15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (Latvian No. 1)
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15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (Latvian No. 1) |
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|---|---|
 Troop registration |
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| active | February 1943 to May 1945 |
| Country |
.svg){kind=small} German Empire
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| Armed forces |
 Armed SS
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| Branch of service | Grenadiers |
| Type | division |
| structure | See outline |
| Strength | 22,000 men |
| Insinuation | VI. SS Volunteer Corps |
| Butcher | German-Soviet War |
| commander | |
| list of | Commanders |
| insignia | |
| Sleeve badge |
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The 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (Latvian No. 1) was a Grenadier Division of the Waffen SS . In contrast to most of the other non-German divisions of the Waffen-SS, almost all leadership positions below the division level were occupied by Latvians . The division fought in the northern section of the Eastern Front from 1943 and on German territory in 1945.
history
The 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (Latvian no. 1) was prepared from the Latvian Legion in early 1943 and sat as their sister division, the 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (Latvian no. 2) , from Latvian SS units together.
Lineup
In February 1943 the formation of a Latvian SS volunteer division was ordered. Under the leadership of the Higher SS and Police Leader Reichskommissariat Ostland , the division should be operational by the end of June 1943. The line-up was delayed, not least because men had to be handed over to the 2nd SS Infantry Brigade . The division was only ready for action at the front in October 1943.
commitment
Even during the formation in the summer of 1943, individual parts of the division were deployed on the Eastern Front near Opotschka / Ostrow . After the establishment and assignment to Army Group North in November 1943, the division fought at Newel , Ostrow, Opotschka. In July 1944, fighting followed over the Velikaya . Despite the violent defensive actions, the Latvians could not stop the advance of the Red Army . In July 1944 the Red Army reached Latvian soil again. In these battles the division was wiped out. Remnants of the combat troops were incorporated into the 19th division. The division was to be reorganized at the SS training area in West Prussia . After the addition of Latvian RAD members, the division was placed under the Vistula Army Group in early 1945 and deployed in West Prussia and Pomerania .
Parts of the division were subordinated to foreign units. The aim of the Latvian troop leaders was not to let their soldiers get into Soviet captivity. Contrary to higher orders, parts of the troops withdrew to the west. In May 1945 the division surrendered to the Allied troops near Schwerin . The division's fusilier battalion got into the fighting for Berlin in April 1945 and was almost completely wiped out in the defense of the government district against the advancing Red Army .
After the war
The majority of the division was taken prisoner of war in the West. Service in the Waffen SS was recognized as forced by the Western powers. As a result, most of the division's members were fired in 1946. Many later emigrated to Canada, the USA and Australia.
War crimes
During the fighting for the Pomeranian position , members of this division committed a war crime against captured Polish soldiers. On February 2, 1945 they burned 32 soldiers of the 4th Company of the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the Polish 1st Army who were tied with barbed wire in the village of Flederborn (today Podgaje) .
structure
- Waffen-Grenadier-Regiment of the SS 32
- Waffen-Grenadier-Regiment of the SS 33
- Waffen-Grenadier-Regiment of the SS 34
- Waffen-Artillerie-Regiment of the SS 15
- Waffen-Fusilier-Battalion of the SS 15
- Waffen-Panzerjäger Department of the SS 15
- Weapons intelligence department of the SS 15
- Weapons Pioneer Battalion of the SS 15
- Waffen-Flak-Department of SS 15
- SS division troops 15
- SS Field Replacement Battalion 15
- SS-Bau-Regiment 1 of the 15th SS-Division
- SS-Bau-Regiment 2 of the 15th SS-Division
Commanders
- 25 February to May 1943 SS Brigadefuhrer and Major General of the Waffen SS Peter Hansen
- May 1943 to February 17, 1944 SS-Gruppenführer and Lieutenant General of the Waffen-SS Carl Graf von Pückler-Burghauss
- February 17 to July 21, 1944 SS-Oberführer Nikolaus Heilmann
- July 21, 1944 to January 26, 1945 SS Oberführer of the Reserve Herbert von Obwurzer
- January 26 to February 15, 1945 SS-Oberführer Adolf Ax
- February 15 to May 1945 SS brigade leader and major general of the Waffen SS Karl Burk
See also
swell
- ↑ SS-FHA TgbNr. II / 1144/43 gehKdos from February 15, 1943.
- ^ Rolf Michaelis: Die Grenadierdivisionen der Waffen-SS Erlangen 1944, ISBN 3-930849-04-6 , p. 88.
- ^ Ryszard Majewski: Waffen SS. Mity i rzeczywistość Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza, Wrocław, 1983, ISBN 83-03-00102-7 , p. 247.
- ↑ Apoloniusz Zawilski: Polskie fronty , Oficyna Wydawnicza volume, Warszawa, 1996, ISBN 83-86857-23-4 , p. 463 vol. 2.
- ↑ Most important battles for the Pomeranian position (Polish)
- ^ Testimony of a Polish prisoner (Polish) ( Memento from September 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ C.Grzelak, H.Stańczyk, S.Zwoliński: Armia Berlinga i Żymierskiego , Warszawa, 2002, ISBN 83-88973-27-4 .
- ↑ Polski czyn zbrojny w II wojnie światowej , Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej, Warszawa, 1988, ISBN 83-11-07038-5 , p. 531, vol. 3.
literature
- Rolf Michaelis : The Grenadier Divisions of the Waffen SS. Part 1. Michaelis-Verlag, Berlin 1994. ISBN 3-930849-04-6 .
- George H. Stein: The Waffen-SS. Hitler's Elite Guard at War, 1939-1945. Cornell University Press, Ithaca 1966, ISBN 0-8014-9275-0 .
- Karl H. Thiele: Beyond "Monsters" and "Clowns". The Combat SS. De-Mythologizing Five Decades of German Elite Formations. University Press of America, Lanham 1997, pp. 338-340. ISBN 0-7618-0529-X .
- Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Volume 4. The Land Forces 15–30 . 2nd Edition. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1976, ISBN 3-7648-1083-1 .
