Why did the Germans also have foreign soldiers during World War II?

The first floor is about felix steiner, the first teacher of the fifth dimension capital of SS.

During World War II, there were not many foreign soldiers in the German Wehrmacht, because after all, they were Wehrmacht and mainly nationals. Even some foreign troops (mostly in the late war when there were insufficient troops) were unplanned and temporarily requisitioned as cannon fodder.

However, the SS, another armed force of Nazi Germany, was indeed organized and planned. Before the war broke out (it was still the SS at that time), it gradually screened and absorbed foreign volunteers of so-called pure "Aryan" descent. Because it follows the theory of national purity, its enrollment targets are not limited to Germany, but all over northern and western Europe, and later even extended to southern Europe and even North Africa.

In World War II, collaborating with the enemy was still regarded as a betrayal of the morality and conscience of the country and the nation, and was widely condemned by all countries. However, whether you admit it or not, there is a fact. In those European countries occupied by Nazi Germany, thousands of young people volunteered to serve the Nazis and joined the armed SS. At the beginning of the war, the number of these volunteers was almost negligible, but by the end of the war, the number of foreign volunteers even exceeded the number of Germans in SS units at all levels. Most of these young volunteers were disappointed with the failure of their government in the war and tried to find a new starting point for their aimless life.

Of the 38 fighter divisions formed by the Waffen-SS during the war, 20 were composed of foreign volunteers, and foreign soldiers could be seen from time to time in those SS divisions which were mainly German. Generally speaking, the combat effectiveness of these foreign troops is uneven, especially at the end of the war, most of them are rabble, but some volunteers are indeed elite divisions with strong combat effectiveness, the most prominent of which is the first foreign military volunteer division, Weijing Division.

The Viking Division was established on the basis of Germania, one of the earliest regimental units of the Waffen SS, which absorbed volunteers from Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and France. Since194/kloc-0 joined the "Barbarossa" operation on June 22nd,, Viking Division has been fighting in the most fierce and cruel winter battlefield, creating a record not inferior to other ace troops, and is recognized as one of the main SS combat divisions. Because of the particularity of its composition, the division of "Viking" has become a controversial topic in later generations. Regardless of praise or criticism, the Viking division left an indelible mark on the history of World War II with its fanatical fighting will and narrow fighting experience.

During the war, many foreign volunteers, like German officers and soldiers, suffered terrible fate in the cold hell far from the motherland. They were either ground into paste by truck tires or tank tracks in the war, or swallowed up by the flames of burning chariots. Not to mention that many prisoners died in Soviet prison camps after the war. Ordinary people's sympathy for these people tends to weaken after learning about the atrocities committed by the SS (including many subordinate units of the Viking Division) on the Eastern Front.

For those foreign volunteers, history should have a considerable evaluation: for those who dream of winning a bright future for the motherland, for those who selflessly joined the SS in order to follow their ideals, although unfortunately misled by Nazi propaganda at that time, it is not difficult to see from their sacrifice spirit that these people are willing to give their lives for an infinitely better future.