Published in „Siegrunen“ Magazine – Volume XIII, Number 4, Whole Number 78,
Summer 2006
By Erik Norling
Above: The Norwegian volunteer Arne Borge on the day he received his Iron Cross, 2nd Class after the battle of Kamenka.
The participation of Norwegian volunteers in the Waffen-SS is well known, but the study of the first ones that marched with the international SS Division „Wiking” into Ukraine in the hot summer of 1941 has not been studied enough (1). Most of the volunteers were young boys, most barely 17-18 years old, without a military background (not even any military service), but full of idealism. They had to learn fast how to survive in the cruel battles on the Eastern Front. The recent debate that has arisen in Norway about the so-called „war crimes” supposedly committed by these volunteers during the „Barbarossa” campaign, has made it necessary to go deeper into their history. Never before had any Norwegian soldiers been engaged in the type of war that they discovered there and never before had they experienced such close combat (2).
This article is not meant to be definitive, only an introduction to the readers of „SR”; it serves as a dedication to all these forgotten European heroes, and we will surely overlook many of the names. This piece is based on wartime documents, the memoirs of the volunteers, and many postwar interviews conducted over the years. It is to be hoped that in the future a book can be written to describe how they kept high the name of their Fatherland. We have not included any references to the political background of most of the volunteers, nor of their training or formation of their units. The readers if they haven’t done so already, should before reading this article, check the literature regarding Vidkun Quisling’s political movement Nasjonal Sämling (National Unity) and learn more about Norway’s story during the war and the „Wiking” Division , where thousands of European volunteers (Dutch, Flemish, Swiss, Swedes, Finns, Danes, Estonians, etc.) served during WWII (3). You should also be advised that this article will continue in a future „SR” issue with another chapter about the Norwegian volunteer movement, this one dealing with the fate of the Norwegians who stayed in the 5.SS-Panzer Division „Wiking” from 1943 to 1945.
I. THE FIRST BATTLES, JUNE-JULY 1941
The Crusade against Bolshevism had started one week before the European volunteers of international SS Division „Wiking” began advancing into newly liberated Ukrainian territory on 29 June 1941. Assigned to the southern sector of the Eastern Front, the division arrived late on 30 June in the recently conquered city of Lemburg (L’viv) (4). For two days the volunteers had seen large columns of captured enemy soldiers marching past them but when they arrived in the Ukrainian capital city they discovered the first cruelty of this war. The Poles and Ukrainians had conducted a pogrom of the Jews living there as a revenge for the mass killings of civilians by the Reds as they retreated. The Jewish population, mostly communists, were victims of their hatred. The young Waffen-SS volunteers were shocked but received strict orders not to intervene in local affairs and continued their march on trucks to reach the front lines (5).
On 2 July 1941, the commanding officer (CO) of the SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment „Westland” of the „Wiking” Division, SS-Standartenführer Hilmar Wäckerle was shot by a Russian straggler, thereby becoming the first officer and soldier of the division to be killed in action. But there would be no signs of Red opposition to the advance until after the division passed through Tarnopol, another big Ukrainian city where further signs of pogroms conducted by the local population were evident (6).
Above: The Norwegian volunteer Even Lange, just 18 years old, who was killed in action on 6 September 1941.
On the 5th of July, the „Wiking” Division had its first real encounter with the Red Army. The „Westland” Regiment was the first to receive the attack and would suffer many more casualties than the other divisional regiments. II. Battalion/SS-Regiment „Germania”, in which many of the Norwegian volunteers were serving, was encircled at a place called Satanov, but the troops were able to repel the Russians. But here the first Norwegian volunteer was killed-in-action. This was SS-Unterscharführer Hans Oppen from 10th Company/”Germania” Regiment, who was hit by enemy fire while trying to retrieve a wounded Germancomrade. He was just 21 years old, but was one of the most highly trained NCO’s in the unit.
In the Meldung (Report) of 18 August 1941 by SS-Obergruppenführer Gottlob Berger, who was responsible for the recruitment of volunteers, to Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, he was able to inform him that there were 1,563 Germanic volunteers in the SS Division „Wiking” and that 294 of them were Norwegians (7). The Norwegian volunteers were distributed randomly to the regiments and various units of the division, which had over 19,000 men assigned to it in total. While most of the Norwegians were in the „Nordland” Regiment, others were also in the „Westland” and „Germania” Regiments (all motorized infantry elements), others were serving the Flak (air defense) and artillery units. As most of them did not speak fluent German, the „Wiking” officers permitted them to remain in groups of about 4-5 Norwegians each. (8) This caused a severe disappointment to the young volunteers who had been promised that they would be serving in their own, closed, compact unit within the „Wiking” Division. However, SS-Gruppenführer Felix Steiner, the „Wiking” commander turned down this idea as he wanted to avoid the expected heavy losses to large groups of inexperienced volunteers. (9) The events at the front would prove that he was right to disperse them.
