Free Corps Denmark (, ) was a unit of 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 ...

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 ...

consisting of volunteers from

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. It was established following an initiative by the

National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark The National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark (; DNSAP) was the largest Nazi Party in Denmark before and during the Second World War. History The party was founded on 16 November 1930, after the success of the Nazis in the German Reichstag ...

(DNSAP) in the immediate aftermath of the

German invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along a ...

in June 1941 and subsequently endorsed by Denmark's government which authorised officers of the

Royal Danish Army The Royal Danish Army (; ; ) is the land-based branch of the Danish Armed Forces, together with the Danish Home Guard. For the last decade, the Royal Danish Army has undergone a massive transformation of structures, equipment and training methods ...

to enlist in the unit. It participated in fighting on the Eastern Front and was disbanded in 1943. During the course of the war, approximately 6,000 Danes joined the corps, including 77 officers of the Royal Danish Army.

History

Establishment

Denmark had signed a treaty of nonaggression with Nazi Germany in 1939. Germany invoked this treaty on 9 April 1940, when it ordered the military

occupation of Denmark At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself Neutral countries in World War II, neutral, but that neutrality did not prevent Nazi Germany from Military occupation, occupying the country soon after the outbreak of ...

under the guise of protecting the Danes from British invasion. Faced with potential German aerial bombing,

King Christian X Christian X (; 26 September 1870 – 20 April 1947) was King of Denmark from 1912 until his death in 1947, and the only King of Iceland as Kristján X, holding the title as a result of the personal union between Denmark and independent Ice ...

and the Danish government accepted "protection of the Reich" and permitted the "peaceful occupation" of the country in return for nominal political independence. The Danes began a policy of collaboration that included diplomatic and economic support of Germany. The German diplomat Cécil von Renthe-Fink was accredited to the Danish King and Cabinet as

Reichsbevollmächtigter A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of a sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word can also r ...

("Imperial Plenipotentiary") and charged with the duty of supervising Danish government. At the outset of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Germany asked Denmark to form a military corps to fight with the Germans against the Soviets. On 29 June 1941, seven days after the invasion had begun, the Danish Nazi Party newspaper ''Fædrelandet'' ("The Fatherland") proclaimed the creation of the Free Corps Denmark. Danish Foreign Minister

Erik Scavenius Erik Julius Christian Scavenius (; 13 July 1877 – 29 November 1962) was the Danish foreign minister from 1909 to 1910, 1913 to 1920 and 1940 to 1943, and prime minister from 1942 to 1943, during the occupation of Denmark until the Danish elect ...

entered into an agreement with the Reichsbevollmächtigter that officers and soldiers of the

wishing to join this corps would be granted leave and allowed to retain their rank. The Danish Cabinet issued an announcement stating that "Lieut. Colonel

Christian Peder Kryssing Christian Peder Kryssing (July 7, 1891 – July 7, 1976), commonly known as C.P. Kryssing, was a Danish collaborator with Nazi Germany during World War II. An artillery officer and an ardent anti-communist, he commanded the Free Corps Denmark fro ...

, Chief of the 5th Artillery Regiment, Holbæk, has with the consent of the Royal Danish Government assumed command over Free Corps Denmark." Free Corps Denmark was one of "four national legions" established by the

in 1941. The original number of accepted recruits in 1941 was 1,164 men. The role of the Danish government in the formation of the Free Corps Denmark is today disputed. Some authorities maintain that the Corps was unique among the legions of foreign volunteers fighting for Hitler in that it carried the official sanction of its home government. Others maintain that while the Danish government may have sanctioned formation of the Corps, it did not itself form the Corps.

Operations

With about 1,000 recruits, the corps was sent to Langenhorn barracks in Hamburg for basic training in late July 1941. It was considered ready for action by 15 September and sent to

Owińska Owińska is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Czerwonak, within Poznań County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. It lies approximately north of Czerwonak and north of the regional capital Poznań. Owińska ...

in Poland. Commander Kryssing was dismissed in February 1942 for insufficient ideological adherence to Nazism. He was transferred to the artillery where he ended his career as a general.

Christian Frederik von Schalburg Christian Frederik von Schalburg (15 April 1906 – 2 June 1942) was a Danish army officer, the second commander of Free Corps Denmark and brother of Vera Schalburg. Biography Christian Frederik von Schalburg received a military education in the ...

replaced Kryssing as the leader of Frikorps Danmark; von Schalburg was a Danish-Russian aristocrat,

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

, and member of the DNSAP who had been raised in Russia and had seen the aftermath of the Russian revolution in 1917. On 8 May 1942, the corps was ordered to the front line where it engaged in fighting near

Demyansk Demyansk () is an urban locality (a work settlement) and the administrative center of Demyansky District of Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located along the Yavon River. Municipally, it is incorporated as Demyanskoye Urban Settlement, the only urba ...

