Traitors IV.

This is coolbert:

In my last blog I mentioned the Waffen SS units representing countries other than Russia that fought on the side of the Nazis during the Second World War [WW2]. This list did exclude Russia.

And there is a good reason for my exclusion. Emphasis must be placed upon the numbers of Russians [Soviet citizens] that fought on the side of the Germans in WW2. While the numbers of volunteers from countries other than the Soviet Union was in perhaps the tens of thousands [?], the numbers of Russians fighting on the side of the Germans was upwards of 1 million!!??

This number of 1 million soldiers that were willing to take up arms against their own country is astounding. This is the figure generally agreed upon by most reputable historians, and is quoted by A. Solzhenitsyn in his book, "GULAG Archipelago".

The reasons behind such a defection of troops to the other side is very complicated in the case of the Russians. Again, at the start of the war, Hitler wanted to use troops against his enemies that were only of "Germanic" or "Nordic" stock. He did not want to rely upon "others" and did not trust "others" at all. Again, however, as the war progressed, the German Army was in dire need of man power and resorted to various measures to fill gaps as they arose.

And the use of troops that could be categorized as "Soviet" citizens developed in an incoherent manner at first, "waves" of Soviet levies being employed by the Germans.

There were "national" units of Cossacks, Georgians, Ukranians, and Baltic peoples that eagerly fought with the Germans against the Soviets, and did so in cohesive, "national" units. This was the first "wave".

A second "wave" of Soviet citizens fighting for the Germans was of Russian recruits from POW camps. In the early part of the fighting in the Soviet Union, the Germans captured just enormous numbers of Soviet soldiers. Many of course were Russian and these men were treated by the Germans in a very shabby and brutal manner. It can be noted that prior to the war, the Soviets had not signed any conventions dealing with the humane treatment of POW's. Accordingly, the Germans did not apply any humane treatment to the many Russian POW's that they held. To escape almost certain death, many POW's, some probably willingly, joined battalions comprised of Russians that would fight for the Germans. This was the RNNA. Read about the RNNA by clicking here. These troops were given what can best be called special operations missions [such as the Brandenburgers], to infiltrate Soviet Army lines and create behind-the-lines havoc and chaos. And they were good at this. But Hitler, in his stupidity, did not trust having units larger than battalions formed, and did not want to rely upon Russians out of racial and ideological reasons [Nazi race theory]. These POW's turned collaborators were only used on a limited basis and had a marginal effect.

The third wave of Russians fighting for the Germans in WW2 was the Vlasov Army, the ROA. At it's height, this army is said to have numbered about 750,000 troops!! This army did comprise the vast majority of Russians that were willing to fight for the Germans. This army was comprised of again, primarily Russian POW's that agreed to fight for the Germans. And headed by a dissident Soviet General, Vlasov. Read about Vlasov by clicking here. In 1942, Vlasov commanded the Soviet 2nd Shock Army, a unit annihilated while trying to relieve the siege of Leningrad. Vlasov was captured by the Germans and did agree, with other captured Soviet Generals, to form a Russian army to fight for the Germans. And this they did. But, again, Hitler did not trust these Russians and used them primarily in the fighting in the Balkans, or in anti-partisan activity in France, and only on a limited basis against the Soviets. This was not what Vlasov and his compatriots had in mind. They wanted to fight Russians with Russians!! But this happened again, only on a limited basis, not as Vlasov had intended.

At the end of WW2, the fate of these Russians was very grim indeed. Vlasov and his leadership cadre were summarily executed upon capture [It is reputed that Vlasov and his immediate staff were executed by being hung from meat hooks inserted under the back of their skulls, and hung in this manner until dead. Some of the persons hung this way were alleged to have lasted three hours before expiring!!], and the surviving Russian soldiers of the Vlasov Army were sentenced to twenty five years in the GULAG. This was the same as a death sentence, as the camps of the GULAG had a 100 % death rate of inmates every eight years!!

Nobody said life for a Russian soldier was ever easy!!!

coolbert.