As the „Wiking” units marched to the southeast, confrontations with the enemy became more and more common. It rained on some days, turning the roads into nearly impassable mud, but it remained very hot. Several Norwegian volunteers soon became wounded or KIA. Among them were Rolf Sigbjöm Aas, 17 years old, killed on 7 July 1941, and Egil Engenes, 21-year-old, killed on 8 July 1941. (10) Soon many obituaries were to be found in the newspapers throughout Norway, particular in the Nasjonal Sämling Party press, as most of the volunteers were members either of the Hird (paramilitary stormtroopers), or the NSFU (the Party youth organization). A student, SS-Schütz Paal Frederik Sinding, was the next to become KIA on the 16th of July. He was the son of a well know film director who had been a member of Quisling’s party since he was a youngster. His Company CO wrote the following message to his family:
„It is symbolic that it was a Norwegian who fell for the freedom of the Germanic peoples, who was the first to fall in his Company. Our comradeship has been sealed with his blood. His sacrifice makes us proud of having comrades such as him. We will honor his death hundreds of time over (11).”
On the 20th, both Rolf Anker Hamlrast and Kjell Willy Johanson, the son of a well-known musician in Norway and an „old fighter” in Quisling’s Youth Movement, were lost while serving in the SS Regiment „Nordland”. On the same day the 17-year-old Norwegian volunteer Per Möller was killed while on duty with 6th Company/SS-Rgt. „Germania”. They were all buried with full military honors by their comrades. While on the march after leaving Zhitomir, close to the town of Taraschscha, 7th Company/ „Germania” was encircled by the Reds and the men had to fight several days straight before they could break through the Russian pressure. The company took many casualties in this fighting, including SS-Untersturmführer Werner Hoffman, many German comrades and 3 Norwegian volunteers: Sverre Hegre, Georg Knudsen and Olav Heltne. This was a heavy loss for the Norwegians. Everyone remembered young Olav, who was only 16 years old (12). Nobody could understand how he had been able to enlist, but it turned out he had lied about his age to the recruiters. Both the company commander, SS-Hstuf. Walther and SS-? Schneider were mentioned in the Divisional Orders of the Day for the heroic performance of 7th Company.
By the end of the month the „Wiking” Division was ordered to move again. They marched for over 100 kilometers, confusing the volunteers who did not where they were going or what the objective was at this time. The divisional staff had received orders to participate in the taking of Dnepropetrovsk, a city with a pre-war population of 150,000, and the surrounding area. This was the key to the crossings of the River Dnepr.
Above: News front home! A Norwegian volunteer in the summer of 1941 reading the newspaper FRITT FOLK (Free People), which was linked to the Nasjonal Sanding Party.
II. FROM DNEPROPETROVSK TO THE MIUS
The „Wiking” Division then moved south and came up against heavy opposition from the Red Army. Everything seemed to collapse and many volunteers started to believe that something was going wrong. They had been fighting for weeks and had lost many comrades. A Norwegian volunteer serving on the staff of SS- Artillery Regiment 5, Hans Laerum, wrote in his diary:
„05.08 Smela. Parts of the Division „Wiking” are encircled; there is no continuous German front in this sector. AR 5 is here to the south of Smela. The road southeast to Kemenka, our next objective, is blocked. The road northwest is also blocked and we were encircled by strong Russian forces. We were being fired upon by heavy artillery from Tscherkassy (13).”
All throughout August and September the Wikinger (Vikings), as the members of the 5th SS Division were now called, fought to keep the town of Dnepropetrovsk and a bridgehead over the Dnepr River. Day after day, the volunteers had to repel desperate Russian attacks to expel them from their positions, followed by heavy enemy artillery barrages, the likes of which they had not seen before. On 6 September 1941, the young Norwegian Even Lange, who had celebrated his 18th birthday in June, was killed in action. All the volunteers remember these days with horror but also remember proudly how their officers served in the first lines with them. It was typical of the quality of officers that the Waffen-SS produced, but as a result they also suffered from a higher death rate than those in other armies. SS-Standartenführer (Col.) Fritz von Scholz, commanding the SS Regiment „Nordland” at this time, was always present up front with his volunteers and even participated in the close-combat when the Reds tried to overrun the regimental positions (14).
The bridge across the Dnepr was only a weak, wooden one constructed by engineer units; it was scarcely adequate for such a wide river. Every soldier crossing the river was to carry two ammunition boxes with him. A Norwegian volunteer witnessed SS-Gruf. Steiner trying to fulfill this order as well. The divisional commander took off his jacket and picked up his two boxes. He started slowly walking out on the bridge, but a young NCO saw him only as a fat, slow soldier and he ran over to him and with a rather typical Prussian attitude lectured him on „picking up the tempo” while he was crossing with his ammo boxes. When he discovered that the „fat and slow” soldier was the commanding general he almost died of shock, but Steiner only thanked him (15). The general was considered almost as a God by his soldiers, and certainly as a father figure, whom they called „Old Felix”. The volunteers could find him inspecting the foremost lines at almost any time while wearing his characteristic great coat and sun glasses perched on his visor cap.
