French Waffen SS

Hi guys i was earlier looking for french war properganda and came across this french waffen ss recruitment poster. Did any french actully join the waffen ss?

 

Yes they did. Look up the Charlemagne Division for the numbers.

 

Charlemagne and the LVF were the most famous ones. Some of the last defenders of Berlin in 1945 were the Charlemagne members. The Berlin civilians were amazed to notice that among the last defendes of the city were some French Waffen SS.

 

Great info Skipper. By any chance, is that EKII Award Doc yours? If so? great item to own as well as being signed by Krukenberg.

 

Most of the French Foreign Legion after WW2 were old SS soldiers and officers. The battle of Dien Bien Phu was as much a loss for the SS as it was for France.

 

Quite funny to think of a lot of the last defenders of Berlin were foreigners.. But then again they all knew they didnt have much of a chance when/if they got home.

Does anyone have some info on Kruckenberg? Any websites?

 

I wish it were Carl ......

 

great pictures thanks skipper!

 

Sorry im going off topic abit but was all these countrys actuallyon the allis side

 

Several members from the Das Reich were Alsacian Recruits.

 

Very interesting. Do you have a link you can share?

 

here is a source (in French I'm afraid)
Les engagements des prisonniers de guerre allemands dans la Légion Etrangère

Here are Legionaires singing Edelweiss or das Panzerlied etc... ! I wonder who taught them back in the day ?

De l'armée allemande Ã* la Légion étrangère - Club Acacia

 

Thanks that was really interesting (i speak french)

 

Great topic, that's why I enjoy this forum. Learn something new all the time.

Best Regards

 

thanks steve!

 

suggest picking up a copy's of for further reading possibilites : Mabire's Berlin im Todeskampf and Wilhelm Tieke's Das Ende Zwischen Oder Und Elbe, Der Kampf um Berlin 1945

 

found another pic to share

 

I know of a circumstance involving a Frenchman serving in the German Army (not SS) described in the classic book The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer. Sajer was a 17 year old living in Alsace-lorraine in 1942. Sajer had the misfortune of having a German mother and so on this basis, the Germans simply grabbed him for service (he did not volunteer). The book, written about 1970, is his story of the time he spent with the Gross Deutschland division (which he DID volunteer to serve in, in exchange for 2 weeks leave and to not be seperated from his friends) on the Eastern front. It is a very long book but very unique, and almost incredible in its tone and descriptions of the Ostfront war and front line life, and death.

Sajer did survive the war, remarkably, and surrendered to the Americans, with his unit (how he got from East to west, by way of the Baltic, is probably one of the epic infantryman's tales of the 20th century). After being processed by the British and establishing his identity, he was simply allowed to go home (due to some quirk of regulations in that Sajer had been press ganged because of a german MOTHER and not a German FATHER.) When he reapearred in his home village and walked to his home, his mother fainted at the sight of him. After this, he was obliged to serve a tour with the French Army post-war, as sort of repayment for having served on the German side (even though involuntarily)!

 

I think it's a bit harsh to say he was "misfortunate" to have a German mother. In the book he is just as conflicting about his French past as he is German, infact, only when he realizes the two nations are working together does he fully feel proud as he states in the first chapter IIRC. Overall Sajer seems to be proud of being both German and French, from what he wrote about his experiences of course.

The rule to my understanding meant anyone who had German blood and was between the ages of 15-45 (??) had to serve at least 6 months in the labor force to give back to the "fatherland". I don't remember how the military focused into this but Sajer was referencing his time in the labor force when talking about his beginnings in the army.

I'm personally on the last 60 pages of the book and I love it, I'm pretty sad that I'm almost done the book though, I was so "captured" by it from the introduction! In regards to "repayment", the book touches on a lot of post war related treatment of Axis veterans in comparison to the Allied. Doesn't look like society has changed much since then in regards to what Sajer outlined.

Regarding French S.S., the wiki is pretty informative on the 33rd Waffen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/33rd_Waffen_Grenadier_Division_of_the_SS_Charlemagne_(1st_French)

Seems alot of the "surviving" members were subject to harsh punishments after the war. The execution without trial by Free French Forces probably one of the more shocking ones.

The film "The Sorrow and the Pity" also deals with French fighting for the Germans.

The Sorrow and the Pity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia