SS Foreign Divisions & Volunteers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, 1941–1945

SS Foreign Divisions & Volunteers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, 1941–1945 PDF Author: Ian Baxter
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 1399012991
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
Drawing on a superb collection of rare and unpublished photographs SS Foreign Divisions & Volunteers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia 1942 - 1945 describes how the occupying Nazis recruited Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian conscripts into the Waffen-SS. Unlike her Latvian neighbor, Lithuania had no plans to provide Germany with a National Legion. Although volunteers came forward, the majority did not. This was not the case for Latvia and Estonia, which undertook huge recruitment programs, and thousands of men were drafted into their own foreign legion of Waffen-SS Grenadier divisions. After intensive training, these divisions saw action on the Eastern front, around Leningrad, in the Ukraine, before vicious defensive operations as the Red Army smashed its way through the Baltic States in 1944. Even in the last dying weeks of the war, what was left of the Baltic soldiers of the 15th, 19th, and 20th Waffen-SS Grenadier Divisions, continued to fight alongside their Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS counterparts until they were either destroyed or surrendered. The story of these divisions is graphically told with detailed captions and text together with many contemporary images in true Images of War style.

SS Foreign Divisions & Volunteers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, 1941–1945

SS Foreign Divisions & Volunteers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, 1941–1945 PDF Author: Ian Baxter
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 1399012991
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
Drawing on a superb collection of rare and unpublished photographs SS Foreign Divisions & Volunteers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia 1942 - 1945 describes how the occupying Nazis recruited Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian conscripts into the Waffen-SS. Unlike her Latvian neighbor, Lithuania had no plans to provide Germany with a National Legion. Although volunteers came forward, the majority did not. This was not the case for Latvia and Estonia, which undertook huge recruitment programs, and thousands of men were drafted into their own foreign legion of Waffen-SS Grenadier divisions. After intensive training, these divisions saw action on the Eastern front, around Leningrad, in the Ukraine, before vicious defensive operations as the Red Army smashed its way through the Baltic States in 1944. Even in the last dying weeks of the war, what was left of the Baltic soldiers of the 15th, 19th, and 20th Waffen-SS Grenadier Divisions, continued to fight alongside their Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS counterparts until they were either destroyed or surrendered. The story of these divisions is graphically told with detailed captions and text together with many contemporary images in true Images of War style.

Joining Hitler's Crusade

Joining Hitler's Crusade PDF Author: David Stahel
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316510344
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 457

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Book Description
A ground-breaking study that looks at why European nations sent troops to take part in Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union.

SS Polizei at War, 1940–1945

SS Polizei at War, 1940–1945 PDF Author: Ian Baxter
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473890993
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
Formed in 1939 SS-Polizei Division were not considered initially as an SS fighting force, and this status was reflected in the quality of the equipment they were issued. Following operations in France, Greece and then Russia, it was not until 1942 the division was transferred to the Waffen-SS, and eventually upgraded to a Panzergrenadier division, the 4th SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier Division.The book describes how the SS-Polizei Division fought across the Low Countries, the Eastern Front, before deploying to the Balkans and Greece where it committed numerous atrocities. During the last days of the War it was assigned to Army Detachment Steiner defending Berlin where many soldiers fought to the death.This book is a unique glimpse into one of the most infamous fighting machines in World War Two and a great addition to any reader interested Waffen-SS history.

SS Hitler's Foreign Divisions

SS Hitler's Foreign Divisions PDF Author: Chris Bishop
Publisher: Amber Books Ltd
ISBN: 1908273992
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
The Waffen-SS were the elite of Hitler’s armies in World War II, but the most fanatical were not even German. This is a comprehensive examination of every foreign Waffen-SS formation, including infamous divisions such as Wiking and Prinz Eugen, units such as the Kaminski Brigade and the British-recruited Britisches Freikorps.

Hitler's Foreign Divisions

Hitler's Foreign Divisions PDF Author: Chris Bishop
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
The divisions of the Waffen-SS were the elite of Hitler's armies in World War II, but some of the most fanatical of these were not even German. SS: Hitler's Foreign Divisions is an in-depth examination of the approximately 350,000 foreign volunteers from German-occupied countries who opted to fight for the Third Reich as members of the Waffen-SS. The book explores the background to their recruitment and describes-on a unit-by-unit basis-their history, structure, and combat record in the war. Despite their non-Germanic background, the Norwegians, Dutch, Danes, Belgians, Latvians, Estonians, Cossacks, Ukrainians, and other nationalities-often motivated by an extreme anti-Communist zeal- fought hard on the Eastern Front for the Nazi cause, even when their position was hopeless. Often treated badly by their German commanders, the foreign SS units were not all excellent combat formations, however. some, like the British and Indian volunteers, were used for propaganda purposes only, while others, like the notorious Dirlewanger Brigade, who helped brutally suppress the Warsaw Rising, were nothing more than murderous criminals in uniform. Other divisions-such as the Russian-recruited 30th Waffen- Grenadier Division der SS, formed in the final months of the war-never reached a functional strength, and were disbanded before they saw action. Illustrated with rare photographs and written by an acknowledged expert, SS: Hitler's Foreign Divisions is a definitive history of the foreign SS units who fought for Hitler and Germany in World War II.