Above: SS-Gruppenführer Felix Steiner as commander of the SS Division „Wiking” in the winter of 1942/43.
After Dnepropetrovsk had been secured, the „Wiking” Division was ordered to take the nearby town of Kamenka, to the east of the city on 7 September 1941. The Soviets had been firing their artillery from there against the Dnepr bridgehead. There was a Soviet artillery school located there with the finest weapons and best instructors. On the morning of the 8th, the „Wiking” grenadiers assaulted the enemy positions. Casualties could be counted in the hundreds and many units were reduced to half strength, but the goal was attained. In the divisional orders-of-the-day for 15 September 1941, a proud SS-Gruf. Steiner wrote:
„Thanks to the strong bonds between all of the volunteers in our ranks, the Division has become a symbol. Whether of German, Dutch, Norwegian or Finnish origin, the „Wiking” Division is a symbol for all of us of our unity and common destiny.”
Prior to the stabilization of the bridgehead, the Norwegians had lost 49 volunteers by mid-August 1941; 19 KIA and 30 wounded (16). But they had received 104 Sturmabzeichen (Infantry Assault Badges), and 7 Iron Crosses, 2nd Class. In addition, two of them had received field promotions due to bravery in action (Tapferkeitbefördet). During the heavy battles around the bridgehead, the Norwegians lost many other comrades such as Per Kolberg on 18 August, Rudolf Gotsche on the 21st, Sigurd Stridsklev, a motorcycle messenger with 8./ „Germania” on the 22nd and Rolf Ellefsen on 6 September; he would have been 19 years old on the next day. On the 8th of September, Rolf Böge and 18 year old Odd Bjarne Kristensen, fell at Kamenka.. Kristensen’s company commander wrote his parents that he had died: for: „For the great Germanic ideal, for the Führer and the people! (17)” On the 11th, Carl Henrik Musculus was killed in action and on 18 September 1941, 17 year old Knut Malmkvist died at the field hospital due to wounds received during a frontal assault.
Also on the 9th of September, Olav Borgir, a foward telephone observer (spotter) with SS Artillery Rgt.5 had been killed. His brother Arne served in 3rd Company/SS Rgt. „Germania” and would receive the Iron Cross, 2nd Class in the field on 25 September for his participation in the battles at Kamenka. Their fate was
not an uncommon one as many brothers enlisted together and their families would have to suffer the losses of many of them, such as theGauslaa brothers, Finn and Hans Bernhard. Finn was killed on 2 September 1941 and his brother on 15 January 1944 while serving with the SS-Freiwilligen Panzergrenadier Rgt. „Norge”. Another example were the Hansen brothers, Einar and Tor, killed on 2 September 1941 and 14 September 1941, respectively. Others were luckier. Four Norwegian brothers from the Huseby family ages 18 to 31 enlisted and all survived the war as did two other sets of brothers from the Holst and Tuft families.
Above: The Norwegian Red Cross nurse Arne-Gunhild Moxness who was attached to the „Wiking” Division. She is said to be one of the first woman in the German Armed Forces to be decorated with the Iron Cross, 2nd Class.
The battles around Dnepropetrovsk and Kamenka had been bloody ones. The „Wiking” Division had lost 40% of its combat strength in casualties. No fewer than 26 „Wiking” officers had been killed in less than two months, clearly demonstrating the ferocity of the fighting! No the volunteers had to march on in a northeasterly direction towards Rostov, the next big city to be conquered. But the Russians were now stronger and for the first time they were able to stop the advancing armies. The rain appeared and the temperatures began to fall and all of the roads became mud holes. On 24 October 1941 a volunteer noted in his diary that the temperature had fallen to -20 degrees Celsius!
By the end of October 1941, the „Wiking” Division had crossed the Mius River leaving behind them Uspenkaja and Ambrosievka. They would have to return there soon. Steiner’s men advanced as far as Alexandrovka, but they had to retreat back from there on 21 November 1941. On the Is* of December they stopped on the west bank of Mius to build-up defensive positions. The individual units were short of men, ammunition and food. Morale began to fail and winter came closer and closer. Per Johansen, serving in the „Nordland” Regiment remembered those days:
„After first occupying a town, we were then normally thrown out. We had enormous losses of men and material. Our proud Division was heavily reduced. From being a motorized infantry division we were now a band of people on foot... The pressure from the Russian became more and more strong, as they could get fresh units every time. After some time we had to retreat. We fought during the day and retreated during the night looking for useful positions for when daylight came (18).”
Above: A group of Norwegian volunteers taking a „mess” break during the early days of the Russian Campaign.
