33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French)
The 33rd Waffen- Grenadier Division of the SS " Charlemagne " ( French No. 1) was a federation of the Waffen- SS during the Second World War ( 1944-1945 ). They consisted mainly of collaborationist French volunteers. The association belonged to even soldiers from the French colonies, and from Indochina. The division, however, never reached its full strength of 19,000 men. It was named after the Frankish king and Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne.
History
A first French volunteer armed unit was set up in 1940 as the " Legion of volontaires français contre le bolchévisme " to fight on the side of Germany. The first mission took place in winter 1941/42, on the eastern front still under the designation 638th Infantry Regiment held. The regiment was part of the 7th Infantry Division, which was involved as part of Army Group Centre on the advance on Moscow. In these battles, the 638th Infantry Regiment suffered heavy losses and was therefore used from 1942 until the fall of 1943, mainly to combat partisans. Opened in June 1944, then again at the front against the Red Army used. Meanwhile, the strength of the French had been reduced to half a battalion.
In September 1944, the integration is carried out in the Waffen-SS. Cesarani is their strength in February 1945 with about 5000 men, because it was filled up by French collaborators from all sorts of German formations, under the "inspection" of a German brigade leader. At this time, the unit received the division status. As of the year 1944/45, the division was used in Pomerania, where they suffered heavy losses and was broken into three parts. Part suffered heavy casualties from artillery fire, the second was wiped out during his retreat to the west. The third part pulled back through the Baltic and sat down across the sea to Denmark from. This unit was formed on 27 March 1945 in Neustrelitz under the Inspector of the French voluntary associations SS brigade leader Gustav Krukenberg the Waffen Grenadier Regiment of the SS " Charlemagne ". Provided by Krukenberg given the choice to continue fighting or do in a construction battalion service, reported from the remaining 1,100 volunteers to fight Battalion 700. The two units, however, were only used to dig trenches in the back of the 3rd Panzer Army, before they broke up in the Bad kids. As Krukenberg on April 24, 1945 was ordered to assume command of the 11th SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division " Nordland ", he was accompanied by an escort of 90 men to Berlin. In the battle for Berlin, this French Battle Group was first used in space Neukölln, but had to be under the attacks of the Red Army on the Hermann Square, withdraw the Anhalt Station and the Belle- Alliance-Platz to the Reich Security Main Office on Prinz- Albrecht-Strasse. Violent attacks of Soviet troops forced the French back to the site of the Reich Air Ministry, where they surrendered on May 2.
The last defenders of Berlin city center and therefore the Reich Chancellery and the headquarters of the SS in the Prinz -Albrecht-Strasse were members of the French 33rd SS Division " Charlemagne " and the Scandinavian 11th SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division " Nordland " who fought until the surrender of Berlin on 2 May 1945.
A prominent member of the Division was the German right-wing populist Franz Schön Huber, who in the group of the European right, zusammensaß 1990 in the European Parliament, the Vice President, he was with the French right-wing politician and chairman Jean -Marie Le Pen. Another was the literary critic Hans Robert Jauss.
Training
Recruits volunteers were recruited via the recruiting office in Paris. The first volunteers were sent as SS Volunteer Assault Brigade Alsace to training. The officers were in the SS Junker schools, trained NCOs to lieutenants schools, for example in Cernay in Alsace.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms of the Division " Charlemagne " was the French tricolor. This often shown pseudo- medieval crest is a postwar invention of former soldiers of the division.
Structure
- Waffen Grenadier Regiment 57 (French No 1 )
- Waffen Grenadier Regiment 58 (French No. 2)
- SS Artillery Division 57 SS - Tank Destroyer - Department 33 SS - pioneer company --- 33
- SS -News- Company 33
- SS Field Replacement Company 33
Commanders
- February 1945: SS chief officer Edgar Puaud
- 1 March to 24 April 1945: SS Brigade Commander and Major General of the Waffen- SS Gustav Krukenberg
- 24 April to 8 May 1945: SS - Standartenführer Walter Zimmermann