Special Association of Miners

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Badge of the special association miners

The Bergmann Battalion was after the start of Soviet German War on October 14, 1941, first in Neuhammer (until December), later in Mittenwald (Training Center of the mountain troops of the Armed Forces) capped Association of Defense of the Armed Forces , Caucasian consisting of German superiors and Volunteers, i.e. Georgians , North Caucasians, Armenians and Azerbaijanis . Several officers came from the Caucasian emigrant group, who mainly lived in France. Military historians estimate that around a hundred thousand Caucasians fought in German formations against the Soviet government during the Second World War . An anti-Soviet attitude and Caucasian nationalism served the German warfare. Stefan Meining thinks that the voluntary report also represented a possibility to get out of the German captivity.

Lineup

The association was led by the Bau-Lehr-Battalion z. b. V. 800 "Brandenburger" set up and trained under Lieutenant Theodor Oberländer . The relatives' identification mark was a stylized Caucasian Kindjal dagger, which was worn on the left side of the mountain cap. From 1942 the first five companies were deployed in the Caucasus - 1st / Georgians and German support staff, 2nd / North Caucasians, 3rd / Azerbaijanis and German support staff, 4th / Georgians and Armenians, 5th / staff company made up of Caucasian emigrants (strength: about 30 men); a total of 1,200 men (900 Caucasians, 300 Germans). In addition, two cavalry squadrons were set up.

Oberländer's representative was Sonderführer W. von Kutschenbach , who grew up in Russia and spoke fluent Russian and Azerbaijani . Officially, the special association was subordinate to the Mountain Caucasian Legion , later to the North Caucasian Legion . In terms of management, however, the special association was led by the defense.

After the parachute landing, a command sub- unit of 10 Germans and 15 northern Caucasians carried out combat missions with the Shamil company in Chechnya to secure the German withdrawal from the Caucasus. After growing through defectors, the unit was stationed in the Crimea from 1943 , where it successfully fought against superior, advancing Soviet troops.

After the division into several battalions and the removal of Oberländer as commander, several battalions were transferred to Greece . The Azerbaijani II Battalion continued to fight in the retreat from Russia and was deployed with the "Dirlewanger" unit to suppress the uprising of the Polish underground army in Warsaw in 1944 . There and in subsequent retreat battles on the Eastern Front, the losses were high, and the remaining soldiers from II./Bergmann formed the III. Together with Azerbaijanis from another unit (I./111). Battalion of the 1607 Grenadier Regiment, newly established on March 27, 1945. They saw the end of the war on the west coast of Denmark .

gallery

  • Kindjal - model of the troop identification badge

  • Soldiers of the II. Bergmann Battalion in Poland in 1944

literature

  • Alexander Dallin : German rule in Russia 1941 - 1945. A study of occupation policy. Droste, Düsseldorf, 1958, p. 559 (Unchanged reprint: Athenäum-Verlag, Königstein 1981, ISBN 3-7610-7242-2 Athenäum-Droste-Taschenbücher - Geschichte, 7242)
  • Joachim Hoffmann : Caucasus 1942/43. The German Army and the Orient Peoples of the Soviet Union. Rombach, Freiburg 1991, ISBN 3-7930-0194-6 , pp. 46–47, 56, 195, 267 ( individual publications on military history 35)
  • Albert Jeloschek, Friedrich Richter, Ehrefried Schütte, Johannes Semler: Volunteers from the Caucasus. Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Chechens and others on the German side. The “Sonderverband Bergmann” and its founder Theodor Oberländer. Leopold Stocker Verlag , Graz 2003, ISBN 3-7020-0984-1
  • Valentin Bojzow: Aspects of the military collaboration in the USSR from 1941 to 1944. In: Werner Röhr (Hrsg.): Occupation and collaboration 1938 - 1945. Contributions to concepts and practice of collaboration in the German occupation policy. Hüthig, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-8226-2492-6 , pp. 294-317 series: Europe under the swastika. Supplementary volume. 1
  • Philipp-Christian Wachs : The Theodor Oberländer case. (1905-1998). A lesson in German history. Campus, Frankfurt 2000, ISBN 3-593-36445-X Diss. Phil. University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich , 1999
  • Stefan Meining: A mosque in Germany. Nazis, Secret Services, and the Rise of Political Islam in the West. CH Beck, Munich 2011 ISBN 3-406-61411-6 (first ARD broadcast ) Also as Amazon Kindle

Web links

Commons : Sonderverband Bergmann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files