Many Norwegians lost their lives at the Mius positions. On 19 October, SS-Rottenführer Olav Sollie, a former Norwegian Navy pilot was killed. This was followed by the deaths of SS-Schiitze Thor Floden and Ole Nordby on 1 November. On the 11,h, Oddvar Nes, who had been decorated with the Iron Cross, 2nd Class, fell, with SS-Rttfhr. Leif Gunnar Overn, considered the best machine-gunner in his company, dying on the 20th. The next day saw the loss of John Elieson with Rolf Skifjell being KIA on the 22nd and Sverre Nielsen fall on 1 December 1941. Somewhat earlier, on 7 November 1941, 5th Company/SS Rgt. „Nordland” was ordered to infiltrate enemy territory. During this undertaking, the popular Norwegian SS-Unterscharführer. Egil Strömsöe was made prisoner by the Russians. The full company was put into action to look for him until they found his body a day later, terribly mutilated.
Starting in December 1941, new Danish and Norwegian volunteers began arriving from Graz, Austria, the home of the divisional training and replacement battalion. They were flown to the Eastern Front in Junkers 52 transport planes and upon arrival at their destination were given a great surprise by the appearance of Adolf Hitler at the airfield. He had been on an inspection of the front sector and was going to leave when the volunteers arrived. Hitler inspected them and although not prepared for it and tired after hours of hard traveling, gave a short speech to them and then shook hands with each of the volunteers. The Danish SS- Untersturmführer in charge of them told him that they were the: „Erste Dänische-Nonvegische Ersatzabteilung aus Division ‘Wiking7” (The first Danish-Norwegian replacement unit from the Division „Wiking”). For these young volunteers it was an unforgettable experience to meet the Führer (19).
Before the end of the year, the front stabilized. The „Wiking” Division had stopped at the Mius River to reorganize and wait until the hard winter passed. During its several months in combat, the formation had lost almost 5,500 men and the volunteers were exhausted. Added to that, the winter of 1941/42 was one of the coldest ever experienced. Even the adapted Norwegians who were used to long, dark winters, remembered it as a terrible time with temperatures that sunk 40-50 degrees Celcius below zero. They dug themselves into defensive positions with bunkers armed with a heavy machine-gun manned by groups of 4-5 men. In front of
them they had the river, only 20 meters across in some places and completely frozen over so that it was easy for the Reds to cross it. And the enemy was not passive (20). Many volunteers died during these months; morale sunk and even one soldier deserted to the Russians (21).
The following Norwegians were lost at this time: Paul Steinburg, KIAon5 December 1941; Seming Sletten, missing in action on the 11th, surely captured by the Reds and afterwards killed; Thorbjörn Thorland KI A on 28th December followed by Yngve Schneider on the 30th. On 3 January 1943, their comrade Trond Berdal who had been mortally wounded on New Year’s Eve, passed away. On the next day Preben von Ahnen died and on 21 January, SS-Oberschütze Leif Falkum, whose 3 brothers also served in the Waffen-SS, was killed. In February, the Norwegian volunteer contingent lost the following members: SS-Rttfhr. Per Sandbaek on the 2nd, Arne Johannsen on the 19th and SS-Rttfhr. Conrad Lauritsen on the 25th. Laurtisen had been a member of the Nasjonal Sämling Party since 1934 and was one of the founders of the Voluntary Labor Service in 1936 (22). Other heavy losses came in March with SS-Oberscharftihrer Anders Jacob Grönneberg, the only son of an old Party member, perishing on the 2nd and SS-Oberschütze Rolf Skifjeld killed in action on the 6th.
Above: Norwegian volunteers serving a Flak (air defense) gun somewhere in Ukraine.
A Norwegian volunteer, Roy Bach, who was then only 18 years old and serving in 12th Company/SS- Regiment „Nordland”, upon remembering the long winter nights after the war, wrote some emotive poetry on the memory of the comrades that fell there:
ON THE MIUS BANK
There we have a wooden cross – on the Mius bank A death rune that has disappeared with the years.
It stays there poorly. Without any flowers. Forgotten - with a helmet on it.
Here lies a young boy - his name is remembered by all - that met his destiny in this grave in the East.
He was on his post - ready to die - Today we can hear the raising of his voice.
III. TOWARDS THE CAUCASUS! SPRING/SUMMER 1942
After a long winter, the weather gradually became softer. During these months the division had also built a military cemetery for the Wikinger at Uspenskaja, where hundreds of soldiers were buried, including many Norwegians. The divisional staff organized training courses behind the front lines at Ambrosievka in the use of new material and weaponry being received and for NCO’s. A number of Norwegians attended the NCO course, including Arne Hansen from SS Rgt. „Nordland”, who would later go on to graduate as an SS- Untersturmführer from the SS-Junkerschule Tölz. He would be killed in action as an SS officer on the Narva Front in 1944.