Soviet Nationalities in German Wartime Strategy, 1941-1945

Soviet Nationalities in German Wartime Strategy, 1941-1945 PDF Author: Alex Alexiev
Publisher: RAND Corporation
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 56

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Book Description
This study examines the determinants and character of German policies toward the Soviet non-Russian nationalities and their effects on the Soviet and German war efforts and on the nationalities themselves. Particular emphasis is placed on the analysis of the nature and magnitude of military collaboration with the Germans by the non-Russian nationalities, in an attempt to examine the military exploitability of the political warfare opportunities that presented themselves. Section II outlines the attitudes toward the Soviet nationalities prevalent among the Nazi leadership and the role envisaged for them in a postwar German-dominated Europe, and juxtaposes them on the views of German officials who did not share Nazi dogma and advocated a more pragmatic approach. German policies in the occupied non-Russian territories and their implications are examined in Sec. III. Section IV describes the different types and degrees of military collaboration with the Germans. The main conclusions are summarized in Sec. V.

Soldiers of Memory

Soldiers of Memory PDF Author: Ene Kõresaar
Publisher: Brill Rodopi
ISBN: 9789042032439
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 441

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Book Description
Soldiers of Memory explores the complexities and ambiguities of World War II experience from the Estonian veterans' point of view. Since the end of World War II, contesting veteran cultures have developed on the basis of different war experiences and search for recognition in the public arena of history. The book reflects on this process by combining witness accounts with their critical analysis from the aspect of post-Soviet remembrance culture and politics. The first part of the book examines the persistent remembrance of World War II. Eight life stories of Estonian men are presented, revealing different war trajectories: mobilised between 1941 and 1944, the narrators served in the Red Army and its work battalions, fought against the Soviet Union in the Finnish Army, Waffen-SS, Luftwaffe, the German political police force and Wehrmacht, deserted from the Red Army, were held in German and Soviet prison and repatriation camps. The second part of the book offers a critical analysis of the stories from a multidisciplinary point of view: what were the possible life trajectories for an Estonian soldier under Soviet and German occupations in the 1940s? How did the soldiers cope with the extreme conditions of the Soviet rear? How are the veterans' memories situated in terms of different memory regimes and what is their position in the post-Soviet Estonian society? What role does ethnic and generational identity play in the formation of veterans' war remembrance? How do individuals cope with war trauma and guilt in life stories? Offering a wide range of empirical material and its critical analysis, Soldiers of Memory will be important for military, oral and cultural historians, sociologists, cultural psychologists, and anybody with an interest in the history of World War II, post/communism, and cultural construction of memory in contemporary Eastern European societies.

Eavesdropping on Hell

Eavesdropping on Hell PDF Author: Robert J. Hanyok
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486481271
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
This official government publication investigates the impact of the Holocaust on the Western powers' intelligence-gathering community. It explains the archival organization of wartime records accumulated by the U.S. Army's Signal Intelligence Service and Britain's Government Code and Cypher School. It also summarizes Holocaust-related information intercepted during the war years.

Scenario Designer's Handbook (2nd Ed.)

Scenario Designer's Handbook (2nd Ed.) PDF Author: Michael Dorosh
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 0978492501
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
Scenario Designer's Handbook (ISBN 978-0-9782646-8-0) is intended as a reference for those interested in designing historical scenarios for the Advanced Squad Leader game system. The book features 240 full-colour pages with a variety of information to assist in force and terrain selection, including company, battalion and divisional break-downs of the major armies that participated in the Second World War. Additional chapters deal with scenario lay-out, publishing, researching, walk-throughs of the design process and discussion regarding the various components of ASL scenarios. The 2nd Edition includes an improved layout, additional information on various forces (Chinese, Finns, etc.) and revised appendices with updated map and overlay listing. Note the "discount" price on Lulu is the actual list price - this will not change.

The Latvian Legion (1943-1945)

The Latvian Legion (1943-1945) PDF Author: Edmunds Svencs
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781506144702
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The Latvian Legion was the largest Latvian military formation that served Nazi Germany from 1943 until the end of World War II. As the most decorated non-German Waffen-SS formation, it fought from the outskirts of Leningrad until the defensive lines of Berlin. However, it also has become a focal point of heated contemporary discussions between historians of Western Europe and the Russian Federation with accusations that the Latvian Legion engaged in war crimes and supported Nazi ideology. The author analyses the development of the Latvian nation, and what influence Russia and Germany have had on it; the creation of the Latvian Legion and what lingering effects it has on today's Latvia.