20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian)

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20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian)
20. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (estnische Nr. 1).jpg
Divisional insignia
Active 24 January 1944 – 9 May 1945
Country  National Socialist Germany
Branch Flag of the Schutzstaffel.png Waffen-SS
Type Infantry
Size Division
Part of III SS Panzer Corps
Nickname Estonian Division
Colors Cornflower Blue, Black & White
Engagements Battle of Narva
Battle of Tannenberg Line
Commanders
Notable
commanders 		24 January 1944
Franz Augsberger ⚔
19 March 1945
Berthold Maack

The 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) (German: 20. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (estnische Nr. 1)) was a Waffen-SS division. The division consisted of Estonian volunteers and conscripts. A famous battle in which it participated was the Battle of the Blue Hills. They also fought barvely during the Tartu Offensive, the Vistula-Oder Offensive and the Upper Silesian Offensive.

History

SS-Untersturmführer Valter Allase in 1944; He earned the Iron Cross 2nd Class for bravery together with other Estonians from the 36th Estonian Police Battalion (Schutzmannschaft-Front-Bataillon 36 Arensburg) in December 1942 during the Battle of Stalingrad.
Men of the 20th Estonian SS Volunteer Division, in the center Harald Nugiseks, on the right Paul Maitla

A total of 38,000 men were conscripted in Estonia, while other Estonian units that had been part of the German Army and the Finnish Infantry Regiment 200 were transferred to Estonia. In April 1944, the division had a designated strength of 16,135 men. Between March and September 1944, it had a total of 13,700 men pass through its reserve units, and by August 1944, some 10,427 were killed (⚔) or missing. The division fought the Red Army on the Eastern Front and surrendered in May 1945.

Post-war

Some parts of the unit became one origin of the Forest Brothers fighting against the Communist occupation. Some parts of the unit eventually surrendered in Czechoslovakia, where the Communists supported atrocities against Germans and their allies. One part of the Czech Hell was partisan torture, humiliation and killing of members of the unit. An estimated 500–1000 prisoners of war from the unit were murdered.

Structure

Estnische SS-Freiwilligen-Brigade (1943)

  • SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Regiment 1
    • since 22 October 1943 SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Regiment 42, since 12 November 1943 SS-Freiwiligen-Grenadier-Regiment 45 (estnisches Nr. 1)
  • SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Regiment 2
    • since 22 October 1943 SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Regiment 43, since 12 November 1943 SS-Freiwiligen-Grenadier-Regiment 46 (estnisches Nr. 2)
  • SS-Panzerjäger-Abteilung
  • SS-Artillerie-Abteilung
  • SS-Flak-Abteilung
  • SS-Nachrichten-Kompanie
  • SS-Feldersatz-Bataillon

On 22 October 1943 the Waffen SS troops were numbered and the brigade was given the designation 3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade. The two grenadier regiments received the numbers 42 and 43, the brigade units the number 53. On 31 December 1943, the brigade had a strength of 5,099 men. On 24 January 1944, the SS-FHA ordered the 3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade to be reorganized into the 20th Estonian SS Volunteer Division (20. Estnische SS-Freiwilligen-Division). In June 1944, the division received the designation 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian).[1]

Division June 1944

  • Waffen-Grenadier-Regiment der SS 45 (estnisches Nr. 1)
  • Waffen-Grenadier-Regiment der SS 46 (estnisches Nr. 2)
  • Waffen-Grenadier-Regiment der SS 47 (estnisches Nr. 3)
    • erected in May 1944
  • SS-Freiwilligen-Divisions-Füsilier-Bataillon 20
  • SS-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 20
  • SS-Freiwilligen-Artillerie-Regiment 20
  • SS-Freiwilligen-Flak-Abteilung 20
  • SS-Freiwilligen-Pionier-Bataillon 20
  • SS-Nachrichten-Abteilung 20
  • Versorgungseinheiten 20 (supply units)

Members (selection)

See also

Gallery

  • A young SS-Rottenführer of the 3rd Estonian SS Volunteer Brigade

  • Boy in the uniform of the division (presumably that of his brother, a SS-Rottenführer)

  • Young men of the division reading during a break

  • Estonian Hero Admiral Johan Pitka (left) meets with leaders of the division during a visit with Estonian volunteers in 1944

External links

References

  1. ↑ 20. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (estnische Nr. 1), Lexikon der Wehrmacht
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