At the beginning of May 1942, the Norwegian volunteers received the visit of an important delegation from their homeland led by Vidkun Quisling, who had recently been appointed head of the Norwegian Government. He was on his way to the Leningrad Front to visit the men of the Norwegian SS Legion, but he stopped first at the „Wiking” Division on the Mius Front. The Norwegian leader met the volunteers there and complemented them for being true representatives of the old Nordic values. But the visit also had a second political agenda. Quisling wanted all of the Norwegian volunteers combined into a single unit or else sent home. This notion was extremely disappointing to Reichsführer Himmler who preferred the status quo. In a letter to his representative in Oslo, SS-Obergruppenführer Wilhem Rediess, he expressed his feelings that all of the Norwegian volunteers could either be signed on as full members of the Waffen-SS, or expelled, as was the case for some older Norwegian officers that had proved unworthy (23).
The situation was complicated by enlistment contracts of different duration. Himmler concluded at this time there were 280 Norwegians still in the „Wiking” Division, of whom 72 had signed contracts in February-April 1941 of only one year durations. 81 had signed on for two years, 2 for three years, 9 for four years and 22 for the „duration of the war”. Obviously, Himmler favored „duration of the war” enlistments, but despite his frustrations he went along with the contractual terms. Quisling and his people, who were not happy to lose many of their best ranks, who signed up by the thousands for the Waffen-SS, and they favored short term enlistments or the return of all volunteers if they didn’t serve in a „closed” unit. The argument would go on throughout the war, but pretty much nothing changed. Norwegians would still serve throughout the „Wiking” Division, in what was technically their own regiment, SS-Pz.Gr.Rgt.23 „Norge”, in which they were a minority, and in the SS-Skjäger Battalion „Norge”, which after the dissolution of the Norwegian Volunteer Legion, would remain the only all-Norwegian „closed” unit. It fought with the 6. SS-Mountain Division „Nord” in Finland.
Above: A Norwegian volunteer with an MG34 at the Mius Front in the winter of 1941-1942.
In the meantime, the spring offensive had started but the OKH (Army High Command) decided that the „Wiking” Division should remain in its positions for the time being to be reorganized. New officers and volunteers were arriving and some companies were disbanded with their survivors going into others. For instance, the entire III. Battalion/ „Nordland” was dissolved and was replaced by the Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS. All the volunteers remember these days with satisfaction as they were far from the front and enjoyed a delightful, warm Ukrainian summer.
This came to an end on 16 July 1941, when the „Wiking” SS Division began its march towards the Caucasus Mountains. It soon reached Rostov, crossed the Don River and continued on to the Caucasus region by September 1942. It was to be here that the great battles with the Red Army would be entered into the divisional history. Names like the Azov Sea, Rostov, Kuba, Maikop, Terek and finally Malgobek, would forever be remembered by the volunteers. Here many more Norwegians would be buried, far away from their homeland, such as the Norwegian Supreme Court Attorney Christian Selmer, one of the older volunteers who fell at the age of 38 (24). But this is another chapter that will be dealt with in a future issue.
IV. NORWEGIAN OFFICERS WITH THE SS DIVISION „WIKING”
Another aspect of the Norwegian volunteers serving with the „Wiking” Division concerns the Norwegian SS officers. There were many Norwegian professional, career officers serving the the Norwegian Volunteer Legion of the Waffen-SS, but there were very few with the „Wiking” Division. The SS Führungshauptamt (Leadership Office) in Berlin only accepted the following seven Norwegian officers during the initial phase of the „Wiking” Division’s deployment:
SS-Sturmbannführer Jörgen Bakke, a former CO of the Legion „Norwegen”, now assigned to the staff of I.Btl./SS-Regiment „Germania”.
SS-Haupsturmführer Felix Andersen, a talented artillery officer attached to the staff of the SS-Regiment „Nordland”.
SS-Obersturmführer Thorvald Thronsen, a high-ranking political officer in thzHird, (the paramilitary force of Nasjonal Sämling, Quisling’s political party), who served with the staff of the „Germania” Regiment.
SS-Obersturmführer Bertil Brun, who served with SS Flak Detachment 5.
SS-Hauptsturmführer Felix Hartmann, a former volunteer in the German Army in WWI, who served with the staff of the „Germania” Regiment.
SS-Obersturmführer Per Böresen, a surgeon aged 37 years old who was with the „Wiking” field hospital.
SS-Hautpsturmführer Egil Reichborn, who was a company CO in SS-Regiment „Germania”.
Most of the above officers were dismissed from service before the end of 1942. Despite the fact that all but one did not have direct command duties, they were unable to fulfill the strict duty requirements of Waffen-SS officers, particularly in terms of age and combat experience. But this does not mean that they did not prove their bravery. SS-Stubaf. Bakke was praised by his regimental commander, SS-Obersturmbannführer August Diekmann after the hard battles at Barvenkovo and Otscheretino during the winter of 1941/1942, when he received the Iron Cross, 2nd Class. In a short report on Bakke sent to Berlin by SS-Gruf. Steiner, he clearly suggested that he: „(would be) useful for a replacement battalion” and he also noted that he „for sure had the best will (intentions)” and was „an idealist... intelligent... and surely one of the best Norwegian officers” (25).
