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The Waffen-SS Order of Battle eventually included numerous units ranging in size from small detachments to entire corps. In addition to the all-German units there were the SS Freiwilligenverbände (SS Volunteer Units) from countries and regions such as Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia, BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a state in Western Europe, usually known simply as the United Kingdom the UK Britain or less accurately as Great Britain . The UK was formed by a series of Acts of Union which united the formerly and the CommonwealthThe Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of independent sovereign states, mostly formed by the United Kingdom and its former colonies. It was formerly known as the British Commonwealth (or British Commonwealth of Nations , and many still cal ( Britisches Freikorps), BulgariaThe Republic of Bulgaria is a republic in the southeast of Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the east, Greece and Turkey to the south, Serbia and Montenegro and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Romania to the north along the river Danube., Belorussia, CroatiaThe Republic of Croatia is a country in Europe bordering the Mediterranean, Central Europe and the Balkans. Its capital is Zagreb. In recent history, it was a republic of Yugoslavia. History Main article: History of Croatia The Croats are a largely Slavic, DenmarkKongeriget Danmark ( In Detail) Motto of the Queen: Guds hjaelp, Folkets kaerlighed, Danmarks styrke (English: God's help, the love of the people, Denmark's strength) Official language Danish Capital Copenhagen Kobenhavn Monarch Margrethe II Prime Ministe, EstoniaThe Republic of Estonia is a country in Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the north, and sharing a land border with its fellow Baltic state Latvia to the south and with Russia to the east. Eesti Vabariik ( In, France ( Charlemagne Division), Finland, Georgia, Hungary, India, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, North Caucasus, Norway, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sudetenland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tibet, Turkistan and the Ukraine.
Examples of SS units are the SS Division Nordland , formed from Norwegian, Danish and Baltic volunteers; an SS Hitlerjugend Division (enlisted ranks were volunteers from the Hitlerjugend); and an SS Totenkopf Division, formed from excess guard detachments who had almost all died out by 1942 in the Valdai Hills of Russia (these were replaced by volunteers not affiliated with the concentration camps).
Waffen-SS Panzergrenadiers during the Battle of Kursk
During the early stages of the War on the Eastern Front the Waffen-SS divisions proved themselves to a skeptical Heer as crack soldiers. In spite of heavy casualties and lower-quality replacements, most combat formations of the Waffen-SS remained as crack formations until the end of the War. They were characterized by extremely high unit morale and commitment to the German Reich, and were always treated as highest priority for new or replacement equipment, and got to cherry-pick the best soldiers, and got many good soldiers as volounteers, because it was considered prestigious. This practice continued through most of the war, but in the end, from 1944, facing manpower shortages, Waffen-SS switched to a conscription mentality, and many units that were formed towards the end of the war clearly lacked those special qualities, and differed from the regular army only in the recruitment pool.
Waffen-SS had the advantage in that they could recruit from the many German nationals who lived in Austria, Poland and Czechoslovakia ( Volksdeutsche), while the regular army was limited to only citizens of the original german territory ( Reichsdeutsche). Germany also drafted conscripts from occupied territories in Eastern Europe, making the term Freiwilligenverbände a ridiculed misnomer among them.
A large army of Waffen-SS soldiers fought in the Battle of Kursk and the Battle of the Bulge.
Waffen-SS troops committed numerous war crimes, most notoriously at Oradour, Marzabotto and in the Malmedy massacre.
See also: Comparative military ranks of World War II