezirk Estland Military history of Estonia during World War II Security units of Nazi Germany established in 1943 Security units of Nazi Germany disestablished in 1944 0*03 Foreign volunteer units of the Waffen-SS