SS-Ostuf. Brun, SS-Hstuf. Reichbom and SS-Hstuf. Andersen (who was promoted to SS-Stubaf.) all received the Iron Cross, 2nd Class during their engagement with the „Wiking” Division, but they were considered no longer acceptable for front duty and were sent home to participate in political and recruiting activities (26). SS-Hstuf. Hartmann was one of the first to receive the Iron Cross, 2nd Class, which was personally bestowed upon him by SS-Gruf. Steiner in the summer of 1941. Sent home, he was attached to the recruiting battalion of the Waffen-SS in Norway {Ersatz Bataillon), but was soon expelled from this assignment, since RF-SS Himmler was led to consider him „too Norwegian”, due to reports he received from men under Hartmann’s command in Norway (27). The one Norwegian officer who was not expendable was the medical doctor, SS-Ostuf. Böreson, who would be transferred to the Norwegian Legion on the Leningrad Front and then later on would serve with the 11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier Division „Nordland” until the end of the war.
Above: A family picture. Left to right: Military nurse Grethe Knudsen, her sister Lisbeth in the N.S. Youth Organization uniform and their brother Hans Christian, who would be killed in action on the Leningrad front as an SS-Untersturmführer.
V. GETTING READY FOR NEW BATTLES, 1943
By the end of the year 1941, it had been proven to the volunteers that the war was definitely not going to be a short and easy campaign. 1942 would prove to be at least as bloody as the previous one and when they reached the foothills of the Caucasus, the volunteers had their faith that the Russians would be defeated fairly easily further reduced. By the end of 1942 around 1,000 Norwegian volunteers had passed through the ranks of the „Wiking” Division, and of that total close to 120 had been killed in action and at least another 300-350 wounded (28).
In March 1943, the SS-Freiw.PzGr.Rgt.23 „Norge” (Norwegian Nr. l) was established to serve with the newly forming 11 .SS-Freiw.Pz.Gr.Div. „Nordland”. The SS-Skijäger Bataillon „Norge” was also formed at that time to serve in Finland with the 6.SS-Gebirgs Div. „Nord”. Most of the Norwegian volunteers would now be reassigned to serve in one of these two units, which had been specifically designated for their nationality (29). Most veterans of the „Wiking” Division received promotions and now took over NCO duties. The rest had either been killed in action, wounded in action, sent to the SS Junkerschule Tölz or specialized instruction camps, or as was the case with many, returned to civilian life in Norway, tired after the long campaign in Russia.
Therefore only a few remained in the newly reconstituted 5.SS-Panzer Division „Wiking”, who would stay with the formation until the last battles in Austria in May 1945 and ultimately surrender to British forces. They would experience the battles at the Donetz and the retreat through Ukraine, Cherkassy, Kovel, Poland and Hungary, leaving a trail of buried comrades behind (30). In a report made on 6 February 1943, the SS- Hauptamt determined that 1,378 Norwegians had to that date served in the „Wiking” Division and out of that total, only 131 remained By the end of the war there would only be a handful of Norwegians left serving with the division.
As stated, many of the Norwegian volunteers from the first contingent did not renew their enlistment contracts and returned home. They were assigned to political duties in the ranks of Nasjonal Sämling with the Hird, the Youth Organzation, the Labor Service, etc. Many also chose to reenlist in the new Norwegian units. Quite a lot of these became members of the Pan-Germanic organization know as the Germansk SS Norge, which was part of the Germanic SS movement. This attracted many former members of the „Wiking” Division in particular (31). At least 60-70 of the Norwegian Wikinger would also be sent to the SS Junkerschule Tölz for officer’s training between 1942 and 1945. The first seven arrived at the 8th Kriegs-Junker-Lehrgang (Wartime Officer’s Training Course), the admission program of which (Verbereitung-Lehrgang) began on 1 May 1942. Seventeen more went into 9,h Wartime Course (which began on 1 February 1943) and 16 joined the 11th Wartime Course (which started on 6 September 1943). Of these men, around one-third would be killed in combat before the end of the war, as some of the bloodiest battles were yet to come (32).
Above: The Norwegian SS-Kriegsberichter (War Reporter) Egil Hartmann.
Special mention should also be made of the Norwegian War Reporters (SS-Kriegsberichters) and Red Cross Nurses. A prime example in the first category is the well-known writer Per Imerslund, who was initially assigned to the „Westland” Regiment of the SS Division „Wiking” as a simple infantry soldier. He later went on to become a war correspondent and in December 1943 he died of wounds received while covering the front lines in norther Finland (33). Also serving as SS-Kriegsberichter were other Norwegians such as SS-Rttfrh. Egil Hartmann, SS-OberschiitzeOsvald Olsen and SS-Rttfhr. Per Pedersen, all of whom authored reports from the front and obituaries of fallen Norwegian volunteers that appeared in publications back in Norway (34).