, south of

Lake Ilmen Lake Ilmen (, ) is a large lake in Novgorod Oblast, Russia. A historically important lake, it formed a vital part of the medieval trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. The city of Veliky Novgorod, which is a major trade center of the ro ...

and

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...

. Schalburg was killed during the night of 2 June. His German replacement, Hans Albert von Lettow-Vorbeck, was killed only a few days later. On 11 July, the Danish officer

Knud Børge Martinsen Knud Børge Martinsen (30 November 1905 – 25 June 1949) was a Denmark, Danish Officer (armed forces), officer and the third commander of Frikorps Danmark. Biography Knud Børge Martinsen was born in Næstved Municipality, Sandved in 1905, ...

took command of the corps. The corps returned to Denmark from August to October 1942 and met with much hostility from the civilian population. On 13 November, the corps was redeployed to

Jelgava Jelgava () is a state city in central Latvia. It is located about southwest of Riga. It is the largest town in the Semigallia region of Latvia. Jelgava was the capital of the united Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1578–1795) and was the ad ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. Originally intended for anti-

partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

activities, the corps was then moved up to the front line. In December, the corps engaged in intense fighting at the

Battle of Velikiye Luki The Battle of Velikiye Luki, also named Velikiye Luki offensive operation (), started with the attack by the forces of the Red Army's Kalinin Front against the Wehrmacht's 3rd Panzer Army during the Winter Campaign of 1942–1943 with the o ...

alongside Germany's

1st SS Infantry Brigade The 1st SS Infantry Brigade () was a unit of the German Waffen SS formed from former concentration camp guards for service in the Soviet Union behind the main front line during the Second World War. They conducted Nazi security warfare in the re ...

. The Free Corps was withdrawn from the front line in April 1943 and sent to the Bavarian town of

Grafenwöhr Grafenwöhr (, Northern Bavarian: ''Groafawehr'') is a town in the district of Neustadt an der Waldnaab, in the region of the Upper Palatinate () in eastern Bavaria, Germany. It is widely known for the United States Army military installation an ...

, near

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

. It was formally disbanded on 6 May 1943. It was reformed as SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 24 "Denmark" (''SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 24 "Danmark"'') and integrated into the recently formed

11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland The 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland () was a Waffen-SS division primarily raised with Germans and ethnic Germans from Romania, but also foreign volunteers from Western Europe. It saw action, as part of Army Group North, in ...

. Returning to Denmark in February 1943, Martinsen established the

Schalburg Corps The Germanic SS () was the collective name given to paramilitary and political organisations established in parts of German-occupied Europe between 1939 and 1945 under the auspices of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). The units were modeled on the ''A ...

, a paramilitary formation affiliated to the Germanic SS which carried out violent attacks and murders on perceived political dissenters in Denmark. It drew particularly on former soldiers who had served in the Eastern Front and its creation weakened the DNSAP.

Demography

It is estimated that approximately 6,000 Danes served in the Free Corps Denmark. A 1998 study showed that the average recruit to Free Corps Denmark was a member of the Danish Nazi party and/or a member of the

German minority in Denmark Approximately 15,000 people in Denmark belong to an autochthonous ethnic German minority traditionally referred to as ''hjemmetyskere'', meaning "Home Germans" in Danish, and as ''Nordschleswiger'' in German. They are Danish citizens and most ...

, and that recruitment was very broad socially. Danish historian

Bo Lidegaard Bo Lidegaard (born 23 January 1958 in Godthåb) is a Danish historian, public intellectual, and former responsible editor-in-chief for ''Politiken''. Bo Lidegaard worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1984-2005), was Ministerial Counselor an ...

notes: "The relationship between the population and the corps was freezing cold, and legionnaires on leave time and again came into fights with civilians meeting the corps' volunteers with massive contempt." Lidegaard gives the following figures for 1941: 6,000 Danish citizens had signed up and were approved for German army duty and 1,500 of these belonged to the German minority in Denmark. Half of the over 12,000 Danes that initially volunteered for active service were regarded as being not suitable for active service.

Commanders

List of Commanders:

References

Bibliography

Claus Bundgård Christensen Claus Bundgård Christensen (born 1968) is a Danish historian and associate professor at Roskilde University known for his books related to collaboration and crime in Denmark during and following World War II. In 1998, he, and historians Niels B ...

, Niels Bo Poulsen & Peter Scharff Smith, ''Under Hagekors og Dannebrog - Danskere i Waffen SS 1940-45'', Aschehoug, 1998. (In Danish with English summary). ISBN . * * *