Norwegian nurses enlisted in the German Red Cross to serve their wounded comrades, as did many Danes, Flemings and other European women. Around 10-15 Norwegian nurses served at field hospitals serving the SS-Division „Wiking”. Grethe Knudsen was one of these who was attached to the mobile „Wiking” SS-Feld- Lazarett (mot.) 5 (SS Motorized Field Hospital 5), that was located at Dnepropetrovsk. Her brother had been promoted to SS-Ustuf. and was killed in action while serving with the Norwegian Legion, as part of the 2nd SS Motorized Infantry Brigade, on the Leningrad Front in February 1943.
Nurse Aase Grill Fasting, belonging to a strongly nationalistic family with many members serving in the Wafifen-SS, was also among these women. She would return to Norway at the end of the war after being wounded by enemy bombs during the battle for Berlin. The most popular nurse was Anne-Gunhild Moxness, who was with the „Wiking” Division until it reached the Caucasus in 1943. Afterwards she was assigned to the III. Germanic SS Panzer Corps and was decorated with Iron Cross, 2nd Class in Estonia in 1944. Since it was instituted in 1813 only 12 women had received this award and Moxness was the only non-German! Her picture in uniform with the Norwegian flag armshield and the „Wiking” cuffband became a well-known propaganda photograph (35).
Above: Norwegian nurses taking the oath of allegiance circa 1941/1942. Below: Norwegian nurses in 1944 after having been decorated for having saved patients injured in the bombing of the Tallinn, Estonia military hospital by the Red Air Force. Anne-Gunhild Moxness is on the far left in both pictures. The unidentified nurse in the center of the top photo is on the far right in the bottom one.
All of the Norwegian volunteers, including the women, were prosecuted and incarcerated after the war. They were declared Landssvikers (traitors) and lost their civil rights, wealth and freedom for years to come..But even after sixty years they will tell you if you ask that they were only guilty of having loved their country. They went to the Eastern Front to preserve their homeland and left behind their youth and the graves of many of their comrades!
1. Norway had only 3,000,000 inhabitants but offered more than 6000 volunteers who served in the Waffen-SS; around 1,000 were either killed or missing in action.
2. As a nation, Norway had only been in a war once before WWII with Sweden in 1905 and the number of dead in that conflict could be counted on the fingers of one hand. When Germany invaded Norway in 1940, the Norwegian Army put up a strong initial resistance and lost around 400 soldiers killed.
3. A must for all readers that are interested in the Norwegian volunteer movement is the picture album (with English text) entitled NORDMENN PA OSTFRONTEN (Forlaget Reportasje, Lesja, 2005) by Egil Ulateig and Geir Brenden.The first individual is also the author of an interesting book dedicated to the volunteers titled VEIEN MOT UNDERGANGEN. HISTORIEN OM DE NORSKE FRONTKEMPERNE (Forlaget rportasje, Lesja, 2002).
4. For more details about this battle and other engagments see EUROPEAN VOLUNTEERS by Peter Strassner published in an English language edition by J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing, Canada, in 1988.
5. These remembrances are consistent in the memoirs of the veterans. The SS Division „Wiking” was definitely not involved in any atrocities against Jews during the war or specifically at L’vi v (Lemberg) in the first weeks of July 1941.
6. Some members of this regiment were accused of war crimes after the war including at Nuremberg. However they were all acquited. For decades leftist German and Jewish organizations have tried to find something criminal to attribute to the „Wiking” Division but they totally failed to do so. Despite that fact, so-called „historians” today still talk about „Wiking” Division „war crimes”!
7. NARA T-175 1072630559, Berger to Himmler, 18.08.1941.
8. In some cases, Swedes in the division, although few in number, served along with the Norwegian contingents due to their linguistic affinity. For example, the best comrade for the Norwegian volunteer Karl Nakken in the „Wiking” Flak Detachment, was the young Swedish volunteer Hans Linden, who was killed in action at age 19. The future Swedish SS-Ustuf. Heino Meyer, served alongside the Norwegian volunteer Odd Behn, who would return to Norway with an amputated leg. In other cases, Swedes residing in Norway such as Johan Ragnar Gustavsson (also born there), served with the Norwegians in the „Wiking” Division. He would later be killed in action in the fighting before Berlin in March 1945 with the rank of SS-Ustuf. He served in the same unit as the brother of the above mentioned Karl Nakken, SS-Ustuf. Hans Nakken, who was also killed in the fighting near Berlin
9. Per Imerslund wrote a pretest letter to the divisional commander (Steiner), where he added in all the claims the volunteers had and concluded that the Germans had broken the „juridicial contract” between the parties. The letter arrived on the desk of the Reichsführer but did not change the instructions given by SS-Gruf. Steiner.
10. Obituary in Fritt Folk, 15 August 1941.
11. Death notice appeared in the NS Party newspaper, Fritt Folk.
12. Obituary in Fritt Folk, 6 September 1941.
13. Diary, INO 1 18551.
14. Von Scholz would receive the Knight’s Cross on 18 January 1942 for his bravery and later would command the 1 l.SS-Frw.Pz.Gr.Division „Nordland”. Always in the front lines, he was killed on the Narva Front in July 1944.
15. Fra Finland til Kaukasus. Nordmenn pa östfronten, 1941-1945, (Oslo, Dreyer, 1972) by the former SS-Stubaf. Frode Halle, was written based on the experiences of his old comrades. This book also contains many other episodes describing the life and death of the volunteers at all fronts.
16. NARA T-175 1072630531, Aufstellung über Verluste und Auszeichnungen der Germanishcen Freiwilligen, SS- Gruf. Felix Steiner, 19 September 1941.
17. Obituary in Fritt Folk, 17 October 1941.
18. Per Johansen, FRONTKJEMPER, (Oslo, Aschehoug, 1992).
19. Unpublished memoirs of Olav Tuf£ mentioned as well in Per Johansen’s book.
20. An excellent resume of the „Wiking” Division’s actions at the Mius Front appeared in „UNSER WIKING-RUF” Nr. 9/2004 by Günther Lange, who coordinates this publication of the „Wiking” veterans.
21. A Norwegian volunteer from the SS Rgt. „Nordland” named Asbjörn Beckström deserted on 13 March 1942. He would later talk through loudspeakers from the Russian side to encourage his remaining comrades to desert. However this was completely unsuccessful. His ultimate fete is unknown. Letter from SS-Oberfhr. von Scholz to SS-Gruf. Steiner on 15 March 1942. NARAT-175 1072631091.
22. Obituary in Fritt Folk for 8 April 1942. The Voluntary Labor Service was similar to the R.A.D. in Germany, and during the occupation, thousands of young Norwegians would receive training through this organization.
23. Letter from Himmler to Rediess dated 29 May 1942.
24. Selmer was a known Freemason, as were many middle-class Norwegians and NS Party members before the war. During the German occupation the Freemasons had to close down their activities.
25. Letter from Diekmann to Steiner dated 18 August 1942. From the file of Jörgen Bakke, N ARA personal files from the former Berlin Document Center. (Editor’s note: This was maintained by the U.S. government almost solely for the benefit of the sleazy activities of‘„Nazi Hunters” for decades, while many legitimate historians were denied access. In recent years other researchers have been allowed to utilize the material therein).
26. Steiner, 17 August 1942. Jörgen Bakke files from the above mentioned „BDC” NARA files.
27. Letter from Himmler to Rediess dated 29 May 1942.
28. NARA T-175 11126235871, Statistische Aufstellung über zur Waffen-SS und Legion eingestellte, entlassene und gefallene germanische Freiwillige, SS-Hauptamt 14 December 1942. The report also mentioned 93 killed in action with the Norwegian Legion on the Leningrad Front. The report only ran through 30 October 1942 and mentioned 68 Norwegian dead from the „Wiking” Division by this time. However this does not correspond to the real figures. More accurate is NARA T-175, Aufstellung über der Germanischen Freiwilligen, SS-Hauptamt, 30 June 1943, that states a death toll of 119.
29. Despite earlier hopeful expectations, it soon proved impossible to fill the ranks of SS Rgt. „Norge” exclusively with Norwegians; in fact Reich and ethnic-Germans soon became a majority in the ranks. In the SS Ski units fighting in Finland, the Norwegian volunteers tended to come from Quisling’s Youth Organization and therefore they had a lower median age of the soldiers than did the other formations.
30. 27 Norwegian „Wikingers” were killed in 1943, 22 more in 1944, 20 in 1945 and 7 others at various other unknown dates. In total from 1943-1945, 76 Norwegians were KIA with the „Wiking” Division, which was about 20%-30% of the then serving Norwegian volunteers.
31. There does not exist much material regarding the Germanische SS in English. This was an important, German created organization that attempted to be a counterweight to the „too nationalistic” politics of Quisling and his NS movement. The introduction made to the Germanic SS made in 1975 by Hugh Page Taylor is absolutely outdated.
32. Around 200 Norwegian volunteers died between 1943 and 1945 while serving in the SS Division „Nordland” and about the same number died in the SS-Skijäger Btl. „Norge”. This unit lost 120 men on one bad day alone on 24 June 1944! Notes by Tommy Natedal, Norway’s most prominent expert on the history of the volunteer movement.
33. Imerslund served with AmeNaeverdal, also a Norwegian volunteer in the SS Rgt. „Westland” who rose to the rank of SS-Hstuf. and served as a military veterinarian. There are more details in Immerslund’s biography entitled Det ariske idol (Oslo, Aschehoug, 2004) by Terje Emberland and Bernt Rougthvedt. Unfortunately they manipulated many chapters in his life and present him in an absolutely wrong light!
34. Dispatches from the Norwegian War Correspondents about the „Wiking” volunteers were published in a small propaganda book entitled, Sett med egne öye (Seen With Our Own Eyes), in Norway in 1942.
35. Once again thanks to Egil Ulateig we have full coverage of the fate of these nurse in Fordömte engler. Norske kvinner pä östfronten, (Forlaget Reportasje, Lesja, 2004).
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